Friends School Spring Family Camping Trip
May 11th, 2010 Camping,Friends School
One of the ongoing debates at Sure Foot is centered around this question: How young is too young for a kid to come to the woods?
Jonah thinks a kid of any age can enjoy exploring the woods. I’ve never been so sure that would be so enjoyable for the parents. (Babies and toddlers seem hard enough indoors!) But last year we had a lovely trip with a 4 year old. And this past weekend our Friends School of Atlanta trip with families included a 3 year old, a 6 year old, two 7 year olds and a 9 year old. I’m happy to report that everyone – including the 3 year old and his dad – had a great time. (It didn’t hurt that our youngest hiker was adorable, with the best hiking pajamas ever – see photo at right.)
But this entire group was super-fun: all eager to learn, willing to try new things, and excited for some good trekking. In two days, we meandered through day hikes totaling about seven miles, pausing for long breaks filled with nutella and water play and spectacular views of waterfalls. After Jonah gave a quick demo about edible wild plants, the 9-year-old gleefully plucked the new growth off hemlocks and chewed the tender needles. Back at camp, the 6 and 7-year-olds played “chase” and “karate” and delighted in some outdoor finds: “crystals” (rocks that glittered) and – less shiny – some real, live, snails. Adults took turns carrying the 3-year-old when he got tired, and then cooled off their feet in the creek while drinking wine before a delicious dinner of African Groundnut Stew. What could be happier?
I’m a big fan of family trips in part because it’s so rewarding to watch parents with their children. One family had decided to spend this weekend together because their 9-year-old would soon be going on a big, three-week-long trip with friends. On this camping trip, families spent meaningful time together without the pressures and time crunches that often inundate us all at home. Facilitating outdoor adventures and family time is as rewarding as it gets! Now this is fun for all ages.
Arbor Montessori Backpacking Trip
May 11th, 2010 Arbor Montessori,BackpackingNine middle-schoolers and the “storm of the century!” Sounds like a disaster movie tag-line, no? But instead of disaster, our recent backpacking trip with Arbor Montessori students was a rousing success.
These seven young men and two young women were at ease in the woods, despite this being almost everyone’s first true backpacking trip. Though they were laden down with gear, food, and water, they rocketed down the trail together (forcing their teacher and two guides to hustle to keep up), completing the first three miles of their adventure in only an hour. Tents were set up and firewood was collected almost as efficiently. Though we needed to teach them how to adjust their packs, purify water, hang ropes from trees (to hold our food bags at night), and cook backcountry meals, every moment of this trip was a joy – from sitting around a warm campfire to kneeling in mud during a torrential rainstorm.
Arbor Montessori has an excellent outdoors program run by Mark Warren at Medicine Bow that serves their elementary grades, so most of these middle school students have experience camping, building fires, identifying plants, and hiking. One young man remarked that backpacking is the natural extension of the adventures they had at Medicine Bow. I couldn’t agree more, and look forward to more trips with graduates of Medicine Bow.
Driving through Grundy County, Tennessee on the way to Savage Gulf, we smiled at the colorful names of their candidates for elected office: Hubert Dewayne “Turkey” Hargis, Ladue “Boo” Bouldin, and Phillip “Rabbit” Stevens. Upon arriving at the Stone Door Ranger Station, the ranger on duty told us to be careful of flash floods. Though we took his advice to heart, as we asked him more questions, we found out that flash floods are really only dangerous for rangers who drive trucks around the park and do little hiking. So, with this ominous but confusing advice, we embarked on our 3-day backpacking trip into the Savage Gulf Natural Area.
With mild temperatures and beautiful terrain, everyone’s spirits were up as we ate red beans & rice burritos for dinner and roasted marshmallows for s’mores in the evening. The evening was so relaxed, I was surprised to see it was midnight when I finally glanced at my watch before bed. At least this was a group of teens who would sleep in the next morning…I thought.
At 5:30 am the boys awoke and began wrestling in their tent. By 6:30 we were all out of our tents and packing up, still in high spirits. Rising early meant we had more time to complete our 7-mile hike to Saw Mill campsite, and we were able to pack up dry tents, despite the thunder beginning to sound in the distance.
