A Hiking We Will Go...

We went along with Henry's Cub Scout troop today as they learned how to use a compass, read a map, and then took a hike to a nearby beach.

The first order of business was to figure out how to read a compass and align it with a map.

Then we were ready to head off into the forest. Henry, Alice, and I are in this photo. Curious how Dan managed to not be included? And he wasn't the one with the camera. We hiked through a typical NW forest - dense undergrowth, ferns, moss, and streams. Beautiful!Another great NW beach. Big rocks and tide pools for exploring. The Scouts spread out to enjoy the beach.
Last summer we visited a beach that had swirling sandstone formations on the shoreline. This beach had the same. This natural sculpting phenomenon is called "honeycomb weathering." In storms and high tides, the rocks above the shoreline get splashed with salt water. When the water evaporates, salt crystals form inside crevices and the force of the expanding crystal can break the rock, creating a small hole that becomes larger as the process repeats itself over time.

Alice was a good sport and had fun keeping up with all the boys.

Henry and his buddy, Kyle, had fun digging in the sand.

Henry was positive that he found some fossils. I think he was right - they looked like leaf imprints.

Always fun to explore the tide pools. Dan and the kids found a bunch of clams too.

Another nice Spring afternoon.