Sunshine greeted the Raccoon Kits at they arrived at the edge of Arroyo park for their final outing of the season. These boys have been through tremendous weather this season and a hearty dose of sunshine was well deserved! Mentors Greg and Brian were eager to take advantage of the perpetually wet Chuckanut Mountains to show the boys some of the Art of Water. 
After gathering up we hit the trail and quickly discovered that as a group of 12 we were taking up a lot of room on the trail and needed to focus on some travel etiquette. A spontaneous game emerged where the boys and the mentors tried to spot other trail users first. If the boys spotted the runner or mountain biker first then they collected a point and if the mentors saw them first then they got the point. After about fifteen minutes it was clear that Brian and Greg had underestimated their opponents and were losing badly!
A quick stop for lunch along Chuckanut Creek provided much needed energy. And it was time to look deeper at the Art of Water. Living near a temperate rain forest it is easy to take our abundance of water for granted. We looked closely at the creek and despite its clear running water it is not clean enough to drink. The Raccoon Kits offered up lots of different ways of cleaning water: Filtration, boiling, chemical purification. We also realized that all of them required some tools. Boiling requires a pot and the ability to make a fire or operate a stove. To filter water you need a filter and the skills to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the filter. Chemical processes require the chemicals and a careful understanding of how they work!
After our lunch stop we followed the path across the bridge and began to climb up the steep sides of the Chuckanuts. These mountains are literally carved from sandstone and as such they seem to absorb a tremendous amount of water. It has not rained significantly for a couple of weeks and still the mountain is draining water. Our hike took us through different zones of plants, which can be extremely helpful in locating water. In a wet place like Arroyo Park there is literally moss everywhere, but Salmon Berry, Devil’s Club, Skunk Cabbage, Giant Horse Tail, and sedges are all good indicators that there is an abundance of water in the soil and may indicate a nearby wetland or stream.
Our pace perfectly matched an important explorers club motto “It’s about the journey, not the destination” . Our loose goal of getting to Chuckanut falls was fading as we climbed logs, scrambled up glacial erratics, and played hide. The mentors were pleased to let the boys roam the forest and investigate the myriad of interesting and unusual things around them. As we climbed up through the forest we realized our time was slipping away and before long we would need to have our closing meeting.
At a gentle shelf in a mature Douglas-fir grove we invited to the boys to do a sit spot among the ferns and towering trees. Greg prompted them to reflect upon their first year of Explorers Club as the Raccoon Kits and all the adventures they have had. The boys sat quietly for about 10 minutes and when they finally heard Greg’s crow call (our signal to gather) we were ready to have our closing meeting. We looked back at our Fall and Spring season and shared our gratitude’s for the forest, explorers club and each other. Greg informed the boys that they had truly accomplished an important milestone because now that they had accomplished their first year, they would no longer be the youngest group in the fall. This news seemed to give them some additional strength and after gathering up all of our things we headed back down the switch backing trail and eventually to the parking lot where we were met by eager and smiling families. Thank you Raccoon Kits! This has been such a great year. You have begun an exciting journey and there is much look forward to. Thank you for a strong finish to our season and we look forward to seeing you around in town and on the trails this summer!
Finally, the mentoring team would like to thank the parents and families of the Raccoon Kits. We couldn’t do this important work with out your support, and we deeply appreciate your trust in us as we work with your sons. There are some photos from the outing posted as well please have a look!
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