Salamander Efts and Red Tailed Eyas Learn About Life and Death in the Forest

Meeting up on a chilly morning at Lookout Mountain, the Salamander Efts and Red Tailed Eyas came together as two of the eldest groups in Boys Explorers Club. It has been a tradition over the years that two of the oldest groups of Explorers get together for an outing for an epic games day. The game of the day would be “Life and Death in the Forest” which teaches us about the intricacies of the food web through playful embodiment of those who call the forest home. Herbivores, Omnivores, and Carnivores make up the basic players in the game with food sources, water sources, and medicine sources scattered throughout the playing field. The struggle between life and death becomes surprisingly real when time is running out and the only thing standing between you and that last food source is a hungry Carnivore licking his chops for a shot at one last meal. With many of the Explorers having heard about this game from friends or family, this highly anticipated moment in their Explorers Club career was about to begin.

Gathering together for an opening circle

As we hiked together up the trail, we were immediately faced with both life and death in the forest. This time, however, was no game. At a junction in the trail a dank, decaying aroma crept into our nostrils and made us all pause. Peering through the foliage was eerie sight to behold, ribs, rotten flesh, a hoof, and looking right back at us; a skull. This was a perfect reminder that although for us Life and Death in the Forest is a fun game, for all of our furry and feathered friends it is a very stark reality. Picking our way through the underbrush, we investigated further to find the carcass of a deer. The close proximity to the trail and lack of debris covering the carcass ruled out any cougar as the culprit. Plenty of game trails came in and out of the brush where the carcass was likely indicating coyotes had been feeding here, and perhaps the occasional off leash dog that couldn’t resist a good sniff. The true killer may never be known, but since the deer seemed young in size and without much wear on its teeth, natural causes seemed unlikely. With the droning of cars on Lake Luis Rd still drifting over the hillside, the prime suspect was unfortunately an automobile.

The deer carcass we found in the woods

Moving on from the deer carcass, we continued along the trail chatting amongst ourselves when a brown blur sliced through the canopy overhead. Getting a better angle, we gathered around to observe a Barred Owl perched up at the top of a Red Alder. It lingered long enough for everyone to get a good look before silently swooping away, back into the forest in search of some peace and quiet. Having discovered impeccable instances of both life and death in the forest it was time to get down to business. 

Taking a break from the game to test Tinder Fungus as a coal extender

Traversing off trail we found a good spot to set up base camp and circle up to talk about the day. Having two groups together meant a bigger circle than usual, but everyone seemed to hold focus and let the mentors go over the game plan. With our game set up, the rules explained, and participants prepped, all that was left was to start. The Herbivores got a head start to disperse into the landscape and begin stealthily scouring the forest for food and water. Next the Omnivores were sent off needing to pick a priority of plant food, water, or hunting to begin the game. Finally, the Carnivores were let loose much to the dismay of the Herbivores and Omnivores who now flinched at every twig snapped and fern rustled. Explorers and Mentors alike ran, crawled, climbed, ducked, dove, scurried and scampered. For over half an hour the struggle between life and death was all that mattered. This crash course in survival was graded with a pass or a fail. It didn’t matter how you survived, no style points were awarded, and whether you charged fearlessly into the onslaught or crawled quietly around the melee did not matter as long as you survived. Finally the game was called to an end and despite the mayhem the majority of us survived to see another day… or at least another round!

An unsuspecting Herbivore in search of food and water...

Little did he know it was an ambush!

Finishing our second round of Life and Death in the Forest, we gathered up for some informal free time working on bow drill, testing TinderFungus, or just goofing off with friends. Everyone enjoyed some down time after all the excursion during our games and we soon transitioned into closing circle. Reminding the boys of the need for strong focus, respectful listening, and genuine openness we all took a turn speaking from our hearts and sharing gratitude with the group. Having two of the older groups together for this was a good reminder for the mentors of where the newer, younger groups are striving to be. The Salamander Efts and Red Tailed Eyas have set the bar high for the younger groups through their enthusiasm and energy, thoughtfulness, compassion, and sincerity for themselves, one another, and the natural world. As the Salamander Efts graduation from Boys Explorers Club looms on the horizon, the Red Tailed Eyas are sitting on deck to become the eldest group next fall. We will miss the Salamander Efts as they move on to the Four Shields program, but can’t wait to see how the Red Tailed Eyas respond to their new role a year from now. 

