Students from Paonia Elementary enjoy a fall hike on the Grand Mesa National Forest.

We are so fortunate to live in a place surrounded by public lands here in Western Colorado. Lands open to the public include National Forests, Bureau of Land Management areas, National Parks, portions of National Wildlife Refuges and Colorado State Parks and Wildlife Areas.  Within most of these areas, there is a vast array of established trails open for you and your family to access. But once you’re hiking on the trail, how do you know if you’re following the right path?

Once you choose an area to explore and you have selected a trail on a map, or from one of the many trail apps such as COTREX (Colorado Trail Explorer), knowing how to identify trail markings will help guide you on the trail you intended to be on - a key factor in having an enjoyable outing.
 
There are numerous trail markings that help you know you are on the right trail. Most trailheads will have an information kiosk with a topographic map of the area and a “You Are Here” mark to let you know you are at the correct place. Other important information will be provided on this information board, such as reminders about keeping your dog in control, or warnings of recent bear sightings. In addition to the path beneath your feet, most hiking paths in heavily wooded areas are marked with trail blazes on the trees along the trail. A traditional trail blaze resembles the lowercase “i” carved into the bark of a tree by an axe or a knife. These marks are falling out of favor for environmental reasons but are still found on older established trails. More recently developed trails are marked with painted blazes. These are arranged in certain configurations to help you know where the trail leads: ​

Here in Colorado, you also might see colored blazes indicating different uses of trails. Blue paint, poles, diamonds, or arrows on wooded trails indicate cross country ski trails. Orange paint, poles, arrows, or diamonds indicate snowmobile or ATV trails.  Other trails, such as those on BLM land, national parks, and other public lands, usually have markers with universal international symbols indicating the approved use for that trail. Some trails will have multiple uses, so be sure to be aware if you are hiking on a trail that may also be used by bicyclists or horses.  On multiple use trails, common sense should prevail with respect to trail etiquette. As a general rule, hikers and cyclists give way to horses.                            

​​If you are in a desert or alpine area, trail markings called cairns, or simply stacked rocks, are often used to indicate the correct trail where it crosses barren landscapes and the path may not be clearly evident. Rock pillars have been used throughout history for navigation and marking sacred spots by people around the world. There has been a lot of discussion recently about making sure people do not construct random piles of rock for several reasons. In the back-country of Colorado, rock cairns are meant to be used for navigation without disturbing the natural environment.  A constructed or complex rock arrangement, could cause confusion for other hikers as to the location of the official designated trail. These random arrangements diminish the wilderness experience, and violates the Leave No Trace principles followed by hikers and backpackers.

Wherever you go with your family, make sure you always let someone know where you are going and “Know before you go.”  Check in with the management agency about trail conditions and conditions of the roads accessing the trailhead. Be prepared! Make sure you have the 10 essentials in your daypack like water, food, extra clothing, raingear, a map, a headlamp, and a basic first aid kit. Then follow the trail markings and enjoy your time in Colorado’s backcountry! ​

Wherever you are, you are standing in a watershed!  But, how do you explain a watershed to a 9 year old?  Observation is a good start.  A roof catches the water from a rain storm and as it runs off the roof, it flows into gutters, drainpipes and eventually into a barrel, or a storm drain in the street. Now, imagine the hillsides of a big valley being the roof of a shed, and the melting snow runs down the slopes into small streams eventually flowing into larger rivers.  The area of land encompassing the hillsides is referred to as the watershed. From a bird’s eye view, drainage patterns in a watershed resemble a network similar to the branching pattern of a tree. Tributaries, similar to twigs and small branches, flow into streams, the main branches of the tree eventually to the larger tree trunk. Like all other branching patters (e.g., road maps, veins in a leaf), the drainage pattern consists of smaller channels merging into larger ones.

A watershed is an important concept!  In the west, water availability depends on the amount of rain and snow throughout the year. In Colorado, the snowpack or total seasonal accumulation of snow on the ground is the predominant source of runoff supplying our major rivers with water. In this part of Colorado those rivers are: the Gunnison, the Uncompahgre, the San Miguel, the Dolores and of course the Colorado River.  The last few back-to-back below average water years, started to build drought conditions which intensified with a dry spring and hot summer. Last summer was one of the driest years on record and created drought conditions that sparked some of the worst fires in our state history.  Because of the consequences of drought, understanding and caring for our watershed becomes very important.  

Water availability is also dependent on the condition of the land within the watershed. Watershed health is a function of appropriate land uses which affect the amount infiltration, runoff, the quality of the water flowing into a river and ultimately what we drink! Local foresters often provide a very effective visual demonstration to help students understand how land use can affect water quality. Using 2 (half) culverts set on a slope, one with sod (substituting for trees shrubs, grasses) and the other with no plants, only soil; one student pours one gallon of water from the top of each culvert and their classmates capture the water that runs off the bottom of each culvert in a clear flask.  Their observations?  The water sample from the vegetated (sod) culvert is clear compared to the murky water sample from the non-vegetated culvert. Proof that vegetation slows down the runoff so the precipitation seeps into the soil. The roots of the plants function as a filter catching the sediments and nutrients, ultimately providing better quality water.  Land use matters!  Roads, housing developments, shopping malls, parking lots, timber harvesting, improper grazing and wildfires remove vegetation and can cause increased soil erosion which ultimately affects the quantity and quality of runoff within the watershed. 

