REC Shelter Building at North Galbraith on 9-18-2016

As the weather cools and leaves turn brown and brittle, the thought of a cozy place to hibernate grows in our minds. Shelter - one of the necessities of all life, from anthills to estates, to protect creatures from predators or the harsh elements. Today, the Roosevelt Elk Calves had the opportunity to practice shelter building at North Galbraith.

On this crisp, bright day, we decided to hike in for opening circle. Along the way we found a cluster of bike jumps where we let the boys run out their morning energy, but it came to an abrupt end when one of the boys twisted his ankle. After wrapping his ankle, we decided as a group not to travel further down the trail; so we circled up where we were and planned our day.

Sunlight filtered through the tent-like curtains of western red cedar surrounding us as we talked about shelter. All animals need it, and many plants do as well. They find it in the forms of holes and burrows, thickets, snags and logs, river rocks, and constructed houses like beaver dams or apartment complexes (and even tents). The question we wanted to explore today was, How do you make shelter from debris in the forest? We chose to start small and go from there.

We talked about the progression of layers in a shelter: the “skeleton” of sticks, a lattice “skin” of twigs or vines, and “fur” of leaves and duff. The boys began by each making their own faerie shelter (sized accordingly) out of any earth materials they could find. Each one was intriguingly unique.

Next, we divided the boys into two teams. Each team was captained by an Explorer Mentor Apprentice: boys in the eldest group, who have graduated from Explorer’s Club and are now practicing leadership skills with younger groups. Each team had to build a debris shelter in two hours. They were provided with two Y-sticks to start, and had to construct the rest of the shelters skeleton with their team. Once the skeleton looked solid, they collected hemlock twigs, dead sword ferns, and trailing blackberry for the lattice. Next, they covered the shelter with leaves and forest debris. The goal depth was fingertip-to-armpit length, but neither group quite made it. Regardless, the mentor assistants helped test the rain-proof nature of their teams shelter by laying inside while a full water bottle was poured over each. The first shelter let only a few drops through. The second mentor assistant, however, was completely drenched by the end! It was a great opportunity to talk about adjustments they would make in the future.

Before our closing circle, we played Spider’s Web. Our injured party helped by volunteering to be the stationary waver. Finally we hiked the short distance out and sent the boys back to their own family shelters with the newfound appreciation that their homes WILL keep out the coming rains.

Roosevelt Elk Calves Make All the Right Decisions at Lookout Mountain

The Roosevelt Elk Calves met up at Lookout Mountain for their final outing of the fall season. On a drizzly day, it was a perfect setting for the Explorers to finish up their season focused on shelter building. Hitting the trail after an opening circle, we trekked along the trail in search of a good location to build a shelter. Arriving at a hillside of small conifers the boys jumped right into free play scrambling around the hillside. We got together to revisit what to look for when selecting a shelter location; flat ground, abundant building resources, and potentially some canopy cover if you’re lucky. Realizing our current location wasn’t ideal, we ate some food, packed up, and headed out in search of a new location.

Opening circle, deciding how to spend our outing

Creating the skeleton of the shelter

Gathering shelter building materials

Backtracking with a renewed focus on finding a location that fit all our requirements we got back onto the trail and headed out. The mentors noticed the boys getting back into “hike” mode with blinders on, cruising down the trail at a fast pace. We made sure to slow down, take the blinders off, and start looking around taking in our surroundings and viewing the landscape through the lens of shelter building. Shortly after slowing down, we found a prime location to set up shop and get down to business. The mentors took a step back and let the Roosevelt Elk Calves work together as a group to collaborate and make a group decision on where to build their shelter. They showed tremendous cooperation working together to come to a consensus that everyone agreed upon. Next they decided on what type of shelter to build, and got to work. Gathering a bunch of young Alders that had fallen down in the wind, the boys engineered a leverage system using two trees in close proximity to wedge the long, skinny alders in between and torque to the side and snap the lengthy building materials down to a more manageable size. Their ingenuity and ability to work together dividing up tasks was rather impressive for a group of ten and eleven year old boys. It was truly a testament to all the time this group has spent together over the years. After the primary structure of the shelter was up, the mentors felt good about the progress and transitioned to playing games.

