Second time's the charm: Jumping Mice explore N. Galbraith Mountain

Welcome to the Jumping Mice’s first Explorers Club Spring season! We gathered at N. Galbraith trailhead and immediately expressed thanks for the mostly calm air. The anticipation was palpable after our last Fall outing had to be moved from this location literally last minute due to high winds.

We were looking at two new faces as we sat in circle for our opening meeting. Mentor Conor joined us for just this day, subbing for Bobby, who has replaced Finn. The boys will get to meet Bobby when we venture out again on April 29. And Elliot (no, not that Eliot) is a new explorer in our group, but you wouldn’t know it from his quick integration with our culture and games. Welcome Elliot L!

Never Eat Soggy Waffles!

While in circle, we began our skill journey for the spring - navigation. Our task was made more difficult by the overcast sky. When thinking about the cardinal directions of North, East, South and West, as we were, it’s helpful to be able to glance at the sun to establish south and take it from there. Failing that, we looked for other clues such as the Canadian Cascades, which were peaking out from under our beloved “blanket” of clouds to the north. We finished with a handy way to remember the 4 cardinal directions - Never Eat Soggy Waffles!

Who needs a bike?

A short walk into the park brought us to our first planned “drop-your-packs” spot - mountain bike jumps that we prefer to run! If there’s a better way to get the “wiggles” out, I haven’t found it. We even put a cherry on top of that treat with a game of Hide!

While we were raising our heartbeats, an explorer suggested we investigate a cave and cool bridge he knew about just up the hill. Totally unable to resist the sound of that, we scrambled up to see a sheltered spot under a large boulder, then found the bridge. We weren’t able to determine exactly the purpose of the bridge built into the side of a hill, but we agreed it was cool.

Following lunch, Conor brought us back to navigation by explaining how indigenous peoples

Lewis and Clark's crew?

developed a navigational technique known as Story Mapping, or Songline. This ingenious process involves creating a story for each significant landmark along the trail and linking the stories together to create a route that can be followed on the return trip. Our Tribal Elder helped us decide whether to create one story as a group or 14 individual stories. The explorers did a great job of deciding on a compromise - one small group and several individual stories. With that plan set, off we went to find that great Spider’s Web spot I mentioned in my reminder note.

Connecting....

Since the EC was last to this spot out of the way of mountain bikers, an access road has been constructed, presumably in preparation for home construction. For us, that was more reason to celebrate this place by engaging in a few great games of Spider’s Web, which we did. The boys are figuring out that stealth is the best strategy as the flies sneaked their way to victory in the first game. The spider upped the ante in the second round, which ended in a draw. We finished our games with just enough time to test our story maps as we hurried back to the trailhead.

The Jumping Mice are a very special group of boys….but you knew that already. What I’m referring to here is the group’s special place in the culture and lore of Wild Whatcom and Explorers Club. By virtue of their name, they will always be associated with the definitive Native American story of The Jumping Mouse. In the story, a very industrious mouse hears a call to venture beyond his comfortable life in pursuit of a better day, a more meaningful way. His journey is marked by menacing, even terrifying happenings. The mouse perseveres, stretching his edges and even sacrificing himself for other, seemingly more important “brothers” he meets on his journey. Finally, he is rewarded for his courage and caring sacrifice. Although just a simple mouse, he proved himself to be a creature of character who comported himself with honor. 

The better to hide from the Spider!

We read the story of the Jumping Mouse during our outing at N. Galbraith on Friday. This group is working hard at self-regulation during our circle times, but we had very little talking over each other during the story (admittedly, they were eating lunch, so their attentive behavior might not have been totally due to the dulcet tones of my captivating story-telling!). We’ll read the story each season as we watch these boys grow into honorable young men.

For now, enjoy more photos here. We’ll see you at our next outing - Friday, April 29th, 10:00-3:00pm, Traverse: Sehome Arboretum (Lower Parking Lot). 

