With excitement brewing, the Roosevelt Elk Calves and their mentors gathered at the southeast corner of Lake Padden Park to prepare for their final exploration of the season. The forests that surround Lake Padden Park are a little different from the forests that the boys have been exploring this season. There are a few stands of older Douglas fir and Western hemlock that almost beg you to step off the trail and wander about and it was one such location that the mentors had in mind for our destination. The explorers and mentors decided that the opening meeting and distribution of jobs should be postponed until we had traveled into the forest and had left the busy parking area behind.
As we left the lake behind we traveled through groves of Big Leaf maple, Red alder and Western red cedar that gave way to patches of wetlands along the margins of upper Padden Creek. After a slow climb out of the wetland zone we stepped out into the sunshine of the powerline coridor. The time was right for the opening meeting. The explorers and mentors were able to get jobs assigned and gear passed out and have a snack while dodging runners, walkers, dogs and horses. The Roosevelt Elk Calves were ready to head to a quieter section of the forest so onward they climbed. After a brief hike and a couple of rounds of HIDE!, we arrived at a fantastic mixed stand of Douglas-Fir and Western Hemlock. Many of the trees were likely 200+ years old! After stepping off the trail one of the mentors was transformed into a deer and the Explorers and steve found the predatory energy of cougars. The chase was on, but it proved challenged to follow this wiley mentor off the trail through the undergrowth of the forest floor. The Roosevelt Elk Calves ran, stalked, crawled and stumbled their way after their mentor finally catching him in a small grove of Cedar trees. From this vantage point it was clear that we needed to explore this corner of the park and get to know it!
There was little convincing needed to start a game of spider's web with the boys, which is a fantastic game for learning the contours of the landscape as you carefully sneak towards the spider and the difficult to reach food source. Our previous games had been in challenging locations, but a stand of large old trees tends to have lots of open space under the canopy. Mentors love places like this for these games because there are so many fantastic places to hide if you let yourself crawl along under the Sword Ferns and along the decaying logs that carpet the forest floor. After nearly one and a half hours of sneaking and searching the mentors called the boys in to recap the game and talk more about strategy, stealth, and sportsmanship. Everybody was dirty, smiling, and tired from a great game!
To finish the day the Roosevelt Elk Calves found a quiet place in forest that had now become familiar from sneaking and hiding for a Sit Spot. The boys and mentors found places against the trunks of trees, on comfortable old logs and right down in the duff for a few minutes of peaceful contemplation in the fading light of the afternoon. The sound of the mentor's crow call brought the boys into the closing meeting not only the outing but also the fall. Steve and Greg had sage words for the boys about their journey as a group thus far. The Roosevelt Elk Calves have become a solid group and the coming spring season should usher in some exciting opportunities to hone our skills of communication, leadership, and awareness. What an excellent beginning! A heartfelt circle of thanks was created as we honored each other and the forest for another great outing.
Realizing that the explorers and mentors had only 15 minutes to return to the parking lot the group raced back towards waiting parents. Despite running and racing, we emerged from the forest a bit late to find a host of smiling faces eagerly awaiting stories from these outstanding boys. It is a wonderful sight to see all the love and support awaiting these fellows when they return from these outings. Thank you parents for your support this season! Spending time with your boys has been such a privilege. We are already looking forward to Spring!
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