Continuing to add to our shelter

Breaking the small Alders down to size

Reviewing our work and discussing ways to improve the shelter

One last time, the group came together to collaborate, compromise, and come to a consensus on how best to spend the rest of the day. Deciding on a game of Spider’s Web, the boys ate some food, re-hydrated, and set up the game. Working their way down through a valley filled with Sword Fern, Devils Club, and small stands of Red Alder, the boys slowly but surely made progress retrieving the food source from under the watchful eye of the Spider. As the game wound down, the Flies proved victorious once again and it was time for our closing circle. 

Getting together for our closing circle

Hanging out and giving some thanks before hiking back to the parking lot

During our final outing of the season the Roosevelt Elk Calves demonstrated that they had taken the next step in their growth as a group. The group worked together, showing a tremendous ability to collaborate and come to a consensus as a group under the leadership of a peer in the role of Tribal Elder. They offered great respect to one another, were patient, deliberate, and concise in their efforts to reach decisions as a group, and all without any need for the mentors to step in and help. On countless occasions before, mentors have watched groups this age struggle to even come close to how well the Roosevelt Elk Calves worked together on this outing. With a brief respite for the holiday season, we are eager to get back out exploring with this group and see if they can prove once again that they are ahead of the curve when it comes to cooperative collaboration and group decision making. Not only is this a credit to the group, but also to each and every individual that makes up this awesome bunch of Explorers.

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!

Roosevelt Elk Calves Play All Day at Padden

The Roosevelt Elk Calves arrived at Lake Padden thankful that the massive downpour the day before had subsided and the sun was coming out just in time for some forest exploration. Gathering together we decided to hike out past the dog park in search of a place to play games like Hungry Hungry Martin, Eagle Eye, Fire Keeper, and of course Spider’s Web (ask your Explorer about these games if you don’t know them already!). Because we did such a great job working on debris shelters and honing our skills on our last outing, the mentors felt like this group deserved a game day. Getting together in circle we made a “game plan” for how we wanted to spend our day. Kicking things off we played a more exciting, explosive game of Hungry Hungry Martin that requires some sneaking and camouflage followed by explosive bursts of running to make it to safety before getting eaten by the Martin. After a few rounds we took a half an hour to explore, eat lunch, and catch up with friends. 

Gathering up at our base camp for the day to eat lunch and catch up with friends

Preparing for some epic games of Hungry Hungry Martin!

Gathering back together we decided we wanted some more free time to goof off, finish up our mini-shelters we worked on, and even have some extra time to get to know a salamander we found in an old rotting log! With that out of our system we joined back together and shifted gears to play a stealth game called Fire Keeper where someone sits blindfolded in the middle of a circle guarding a set of keys or other noisy item. Everyone on the outside of the circle takes turns trying to sneak in undetected and snatch the keys. The Fire Keeper points to any noise he detects and if you get detected you have to go back out of the circle and let someone else try. You win by successfully retrieving the keys without the Fire Keeper hearing you! This is a great game that got us calmed and quiet, tuning into every minute sound, though this didn’t deter some of us from trying to snack while it wasn’t our turn!

Discovering a salamander while exploring our surroundings

Honing shelter building skills using small scale designs

Learning how to move silently during a game of Fire Keeper

Finally, we wrapped up our day with a game of Eagle Eye and a quick game of Spider’s Web. Utilizing our freshly tuned sneaking skills we picked our way through the foliage trying to remain undetected as we played our games. During our time we heard a Pileated Woodpecker and many other native birds, had numerous friendly canines run over greet our group, and of course got lost in play for hours at a time. With the end of our outing drawing near it was hard for the mentors to call the group in, not because they were acting out, but because we were just having too much fun and didn’t want to be the ones who put an end to the playful joy that everyone was reveling in. But alas, we had to go. With a closing circle of gratitude we had an overwhelming genuineness and sincerity that warmed the mentor’s hearts. There is nothing quite like taking a day to play games and explore the forest. The Roosevelt Elk Calves proved again that they are a tightly knit group that knows how to get lost in play and exploration while exemplifying how a bunch of awesomely unique personalities can unite as a one. We played, we explored, shared some laughs, and even found a salamander! I’d call that a successful outing.

