Exploring Sage's Place - A New Adventure in the Bow Woods

Sunday was filled with new explorations and new views. The Swallowtails gathered at Samish Woods and before long headed south towards Sage's house off Colony Rd.

We started our day with an opening circle in the sunshine overlooking the Chuckanut Bay. We discussed how today was our only true "free" exploration of the season. Every other outing this fall there is a specific focus (service, medicine club, and medicinal plants), and on this particular day we could really let the land be our guide. Before heading into the woods Sage and gave us a brief overview of what we could expect on the 20+ acres available to explore. The girls were especially excited about seeing the balds, the creek, and a few of Sage's favorite down logs! We discussed whether we wanted to see more of the land, but take less time in each spot or dive deeply into one particular area. After a brief conversation, the girls came to the consensus that they would rather see more of the space and spend a less time at each spot; with this intention we headed into the woods.

Almost immediately we found our first opportunity for exploration: a huge down Douglas Fir tree that created a bridge deep into the woods. Before attempting to balance, the girls ran through a safety check and reviewed the STOP motto. All girls felt the log was safe and had a plan for how to get everyone down and back safely.

The Doug Fir led us to an amazing nurse stump. The girls were able to see firsthand how this cedar had been logged, and we acted out how loggers would have taken down this HUGE tree. Girls climbed and clambered up this stump to find it was completely hollow inside. We identified three hemlocks growing out of this stump, and one brave explorer, Gwen, came down through the stump!!

On top of the epic nurse log. 

Gwen making her way through the stump.

After this mini-side trip, we made our way back along the Doug Fir to our packs. We then headed toward the Balds overlooking the Skagit Flat Lands. These balds are especially amazing because instead of grass/prairie which you usually see on a bald, these balds are actually moss-covered rock. The moss creates a sponge like surface that is comfortable for sitting and laying and also made for a GREAT games spot. We combined a number of games to create a new game: SNICKET (combo of sneaking and thicket).  

In this particular game there was one owl who hunted mice (this owl was perched high in a tree and couldn't actually move). The mice die if they are seen by the owl. During the day (when the owl closed her eyes) the mice had to sneak towards the owl. A successful mouse was either able to sneak during the day to the owl and tag her. We knew before heading to Sage's place that there were a number of owls who inhabit the area and this spot turned out to be perfect for this particular game because a few minutes later we found over ten huge owl pellets.

Owl Pellet Dissection

 The owl pellets were filled with really interesting bones. We found skulls, ribs, femurs, spines, and claws! The girls hypothesized that these pellets must be from one Great Horned Owl because of the size of the pellets and the fact they were all in the exact same spot. Great Horned Owls use a sit and perch method of hunting, and it made sense that all these pellets would be under one tree. We imagined this particular owl swooping to kill little voles then returning to this particular perch to throw up all the bones and fur from his or her hunt.

A skull - maybe a mole or vole?

The girls brought the owl pellet back to the balds for some more dissecting, and we even attempted to piece together the skeletons of a few of the creatures.

After using some hand sanitizer and burying the skeletons of these creatures, the group decided it was time to trek to the creek. On our walk to the creek, we encountered a gorgeous frog, some amazing mushrooms, and countless nurse logs. At the creek, we set our packs down and a few gals ventured up the creek while others took a second to relax. Up the creek girls naviagted down trees and it felt like we were entering portal after portal as we made our way through, over, and under fallen hemlocks, doug firs, and cedars. We then came back together as a group, and we settled into peaceful place along this gorgeous stream. During peaceful place birds swooped by our heads, the sun warmed us, and we had the chance to sit quietly in this magical space. 

After peaceful place, we realized our day was quickly coming to an end, and there was still one more place we wanted to check out. We decided to do closing circle at the campground on Sage's property. Knowing time was running out, we moved quickly through the woods. Sage's family has put together an awesome primitive campground with a fire ring and sitting area. Around this ring, we had our closing circle. During this particular circle, we did acknowledgments for one another. Acknowledgements are an amazing way for the girls to recognize one another. It allows us to recognize each girl, and take time to honor the gifts that we all bring. 

After acknowledgments, we had one more uphill push to get back to Sage's house and the bus. We gave Sage hugs and thanked Sage's family for hosting us, then loaded up, and made our way back to Bellingham. Our words of the day: Super, Spectacular, Sunny, Sage DAY!

To see more photos from the day, check out our album here.