Gray Wolves keep dry, make tea at Lookout Mtn. 11/12/17

This year for the Gray Wolves is marked by a strong skills focus. We’ve been working on wilderness travel (erecting shelters, finding and purifying water…) and the spring will see us working on building fires. It’s fun to see the boys pick up these skills. Just as important, however, is to observe their burgeoning self-reliance. 

At Lookout Mountain on Sunday, the mentors laid out the objectives during opening circle — set up tarp shelter/s and make tea. We then selected a Leader of the Day and tasked him with organizing the group to accomplish those goals. The group figured they needed to find a workable location first and, after consulting the trailhead map, decided to search along a creek so they’d have access to water for the tea (nice).

After a short hike, they found a spot creekside, but were unsure whether it satisfied their other needs such as sufficient space and a way to string up tarps. They circled up and decided to send scouting parties to check out a few locations and report back. After some spirited discussion and not a little compromise (motto) about the better site, we headed off to the selected location and began stringing tarp shelters. Their knot skills need some work, but after a bit they got two shelters erected. (We were fortunate in that the rain held off.)

As the second shelter was being constructed, mentor Glen coached a few Gray Wolves in the use of backcountry stoves and they started heating the water, which had been filtered from the creek and carried (> 5 minute walk) to the site.

The boys, and men, had tea with their lunch and we were ready for some games. Ironically, this is where their focus broke down. Spider’s Web lasted about 10 minutes and was simply abandoned; King of the Hill, with two teams of two, lasted longer and was marked by repeated exclamations of joy (and a broken pair of eyeglasses and a torn pair of rain pants).

With focus lost, we experienced a few minutes of loitering. Then one of the Explorers suggested a Sit Spot, with which mentors Glen and Brian eagerly agreed (wish I had thought of that).

A closing circle of thanks and a few games of Hide on the short hike out and we were finished. The mentors stretched the boys' edges (motto) with a few simple tasks and left it to their collective capabilities to make it happen. It went exceedingly well, from that perspective. Their skills still need work, but they rose to the challenge. It was gratifying to see.

We next meet at Larrabee State Park on Sunday, January 14, 10:00AM-3:00PM. Check out the rest of the photos from Lookout Mountain here.

Gray Wolf Pups Lookout for Eachother at Lookout Mountain

The Gray Wolf Pups met at Lookout Mountain for the final outing of their Spring 2017 season. We kicked things off by touching on our skills focus of Navigation by looking at the map, picking a destination, and then the mentors handed it off to the Gray Wolf Pups to take the lead and navigate us there. Although not everyone tuned in enough while we were studying the map and memorizing how to get to our destination, later on we still managed to find our way despite a few wrong turns here or there.

Circling up to make a decision

Before we headed off into the woods, the mentors thought it would be important to do an activity that focused on inclusion in the group. Directing the group to form a tight, inward facing circle, where each boy was shoulder to shoulder, two of the Gray Wolf Pups were pulled out of the group and given simple instructions; “you are trying to get into the circle” while the rest of the group was given the simple information; “they are trying to get into the circle.” This is a fascinating activity because inevitably we assume that it is our goal to keep the outsiders from getting into the circle. After a couple tries, and rotating boys so a few folks got to be the “outsiders” we gathered up for a debrief. The mentors pointed out that no one was instructed to keep anyone out of the circle and that it is our natural instinct to be exclusive. We emphasized the importance of always being aware of who is on the outside looking in, and that it is on each and every one of us to reach out to others and offer acceptance whether it is in Explorers Club, at school, or hanging out with friends. 

Clamoring up a hillside towards the waterfall

Getting along with our outing for the day we trekked into Lookout Mountain in search of access to the water fall. After some trial and error we made our way up the creek bed to the water fall where we relaxed and ate lunch. Afterwards, we hiked around a bit to just above the waterfall in search of a location for a big game of Spiders Web. Luckily, Tim was rather familiar with this area since he spent a lot of time with his friends exploring this area and even constructing a shelter when he was in high school. We found the old location where Tim used to spend many a summer with his friends and it was the perfect setting for our game. Deciding to have two spiders proved rather difficult, but the challenged stretched our edges and we all got a little better at sneaking through the sword ferns, devils club, and stinging nettle and eventually the flies proved victorious.

Taking some time to eat lunch before playing Spiders Web!

