The Roosevelt Elk Calves gathered in the parking lot above Clayton Beach for their final outing of the Spring season. The weather was warm and our energy was high as we made our way from the parking lot and into the woods for an opening circle. The shade offered by the towering red cedars and douglas firs was welcomed after the heat of the open parking lot. The boys led us down a deer trail to a small opening above a creek, here we dropped our packs and formed our circle.
This season the Roosevelt Elk Calves earth skills focus has been the skill of navigation. We had already spent sometime practicing more primitive forms of navigation, mainly songlines. (Which the boys still remembered word for word from our first outing!) This time we pulled out a map of the Chuckanuts and a compass. The boys crowded around the map and began to orient it in the right direction using the compass. Most of the boys showed a lot of interest in using the map and pinpointing our location on it. After a while of focused map work the boys were ready to explore the landforms we had been staring at on a map.
This season the Roosevelt Elk Calves earth skills focus has been the skill of navigation. We had already spent sometime practicing more primitive forms of navigation, mainly songlines. (Which the boys still remembered word for word from our first outing!) This time we pulled out a map of the Chuckanuts and a compass. The boys crowded around the map and began to orient it in the right direction using the compass. Most of the boys showed a lot of interest in using the map and pinpointing our location on it. After a while of focused map work the boys were ready to explore the landforms we had been staring at on a map.
Jumping in the creek, finding fossils, throwing rocks, steep hillsides, slippery rocks, little caves, moss, dappled sunlight, laughter, mud, and adventure filled our exploration of the creek. After a while the boys began making their way up to the packs and we began to circle up to decide what to do next.
Making decisions in a big group can be a long process without the focus to listen to others and come to a collaborative decision. The Roosevelt Elk Calves could not hold a circle to make a plan for the rest of the day. It took a long time for them to finally bring their focus and energy to a place where they could work as a group and come up with a plan. As a mentor we are there to guide the boys, gently nudging them to come to these decisions rather than step in to make the choices for them. The Roosevelt elk calves eventually decided, in true Explorers Club fashion, that we would follow deer trails and bushwhack down to the beach instead of following the main trail.
Once moving we had a great time navigating the winding deer trails that traversed along the hillside parallel to the ocean. We soon made it down to the beach to find a low tide with plenty of room to explore the exposed eel grass. Packs off we began poking around in tide pools, lifting rocks, and finding all sorts of intertidal life. Aggregating Anemones hung from slimy rocks, lion's mane jellyfish lay cooking on the beach, sharp barnacles clustered on rocks, and crabs scurried away as we lifted rocks. A few of the boys came up the beach with a hooded nudibranch caught in an old geoduck shell. Looking out at the ocean we caught a brief glimpse of a dark head pop out of the water. We all stared out at the ocean waiting for it to resurface. Some people though a seal while others guessed otter. We soon saw the animal emerge again this time starring right at us as it chomped its teeth. It turned out to be a river otter and we watched as it happily swaim just off shore. Our next wildlife encounter was with a giant Geoduck pulled out of the mud. We all gathered around to look at the strange Mollusk that we had unearthed. After seeing this all the boys began digging along the tide line in search for more.
We spent the rest of our afternoon on the beach enjoying the sunshine and amazing wildlife encounters. Soon it was time to pack up our things and have a closing circle. We all expressed our thanks for the day as the tide crept in began lapping at the seaward side of the circle. With that cue we packed up and worked our way back along our diminishing beach. Thank you Roosevelt Elk Calves for an amazing season together! Parents thank you for your support throughout the season and for sending your boys out to explore with us. Your sons our well on their way to become proficient backcountry navigators! for more pictures please visit our photo gallery.
Once moving we had a great time navigating the winding deer trails that traversed along the hillside parallel to the ocean. We soon made it down to the beach to find a low tide with plenty of room to explore the exposed eel grass. Packs off we began poking around in tide pools, lifting rocks, and finding all sorts of intertidal life. Aggregating Anemones hung from slimy rocks, lion's mane jellyfish lay cooking on the beach, sharp barnacles clustered on rocks, and crabs scurried away as we lifted rocks. A few of the boys came up the beach with a hooded nudibranch caught in an old geoduck shell. Looking out at the ocean we caught a brief glimpse of a dark head pop out of the water. We all stared out at the ocean waiting for it to resurface. Some people though a seal while others guessed otter. We soon saw the animal emerge again this time starring right at us as it chomped its teeth. It turned out to be a river otter and we watched as it happily swaim just off shore. Our next wildlife encounter was with a giant Geoduck pulled out of the mud. We all gathered around to look at the strange Mollusk that we had unearthed. After seeing this all the boys began digging along the tide line in search for more.
We spent the rest of our afternoon on the beach enjoying the sunshine and amazing wildlife encounters. Soon it was time to pack up our things and have a closing circle. We all expressed our thanks for the day as the tide crept in began lapping at the seaward side of the circle. With that cue we packed up and worked our way back along our diminishing beach. Thank you Roosevelt Elk Calves for an amazing season together! Parents thank you for your support throughout the season and for sending your boys out to explore with us. Your sons our well on their way to become proficient backcountry navigators! for more pictures please visit our photo gallery.
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