Scavenging at Clayton Beach: Plants, Sea Critters, and Sand Sleds

The Roosevelt Elk Calves finished their 2017 season with an epic day at Clayton Beach. We truly had a little bit of everything on this outing from exploration, to harvesting and studying plants, to romping around at the beach on the sand dunes.

Investigating the waterfall in the ravine

We started the day off with an opening circle to set up a game plan for our outing then trekked down to the gorgeous ravine in the forest above Clayton Beach. Here we took some time to explore the area through play while the mentors set up a plant identification scavenger hunt. With the lesson prepped, it was time for the Roosevelt Elk Calves to get briefed on their mission. A variety of leaves and flowers and stems from numerous native plants lay before them on a bandana. Their task was to explore the area in search of each of the plants and return to duplicate the same pattern of plants on another bandana. Of course there were some easy ones like Sword Fern, Western Red Cedar, and others popular plants, but mixed in were a variety of lesser known plants that were harder to find and pick out the subtle differences from another plant. Of course a Red Huckleberry looks different from a Snowberry, but this time of year we can only see their small ovate leaves and we must understand the difference between “alternate” and “opposite” growth patterns to tell them apart (ask your Explorer for a pop quiz on this!). 

A variety of native plants to find

One plant in particular was hard to find: Thimbleberry. In order to find this plant, we broke out our field guide and learned about how to utilize the “ecology” description to get a few hints on where this plant may be growing. Sure enough, once we trekked down near the clearing beside the train tracks we found a whole patch of Thimbleberry growing alongside its good buddy Stinging Nettle!

Taking turns talking about each of the plants we found today

After we discussed the importance of understanding all that the forest has to offer and the many ways we can utilize the forest for food, tools, and medicine through sustainable harvest, it was time to head to the beach. Packing up we cruised down the trail to a low tide! This was perfect for an impromptu crab hunt where the boys searched for the largest specimens they could find (the baby Dungeness won). Our attention soon strayed to the large hill of sand and an opportunistic discovery of a section of plastic siding with a rope for a handle that someone must have built as a sand sled, or at least that’s what we used it as! Taking turns we worked through some discussion on how to ensure everyone got a fair turn and a sand sledding session ensued.

Scowering the rocks for crab

Baby Dungeness!

With just enough time for our closing circle, we gathered back up and took some time to reflect on our spring season, think about what we want to do in the fall, and of course share some thanks and eat apples. The Roosevelt Elk Calves were all thankful for a great day at the beach and mentioned they want to come back to Clayton Beach in the fall. Additionally we took some time to reflect on how we developed our own definitions of harvest, how to identify and collect different plants, collect materials for Atl Atls, fire starting materials, and minimizing our impact on the land through sustainable harvesting. 

Sand sledding on the dune!

Overall this felt like a complete season; we learned, we played, we explored, and we grew as a group and as individuals. As a mentor it is fulfilling to see this group coming into their own, creating a sense of comradery and community with one another, and channel their exuberant energy into a balance of developing their wilderness skills and playing together in a natural environment. Although they likely feel they are “learning” during our lessons and discussions in circle, they are no doubt learning just as much about themselves, others, and the environment during their “free play” jumping down the sand dunes, searching for that monster crab, or scampering around on the rocks. With a solid season to build off of we can’t wait to see what fall has in store for the Roosevelt Elk Calves.

Check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!

Playing together on a make-shift driftwood teeter-totter

Roosevelt Elk Calves Harvest at N. Lake Whatcom

The Roosevelt Elk Calves met at the base of Stewart mountain for their second outing of the spring season. As we gathered in the light drizzle, we explored the interesting woods surrounding the parking lot in this location. The pit and mound topography here is indicative of a healthy forest and is also great for running around and camouflaging in!

This is how the REC gather at the beginning of an outing

Once we were all there and accounted for, we decided to head up toward Stewart Mountain rather than head toward the beach trail on Lake Whatcom. It just didn't really feel like a swimming kind of day.

Opening circle; nobody brought their swimsuit?

We walked for quite a ways and gained some elevation during the first part of our day. We knew that there was a cool area up ahead to explore, so we were willing to put in the effort to hike all the way up there right off the bat.

Hiking up, up, up!

When we made it to a spot that seemed suitable, we were given a choice. The mentors had brought a tarp to set up, and they wanted to know if we wanted to set the tarp up on our own or if we needed their help. We decided that, since we had seen the mentors do this a few times before, we were going to challenge ourselves and see what kind of shelter we could come up with using just a tarp and paracord. To add extra flavor to this challenge, the mentors gave us a ten minute time limit!