Make sure to check out the rest of our photos from the outing here!

Branch Hoppers and Roosevelt Elk Calves initiate Spring 2016 service

You've probably heard it quoted: “Timing is everything in life!” That was certainly the case last Sunday as the Branch Hoppers gathered to initiate the service component of the Boys Explorers Club spring 2016 season at Connelly Creek. Their start time - 10:00 am; April shower (downpour, really!) commencement - 9:50 am. It’s a shame we don’t have a photo of mentor Brian and a succession of parents huddling under a raised minivan tailgate to complete service paperwork in a driving rain. Thank you, parents, for your patience and flexibility through what had to be one of the roughest starts to an outing in some time.

After a short walk to the service site, we found ourselves gawking at Reed Canary Grass as tall as 

April showers

mentor Brian (I know, really tall!). This invasive plant is quite the fighter. Each of the last several seasons, we’ve stomped down the grass and covered it with bark mulch. And each time we return, so has the grass. Fortunately, we have more than one arrow in our quiver. The long term solution is to deprive Reed Canary Grass of its much loved sun all year around. So, we’ve planted alder trees that will provide shade when fully grown. Until then, we’re engaged in a tug of war with the grass. 

As we began to dig into the pile of bark mulch provided by Bellingham Parks and Rec (with tools provided by the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, or NSEA), the Roosevelt Elk Calves (REC) arrived as if to bolster our resolve in the face of our wily, stubborn adversary. The REC, 9 and 10 years old, are a bit younger than the Branch Hoppers (BH). This puts the BH in the position of role models for the younger boys, a challenge they accepted with gusto. Before long, shovels were scooping, buckets and even garbage cans full of mulch were being ferried to the newly flattened grass, and rakes were spreading mulch. As one of our BEC mottos emphasizes, “Many hands Make Light Work.”

Lopper brigade

A select crew was also working to cut back and uproot the few remaining Himalayan Blackberry bushes in the “front” part of the service area. It was about this time when a park neighbor came around to thank us for our work and to ask us to leave some of the foliage as a screen for the back of her property. This we were happy to do because we could see how that helped her and because the Bellingham Parks representatives have stressed with us the importance of limiting our efforts to the park boundaries. What at first might seem like a good-hearted deed can, viewed from a different perspective, cause unforeseen issues. In BEC, we endeavor to act with integrity, to “Walk Your Talk” (see Mottos); in this case, we focused on balancing our desire to pursue the grass and blackberries to every corner of that parcel of land with the needs and desires of the park neighbors and the Parks Department. As members of their explorers club group, these boys are practicing behaviors that will serve them well as adult members of our larger society. Everything is connected; sensing the issues and opportunities associated with that relationship is a sign of maturation for these boys. 

Through lunch and water breaks, the BH and REC groups continued to attack the mulch pile. Come 

Impressive effort

early afternoon and we realized they were going to deplete the entire heap! Such industry! 

Well, as mentioned above, timing is everything. The shower at the start of the day meant we were working while wet, an additional challenge we accepted in gratitude for the nourishing rain. Now, timing was more in our favor. The bulk of our work was finished with time for some fun. The Branch Hoppers, who you’ll remember had started first, channeled their creative energies to an impromptu game they called “Double spiders web tag”. Think Capture the Flag….and more. What really struck me was their creativity and fun approach. It’s a game that may never be played again, but it looked fun.

Giving thanks!

The Roosevelt Elk Calves turned their attention to the remaining gnarly blackberries toward the back of the site. Even after having worked for a few hours on the mulch pile, the REC continued their enthusiasm for this, one of the most physically demanding tasks in service. In fact, they even figured out how to make if fun by competing for the biggest root. 

Both groups showed once again their positive attitude and inner strength in their approach to this task. The grass and the blackberries are worthy adversaries and neither is very good for spawning salmon. The effort is worthy and your explorers are more than up to the task. Look here for more photos from our outing.