Arriving at the Pine and Cedar Lakes Trailhead the Alevin
gathered in circle, ready to get on the trail. Before heading out the mentors
called for an opening meeting as they recognized that much of our typical BEC
core routines were not practiced the previous outing due to some location
logistics. The mentors wanted to hold the group to these routines and encourage
the Explorers to formulate a plan for the entire day. Mentors explained that we
were willing to drop our plan for the day and follow their inspiration as long
as they were actively engaging as a group and with the environment they were
in.
We nominated a Tribal Elder and the mentors stepped back to
let him lead. After the group came to a consensus the Tribal Elder reported
back to the mentors that we were going to hike to Pine Lake and find a place to
play Spider’s Web. After the game the
group would spend some free time exploring around the lake while some of the
group worked on their carving projects. The mentors agreed with the plan and
added in a long sit spot at the Lake.
As we hiked up the steep trail the boys immediately peeled
off their layers and aligning their mindset for an uphill battle. Pressing on
the group started to recall all the different switchbacks along the trail. It
is great to see the elder Explorers coming to understand the lay of the land.
This would mark their third journey up to the lakes and the boys were excited
to look at the Sundew plants that grow on the Sphagnum moss covered logs that float
in the lake. These connections represent the deep sense of place the Alevin
have for our reoccurring outing locations.
Our boys must have been halfway up the
trail before any of them thought to have a sip of water. Staying hydrated on
the chilly November explorations is tough, but necessary, for the body’s
regulation of its internal core temperature. Luckily none of the group seemed
to be struggling with the cold at that moment!
Hiking up the trail the mentors kept
checking in with other hikers coming down to see how strong the wind was at the
top of the ridge line. The mentors explained to the group that it was important
on days where the wind and weather conditions were moderately risky but still
manageable for the group to have forethought and awareness toward environmental
hazards and recognize changing weather conditions.
After an hour or more of climbing we
arrived at the ridgeline and were greeted by an amazing trail map that had been
installed over the summer. The Explorers mulled over the map and it was clear
that climb took more effort than the boys anticipated. Some members of the
group called to amend the plan and hike to Cedar instead of Pine Lake. The
Explorers looked to the mentors to solve the decision, but we looked back at
the boys and reminded them who was in charge of the plan for the day. Through
some collaboration the group decided to go a shorted distance to Cedar Lake and
save their energy for exploring.
Hiking along the ridge the group
started to get chilly in the wind as the sweat we had worked up cooled rapidly.
Arriving at the lake we bundled up and the group immediately ate lunch and
transitioned naturally into free exploration. After some decompression time the
mentors called the group together and asked the boys how their plan for the day
was working out. The group recognized that they had strayed from their plan and
wanted to continue their free exploration of the lake. Putting on our mentoring
hats we encouraged the boys to set time limits on their free exploration so
that we would not have a reiteration of our time spent squirreling out and not
focusing on our skills work like the last outing.
Setting a limit the boys got exploring.
It was fascinating to observe the group dynamic. The boys spent a majority of
their time talking amongst one another and goofing off rather than immersing
themselves in the ecology of the location like they had talked about.
Reflecting on this recent phenomenon on our outings our mentors feel that the
group is in the full fledge of adolescence and have become hyper-aware of their
relationships with others, where they fit in in the group, how they’re
perceived, and are dissecting and processing their own culture and beliefs. This
could explain our struggle as mentors to balance the time for the group to bond
and talk with providing skills, activates, challenges, and adventure in which
everyone is engaged.
A few minutes before we transitioned
out of free exploration the mentors noticed that one of the explorers had made
a very concerning symbol out of sticks on the forest floor. The context around
the steps leading up to the symbol being made and the motivations behind the making
of the symbol is still unknown to the mentors. It could have been an unethical
joke, it could have been a careless action, or it could have been the participant’s
exposure to the recent publicity in the media from certain extremists groups
within our country. No matter the context it was very important at that moment
to call the group together to talk about it.
The symbol that was quickly
disassembled by the embarrassed Explorer was one whose history was co-opted
from a peaceful symbol into an emblem of violence, hatred, oppression,
genocide, and tyranny. We asked the group what the symbol represented and what
it would feel like to be someone who experiences daily bigotry, hatred and/or
oppression and to see that symbol while out on a hike.
The Alevin looked visibly uncomfortable
and responded sheepishly: fearful, disheartened, angry, sad, humiliated, scared,
despair, uncared for, targeted, etc.…
The boys learned a few extremely valuable and humbling lessons that day:
that symbols and actions that might not hold a lot of meaning or context to
them have a very real power to affect others around them and cause harm, that
our minds are wilderness and if we let them run wild and compartmentalize and
rationalize too frequently we can override our moral compass and ethics, and that
we must not run from the shadow side of the world. We must face it, name it,
and learn how to overcome, heal, and grow from our experience with it.
With that heavy debrief the group was
ready for a sit spot, but not before reading a poem entitled A Poem for Hope by
Wendell Berry. Spreading along the lake’s edge we marveled at the tall stand of
Cedar and Doug Fir that outlined its shore. The gust of wind sent ripples out
over the lake and we settled into the peace of the place as the brisk
temperature set in.
After the sit spot we had a check in
and shared what we had contemplated on the sit spot. Sharing some apples we held of circle of
thanks and thought about the first half of our 2016/17 year together. Brian and
I are excited to continue the journey with the Alevin this January and would
like to thank parents for all the support you provide your Explorers and our
organization.
Look for date and locations for the
last five outings of the year to be posted on the Alevin’s
group page by December 5th.
For more photos please visit the
Alevin’s photo gallery
from the day.
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