The Jumping Mice and Whatcom Creek run through Whatcom Falls Park

Upon reflection, it’s clear to me that Sunday’s Jumping Mice outing was a scarcely manageable tangle of ebullient energy.

According to Wikipedia, “Common energy forms include the kinetic energy of a moving object, the radiant energy carried by light, the potential energy stored by an object's position in a force field (gravitational, electric or magnetic), elastic energy stored by stretching solid objects, chemical energy released when a fuel burns, and the thermal energy due to an object's temperature. All of the many forms of energy are convertible to other kinds of energy, and obey the law of conservation of energy which says that energy can be neither created nor be destroyed; however, it can change from one form to another.”

The Jumping Mice experienced and exhibited all manner of energy atWhatcom Falls Park on Sunday! Our rainy, overcast November took a breather, resulting in an increase in radiant energy - the sun came out! Gravitational force pulling ferocious Whatcom Creek over the falls for which the park is named thundered at all times in a persistent reminder of the power of nature’s energy - it was loud! Mentor Steve taught us that the water in the creek is colder than the Pacific Ocean water at the surface, which combined with the raging and heavy surge of the water required constant vigilance on the part of both mentors and our first time EMA (Explorers Club Apprentice) and Vespula Veteran explorer, Xavier. It was nature in all its glory and we tried to soak in as much of it as we could in a few hours.

Of course, central to our interest is the Jumping Mice explorers. How was their energy, you might ask? Well, in just under 5 hours, we:

• played a name game so Xavier (and the mentors) could get to know who was who,

• checked out the juvenile salmon and trout in the rearing ponds,

• played a game of Cougar Stalks Deer,

• had lunch in the sun,

• launched sticks into the creek and watched them tumble over the falls,

• worked through the rules for Spider’s Web for a half hour or so,

• played Spider’s Web and Hide!,

• gave thanks in our closing circle, and

• checked out the raging creek one more time from the famous stone bridge.

Along the way, we learned about how to properly harvest licorice root, the qualities of Yew trees, the job of the Tribal Elder in Explorers Club, the importance of sitting in a circle when collaborating as a group, and marveled at the power of the creek.

Whew! Plenty of energy of all forms at Whatcom Falls Park for our outing. Of course, as long as no one gets hurt, on the inside or the outside, lots of energy is exactly what we want.

By no means is it our sole focus, however. We do things because they’re fun, energetic and exciting; we do things so the boys can learn and grow; we do things that combine the two. For example, most of our explorers love the game called Spider’s Web. It’s a capture the flag type game that emphasizes strategies that are often used by creatures in the wild, most notably stealth. Boys new to the game tend to run through the forest to get to the flag (or “food source” in our parlance) which more often than not leads to detection by the spider and a free trip back to the “web”, from which they need to start over. With greater experience, the boys are more inclined to sneak through the ferns and approach their prize stealthily. So, while playing a game, they’re learning about survival in the natural world.

In fact, before we begin a game of Spider’s Web, we discuss the ground rules for the day. This often involves meeting in a circle (so everyone can participate equally) to work through particulars such as how far the Spider needs to stay from the food source (to minimize “puppy guarding”). Or, as was the case on Sunday, how far away from the web a “fly” needs to be to free captured flies by waving them off. Our discussion was led by one of our explorers, whose job for the day was Tribal Elder. He did excellent work ensuring that all points of view were considered and consensus was reached. This takes a different kind of energy - a discipline on everyone’s part to listen, consider other’s input, suggest resolutions, and the like. The Jumping Mice are new to these Explorers Club expectations and get understandably antsy after a time in circle. On Sunday they showed great promise as they hung in there, mostly, for the better part of a half hour. It was great to see.

Two games of Spider’s Web and a round or two of Hide! and we were ready to call it a day. We have one more outing (Dec. 5 - check here for the details) in the opening chapter of the story that will be the Jumping Mice group experience. I can’t wait to see where their energy takes them.

Click here for more photos from our day at Whatcom Falls Park.