Finding Balance in the Yew Street Woods

The Pacific Northwest has thrown us some interesting weather this fall, and our Explorers Club participants have proven to be resilient adventurers.  We have had some outings cancelled due to some fierce winds, but the Short-Tailed Weasels were able to sneak in a great trip to the Yew Street Woods just before another storm cycle broke over Bellingham. 

Learning some neighborhood trails

The Yew Street Woods is a fairly new site for Wild Whatcom, and the drop off point and trail access are a little bit separated.  Luckily we had some awesome participants that lived in the area.  They were able to take us on some neighborhood trails that brought us right to our trail head.  From there we hiked out the power line trail, and found a perfect space to set up our base camp.  

Hiking on the power line trail

The Short-Tailed Weasels are working on shelter building as their earth skill this season.  A little bit of friendly competition is a great way to build teamwork and keep focus.  The participants were separated into two groups.  Each team was tasked with building a debris hut in an allotted amount of time.  The teams worked great together.  Many hands make light work.  The Short-Tailed Weasels proved themselves to be hard workers with innovative ideas.  When it came time to add the top debris layer, I witnessed both groups using branches as a rake to gather the big leaf maple leaves that blanketed the ground.  The final test was to have one of the participants get into their shelter while one of the mentors poured water over their structure.  Both teams constructed shelters that were stable and kept out most of the water.  

 

Our shelter training was a huge success.  The Short-Tailed Weasels were on task and focused.  This left us plenty of time for free exploration and games.  We circled up and talked about what they wanted to do with the remainder of their day.  It was an awesome exercise in “Collaborate and Compromise.”  Not all of the participants wanted to due the same thing.  After some debate the group came to a consensus.  Half of our remaining time would be used for capture the flag, and the last half would be used to explore some rock formations that we found on our hike in.  

gathering debris

Our game of capture the flag was played with honor.  The playing field was challenging but fun, and the game ended in a draw.  We hiked out through a marshy area in the bottom of a little draw.  It was good practice in route finding through thick underbrush.  The participants then explored a ridge and watched some mountain bikers building jumps.  Our outing ended with a respectful closing circle and a short hike to meet up with their rides home. 

putting together the bones of a debris hut

The Short Tailed Weasels are focusing on shelter building this year, but like every trip, there is so much more happening.  I was impressed with the work ethic, teamwork, and ingenuity shown in our shelter building competition.  The group is learning to talk through differences in a respectful way and decide as a whole what to do next.  They had fun playing games as well as embodied an explorer’s mindset.  Thanks Short-Tailed Weasels for a well balanced outing.  Please check out the rest of the photos from our outing here.