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

Gathering together for a closing circle

 

Salamander Efts Find Their Namesake at Lake Padden

With the rain pouring down the Salamander Efts arrived at Lake Padden knowing they were in for a wet one. Luckily, being comfortable with a cold, wet forest is part of being a salamander and today this group lived up to their name. We were at Lake Padden because of some unfinished business that we left from a spring outing where we got a start on a group shelter but never finished it! Trekking through the downpour, and up a fresh flowing stream that was at one time the trail, we clambered off trail up a steep hillside and at the top found our old shelter right where we left it!

Taking shelter under the tarp for lunch

Getting to work on the roof of our shelter. Giant slabs of Douglas Fir bark made for nice shingles.

Gathering together we decided to set up a tarp shelter to keep us and our gear dry during the outing. This was a great practical pop quiz for the Salamander Efts who managed to get a somewhat passable tarp shelter up before they hunkered under and ate lunch while the mentors and a few of the more determined Explorers put the finishing touches on the shelter utilizing a few specific knots like a Trucker’s Hitch and similar adjustable knots to get the desired tautness of a quality tarp shelter. With our tarp set up we set out to put a roof on our shelter. Gathering more sticks and proper latticing material the structure of the roof was finished. Next onto covering the roof. With some puzzlement one Explorer discovered an old Doug Fir log allowed us to break planks of bark off that we shingled on the roof. Next for debris we scrounged around scooping up armfuls of duff to add insulation to the roof. While doing this we discovered our group’s namesake… twice! Not one, but two separate species of salamander were discovered. What a fitting way to wrap up our outing.

We found or first salamander while gathering debris for our shelter.

Out second discovery of a different species of salamander.

 See if you can figure out which species we discovered on our outing using this guide!

With the roof on, we reflected on what we had accomplished, and what we could improve upon. Again, work ethic and feeling a sense of urgency to complete the shelter was missing this outing. Of course our time on outings is often valued for the fun that can be had goofing off with friends in the forest, but it is important to get into the right headspace when you’re practicing survival skills. We practice so that when we are faced with a real situation we have the confidence in our abilities to stay cool and calm under pressure and execute the skills necessary to stay safe and sound. Luckily, we have plenty more outings to continue to grow and learn how to practice with a purpose. In the end, the Salamander Efts survived, if not thrived, during the rainstorm finishing the roof to their shelter while discovering two species of native salamander along the way. Despite some moments of getting lost in goofing off, when called upon to get it together this group rallied and finally finished what they started in the spring.

With the roof on we reflected on our work and took a moment to review important keys to a survival shelter

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

Salamander Efts Camp Out at Lizard Lake

The Salamander Efts kicked off their fall season with a cam pout up at Lizard Lake. Ever since our first trip to Lizard Lake as a group, the Explorers have persistently asked; “Can we do an overnight here!?” and alas their wishes came true.  Loading up the bus at Samish Woods Montessori, we cruised out along the shores of Lake Samish towards Blanchard Mountain. Reaching the trailhead we unloaded our gear and for the first time the Salamander Efts were able to enjoy the timelessness of a camp out. With no deadline to get back to parents for the rest of the day, we took our time divvying out group gear, getting our packs loaded up, and taking a moment to discuss expeditionary behavior and what we all need to bring with us physically, mentally, and emotionally in order to be safe and efficient wilderness travelers. Preparing for this camp out as though it were a backpack enabled us to get an idea of what it will take if anyone ever wants to participate in a summer backpacking trip with Wild Whatcom.

