The Townsend's Chipmunks and Gray Wolves Team Up for Life & Death in the Forest!

It was a dark and rainy day, but that didn't stop two groups of Explorers from having a blast at Lookout Mountain!  The Townsend's Chipmunks and the Gray Wolves teamed up this past weekend for a big game of Life & Death in the Forest, a game which tested the Explorers' minds and bodies to the limit while also teaching them a bit about the natural balance of ecosystems.

Given the challenging weather conditions, it was no surprise that the boys were a bit subdued on arrival at the trailhead.  While temperatures weren't especially low, the volume of rainfall was obviously going to stretch the edges of comfort that day.  Luckily, everyone had come prepared with insulating and waterproof layers!  And, as an  added bonus, the mentors had time before the Explorers arrived to set up a couple of tarp shelters at base camp.

Dude, are you going to wear a rain jacket?

Thank goodness for tarps!

After getting settled in, the team circled up to learn about the game.  Life & Death in the Forest is probably the most complicated game we play in Explorers Club.  The course is set up ahead of time with bandannas marking the boundaries and, throughout the playing area, there are cards that show food sources and water sources.  Each player is assigned a role as an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore and given specific instructions on what resources they need to survive.  Before time runs out, herbivores need to find five different food sources and four different water sources without losing all seven of their "lives" (lives are tracked by rubber bands worn around the wrist).  An herbivore loses a "life" when tagged by a hungry omnivore or carnivore.  Omnivores are a bit more complicated.  They need to find three food sources, four water, and also catch three herbivores.  Carnivores need to catch seven herbivores or omnivores for food and find four water sources.  Sounds simple, right?  Try explaining that to a big group of teenagers...

The discussion started like this...

...and ended more like this as the rain really got going.

Ultimately, the lesson we try to impart to the Explorers in this game is the importance of balance.  If the boys choose to allow too many carnivores, they quickly realize that there aren't enough prey animals to support the population.  Likewise, too many omnivores can lead to the same problem.  With this group, the Explorers' group discussions reached this conclusion pretty quickly and the game was better for it.  We saw a very high level of engagement in the game and it was a lot of fun listening in on some of the strategic planning.

High-speed pursuit

Where's Waldo?

If your Explorer was a bit worn out at the end of the day, he earned it!  The mentoring team was proud of the focus the boys showed in learning a tough game, the effort they put into playing, and the strong sense that these groups have learned to "Play with Honor", as we often say.

The long road home

Great Job Townsend's Chipmunks and Gray Wolves!

Check out our other pictures here!

Townsend's Chipmunks Learn to Sharpen Knives at Lake Padden

The Townsend’s Chipmunks arrived at Lake Padden to a chill in the air and frost on the field. Finding a sunny spot the group circled up for an opening meeting. Making a plan for the day the boys decided they would like to explore the off-leash dog trails, play a round of Spider’s Web, and spend some time carving and learning to sharpen knives.

After sitting for ten minutes the group started to get cold so we headed down to the field to play and generate some heat with few rounds of Tail Tag. The Explorers dodged and weaved as they tried to pull each other’s bandanas off. The whole group engaged in this activity and played with honor in the spirit of healthy competition. The boys used the frozen ground to slide towards one another and make dynamic evasive maneuvers, what fun!

Feeling a little warmer and in high spirits we headed out in search of a spot off-trail to engage in some skills. Crossing over Padden Creek the Explorers noticed lots of dead trout floating in the water. The Mentors explained that there was a recent toxic blue and green algae bloom on the North side of Lake Padden that made it unsafe for humans and pets to swim in the lake. From the looks of it the algae had either come from the creek or traveled up it, killing the fish that lived there.

This was a great time to discuss the importance of protecting our freshwater systems and the impact humans can have on lakes and streams by polluting them with common household products that we might not be aware of until we experience first hand.

Finding a sunny and quiet spot off-trail the boys ate their lunch while the mentors demonstrated how to sharpen a carving knife using sharpening blocks. A few of the Explorers really took to sharpening their knives. Running the knife blade at an angle along the blocks, the boys went through successional sanding grits starting at 320 and ending at 2,500. The whole process took 300 hundred focused and controlled passes along the sharpening blocks and the mentors were impressed with the boys attention to detail and commitment to the process.

