Red Tailed Eyas at Clayton Beach

The Chuckanut mountains are one of my favorite places in bellingham; ocean to the West and fading away into the cascades to the East. These outing are always fun, but particularly when the are in a location that is so expansive and inspiring. The Red Tailed Eyas began to arrive and gather in the dappled sunlight that had found the grass and warmed us up for the time being. We had a quick opening meeting and headed into the forest.

 I really wanted to do some blindfold games with the boys and so we started with a drum stalk. Traditionally a drumstalk is done by one person standing a ways off in the woods and everyone else making their way blindfolded toward the sound of the drum. With no drum i substituted a crow call instead. It took a while to get everyone together and blindfolded, but soon enough the boys formed a line blindfolded and began to follow the sound of my crow call. At first there was a lot of joking and yelling, but the explorers quickly realized that it was impossible to hear while being this loud. After a few minutes of chaos everyone quieted down. We are all such visual people and rely so much on this one sense. To see all the boys settle into trusting their sense of touch and hearing was really cool. As they drew closer I saw them do an amazing job navigation fallen trees, branches, rocks, and other obstacles throughout the forest. We had a short debrief about the drum stalk. What was challenging? What was easier than you expected? What would you try differently. After about fifteen minutes of discussion all the boys asked if we could do it again.

 We finished our second drum stalk and made our way to our packs to load up. We chose to head toward the beach, but instead of heading back out to the main trail the Explorers decided we should follow deer trails down there. Excited to explore with the aid of our eyes we all headed off along small game trails. At the top of a small hill we stopped to regroup and take a water break. When we started moving again groups of explorers all began to move in three different directions. It took along time to do so, but finally we all managed to stand in a circle. I know it is a lot for these boys sometimes but a circle is our best tool for making these decisions. As the Explorers talked about which direction to head I could see the frustration of many of the boys growing as our time ticked by and people focus on the discussion waned. It is a fine line between holding these boys to making decisions as a group and not letting them get too frustrated by the decision making process. Just when i thought i would have to step in to guide the conversation the boys all agreed on a direction and we were off.  

 Following deer trails is a really fun way to move through the forest, Seeing how the animals choose to move, ending up places you never would otherwise, finding deer carcoses, taking breaks in unexpected meadows, but the pressure this kind of travel puts on moving as a group and constantly making decision to access What direction to travel or which small trail to take can sometimes be a lot for these boys.

 We made it down to the warm sunshine of clayton beach, such a welcome relief from the cold dark forest we had been moving through for the last couple hours. Sandstone cliffs, running down the beach, watching waves, looking at the islands, playing in the sand, Playing “the old blind cougar” game, blindfold time, sneaking up on each other, laughing, and so much fun on the beach. The Red Tailed Eyas still have some work to do on their ability to act as a group and make decisions together, but they are such a joy to explore with! The group is full of enthusiasm and they all have some very impressive skills when it comes to the forest. Thanks for a great season explorers and parents, please look at our photo gallery to see what these boys have been up to!