“Let’s race to the top!” When faced with a high, steep hill, Logan, the Explorers Club Mentor Apprentice (EMA) for our Fragrance Lake traverse, displayed qualities of an experienced explorer - leadership, spontaneity, fun, respect, daring and caring.
It was an eclectic group for this Winter exploration - 6 experienced explorers from several different groups, 1 wait-listed explorer-to-be, the afore-mentioned EMA and two mentors. The participants in this outing ranged in age from 8 to...well, many times older than 8.
After a bumpy ride to the trailhead, we played a name game to get acquainted, then headed down the trail. It wasn’t long before Fragrance Lake came into sight and we began to look for a good spot for games. Down to the lake we went and about half around before we heard that most treasured exclamation - HIDE! Following that game, at an explorer’s suggestion, we played a more complex version of the game called Incoming. Incoming involves repeated “incoming” dashes to slap the hand of the person who is “it” before finding a new hiding spot. Fun and challenging. Several boys also explored a hollowed out cedar stump that is big enough to fit 3 or 4 explorers.
Soon it was time to move down the trail in search of more fun. It wasn’t long before we came abreast of the hill mentioned above and the race was on. It matters little who won the race (spoken, not surprisingly, by one who didn’t win); the key was that each member of our little band took on the challenge and triumphed. More than one noted that it looked higher from the top looking down than the other way around. Strange, no? But true.
Once we caught our collective breath, we ventured across the hill we had climbed and were rewarded with an interesting, hillside location for Spider’s Web. With ridges to form natural boundaries and ferns aplenty for cover, we decided on a structure for the game, selected a spider and got under way. Well, several of us got under way; others realized they still hadn’t eaten lunch and took hold of this opportunity to rectify that situation. Before long, most everyone was actively involved in a low-key contest. Mentor Brian, the spider, was feeling pretty smug about how he was going to eat well when he heard a victory cry from the “flies”. Apparently, your strategies are only as good as your execution and his was wanting.
As sometimes can happen, the group’s diversity proved an advantage, thanks primarily to the strength of character of the explorers. With Logan providing savvy leadership and the 6 seasoned explorers sharing their experiences and offering a helping hand to our newbie, the 6 hours passed quickly enough that we almost forgot our closing meeting! It is gratifying to see the boys take time to coach another on the safe use of a knife, to watch them compromise as they work to decide their priorities for the outing, to listen to the engaged chatter and laughter during down times. The mentors planned the outing around a few club mottoes: “It’s about the journey, not the destination.”; “Leave no trace.”, and “Attitude of gratitude.” These boys nailed them all as they demonstrated respect for each other, for the land, and for all the gifts they’ve been given. After the holiday break, it was refreshing and restorative to be out on the trail with a band of great lads!
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