The Townsend’s Chipmunks group dynamic and energy is unlike many other BEC groups. These boys have a heightened sense of awareness and care for one another and their role within the group all while holding a strong ability to focus and be present on outings. These traits benefit the group because it allows mentors to pass along skills that require a high degree of patience and concentration, as well as making group decision-making processes smoother.

After a solid hour and a half of working on knife skills the boys reached their saturation level and called for a game of Spider’s Web. Circling up the group set a time limit for the game, laid out a plan for the rest of their day after the game, and then got to setting up the course. The boys ended up making the game course quite challenging for themselves and the spider took full advantage of this, further increasing the level of difficulty.

Throughout the game the boys began to get frustrated with the Spider and by the end of the allotted time for the game group members were beginning to blame one another which signaled to the mentors that we were in need of some interpersonal work. The mentors reminded the boys that the point of Spider’s Web was to have a good time and that it was important to play with honor, which meant accepting whatever challenges the game brought and keeping a positive attitude while doing it. Our aim as mentors is for these lessons and experiences on outings to transfer into tools and values that the Townsend’s Chipmunks can use to approach issues that arise in their own lives moving forward.

I don’t know if it was the chill in the air or energy level of the group, but the boys were slow to pack up and had trouble sharing the trail with the myriad of mountain bikers, runners, and dog walkers that passed by. Stopping the boys on the way back to the parking lot Tim reminded them of why it was important to share the trail and be respectful of other parks users, and that we represented our organization while on outings. In Explorers Club we are slowly building the foundations of community awareness and participation in our Explorers and moments like these help our participants understand how they are connected to others and that their actions matter.

Circling back up on the frozen field we shared apples and our thanks for the day. As mentors we are grateful to work with these maturing Townsend’s Chipmunks and for the unique energy and opportunity their group brings. We are also thankful for the trust and support we receive from our wonderful families, which allows us to engage in this transformative work. We wish all our families a wonderful holiday season filled with laughter, joy, connection, and restfulness.

For more photos from the outing please visit the Townsend’s Chipmunks' photo album from the day.

The Townsend's Chipmunks Practice Knife Skills and Utilize Teamwork

Practicing our carving skills

What would you bring with you from our modern culture into a survival situation if you could bring only one item? Many people answer this question by first asking another question, "what kinds of tools necessary for survival are the most difficult to replicate in the woods?" A tent seems like it would be a poor choice if you only could bring one item; shelter is easily created in a variety of ways in our Northwest forests. What about matches or a lighter? Making fire is a skill that takes time to hone, but once learned, fire by friction is a reliable way to make a fire and have heat.

The Townsend’s Chipmunks were asked this question in our opening circle today, and many of them identified a knife as the item that they would choose to bring with them. They succeeded in recognizing the important human needs in a survival situation: shelter, water, heat and food. They agreed that the reason that they would want to bring their knives was because a knife could help them secure all four of those needs. Today, the Townsend’s Chipmunks got lots of time to practice using their knives for a variety of tasks. They also got to use a saw to harvest some wood for their personal projects. Finally, we ended our outing with a triumphant display of teamwork as the flies outsmarted the spider in an exciting game of Spiders Web.

After opening circle, we trekked back into the forest and eventually set up a base camp with the understanding that some of us needed space and time to explore, run, and play. A few of us stayed close to camp and half-jokingly asked the mentors if we could have a fire (must have been from all of that survival talk at opening circle). To their moderate surprise, the mentors agreed to allow them to make a fire, with a two key rules. 1) The mentors will not help build, start or maintain the fire and 2) their knife and their ferrorods are the only tools that they could use that they brought with them. With that, the Townsend’s Chipmunks set off on their impromptu challenge. Thirty minutes later, after many attempts at lighting a few different kinds of tinder that they found, we had no fire, just a bit more wear on our ferrorods. After the boys had decided that they lacked the necessary skill to start a fire, they debriefed their fire making methods with the mentors. Together, we were able to recognize that while attempting to make a fire they had done some things well and that in many areas, they still had space to learn and grow in skill. The Art of Fire will come at another time for these boys, but it was fun and illuminating to see them put their collective skill together and attempt to make a fire.

Attempting to start a fire

After our fire challenge, we chose to move out into the open area of the clear cut and peruse the burn piles for quality carving wood. Before we harvested any wood, we discussed what kinds of characteristics we wanted our wood to have, and then chose specific types and sections of wood to match those desires. We practiced a variety of cuts together. Some of us got to baton for the first time, a crucial skill for processing wood in the field. Also, others of us got a chance to learn about and use a pack saw.  

