We arrived at Connelly Creek service site under dark clouds but no rain for our last service outing of the Fall season. for the last month there has been four groups of Explorers working on this site every weekend. The transformation of this land has been amazing to watch and be a part of. This final outing of service for the Fall season was such a great way for the Red Tailed Eyas and the Grey Wolf Pups to not only see all the work that groups before them had done, but also to put in the final push of work before we leave this site until Spring. Our task today was to plant the seven 10ft tall Red Alders that the Parks Department had left for us. We needed to dig holes for every tree, set up supports, and finally cage in and mulch around the base of the trees.
While we waited for the Grey Wolf Pups the Red Tailed Eyas had a discussion about one of the main species that is affected by the work that we do; the Salmon. The Alders are great nitrogen fixers for the soil as well as providing shade to stunt the invasive reed canary grass. The boys had some really insightful observations on what makes good habitat for salmon and how our work is benefiting habitat.
When the Grey Wolf Pups arrived the combined energy of the two groups swept us into productive work. Digging holes, throwing mulch, finding roots, clearing Reed Canary grass, moving Red Alders, setting up cages, massaging roots, laughing, new friends, dirty hands, more holes, and plenty of strong work.
The power of having two Explorers groups work together is so tangible when doing this work at Connelly Creek; So much hard work and new connections with each other. After a solid few hours of work the Red Alders were no longer laying on their sides in a pile, but instead happily standing in freshly dug and mulched holes. It was really amazing to look around and see a miniature forest of Red Alder saplings instead of the Reed Canary grass that had carpeted the ground previously.
As the Red Tailed Eyes left the Grey Wolf Pups geared up to spread the last of the mulch that remained. A forty five minute explosion of work from the Grey Wolf Pups left the previously mountainous mulch pile a mere bump on the land. At this point the focus was gone and the group was ready to explore. Even on these days that are focused on a strong ethic of service work it is important for these boys to have time to explore the land. As these boys Explore the land around the service site they learn more about what the land needs and how the work they are doing affects it.
As the energy from the exploration came down the Grey Wolf Pups came back in wet and muddy from the creek, scrapped by the blackberries, and excited by all their discoveries. We packed up and settled into a closing meeting. While going around and giving thanks for the day I was touched to hear so much appreciation for the day. Many boys voiced their thanks for the land and our opportunity to give back to it. Peter asked the explorers; Who does this service benefit and how does it affect us? Some explorers pondered this questions as they finished the last of their apple slices. The salmon? The neighbors? the community of bellingham? the deer? the Trees? us? After a while a few explorers said this work benefits everyone. We all seemed to agree with this explanation.
Thank you Red Tailed Eyas and Grey Wolf Pups for all your hard work at connelly creek. It was a true pleasure to work alongside all of you. Parents please talk your sons into taking you back to this site to see all their hard work. This time of year is a great opportunity to see it before the mud season truly begins. Please check out our photo gallery
As an organization, Boys Explorers Club has an impact on the land. We spend a lot of time off trail, building shelters, harvesting carving wood, and generally just spending time in the forest. We try to tread lightly, using game trails when possible, picking up trash as we go, harvesting plants only when they are abundant enough to support it, and taking care of places we visit. In the end, though, there is no way to explore a place without leaving some trace and having at the very least a small impact. Our outings at the Connelly Creek service site are our opportunity to leave a positive impact on the land and really dedicate a day to leaving a place much better then we found it.
The Gray Wolf Pups and Red-Tailed Eyas had the perfect day to be out at the service site, warm weather and sunshine. We started our day with a big opening circle focused on getting to know the other group a little bit and talking for a few minutes about tool safety and usage. Since both the Gray Wolf Pups and Red-Tailed Eyas are seasoned Explorers group the opening circle went quickly and smoothly. Soon we joined the third group, The Alevin, at the service site to get to work. The Gray Wolf Pups and Red-Tailed Eyas got to work quickly on chopping blackberries and removing their roots. 
All the boys worked in a focused and efficient manner for a couple of hours before they even started to talk about taking a break. Soon the boys started to trickle off for a well deserved lunch break in the sunny field. The boys were all tired, but proud of their work as they are lunch and surveyed what they had accomplished that morning. After lunch We called them back over to put in a solid effort before it was time to pack up and leave.
We spent the last hour cleaning up all the trimmings of blackberries so they would not reroute themselves and then stomping down and spreading mulch over the reid canary grass. The work of spreading mulch was gratifying and was a nice reward after the hard work of clearing blackberries. As we spread the mulch the site was looking better and better and less like an overgrown jungle. Soon it was time to put in our last few minutes of effort and then end the day. 
We had a really nice closing circle in the sunny field and admired all the work that we had done. All the boys had really positive and sincere things to share in closing circle and all expressed their enthusiasm for service outings. It was a really powerful day with a lot of great work being done by all of us.Thank you Red Tailed Eyas and Grey Wolf Pups for all your hard work and enthusiasm. Parents next time you are close by have your explorer show you they service site so you can see how much they have put into this spot and don’t let them tell you they can’t do yard work. Be sure to check out the Grey Wolf PupPhoto Gallery and the Red Tailed Eyas Photo Gallery for more outing photos!