The Red Tailed Eyas completed their
2016-2017 season with an exciting, truly adventurous outing at Deming
Eagle Park. There was a certain sense of ceremony to the day, at
least for the mentors, because next year, the Red Tailed Eyas will be
the eldest group of explorers in BEC. In an inspiring illustration
of that transition, the RTEs leaned into the challenges of the day
and intentionally made the choice to stretch their edges!
We piled into Moose (one of our trusty
Wild Whatcom busses!) and headed for Deming Homestead Eagle Park for
an extended outing. We were fortunate to get the best that spring
weather has to offer with mostly clear skies and comfortable, warm
temperatures. These conditions allowed us to go further today, and
we are grateful for that.
Our plan for the day was to walk across
a few hundred yards of an alluvial plain to eventually reach the bank
of the Nooksack. We expected this to be a mostly dry hike with a few
minor water crossings. Reality would offer up a different set of
circumstances.
Upon reaching the park, we noticed that
there was water almost up to the parking area! It turns out the
recent rains combined with the sunny, warm weather of the day had
caused lots of melting to occur in higher elevations, greatly
increasing the flow of the Nooksack. We met as a group to make a
decision about how we wanted to move forward with our day. Would we
attempt to cross the cold, thigh deep water in an attempt to reach
the main stem of the Nooksack, without knowing for sure if we would even be able to
make it? Or would we decide to explore and play games in the meadows
near the parking lot for the day?
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| Making decisions |
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| We found a snake today too! |
Knowing that we would likely be
uncomfortable, cold, disoriented, and quite muddy at certain points
of the day, we decided, in spite of that, that we wanted to go forth
and attempt to find the main stem of the Nooksack. The mentors were impressed with
the compassion that we showed each other by listening to each members
reservations about the plan and collectively seeking ways to help
each other feel good about our plan. Upon reaching the consensus, we prepared to cross some very cold water.
After sending out some scouts, we
identified the best area to cross the first stream. We utilized our navigation skills and our
resiliency as we made our way through dense thickets, crossed cold
water that occasionally reached as high as our waist, and slopped
through deep mud pits! Despite all of these challenges, we
maintained a positive attitude that was contagious.
We followed our best instinct and used
clues in the landscape to find our way to main stem of the Nooksack.
Upon reaching the open stream bank, we allowed the suns strong rays
to warm our bodies to the core.
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| Sunshine on the Nooksack |
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| Soaking it allllll in |
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| Cooling off in the chilly water |
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| Somewhere in all that sand, there is an explorer! |
After a quick activity that highlighted
the natural tendency of humans to exclude one another, the mentors
sat us down for a conversation about community. The mentors
appreciated the courage we exhibited by sharing some of our personal experiences
with bullying during this conversation. Being in the thick of middle
school, hormones and growing pains, protecting each others emotional
safety is a paramount responsibility for all members of our group.
With this in mind, we renewed our commitment to maintaining a safe
space at Explorers Club. The mentors noticed that, especially after
this transformative year of exploration, we have reached a point in
our maturity that we are able to have these serious discussions, and
for that they are grateful.
This outing was a triumphant end to a
year of important growth for the Red Tailed Eyas. At our closing
circle we all gave thanks for our awesome day together. We also built some excitement by looking forward to next year, when
two of our nine outings will be over nights! After changing into
some dry clothes that (some of us!) had bought, we piled back into the bus
and headed back to Bellingham.
To see the rest of the photos of the
day, click here!