To my surprise, the students chose to hike the Rim Trail for views rather than the Gulf Trail for waterfalls. We got to pause at several panoramic overlooks before arriving at the most impressive cliffs above Stone Door (a fissure in the rock cliffs containing 140 steps from top to bottom). Though drizzle had begun, we were able to take a snack break and stare at the view in front of us before hiking down stone door and into the canyon.
I had promised the students “swimming” at Laurel Creek. Every year I’ve done this hike, Laurel Creek has been a cascade of waterfalls, whirlpools, and deep pools. But today, it was empty. Bone dry. In fact, we ate on the creek bed and the boys began their series of faked “dangerous” photos (see photo to the left).
After lunch, the next creek was dry. And the next. And even Big Creek was dry at the base of the canyon. I began to worry that Schwoon Spring, our water source at Saw Mill campsite, would be dry. Luckily, it was flowing heartily. All of the water from the surrounding plateau flows into the canyon, but in dry weather it stays below ground, save for a couple springs and sinks (such as Schwoon) that flow year round.
Our group spent a couple hours at the spring (which is truly a small river flowing out of a cave and dropping into a deep sink (another cave). We collected water, dunked our heads in the water, and crawled on our bellies through sticky mud in a cave to have a underside view of the waterfall where Schwoon Spring falls into the sinkhole.
Returning to camp, we began cooking dinner under the tarp while a few students went with the other guide, Catie, to hang rope in trees for our food bags. And that’s when the sky opened up. Though we only caught the far corner of the “storm of the century” that flooded Nashville, I can truthfully say that I’ve never seen so much water come from the sky in such a short period of time. Though our heads were dry, water began flowing on the ground underneath our tarp, until we had a river of mud and rainwater at our feet.
After 45 minutes of kneeling in the mud, our chefs for the night had dinner ready. Then the rope-hangers returned – with big grins! They had the best adventure, trying to throw rope up in trees in pouring rain. Soaked to the bone, they changed clothes and then joined the rest of the group for a warming meal of Backcountry Shepherd’s Pie.
Laurel Creek Before & After the Rainstorm:
I was very impressed at how relaxed all the students were in the storm. One young woman just put on her rain pants and plopped down in the water and mud and continued to chop carrots. Another put on dry clothes in his tent, but then put the wet ones back on and came back out in the rain!
Everyone stayed dry in their tents overnight and on our last day in the woods, Savage Gulf had been transformed. Big Creek was flowing with 2 feet of water. Laurel Creek now contained waterfalls, cascades, and eddies. It was quite amazing to see how much water filled the canyon after a rainstorm. Though our big joy was getting to hike with this group of students, we were very lucky to see Savage Gulf in both its dry and wet iterations.
As we walked up the steps of Stone Door, many of the students wished they could stay longer. Though I was tired and ready for a shower, I shared the sentiment of wanting to visit Savage Gulf again and again with this group of teens.
I truly look forward to the next Arbor Middle School Backpacking Trip and am disappointed the graduating 8th graders will not be able to join us next year. Congratulations on graduation!
HSE Civil War Bicycle Tour
May 6th, 2010 Classes,Homeschool
We are kicking off a collaboration with Bicycle Tours of Atlanta and are offering a new urban adventure: A Bicycle Tour of the Battle of Atlanta.
Our first tour for the general public will be held in collaboration with the B*ATL Event Festival in East Atlanta in July.
Last week, we rolled out a version of it with a group of families from Homeschool Excursions (HSE).
So, why is Sure Foot Adventures leading Civil War tours? We believe in helping people find creative ways to get outdoors, and a bicycle tour is a perfect intown adventure. We also wan to help people connect with the land around them, and learning history is a great way to do that. Are we Confederate sympathizers? No. We approach the story of the Civil War as a national tragedy (for the destruction and death it caused) and as a huge victory over the system of slavery. But most of all, we want participants to see the layers of history in the land around them and the neighborhoods we ride through.
At 11 a.m., our group of 10 cyclists departed the Zoo Atlanta parking lot in Grant Park for an 8-mile ride that approximated Civil War troop movements and visited important sites from the July 22, 1864 Battle of Atlanta.
Starting behind Confederate lines at Fort Walker, the only remaining visible earthworks left from the Civil War in Atlanta, we took a long uphill ride tracing Hardee’s night march and then criss-crossed Moreland Avenue (Leggett’s Hill) on side streets, learning the history of the battle and its significance.