Using a knife to carve

Using a larger knife to baton

Getting some practice with a pack saw

After we had had our fill of knife work, we headed to a small patch of woods within which we knew we would play spiders web. As the game progressed, the spider (Mentor Joey) became more and more confident that this game would end in a victory for him. The food source had been moved very close to the web and he had a good perch from which to see all of the flies. What he had failed to take into account was the height of the ferns! The flies were able to slowly sneak off of the web and lay down under the ferns so that Joey could not see them. Then, they got the food source (a bandana) and passed it along their human chain of bodies lying below thick sword fern fronds. Joey was totally unaware of their plot until he heard a chorus of cheers that indicated that the flies had somehow won! This game of Spiders Web was a great illustration of cooperation. It turns out that every single fly touched the food source at least once on its long journey through the woods and back to the web. If this information is lacking context because you have never played Spiders Web, please ask your explorer to explain it to you; they will likely have their own memories of this specific game that we shared together.

A great spot for Spiders Web

We ended our outing as we always do with a closing circle where we have a chance to practice our Attitude of Gratitude. This is always a special time and it was inspiring and grounding to hear what the boys were thankful for.

To see the rest of the pictures from our outing, click here!

Exploring Clayton Beach with the Townsend's Chipmunks

With a beautiful day to explore, the Townsend's Chipmunks met up at Clayton Beach for their final outing of the season. We didn't waste any time getting down into the forest to check out all the wonders waiting for us.

Checking out the waterfall

Tricking the mentors into thinking there was a big cliff (there wasn't!)

We even fit in a game of Spider's Web!

After feeling satisfied with our time in the forest we pushed on with our outing eager to get to the beach and the sunshine. Along the way we even found time to get some walking sticks for us to practice our carving.

Working on walking sticks by the water

Hard to beat our carving spot...

Spreading out we began searching for crab and other critters

We even found a lizard!

and.....

caught it!

This was such a fun outing to be a part of. We got to play in the forest, carve on the rocks, search for critters on the beach, and even get up close and personal with a local lizard.

The Townsend's Chipmunks not only took a big step in responsibility by learning The Art of Carving, but they also took a big step as a group that communicates, overcomes conflict, gets excited to explore together, and is able to take on the greater responsibilities that come with demonstrating that this group is greater than the sum of its parts.

There is no doubt this season was a challenge as we honed our focus to carve, harnessed our energy to refine our collaboration skills, and stretched our edges to build resiliency. This season was also a blast for mentors and Explorers alike. This group took the next step to grow closer, build upon past memories to foster those for the future, and exudes a desire to explore, learn, and grow not only as individuals but together alongside one another as a group, as the Townsend's Chipmunks.

Take a moment to check out the rest of our photos from this outing here!

Townsend's Chipmunks Continue to Carve

The Townsend Chipmunks met on this drizzly late winter/early spring day having been robbed of one hour of sleep by daylight saving time. Fortunately, any of the fatigue that this caused disappeared as soon as we took our first few breaths of fresh, cool forest air. We were excited to check out some shelters that we had built here on a previous outing. We were also eager to continue practicing safe knife techniques that we learned about on our last outing.

Practicing safe knife usage

At Lookout Mountain, cedars, Douglas firs, hemlocks, maples, and alders reach high into the canopy while vine maple, grand fir and indian plum form the understory. The abundant nurse logs and stumps provide a perfect growing substrate for young hemlocks and huckleberry. We felt lucky to be able to have a pretty healthy patch of woods in which to play, learn, and deepen our relationship with the natural world.

As with most of the BEC outings at Lookout Mountain this winter/spring, the first order of business was to check out the deer carcass that was found earlier this winter. It has been interesting to visit the carcass and see it in varying degrees of decay. We noticed that only a few of the bones remained, including most of the spine, and these bones had been picked clean. We also observed that in the absence of rotting meat, the smell really wasn't so bad.

Not much remains of this deer, the forest has distributed its energy and nutrients back into the ecosystem

After finding the shelters that we wanted to check on, we set up camp and had some time for free play and exploration. After this, we began our first carving project in BEC: chopsticks! All of the BEC groups that learn carving start with this simple yet challenging task. Carving chopsticks provides lots of practice with some of the basic carving techniques while at the same time introducing us to the patience, calm and attention to detail that any carving task requires. The mentors were happy to see us respecting our blood circles and generally having good intentional focus surrounding carving. We look forward to having a completed set of chopsticks by the end of this spring season!

