Fall is here at last! The Raccoon Kits kicked off their Fall Season on a foggy Saturday afternoon at Lake Padden. As the boys were being dropped off one by one near the dog park, it was clear that these boys couldn’t wait to get the gang back together. When about half of the boys had arrived, the mentors tried to get a game of Otter Steals Fish going to pass the time until all the boys had been dropped off. Much to the mentor’s surprise, the Raccoon Kits were much more intent on standing around in a small group and catching up with one another like a group of old college buddies while trying to figure out which of their fellow group members had yet to arrive. But, before everyone could get there, one of the boys arriving took note of a green playground ball sitting nearby and had an overwhelming urge to kick it as hard as he could. Before you could blink an eye, we had a runaway soccer game on our hands. It turned out that the ball actually belonged to a mom of a boy who had done a summer camp with Explorers Club, and she was coming over to say hello before the outing began. We learned two valuable lessons in that moment: the concentric ripples of Boys Explorers Club are felt throughout our community, and eight year old boys are drawn to 
playground balls like moths to a porch light.
Alas, the rest of the boys showed up and it was time for our first fall exploration. We began by trekking up into the horse trails of Lake Padden revisiting our “crow call” to get the boys to come together, and introduced a new “chickadee call” that the boys used to alert the rest of the group of walkers, joggers, bikers, and others we shared the trail with. Once we were up into the woods one of the mentors hollered out “HIDE!” and without skipping a beat the boys were bounding off looking for a nurse log to crouch behind or a nice patch of sword fern to nestle into. A few rounds of Hide later and we approached our initial opening meeting location only to have to leave right away because one of the boys discovered the log he was playing on was already the home of a hornet, wasp, or other stinging/biting insect.
We worked up off the trail to a nice level area under a beautiful cedar tree and had our first opening meeting. It took the boys a little while to remember how to listen respectfully when someone is talking to them, but soon we had our “jobs” handed out and were eager to begin learning The Art of Shelter. First off the boys were tasked with finding a natural shelter that would protect them from the elements. As the boys scampered off to tuck into tree trunks and cozy up with conifers one explorer noticed a hornet land on the ground and crawl into a little hole. Right as the explorer notified a mentor of his discovery, another explorer fixated on finding shelter stepped right on the whole and, like magic, one hornet turned into thirty. The mentors got the boys to their packs and down to the trail just in the nick of time. Luckily, the hornets must have been drowsy from the chilly morning because, except for one sting on one explorer, the rest of the group made it out unscathed.
Relocating again, and mustering up the courage to go off trail despite the possibility of encountering more hornets, the boys scaled up a steep hillside to inspect some very promising sites to start building a shelter. The first sight was an impressive downed tree caught up in the branches of a massive Big Leaf Maple, but the boys quickly took note of the hazardous widow maker above the shelter site so we continued our search. We soon found a much smaller downed tree that was situated perfectly for a debris shelter. The boys fine tuned their shelter building skills by helping one of the mentors construct a miniature debris hut. Then, it was time for the real deal. Some boys collected sturdy sticks for the ribs of the shelter, while others scouted out more shelter building resources. After a couple hours of work, the boys had constructed the skeleton of the structure. Now it was time for the debris, and where things got really dirty. But before the boys could finish getting sufficient debris on the shelter, it was time for closing circle. The boys now have a much greater appreciation for the time and dedication it takes to not only make a sound structure, but how much debris it really takes to sufficiently insulate it as well. Before closing circle, each boy took a turn crawling into the debris hut and appreciating all the hard work they had done.
In closing circle we reviewed what we had learned about building debris huts, and discussed some of the challenges we faced building the shelter, as well as on the rest of our outing. All the boys gave thanks and appreciation for what they enjoyed during their day and even got a chance to show gratitude towards others for things the other boys did that made the day a success. With closing circle over, it was time to scamper back down the hill, sliding down a dirt embankment just for good measure, and meet a parking lot full of loving parents. We may have thought our hazardous outing was over, but while boys were reunited with their parents a couple of dogs had a disagreement and in an instant there was a snarling, snapping, whirlwind of teeth and fur. Fortunately none of the boys were in the area, but it was startling none the less to some of the boys, parents, and mentors alike. Although our outing had a few harrowing moments, there were ever more moments of playfulness, joy, teamwork and comradery; all together a most excellent outing indeed.
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