The Pacific Chorus Frogs See Salmon at Chuckanut Creek

The Pacific Chorus Frogs met for an exploration together for the second time in as many weekends.  This was due to a rescheduling because of wind earlier in the season but we appreciated getting to spend another day together only a week after our second exploration.  This would be the final outing of the fall season for the Pacific Chorus Frogs and we certainly ended on a high note.  

One of the most amazing migrations on the planet ends right in our own backyards here in the Northwest as salmon come back from feeding in the ocean to spawn in the same streams in which they were born.  On this day we got to see chum salmon return to Chuckanut creek and spawn in the gravelly sections of this healthy northwest stream!

Looking at salmon eggs

We met in the parking lot and had our opening circle nearby before we headed up the trail. After passing out jobs and taking quick survey of who had been to this amazing park before (almost all of us had) we began our journey down to the creek with the excitement of potentially seeing big salmon muscle their way up Chuckanut Creek at the front of our minds.  

Opening Circle and handing out jobs

As amazing as salmon are, our curious young minds were suddenly filled with questions and excitement about all kinds of things that we noticed on the trail on our way down to the creek.  We came across some licorice fern that some of us thought we knew how to harvest.  The mentors noticed that we did not, in fact, know how to responsibly and carefully harvest licorice root.  So, as a group, we decided that until we knew how to harvest this resource responsibly (Art of Harvest comes in a couple seasons for the Pacific Chorus Frogs!) we would leave this job to the mentors so as not the damage the ferns.  We all still got to try some licorice root and some of us thought it was delicious and sweet while others found it to be bitter and made faces associated with this taste!  We played a few games of Hide! and played in some streams that cut all the way to the sandstone center of the Chuckanuts.

Using all four limbs to scramble up this hillside

Mountain Streams

Our initial enthusiasm for seeing salmon was reignited as we caught our first glimpse of some male salmon splashing and fighting over the right to fertilize a female's eggs.  Our awe and respect only increased as we began to get the full picture of what a salmon's life looks like.  One of us even remarked that he felt, "honored" to witness the final act (spawning) of a truly harrowing life journey that these salmon take.  After learning about all of the predators and survival risks encountered at every stage in their lives, we became more amazed that so many had even made it back to the same stream where they themselves were born!

Captivated

We decided to have some lunch on the bank of the creek so that we could still watch the salmon while we ate.  Next, we would journey further up the creek, cross it using a massive downed tree, and then head up the steep hill to find a spot for Spiders Web.

The big tree bridge over Chuckanut Creek

We eventually did make our way over the creek and up the hill to a great spot for our final Spiders Web game of the season.  We even found some earth shelters left behind (could it have been other BEC groups?).  Our spot for this game was large, and had a mostly continuous coverage of sword ferns, salal, and Oregon grape on the forest floor. As flies, we found that our little bodies fit well under the sword ferns and we were able to burrow underneath them with relative ease on our quest for the food source.

Good hiding spots!

Who left this here?

We ended our game and had a final, season ending closing circle.  Here we all shared something that we were grateful for, as we always do in our closing circles, as well as something that we wanted to learn in our coming seasons together as Pacific Chorus Frogs.  Collectively, we were interested in building shelters, carving, and making fire.  One of us even wanted to be able to stalk an elk! The good news for our group is that in Explorers Club, we will get to learn and practice all of these skills in future seasons! 

Closing circle

It has been amazing to see these boys have the opportunity to explore and know each other more deeply this season. We are picking up the BEC culture quickly and because of this we have been able to have some powerful outings with plenty of fun and free play interspersed throughout.  We are excited for our winter and spring outings and are looking forward to deepening our forest connection while continuing to grow together as the Pacific Chorus Frogs.

Be sure to check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!

The Pacific Chrous Frogs Find Fungi at Lake Padden

Lake Padden is one of the most well known and oft frequented parks in BEC, and for good reason.  While the park certainly has a great network of trails for dog walking, hiking and jogging, it also provides us with some amazing areas of woodland that provide plenty of opportunities for discovery and play.  For their third outing together, the Pacific Chorus Frogs headed into the woods at Lake Padden hoping to uncover some of the natural magic that they hold.

Lake Padden Trails

The day started gray as many days in the Pacific Northwest do.  After gathering at the dog park, we headed into the field for a few games of Fire in the Forest.  We find that getting our blood pumping and running off some excited energy, we can more easily shift into an 'explorer's mindset' where we are intentional, in the moment and curious.

Remembering how to play Fire in the Forest

It felt good to head up the trail where the concrete and chain link of the parking lot were replaced with sword ferns and big cedar trees.  We noted that there seemed to be a lot of fungus present on this day, and learned that fall is a popular time for mushrooms to emerge because how wet our region is this time of year.  Fungus discovery became a theme of the day as we found many interesting types that were totally new to us.

Big mushroom!

It didn't take long for our curiosity to get the better of us as we decided to leave the trail and head deeper into the forest.  Our first spot that we decided to explore was a swampy area criss-crossed with huge downed trees.  There was so much to look at and climb on here that we all dropped our packs and fanned out throughout the spot with some of us climbing among the logs, building forts, discovering more fungus or testing the depth of the mud!

Mud, of course

More fungus!

Scampering amongst big Cedars

Our bodies began to let us know that we were hungry so some of us sat down and had a snack before we packed up and decided to look for a new spot that would be better for a game of Spiders Web!

Getting some nourishment

Only a short distance away we found a great spot for Spiders Web.  We decided that we should take a few minutes to explore the area so that we would have a better idea of how to move through the landscape when playing Spiders Web.

We cant help but climb

While exploring one of us discovered a frog swimming in a small pool of water under some low vine maple!  We all heard the news, bounded over and huddled close, hoping to all catch a glimpse or maybe even get to touch our amphibious friend.  Within a minute of finding the frog, we sadly noted that we had broken one of its hind legs.  Because frogs need their hind legs to move, it is likely that this frog would have been unable to move to eat or find shelter and it probably died because of its injury.  So we gathered to discuss what had happened to the frog and how its injury could have been avoided.  We found that none of us had intentionally hurt the frog, which is great, but that alone was not enough.  We decided that in the future, we needed to intentionally not hurt the frog.  This may seem like a subtle difference, but we agreed that in the future, instead of shooting our hands toward the frog, or attempting to grab the animal from another person, we would act with the intention of not hurting or unduly stressing the frog.  While it is regrettable that this frog was injured, it did provide us with this opportunity to learn and grow our relationship with the forest more deeply, and for this we were grateful.

Our friend the frog

After breaking our circle we grabbed some bandanas and set up a game of Spiders Web! We had lots of fun practicing our Art of Camouflage skills as the flies snuck under sword ferns and hid behind big Douglas firs and the spider tried to spot them.  We added our own twist to the game by taking turns being the spider, which was great because everyone who wanted to try it out had a chance to.  It was a long game of spiders web that finally ended with the flies successfully retrieving their food source and bringing it all the way back to the web!

Flies planning their escape!

As it often happens when playing games, we realized that we were short on time so we had our closing circle, quickly packed up our bags and headed to the parking lot where we found our parents waiting for us.

This is our first season as a group and it is particularly exciting to see how each week we get to meet and come to know more of the plants, animals and fungi that make up our forest communities.  Today we were grateful to have an opportunity to see clearly that our actions, wether in the woods or not, have real consequences and that when we act, we must act with intention.

Check out the rest of the pictures from the day here!