First outing of the season! Check. Steep hike and clouds? Check. Mud and games of Spider's Web? Check, check.

The Cave Dwellers kicked off their Spring Season at Pine and Cedar lake. On a typical overcast spring day basking in the tall oaks and pines all around them, the boys gathered in bountiful energy! After a brief introduction and meeting the new Mentor, Bobby, the Cave Dwellers scurried into the woods. 

We could tell spring was upon us. All our senses were aware of the smells, sights and the feel of the mud below our feet. The beautiful and aptly named salmon berry is just starting to show it's bright pink flowers. Nature has just started the rinse cycle of mother nature's washing machine and before we know it will be ready to dry out in the summer heat. 

This season the boys are studying the art of tracking and bird language. Spider's web is in fact a great way to embody what it is like to be an animal traveling through the landscape in the pursuit for food and ultimately survival, or maybe that's just our excuse to play it all the time! (If you do not know the rules, ask your explorer, it's a favorite) Bobby was chosen as the spider in a challenging spot for the fly's. After finding more mud then the food source it was time for a snack for the mind and the body. 

Tracking how creatures navigate through the landscape has always been part of life. From finding the paths of Buffaloes to getting to the nearest Starbucks, we navigate our landscapes everyday and invariably leave signs and behavioral patterns in our wake! After talking about tracking and how we can use keen observation to follow any creatures navigation through the landscape it was time for an activity. This awesome group is starting to learn the more time it takes for the mentors to speak the less time there is for games. Our activity plan was for our EMA (Explorers Mentor Apprentice) to run with a stick dragging behind up the trail. After giving him a head start and he was out of sight, the rest of the team would then follow that track and find him! Simple and easy? Not so much. The trail was hard packed and didn't show tracks, there were rocks and also many other  tracks. This provided a great learning opportunity. Imagine that stick was your food source, your family is relying on you to track it through many difficult terrains. The mentors and boys are excited to continue to learn this art and teach it!

We concluded our day with an intense game of  Hungry, Hungry Martin. This was a great opportunity to let go of the deeper focus required for tracking and just get lost in play. Our hike down was wonderful, just us on the trail and so many stories to share. On a day learning about tracking I was left thinking about how trails, man made or those left by our animal friends, always lead us exactly where we need to go. To a lake, to a peak, to a shower or to someone who we want to tell everything about our wonderful day to. 

Keep on Exploring! Happy trails. 

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