The Roosevelt Elk Calves put this up all by themselves, no help needed from the mentors!

At the end of our time, we requested and were granted a one minute extension, just enough time to stake out our guy lines! We came up with a fully functional shelter that we used for snacking and also keeping our backpacks dry.

Since our earth skills focus this season is the Art of Harvest, we decided to practice harvesting materials with which we could build a fire. Some of us worked on collecting tinder, others kindling, and even others larger pieces of dry fuel. The mentors helped us harvest these materials in an specific way, using no living plants and gathering them so that minimal trace is left. This took up a good chunk of our day and we enjoyed connecting our prior knowledge of native plants to this new knowledge surrounding harvesting materials for fire.

Pounding cedar bark for tinder

Utilizing the baton technique in order to make some kindling

With all of our materials prepped, it was time to light the fire

Eventually, we did get a small fire going. The purpose of this fire was to teach us about harvest, so we did not make it big enough to actually warm us up. Even in the absence of significant heat, we still gathered around; we were all drawn toward the fire by the soft orange and yellow flames licking the small pieces of dry wood that we were able to find in this wet forest. Around this fire, we expanded our understanding of harvest and had a very interesting and focused conversation about global resource use and sharing. It was inspiring (and quite impressive!) for the mentors to hear how tuned in all of us kids were to some of these issues. While we certainly did not solve any of the pressing environmental issues of our day, we did get a chance to broaden the scope of our idea of harvest. We started at our own, personal harvesting that we do in the woods and grew this idea to include our collective harvesting that we do as a culture.

Discussing the flow of resources throughout our world

We wrapped up this heady, somewhat intense conversation and finished our day with some free exploration and games. By this time, the threat of rain seemed to dissipate and we packed up our tarp and headed for the parking lot where we would meet our parents.

To see the rest of the pictures from the day, click here!

Plenty to Harvest in the Snow at Lookout Mountain

The Roosevelt Elk Calves arrived to Lookout Mountain on a snowy Saturday. With plenty of energy buzzing around the group as they hurled snowballs at one another it was difficult for the mentors to gather enough focus on developing a game plan for the day. After some time the group’s energy settled down and we decided to hike back in to check on our old debris shelter, continue developing our definition of what harvest means, learn some new harvesting techniques, and maybe even play a game or two!

Gathering snow for a snowball

  Hitting the trail we hiked by snow covered Sword Ferns appreciating the peacefulness the white blanket brought to the forest. Passing by a familiar location the boys remembered jumping down a hillside on their last outing and just had to do it again. While letting the boys play for a bit, the mentors paused the game and had everyone take note of the impact they were leaving on the hillside. Lucky for us we were off the trail, not near a stream or water source that could be further impacted by erosion, and the impact we had wasn’t going to damage any of the trees or plants nearby. That being said, we made sure to take note of what sort of impact a group of Explorers can truly leave, and decided to be more mindful in the future before getting lost in play and disregarding the trace we may be leaving.

Hope you brought your boots!

Heading deeper into the woods we stopped to look at an old deer skeleton the mentors knew had been decaying just off trail for the past few months, then set off for the location of our old debris shelter. Once we arrived we settled in and began exploring, playing games with friends, and working on the debris shelter. But before we got too lost in what we were doing we gathered up for a decision making circle where after ten minutes of goofing around, the mentors really called upon the boys to tap into their ability to focus and make a decision. The Explorers were reminded that one day they would be grown up and in charge of making the big decisions that impact our society and environment. With the pep talk out of the way the group got it together and we were off onto the rest of our outing.

What remains of a young deer. Chewed off ribs and nose of skull suggests feeding by coyotes.

Working on the debris shelter

 After romping around a bit more through exploration and free play, the outing naturally transitioned to learning about harvesting fire materials. First the Roosevelt Elk Calves learned what Western Hemlock was and how to identify it. Next we found where we could find dry, dead hemlock branches for our kindling. Finally, we found a small, dead tree still standing and well off the damp ground to saw into smaller chunks and then baton with our knives into manageable firewood. This all took up the rest of our outing and with a quick closing circle where we gave some thanks and ate some apples we were finished for the day. Hiking out the mentors appreciated the way this group rallied to focus and make the most of our time together. They transitioned seamlessly from play to focused learning and skills building and demonstrated an ability to get it together when asked of them. We will make sure to remember this for the future as this group continues to dig into the Art of Harvest and what harvest, and our relationship to the natural world, means to them. 

Learning how to use a limbing saw to cut up sections of the dead tree

Full bundle of Western Hemlock branches for kindling

 For more photos form our outing check out the photo album!