With our packs loaded up and on our backs we hit the trail. Passing by the quarry, we took some time to investigate the changes since our last time out here. There was a massive amount of stone missing from the hillside and clearly we had found where the logging companies had supplied themselves with the gravel to lay down fresh logging roads on Blanchard. Pushing on, we continued up the old logging road until we hit the trailhead for the Alternate Incline Trail that would take us up to Lizard Lake. Some of the boys wanted to play a game of HIDE, but we realized our new mentor, Jedidiah, didn’t know how to play! We taught him and played a few rounds before trekking up the trail. Along the way we stopped for a few rest breaks and took time to investigate that natural history mysteries that were all around us; an old moldy wasp nest, funky fungus, Western Yew Trees galore, and tons of old metal relics lying beside the trail as reminders of all the logging that took place over a century ago on this landscape. Pushing on we soon arrived at Lizard Lake.

Upon our arrival, we made sure to jump right into setting up camp before we got too relaxed and lackadaisical. First we pitched our tents, though one of the tents was more challenging than the other due to the fact it had the wrong rain fly! We turned problems into possibilities and made it work with a little creativity. Next we got a bear hang up that would keep our food safe while we were camping out. Although the odds of running into a bear where we were at was slim, it’s always good to practice proper wilderness travel principles, not to mention bear hangs work pretty well to keep mice out of your gear too! Finally we got our water filter set up, refilled our water bottles, and were ready to hang out and enjoy the rest of the day.

Hanging out in camp, we kept ourselves busy practicing survival skills like starting a fire with a ferro rod, carving, creating make shift fishing hooks out of a twig and some old fishing line salvaged from the dirt near camp, and even brewing up some tea out of various edible plants and berries we found around camp. With night approaching we decided to get started on our Thanksgiving Dinner of instant mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, turkey jerky, and dried cranberries. We had plenty to go around and stuffed ourselves full of food before hanging out around the fire for the rest of the night. It was great to get some time for the Salamander Efts to bond with one another around the glow of the fire the way boys their age have for thousands of years. One by one we all got tired and felt the call of our cozy sleeping bags so we headed to bed for the night for a well-deserved rest after a long day.

Waking up the following day, we discussed our plans for the day while munching down some Explorers Club Oatmeal. Since we spent most of the previous day in camp, we decided to trek up to the North Butte for lunch and to play some games in the woods just to the south of the butte. Packing up our gear we put together some day packs and stashed the rest of our gear in a tent before heading out. The hike up to the North Butte was a pleasant meander with light packs and feeling fresh after a good night’s sleep. At the top of the North Butte we were greeted with gorgeous views out to the San Juan Islands. On the eastern face of the butte we could just make out the foothills of a socked in Mt Baker. Finally, resting upon the northern face of the butte we gazed northward at the rolling Chuckanuts and beyond to Bellingham and into Canada. Breaking out our lunches and water bottles we re-fueled before trekking back down off the butte and into the tree line atop Blanchard Mountain. Here we had just enough time for an epic game of Spider’s Web in a matchstick forest of young Doug Fir and Western Hemlock. Finally, running out of time we scurried back down to camp to pack up and hike out.

After losing track of time up on the butte, we hurried to break down camp and get our gear together. Doing one final sweep of our campsite to ensure we weren’t leaving anything behind and to pick up any bits of trash we could find (always leave a place better than the way you found it!) we got back on the trail. The hike down was much easier than the hike up so we all were able to enjoy plenty of conversation amongst one another that made the hike fly by. Before we knew it we were back down on the logging road and headed for the bus. Loading up the bus with all our gear we cruised on back to Samish Woods Montessori just in time to be reunited with parents. Smelling of campfire, a bit dirty, and with a few bumps and bruises, everyone was full of smiles and ready to head home for a shower and home cooked meal. There’s nothing like roughing it for a night in the woods to make one appreciate the simple things like fresh potable water out of the tap, a hot shower, or all the yummy food we get to eat every day. Without a doubt the Salamander Efts first camp out was a success and we all can’t wait for the next one!

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