We took advantage of the gorgeous fall day today! Ms. Paige and Ms. Rachel planned a long hike on a new-to-some-of-us trail to look for evidence of beavers after last week’s discussions. Before we left the pavilion, we competed in a relay race to pack for a day hike. We first brainstormed what items are useful when outdoors for long lengths of time. We first wanted to bring things like waders or toys from home for fun along the way, but after thinking about how easily backpacks get weighed down, we decided on more practical items like snacks, water, and maps.
For the relay race, we split into two groups with the goal of packing a backpack with the one item each of us would want on a two-hour hike. We raced down the field one by one, carrying a backpack toward a pile of goodies (some useful and some not). We each chose one item from the pile, packed the backpack, and raced back to the next person in line. At the end, we emptied our packs and explained why we chose the items we did. We gathered things like hats, water bottles, trail maps, identification books, flashlights, etc. Most of these items are things Ms. Paige and Ms. Rachel carry every time we leave the Nature Center grounds. Everyone’s explanations were spot-on for a day hike, so our teachers felt we were properly prepared to begin our adventure!
We hiked past Fox Den Trail toward the Boardman Valley Nature Preserve. Roughly 1.5 miles long, this trail leads all the way to the YMCA on South Airport Road, though we did not make it that far. Along the way, we found numerous trees that had been chewed and/or knocked over by beavers. Most of the evidence was old, but we did find one tree that had been recently chewed! We ended the day working on our “beaver lodges” from the past couple weeks and made impressive progress.
