Friday, September 30, 2011

Nature Club ~ Federation Forest Walk

Friday we enjoyed a wonderful day with our Nature Club out at the Federation Forest. This is a forest we have passed several times when we head out camping and never stopped to enjoy... we will be certainly taking time to visit this area again as it is simply lovely!

We first headed down to the river to check it out and boy what a treat! The timing was perfect for seeing salmon who had been spawning. The smell in the air was something else, bad - but clearly nature doing what it does best! Salmon littered the edges of the beach, salmon who had already experienced their life's journey and now came to a close. In the river you could see more swimming and falling behind - so tired from the long path. The salmon is an amazing creature simply put!!! Holly loved this - we talked about it while on the beach but reviewed it more later in the day. The cool thing is that next month our Nature Club is focusing on just the salmon... this was a wonderful prelude to it.

After some journaling on the salmon and lunch we gathered up for a walk through the forest. We found a long loop trail that brought us through a couple of different styles of forest and back up along the river. The kids enjoyed  many discoveries including bug, slugs, scat, interesting trees, landscapes, fun play areas and for Holly... devil's club. That discovery was not much fun, but she is a tough kiddo - we did a little treatment on the trail and she toughed it out without any whining. She really is one of the toughest kids I know!

The Federation Forest was a wonderful treat for our Nature Club and we are thrilled we took a day to explore and learn there!

Federation Forest, Holly age 6 - First Grade

Starting on our adventure!

The river.

Looking for salmon on the beach.

He loves the water!

One decayed salmon.

One in the water, expired!

Working their way up stream. (See the fin?)

You can really see this ones fin.

Exploring a dead one...

Recording her findings in her nature journal.

Our crew - working away!

Pretty little thing, such a bright yellow!

An interesting mushroom she found.

Need some free time in the forest, right?


Tall trees.

Scat....

This tree came down, roots way up in the air. It has huge rocks in the root ball up there. It was very interesting to say the least!

Adding that interesting tree to her journal.

Slug.

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