The Black-Tail Deer Traverse Galby Lane to Lake Padden

The Black-Tailed Deer 2016-17 year kicked off with a traverse from Galby Lane to Lake Padden. Once we had all arrived the group headed into the woods in search of a location big enough to hold an opening meeting that was also dog poop free. Looking around the circle their was some new members of our group. The Explorers introduced themselves to one another and our guest mentor for the day Holly Rodger. Holly explained that she was covering for a new mentor named Jedidiah and that she is the coordinator of our Community Programs and a mentor for the Girls Explorers Club.

Recognizing the groups need to revisit our Explorers Club culture the mentors asked the group to think about the vital questions we ask each other before embarking on any exploration:

• What are the hazards of this location?
• What do you do if you get lost?
• What animals and plants might we encounter?
• How should we treat our fellow group members?
• What can we do to respect the place where in?
• What is our plan for the day?

Once our minds were oriented to our location the mentors explained our plan for the day and framed the skill for the Fall, Navigation. For the next three outings the group would be undergoing a series of traverses. Once the group was familiar with the nature of a traverse we handed out the jobs we would need along the way. Our Explorer Club jobs are not only ones that are required of an expedition team, they also model the interdependency we share as a group and with our natural environment.

Handing the map to our Front Scout we opened it and found our location in the South Lake Padden forest. Pulling out a compass one of the boys learned to hold their hand out flat and take a reading on which direction was North. Pairing their bearing with the map they shifted North on the map to align with North on the compass. The mentors explained that the map was now oriented with the landscape.

Quickly the boys realized there were two different way to get to our pick-up location. Looking at the topography lines and mile marker lines on the map the boys determined that one route was much longer and involved lots of elevation gain and the other was shorter and had a few interesting natural history features along the way.

Our Tribal Elder for the day circled the group up and led them in the group decision-making process. After taking a vote the group was mostly in consensus about which trail they were going to navigate, but a few wanted to take the longer route. After going around the circle and listening to the reason for each decision the group collaborated and compromised, deciding that they might go less distance on the shorter route, but would be able to explore more of the surrounding area.  

Before we headed out one of the boys revealed a feather he had found lying next to him. Examining the feather one of the boys identified it as a Woodpecker. Holly pointed out the white spots near the base and the sharp point at the end of the feather. Holly went on to explain that this point acts similarly to the tree spikes an Arborist uses to scale a tree, allowing in our case the Downy or Hairy Woodpecker to balance as it excavates the cavities in dead trees. What a cool natural history find!

Hiking down the trail the boys searched for Pileated Woodpecker cavities in trees while playing rounds of an Explorer Club favorite game of Hide! South Lake Padden has beautiful ecology; the group passed through stall stands of Western Hemlock, Grand Fir, Western Red Cedar, and Doug Fir. The mentors let the group know that one way we could tell this forest was a little older was by the amount of dead snags that stood throughout the forest. Looking at some of them closer the boys started to notice the stages of decomposition throughout the forest. Calling the group over the boys examined a Douglas Fir stump for fatwood (resin impregnated grains wood inside stumps that are resilient to rot) and learned that it could make excellent fire starter in a survival situation.

Coming to a junction in the trail the boys found a map of our location on small sign attached to trail marker. Orienting the map the boys used the cardinal direction to stay on their chosen traverse route. Arriving at lunch rock the group hydrated and refueled while we played a few rounds of an advanced form of Hide called Eagle’s Eye. They boys had a great time and didn’t want to leave. The mentors reminded them that we were on a traverse and need to keep better awareness of our location to the parent pick up spot.

Heading down the trail we made a few more group navigation decisions and found a giant downed Western Hemlock. Immediately the boys started to climb all over it and the mentor stopped the group reminding them to keep safety in their minds as they scaled the tall root mass. Walking the trunk of the tree over a wetland the boys navigated without touching the ground using a network of downed trees. Simultaneously we heard a Raven croakus call overhead as if marveling at our behavior. If flew right over us allowing the boys to see it large wingspan and fanned tail.

The group grew tired as we began to get closer to the Lake Padden. Stopping to look at a Maple that made an umbrella over the trail mentor Steve explained to the group the difference between Vine Maple and a Big Leaf Maple. He went on to explain that Vine Maples were extremely strong and he had used them before to ascend trail avalanche gullies in North Cascades. Hanging off of the thickest trunk the Vine Maple halfway uprooted and hung over the trail as a perfect clothesline for a oncoming biker.

The group worked for a half and hour to try and pull each section of the Vine Maple off of the trail while holding it up for oncoming trail traffic. They even enlisted the help of a fellow hiking group, but in the end all the group’s applied physics and might, couldn’t move the tree. Tying a Wild Whatcom bandana around the tree the group left the situation as best we could until the mentors were able to return with a pack saw.

Already five minutes late the group circled up and gave some thanks. The boys expressed gratitude for reconnecting with their group members, for the challenge of the traverse, for games and food, for new members and guest mentors, and for watching their mentor struggle with the puzzle of the Vine Maple incident (who in turn expressed his gratitude for humility and learning right along side of the boys).

