Discoveries in the Damp Forest
February 8, 2020
Our day today was absolutely beautiful! The rain visited us for only a short while this morning and left behind droplets of moisture glistening on the edges of leaves, leaving the impression of being surrounded by fine gemstones in the varied green woods of Island Center.
We began our day in circle, playing games and connecting with our field trip locale. We heard a series of nature shares from students gathered from the past month. These kids see quite the wildlife in these parts, eh? We heard about seals, gulls, eagles, and deer to name a few. Next we heard a story from Rachel about connecting with sea turtles, she and her daughter. With that excitement of what could be discovered we were off!
We meandered our way through the forest to a special place called the Valley of the Firs. My group took an arduous path, near Meadowlark Pond before we came to a complete stop on the trail. We found that the trail was completely swamped near Mukai Pond and we couldn't get through. Students did attempt but quickly came to the height of their boots in water. The trail had gone cold! We retraced our steps, consulted with our map and found a new way through the forest. Along this stretch we encountered a Rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) in breeding form (picture attached) . A couple brave students wetted their hands and invited the newt into them. Further along we found an interesting sack of something in a puddle (poor, reflection-afflicted picture attached). It appears to be an egg sack to some but we weren't sure. Anyone able to identify?
We arrived to lunch in the Valley and settled into a relaxed explore/chow time before launching into an epic game of Spider's Web. Have your kiddos told you about it? I've heard good things. As the spider in the game I will say it was quite special to be looking down the valley and see the whole hillside moving towards me, rustling shrubs, jostling students, all hidden but heading toward my location! It seemed as if the forest was crawling. I saw a lot of determination and some well-placed scouts, some very professional sneakers, and some intentional mayhem-wreakers to distract me. Meanwhile, a set of foraging students discovered a tree with a mushroom that looked like a raven's head along its length (picture attached). I am still trying to find the mushroom type in my mushroom ID book. It was quite fitting to find a raven's head as this particular section of the trail is the densest collection of ravens on the island I know of (and they let us know they were there!) Have you heard their varied voices along your travels in the woods? Some of them remind me of human speak. Others remind me of gurgling croaks. Others remind me of someone knocking on a door. These ravens talked to us all through our time in the Valley.
We found our way back to the trailhead through the muck, shin-high mud capturing boots and students along our trek. We gathered to share our favorite parts of the day and quite a few of them named "All of it!" Talk about Desired Outcome.
All in all it was a very sweet day to connect with one another, our selves, and the forest in this beautiful northwest we call home.