October 22nd, 2018
Authored by Caelah Merrick – Outdoor Education Teacher Welcome to the Outdoor Education classes Synergy Project blog! We are excited to share our adventures and what we’ve been experiencing during our place-based learning opportunities in the wilderness. This blog will be maintained by the students and staff of the Outdoor Education class from the Education Centre. Each week, we aim to have new contributors offering a different perspective of our work on this project! When we first applied for the Synergy Project grant, we envisioned developing a trail near Ryder Lake in partnership with the Chilliwack Park Society and their dedicated volunteers. Unfortunately, not all stakeholders from the surrounding community were on-board for the potential increased traffic in their quiet community, and subsequently the project was put on hold for further consultation. Thankfully, there was need for many more trails within the Chilliwack community and we quickly designated a new project for the Outdoor Education class. The new project is located at the base of the Eastern Hillsides, and it will eventually link a trail from the newly created parking lot to the Community Forest via a scenic three km winding trail through Chilliwack’s temperate coastal rainforest. This Thursday, the Outdoor Education class had the opportunity to enjoy the crisp mountain air, fresh morning dew on our boots, and rich soil falling from our shovels as we began to work on the parking lot trail that will connect to the Community Forest. The path of our new trail traverses Nevin Creek, which was historically a source of pristine water for the city Chilliwack’s. The abundance of water originating from springs and runoffs has created a natural—and messy—obstacle to building a trail intended for heavy use. Today’s goal was to build up an elevated path at the base of the dam and to remove organics along the desired trail. Our next steps will include digging culverts for a water drainage system that will keep the moisture under ground and off the trail! We worked hard on the 'ground' work and look forward to coming back next week to installing the drainage pipes. Once the pipes are in place, we will begin the grueling work of hauling buckets of hard crushed gravel to form the surface of the trail. During our time building the path, students got to learn the importance of slope on trails and consider the impact of erosion from water. Our experiences will help students develop a greater understanding of the planning and engineering that goes into buidling future trails. Our students will slowly be taking a more significant role of leadership on future trails. Under the guidance of Dr. Greidanus, our students were given the opportunity to master an array of tools and techniques required to meet our objective of developing a trail that could withstand heavy use from the community. Each day on the trails, the class has a social theme for discussion and reflection. Today we focused on the impacts of giving back to the community. Students offered many insights pertaining to the value of giving back to the community:
All in all, our first day on the trails was a success. Even it if wasn’t the trail we originally planned for. Our obstacles allowed us to cultivate resilience through working towards a similar goal on a different trail! I look forward to reporting back next week on the literal tons of gravel we’ll need to carry through the forest as we pack down our trail! Watch us on YouTube: youtu.be/ozcMeo_R3_E youtu.be/EpjZjjKgpFg youtu.be/qw93Dmmtr9k
0 Comments
|
AuthorsThe Education Centre's Outdoor Education Class!!! Archives
May 2019
Categories |