Exploring Arroyo Park with the Branch Hoppers

One of the greatest attributes of exploring outdoors is its unlimited capacity.  Like the longhouse in the Great Peace of the Haudenosaunee, the four walls are the four directions, the ceiling is the sky, and the floor is the earth itself.  Nature has the capacity to hold everything because it is the world entire.  So, as our Branch Hopper Explorers wandered into our local fern and moss gilded canyon, their full selves were accepted, and they were given opportunities to explore and grow in ways no box, no matter how spacious or compassionate be the intentions within its walls, could allow.   

Explorers Club is about fun and joy, and no outing is complete without a healthy portion of this. That fun and joy only deepens in the journey of exploration, of service, and of connection.  It deepens as we embrace the motto, stretch your edge, and grow a little bit past who we thought we were.

The Branch Hoppers began their journey this Sunday with a healthy portion of excitement.  It was a make-up day, and it was pouring rain.  But EC adventures are not daunted by such weather, and we all happily trudged down the trail with sporadic joyful shouts of “muddy!”  Steve and Matt watched as the boys instantly self-organized and navigated, not even looking to them for help in choosing where to go.  The mentors shrugged their shoulder and followed the boys, as curious as they would be about the unintelligible industry of a group of squirrels.  The Branch Hoppers trotted forward, choosing a right, a left, a right again until they came to a rather deep vernal pool.  There we eddied and exploration instantly ensued.

Bodies of water are a point of fascination for all, and many gravitated toward the edge with a dangerous force of attraction that impended the doom of wet feet given enough time.  Others were fascinated by a large downed log, whose bark had come off underneath.  They picked and prodded at the bark, and resolved to pick it up as a group (it was too heavy for just one or two.)  Steve gently lead the Explorers to examine who might be living there, and, before they moved it, all resolved to take a close look for spiders or other bugs.  Having relocated our little friends, the Explorers worked together, counting off and lifting in unison.  Placing it down together.  Reassessing.  A good natural teamwork challenge, applied physics problem, and a great curiosity booster.

Soon one Explorer got distracted by an unforeseen incident.  A surly robin landed on a branch just above him and pooped right on his hat!  At first, this was a great point of frustration, and it spiraled into a series of unfortunate incidents.  But this is exactly where we learned of Nature’s capacity to hold us.  This Explorer showed great growth as he moved through frustration and soon came to peace with the workings of the natural world and with his own power to choose how to respond.  This is a lesson he shared with the whole group, and one that will manifest again and again in our explorations.

Just around then, the sun broke through the clouds.  We had our opening meeting, got our jobs, and began exploring again.  We discovered a good spot for rock skipping, met some Urtica doica, found some good responses to its potent sting, and did some big tree and rock scrambling.  A few games ofHide peppered the adventure.  But the call of crossing the water and heading upward overtook us soon enough, so we turned around and headed in the direction of the bridge.

Spring offered so many wonderful little lessons, tastes, and sights on the way.  A pair of mallards swimming from eddy to eddy upstream.  Salmonberry blossoms (which taste even sweeter than the berry.)  Peppercress (a wonderful edible!) And then, the big teacher, Oplopanax horridus, aka Devils Club.  We spent some time with this powerful plant, and discussed how it is at once a hazard and a healer.  Devils Club is one of the most potent medicine plants around, and, were it not for its gigantic stingy spines, it is thought it would have been harvested to extinction.  Thank goodness for spines and the respect they demand.

After a good hike uphill, we gathered first at a giant old growth douglas fir.  We had a little snack and played a few games up there.  We met western trillium, and we all learned how each flower is as old as an Explorer.  We went just a bit further upward and found the giant rock, which was our home base for the remainder of the day.

Enter the “squirrel factor”.  We mentors have noticed a distinct similarity between the minds of young human boys and squirrels.  Both display behaviors that, defying all laws of physics, seem to indicate sporadic spontaneous replacements of ordered grey matter with a cacophony of unrelated and highly agitated small objects that aggravate the poor beings to such a degree that they are overcome by spasmodic and unfathomably irrational behavior.  With human boys, they seem to hit maximum “squirrel capacity” (SC) around the ages of 8-9.  Congratulations, Branch Hoppers, you have reached max SC! This energy is welcome.  And, like our beloved squirrels, there are lessons in it.  Even the nutty squirrels don’t argue with gravity or the nature of bark or the signs of an owl in their presence. 

Yes, we played a very interesting game of Spider’s Web and had a very interesting and informative debrief.  Yes, we spent a very long time decision making and sticking with one another in the circle.  Yes, our Branch Hoppers are exactly where they should be developmentally as a group, gaining identity and confidence, testing the edges of the mentors, testing nature, but doing so in a safe container.  And, yes, our wonderful branch hoppers will be provided from this outing forth with a more group process challenges and more of the powerful teachings of that natural world.  It is an honor for this Explorer to be a part of this group, and the mentors are excited to see the growth and to meet them with greater edge stretchers that will guide their journey toward health, joy, and empowerment.

Thanks Branch Hoppers for all your great work!  Thanks parents for your enduring support!

Please don’t forget to check out the pics from our outing in the Photo Gallery.

Also check out our next outing on our schedule by clicking here.