The Black-Tailed Deer really stepped up this outing, improving their interpersonal communication and ability to speak their truths when needed. Our mentors are thankful for a strong start to our 2016-17 year and for supportive and caring families that make up this group.

For more photos from the day please visit this photo album. 

The Black Tailed Deer Spend a Windy Day at Lake Padden

Sunday’s outing with the Black-Tailed Deer was a powerful example that we are subject to our natural environment; that in order to thrive and explore in all of our wonderful and unique seasons we have to adapt and carefully track the land and weather.  March, much like November, is a windy month in Whatcom County due to the constant fluctuation between high and low pressure systems. 

As outdoor leaders we must be hyper vigilant in tracking the forecast, which often changes the night before or morning of our outings. As an organization we choose not to run outings in sustained winds of over 30 mph.

Parents we thank you for being flexible in the wake of shifting outing times on an already challenging day of springing our clocks forward an hour. As shepherds of the Explorers while on outings, it is our staff’s foremost task to care for the physical and emotional safety of the group.

As parents arrived at the Lake Padden parking lot, the Explorers headed out onto the baseball field to play a name game with our new Boys EC Mentor, Bobby Faller. Once the group was acquainted we held an opening circle. The Mentors explained to the group that a powerful storm, forecasted to bring gusts of winds up to 70 mph, was building and would be arriving from the south a few hours after the end of our outing. 

Taking a moment to track back to our first fall season together, the group remembered being out in the pouring rain at Arroyo Park and having to be preventative in order to stay warm and dry. Since every Explorer is a leader on our outings it was everyone’s job to embrace two of our mottos, Be Prepared and Be Here Now. Being Prepared meant being ready at a moments notice to gather our stuff and head for the field; Being Here Now meant that even though we’d play games and have fun we needed to keep an awareness of the strength of the wind and what direction it was coming from at all times.

The mentors empowered the group, explaining that the advantage of being at a location like Lake Padden was that we had the ability to skirt the fringes of the woods and come back to the field and shelters if the wind picked up.

Turing our attention towards the outing we went over our skill for the season, The Art of Harvest: Plants. Passing out jobs for the day the boys were tasked with finding a patch of harvestable Stinging Nettle to make tea at the end of the day. 

After we revisited a little group culture the boys had been sitting for almost twenty minutes and had become quite unfocused and antsy. The mentors challenged the boys to hold their focus for a little bit longer.

Breaking our circle we headed past the Dog Park and arrived at a junction in the trail. Circling up our tribal elder for the day facilitated a quick group decision and we headed up towards off leash dog area. The calm before the storm was pleasant and the sights and smells of spring were abundant. Hiking along we checked out the flowering Salmonberries and Indian Plum and marveled at the young Swamp Cabbage pushing it’s way up through the wetlands. Doug Fir branches blanketed the forest floor, remnants of the previous storm. It was powerful for the group to realize that this event had only happened three days prior to our outing.

The boys called out for a game of Spider’s Web in a valley next to the wetland, but mentors reminded the group that we wanted to find our Nettle patch first in case we had to leave the woods early. Once the boys found out that Nettles grew in moist soil in area with plenty of light they quickly navigated to a small stream nearby. Sure enough we found a healthy patch of nettles and filled our stove pot. Before we harvested the mentors helped the group identify Stinging Nettle’s characteristics: a tooth or serrated leaf edge, a heart shaped leaflet, and a opposite branching structure. The group was allowed to harvest with two caveats, first that we only took 25% of the patch that we found, leaving some for other animals and some to go to seed for future seasons; second that we never harvest or eat something in Explorers club without talking to a mentor. The boys got familiar with the Stinging Nettle’s greatest defense, Formic Acid, ouch!

The boys snacked, rehydrated, and headed back down to play a game of Spider’s Web. As we set up the course we revisited the rules and got our gear ready in case we needed to leave. The group agreed to play with honor and spread out over the course disappearing into the underbrush. For a solid forty-five minutes the boys crawled and sneaked through the Vine Maples and Salmonberry until we felt a gentle breeze blow through the trees, which then gradually started to strengthen.

Giving a crow call the group met at our backpacks and headed for the field. As we left the woods the sky opened up and it started to pour. The group had lunch under one of the picnic shelter and tried to wait out the downpour. We waited to no avail and eventually decided to embrace the rain and play a few field games to warm up. We laughed and ran until the rain relented and the wind started back up. The boys took a fifteen-minute sit spot next to the lake and watched the American Coots and Mallard Ducks take refuge near the grassy wind blinds on the shoreline.

Calling the group back in a few of the boys had been investigating a clay deposit on the edges of the lake and were completely covered from head to toe with mud. Feeling the inspiration the group, mentors included, embraced the weather and went slipping and sliding in the mud. Our Nettle tea had reached a boil and we gathered under the shelter to share apples and have a circle of thanks. The mentors praised the group for Grasping the Nettle and exploring safely on the fringes of the storm. Through their courage, awareness, and ability to push back a little discomfort the Explorers embraced the weather and made a powerful start to their first spring season as a group.

For more photos from the day please visit the Black-Tailed Deer photo album.