Exploring Sehome Arboretum this past Sunday felt like walking through a classic Disney cartoon. The day could not have been Springier. The sun was warm, the Indian plum leaves flopped in the gentle breeze, the clusters of maple flowers dangled around us, towhees trilled, the whole world was awake with the intoxicating flush of the season of birth. We gathered at the top and brought our minds to the mission of the day: to work further toward our vision of making fire and to go into this patch of land with a sense of exploration.
We began with a little challenge. Drew brought out his avalanche probe and
Explorers lined up on either side. With just one finger touching each, they were asked to simply lower the pole. The game began! The pole hovered, lowered a hair, wobbled, and then flew upward. What seemed simple turned out to be quite difficult. So, they tried a few more times. The result was the recognition that it takes work to perform well together as a group. Each person affects the whole. So, we resolved to come back to this little challenge again. We donned our packs and made our way toward a good spot for our opening meeting.
Explorers lined up on either side. With just one finger touching each, they were asked to simply lower the pole. The game began! The pole hovered, lowered a hair, wobbled, and then flew upward. What seemed simple turned out to be quite difficult. So, they tried a few more times. The result was the recognition that it takes work to perform well together as a group. Each person affects the whole. So, we resolved to come back to this little challenge again. We donned our packs and made our way toward a good spot for our opening meeting.
We found an interesting path leading down, down, down. We scuffled and shuffled, lowered our centers of gravity, used our legs skillfully, and made it to a large boulder. Here was a little tracking challenge. The question was asked: what happened here? Explorers did a little site analysis and came up with some good observations. We then went into our meeting, cultivating the vision for the day and handing out jobs. A game or two of Hide was definitely in order here before we moved on. We stopped and checked out a little primitive shelter, considering the design. Do Explorers remember how 
much debris should be on a shelter to make it waterproof and solidly insulated? How much so that it can shed a 5 gallon bucket of water?
much debris should be on a shelter to make it waterproof and solidly insulated? How much so that it can shed a 5 gallon bucket of water?
On the way back, we had a navigation challenge. Where is the path we came on? Explorers problem solved, and eventually found it. Anyone remember the little yellow edible flowers by the split boulder? We continued on with a specific destination in mind. We crossed over to the West and went down almost to the base of the Arboretum. There we came to the first Fire Challenge. We talked about myths and archetypes and how to use that imaginal force to our advantage. We considered why so many cultures have a myth of stealing the fire. Then we resolved to step into that myth.
The Challenge: a guardian and a sentry. A bag of tools stuffed in a cave. 
The group had a single rope, each other, and a mission to take the bag to a specific location without being seen. The exact wording of the rules was crucial, which set the Explorers to some real problem solving. Once everyone was ready, we began. Quite an epic game! Explorers worked on various tactics, displayed some good sneaking and camouflage skills, and, after a lot of effort, managed to get the bag home.
The group had a single rope, each other, and a mission to take the bag to a specific location without being seen. The exact wording of the rules was crucial, which set the Explorers to some real problem solving. Once everyone was ready, we began. Quite an epic game! Explorers worked on various tactics, displayed some good sneaking and camouflage skills, and, after a lot of effort, managed to get the bag home.
What was inside? Well, parents, if you want to find out, we’ll just have to start our own Explorers Club for you! Needless to say, we finished the day with some ethical harvesting of our prickly invasive tree to make top pieces for our fire kits. We then played a camouflage gauntlet challenge with some cleverly placed pipe cleaners… ask your son for details. Overall, a great day! Much thanks to all the Explorers for your great individual and group work! Much thanks to all the parents for your enduring support!
Don't forget to check out the pics in our photo gallery.
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