A bittersweet and joyful last day in the woods with the Bear Creek Explorers Gen 2 crew: skill mastery, a feast, retaken photos at beloved landmarks, and a closing ceremony with handmade beads and a few happy tears.
Last Day in the Woods: Farewell to BCE Gen 2 Read More »
Our second annual trip to Mile 179 — the Bear Creek Explorers’ very own adopted beach — brought low tides, tide pools, a buried student, and our first taste of freshly harvested mussels. A day full of learning, laughter, and a little coastal magic.
Mile 179: Mussels, Midden, and the Making of a Tradition Read More »
I’ve been focused on revamping the website lately- including our new live data section- and missed a few weeks of writing about our adventures in the woods. Deep into data collection for several forest science projects, we’ve found ourselves limited by the number of working research phones we have. Because of this, I noticed I
Strong and Sour with a Kick Read More »
Last week, the first camas lily in the meadow was blooming, a sure sign that spring is here. Another sign of spring: students working hard to complete their research projects. Each of the last two weeks, Terran has diligently collected soil respiration data from plots #4 and #6. Meanwhile, Juniper volunteered to get her hands
Spring term began this week and the BCEs hit the ground running. Okay, technically, after morning data collection and sit-spots at our micro-wildernesses… they levitated above the ground, slowly. What? We got a slack line! No injuries yet! After morning data collection, we got to work. Ruani needed to visit five plots to check his
Seven Plots in One Day Read More »
We originally planned a Fire Feast Day for Bella and Gavin’s birthday back in February, but… that day didn’t go exactly as planned. I’ll save that story for another time. A month later, we still wanted to smash that piñata Terran made, and try again to bake a cake on the fire. After morning science
A couple BCEs called me out this week for not keeping the blog up. Fair enough! Sometimes I wonder if anyone’s reading along, and shift my focus to other things. If you like reading about these adventures, leave me a comment and it will encourage me to keep it up. Three weeks ago we had
Three Weeks in the Woods Read More »
We hiked through a variety of forest age classes to a snowy summit after taking a bearing with a map and compass.
It’s tax season, and one of my other jobs, a reluctant bookkeeper, is taking more time out of my week than it does the rest of the year. I should be filing 1099s right now, but I’m taking a little break to write about BCE this week. I just looked through the photos- both mine
Wild Alive Outside Read More »
When we arrived this week, the rain gauge was frozen solid. The pond was ice-free but crystal clear. We saw three newts swimming in the muck below. The mosture from the wet medow makes beautiful ice formations on the vegetation, something I’m always trying to photograph. We started with a little poker. (Simon doesn’t love