The chopstick blanks that Tim harvested for us today

As growing children, we are constantly in a state of learning about the outside world as well as our own selves, or, our 'inside world'. Learning about ourselves includes recognizing the feelings that we are having and acting on those feelings in increasingly healthy and responsible ways. Today, many of us found ourselves feeling antsy and restless during our closing circle of thanks.  There are many times that we are allowed to be silly and loud and goofy in explorers club, but during our sharing of gratitude is not this time. Today, we had to be reminded that, even though we may feel the urge to blurt out distracting comments or have side conversations with our fellow explorers, we need to be intentional about holding our focus during circle. We were reminded that this is because when we are in circle, we acknowledge that this is a time to speak from the heart and seek to listen. Listening to each other is the foundation on which we build respect in our community. It is arguably the most important thing we will learn to do in Explorers Club. We look forward to holding circle many more times during our tenure with BEC and getting the opportunity to practice our intentional listening skills.

We finished our day off with some practice using an atlatl (a primitive hunting tool) that Tim had made. We realized that this was something that didn't come automatically and it gave us lots of respect for those humans who relied on this kind of tool in order to eat and survive.

Practice with an atlatl

Overall, we had a great (and mostly dry) day that included some great carving practice, a discussion about personal management and a few games mixed in as well! Be sure to check out the rest of the pictures from the outing here.

Townsend's Chipmunks Delve into the Art of Carving

The Townsend’s Chipmunks met up at North Galbraith Mountain for a highly anticipated outing. Not only were we returning to the location of our first outing together in the fall, but today we were going to delve into the exciting world of carving and all the responsibilities that accompany learning how to safely handle and use a knife. Starting things off we hit the trail and made our way back to the bike jumps where every group of Explorers can’t help themselves but take a few runs on an imaginary bike leaping from jump to jump. With our wiggles out it was time for opening circle to discuss a plan for the day, divvy out jobs, and introduce our volunteers for the day to the group.

With that out of the way it was time to head out through the deforested land, harvesting carving materials along the way, and setting up base camp in a small stand of preserved forest beside the stream.

Gathering up for opening circle

Trudging through the recently deforested landscape being developed

Taking some time to discuss "widow makers" and other hazards of the forest

Inspecting the stump of a once mighty Western Red Cedar

While the group knocked the rust off of their shelter building skills constructing a debris hut, one of the mentors pulled aside pairs of Explorers for an introduction into carving. Working closely with two Explorers at a time ensured proper oversight and critique while the boys situated themselves properly to begin carving. With a small, fresh branch of Big Leafe Maple, each Explorer was tasked with removing the bark, carving a pencil point, a flat point, and learning how to accurately cut a segment of the branch off. All these skills incorporated deep and shallow cuts, a couple different carving techniques, and the ever vigilant mentor reminding the Townsend’s Chipmunks to maintain safe positioning of body, hands, and blade as different cuts promoted the temptation to lose sight of safety in order to get better leverage, angles, etc.

Beginning to carve making sure to always cut down and away

Continuing to work on cleaning off all that bark!

Remembering to make sure we cut out in front of our bodies and not being tempted to bring the knife in closer for better leverage.

With everyone getting a chance to be introduced to the basics of carving, it was time to check in on the earth shelter and transition to the end of our outing. After a damp and drippy morning, the sun had come out to dry and warm the forest. Spreading out the Townsend’s Chipmunks took fifteen minutes for a “sit spot” where everyone takes time to reflect on the outing and observe the natural world in solitude under the guidance of a few rules: Solo, Still, Silent, Safe, and focusing on observing with our Senses. This time offered the opportunity for mentors and Explorers alike to reflect on the big step forward the group took today in learning carving. Not only does this mean the Townsend’s Chipmunks will be able to utilize the incredible versatility of a knife as a tool to aid our explorations, but the group will now, and forever, be held to a higher standard of maturity and responsibility. Despite the playful nature of this group, there is no doubt they are eager for greater responsibility and today they proved they were up for the task. After taking this big step we can’t wait to see how this group continues to grow and develop over the spring season as they demonstrate a greater level of responsibility and maturity while carving that will hopefully begin to permeate throughout other aspects of our outings, group dynamics, and development as individuals both in and out of Explorers Club. 

Gathering in the sunshine for closing circle after a peaceful sit spot

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