General Hardee’s night march has always particularly intrigued me, probably because it involved hiking! General Hood ordered Hardee’s men to embark on an all-night, 12-15 mile march around the flank of the Federal armies in an attempt to attack from their rear. Many of these soldiers had just pulled back from fighting at Peachtree Creek, only to be sent on this extreme night march which culminated in a full day of vicious fighting. The most amazing thing to me is that these soldiers did not give up. It’s incredible, really, what humans can do when pushed.
In designing this bicycle tour, I originally wanted to bike the entire route of the night march. Many of the roads on Hardee’s route still exist (Key Road, Fayetteville Road, Flat Shoals Avenue, etc.), but this route would double the length of the ride. Instead, we ride directly to East Atlanta (one location where the battle began) via Ormewood Avenue. Ormewood has a long, slow hill which I hope helps participants simulate some of the fatigue that Hardee’s troops felt during the night march. Truthfully, though, nothing can simulate that!
Our tour visits the site of General McPherson’s death (for whom Fort McPherson was named), the remains of Leggett’s hill (which was mostly destroyed by the I-20 overpass at Moreland Avenue), the center point of the battle, and the Railroad Cut featured in the Cyclorama Painting. We use the height of the Inman Park MARTA Station overpass to look at the terrain surrounding the battle.
More than anything, I believe that bicycling the battle route allows participants to truly connect with history because the Civil War was so influenced by terrain – a fact which can’t be truly understood when driving. On bicycle, we can cover the whole battlefield (as opposed to the small area we can cover on foot), but we are forced to recognize the hills and valleys that so affected the fighting.
Plus, it’s great exercise and a wonderful way to see the intown neighborhoods of Grant Park, Ormewood Park, East Atlanta Village, Edgewood, Reynoldstown, Inman Park, and Cabbage Town.
This group of homeschool students were excellent cyclists, followed group-riding safety guidelines to a tee, and loved learning history while NOT sitting behind a desk. One young man raced me up a steep incline near Leggett’s Hill (and beat me, of course). Several participants chose to carry their bikes up the long staircase at the MARTA station, instead of taking the elevator (not that there is anything wrong with the elevator–those stairs are LONG). All in all, it was a great day of riding and history. Several participants even toured the Cyclorama in Grant Park after we completed the tour.
Please join us on a future bicycle tour! Visit biketoursatl.com, batlevent.org, and surefootadventures.com for more information about our tours.
City Chicks Kids Outing
May 4th, 2010 Chickens,Classes
Two weeks ago, in collaboration with the East Lake School Coalition, we led a city chickens outing with ten 2-4 year olds and their parents.
Though most families were from intown neighborhoods, one made the trek all the way from Marietta for our outing.
I was a bit nervous about the outing because young kids are often afraid of chickens. So, I set up the class to introduce the chickens to the children in stages. While families were arriving, everyone stayed outside of the chicken yard. Once everyone had gathered, I went inside the yard and showed the kids that I was comfortable with the birds. I then caught one hen and brought her outside the fence in my arms, lowered her to the kids’ level, and showed them how to pet her. We looked at the different parts of the chicken body. I even held one bird upside down (for only a short time) so the kids could touch her feet and spur nubbin.
By this time, the kids were getting used to the idea of these big dinosaur-esque birds. So, I brought out Spilly (our blind chicken) and let her walk in circles among them while they petted her. Finally, I invited any children who wanted to meet the chickens into the chicken yard. Everyone came in! We explored the coop, collected eggs, tried to pick up the chickens, and fed them a whole loaf of white bread.
There were only a couple melt-downs among the kids, which I think must be expected when you get 10 young children together with strange animals. The most beautiful thing that I saw was that the kids went from marveling at the birds to playing with and around the chickens as if they were normal pets in only an hour. Though most Americans have been separated from connections with their food sources, these kids spent an hour playing in my yard with chickens all around them.
To end the class, I lit a campfire in the fire pit and we all sat in a circle while I told the story of “Spilly & the Swallow,” an adaptation of “The Mole and the Swallow” story that my father tells on his children’s album, Howjado?
Finally, we all made paper plate chickens (which the kids immediately realized were perfect “chicken hats”). You can view the patterns on Denise Fleming’s website.
What a fun afternoon! One of the children still stops by every few days with his mom to feed our chickens. I look forward to our next City Chicks Kids outing in the next couple months. Until then, check out the East Lake School Coalitions other outings.
Photos
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