Finishing our outing we took some extra time in closing circle to reflect on our season and look forward to our next year of Explorers Club. The Gray Wolf Pups each shared a highlight from one of our many outings, something they wanted to do for the next year (a skill, outing location, etc.), and of course something they were thankful for. The mentors were thankful for how the Gray Wolf Pups had really begun to grow together as a group over this past season. New members or old members, it really doesn’t matter now as everyone seems comfortable with themselves and the group and everyone has found a strong voice when we spend time talking in circle. Additionally the Gray Wolf Pups took a big stride forward in developing their navigation skills tuning in their sense of direction with natural indicators, orienteering a compass, and navigating using a map. With a well-rounded season in the rear view mirror, we are eager to reunite for fall and get back to work (or more likely play), and keep progression on our skills, developing our interpersonal communications, and building our group comradery.

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!

Celebrating a successful season! (some more enthusiastically than others)

Waterfalls and songlines; the Gray Wolves explore Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve

Sure, we explore. We climb, scamper, balance-walk across streams, roll in mud, explore caves and the like. These are all important ways to connect with the land, a key element in preparing boys to grow into men who are stewards of the land. And we did many of those things on Saturday, which I’ll get to shortly.

There’s another facet of our work with your boys that involves their learning how to be positive, contributing members of a group. This effort is more subtle than the physical connecting to the land, but no less important. A foundational element of this behavioral work can be found in how we make decisions as a group. In our opening meeting, we designate a Tribal Elder who manages our decision making. Rather than deciding based on majority rule, the Tribal Elder leads us in a process to achieve consensus. This generally favors a leader who lays out options, listens to the group members and helps us reconcile differing views. Group members are rewarded for flexibility and compromise. Quite the tall order for young boys! On this outing, our Tribal Elder was challenged to lead us in this process. Look for this in this report.

Our first decision - which trail to follow. This one proved straightforward; the boys were intrigued by the route to the waterfall, so off we hiked. And my, how our initial decision was rewarded! We soon came upon a lookout spot that presented us with a direct view of a 50 ft. (that’s a total guess - it was pretty high!) aqua-plunge into a ravine. Very picturesque. Of course, before I could settle in to admire this nature splendor, the boys asked to climb down to the creek bed below. A quick check revealed a perfect slip-slide-jump path down to the base of the falls. The mentors decided to encourage free exploration in this delightful spot. Picture boys scampering up hillsides, crossing the creek on moss-covered fallen trees, and sticking their heads under the falls and you have the scene locked in. They were truly in their element.

After a while, we set off to find a lunch spot. The interesting lunchtime conversation ranged from gross food combinations to that day’s Democratic presidential caucus. The details are better left undisclosed. Following lunch, we raised the stakes on Hide!, a favorite Explorers Club game. Rather than a single round of finding boys hiding in the ferns, Incoming involves several rounds. If you manage to avoid detection in the first round, you are called to run in from your hiding spot, tap the seekers outstretched hand and re-hide to an ever shortening time limit. It gets pretty frantic when you have 5 seconds to run past the seeker and dive into a new hiding spot! 

Nourished and energized by the game, it was time to practice creating Songlines, a navigational technique developed by aboriginal Australians. Each of two groups crafted directions to their posted bandana by creating a song calling out landmarks to guide the other team to their bandana. They then taught the “songline" (also known as a story map) to the other group for their use in locating the bandana. One group was able to find the prize; the other was thrown off when they keyed on the wrong “Y shaped tree”. We learned a lot about what works and what to avoid when using this technique. Choosing unique landmarks and describing them in detail are learnings that will add texture to their use of more modern navigational techniques such as compass and GPS.

Several of the boys wanted to try this game again; others resisted the idea. Enter the Tribal Elder, who put us in a circle and facilitated a challenging discussion in which consensus proved elusive. Frustration was evident after a while; some boys wanted another round of navigation, then back to the falls. Others preferred moving immediately to the falls. Ten minutes; fifteen minutes; hmmmmmm. Then one of the explorers suggested we create a songline as we walked to the falls. Excellent, creative solution. All agreed and we were off. It took a little while, but it is in just such situations that growth happens. They had to “stretch their edge” to resolve this dispute. The mentors are hopeful they’re learning a skill they’ll use in as adults to build and nurture relationships both personal and professional.

To be honest, except for a few boys, there wasn’t much Songline creation on our walk back, but the more important outcome was the conflict resolution, which they managed well. Another 20  minutes or so at the falls, an opportunity to give thanks in our closing meeting, and we were off to the trailhead. On our way there, we taught mentor Bobby to play a Gray Wolf favorite - “Where’s my egg?”

A beautiful day, lots of exploration, skill development around navigation and some challenging work around working in a group - a full day! Click here for more photos from our adventure.