Watersheds, river dynamics and western water management are such important concepts to understand that two non-profits and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have contributed funding to provide opportunities for students to learn about them. The mission of these entities are a bit different but all three encourage actions to protect our watersheds. “Forever Our Rivers” champions community engagement in river health, with efforts generating the interest, people power and funding needed for healthy river ways. “The Gunnison Round Table” (associated with DNR and the Colorado Water Conservation Board) is involved with water planning for current and future in-basin uses. Friends of Youth and Nature facilitates opportunities for youth to learn about the environment and become active stewards of our natural resources. All three have collaborated this year to establish funding to bring over 1200 students to events with interactive water learning activities on the Western Slope. 

“Water in the West” is the newest Colorado River Water interactive exhibit at the Eureka Science Museum in Grand Junction.  The hydrology exhibit includes 12 different lessons about water, from turbulence and dissolved oxygen to measuring flow rate. Approximately 700 gallons of water flow through a 40- foot- long feature that mirrors the Colorado River. Water rushes through irrigation gates to orchards, flows through fish ladders, is diverted into dams and canals and is tubed away in a model of a transmountain diversion.
A few weeks ago, fourth graders participated in the annual Montrose Natural Resource Festival sponsored by the Shavano Valley Conservation District.  Groups of students rotated through stations where they learned about various natural resource concepts through demonstrations and hands-on activities led by resource specialists. Not surprisingly, many stations focused on aspects of water: Your Water – Your Watershed, explaining ways water users can cooperate to protect water resources (The Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership);  The Importance of Trees in Our Watersheds (Montrose Forest Products) , A River Runs Through It – Simulating the dynamics of a river system in a big sandbox (Delta Conservation District), The Importance of Aquatic Invertebrates in the Food Chain (BLM/San Juan Mountain Association); The History of Colorado Water Laws and Why Measuring Flow is Important  (Colorado Division of Water Resources), and, Preventing Pollution in our Watersheds  (City of Montrose).

The goal of these environmental education events is for our youth to learn how interconnected and complex our water systems are.  The Colorado River Basin is huge, encompassing parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. There are a myriad of land uses, and land conditions within this huge basin as it flows from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains over 1400 miles into the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California. Many people rely on that water for so many uses – drinking water, agriculture, industry, power, recreation and fish and wildlife habitats. Do we have enough water to share?  How do you measure it? How do you decide how much everyone gets particularly in a drought?  How is water stored? How much evaporates? Does dust on snow affect spring snow melt? How can you restore and protect watersheds?  What are inner basin water transfers?  Western Colorado students are introduced to a lot of concepts related to water in the west, and the more they know, the more questions they have! Mission accomplished- inspiring critical thinkers! Next time you have a conversation with a fourth grader, ask them why they think water in the west is so complicated?

River Runner is a very cool water tool that tracks a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States! Watch where it ends up! Check out “Color Me a Watershed” and "Branching Out” – Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) activities to demonstrate watershed concepts to students in the classroom.

A few weeks ago I was asked to watch my niece and nephew for the afternoon. I was thrilled and had big plans to take them for hikes, jump on the trampoline, order takeout, and other fun things only the “Cool Aunt” could provide. But what I was quickly reminded of was that I would have to compete against the Almighty Screen in order to get to play with my niece and nephew. After a mild effort, I was ready to throw in the towel and just be okay with making spaghetti and watching the kiddos “game” on their virtual devices.  Their tablets were pointed at the ceiling broadcasting voices of neighborhood children simultaneously plugged into the game and subsequently checked out of the present moment. Then, a small opportunity presented itself − the tablet-encased voices were shouting, “We have to go and eat dinner!” This meant I might have some leverage to persuade my niece and nephew to play with me, a non-digital entity. I quickly suggested a walk in the sunshine, which was ignored. Then I suggested riding bikes, which got me a “maybe.” When I brought up the idea of a scavenger hunt, I finally got a reaction! My nephew leapt off the couch and, ran upstairs to put on his adventure vest which was full of pockets and made him look like he could have been Steve Irwin’s assistant. My niece, who rarely wears shoes, was off the couch looking for her flip-flops. Although not true adventure wear, I wasn’t going to stop our forward progress into the outdoors. 
 
1 point for the Cool Aunt!
 
We ran around the front yard looking for clues and quickly putting them in a pocket of the adventure vest. We climbed over bridges, stormed through gates, looked under rocks, and absorbed a good hour’s worth of Vitamin D. For our next go around, my niece suggested a version of a scavenger hunt that would let us all play at the same time and more importantly would expand our adventure beyond the familiarity of the front yard. As we made our way around the block my nephew asked, “Can we go as far as we want?” I gleefully said “Yes,” and the memories of trying to get him off the couch just a few hours earlier quickly faded from all of our minds.  Later, I would hear things like, “I like looking closely at the tree bark because it is so interesting,” and, “we may need flashlights because I don’t want to quit!”
 
Another point for the Cool Aunt. 
 
The Cool Aunt A-Z scavenger hunt:

• Create a list with all letters of the alphabet with a checkbox next to each.
• Work as a team and have one team member check the boxes and write in the   object that begins with each letter: A, annoying fishing line; B, ball; C, charcoal; etc.  If the item is collectible (dinner wrapper, fish bobber, etc.) - you can have them collect it in a bag −this works great for trash.  Kids can also sketch items they can’t find (make sure to have extra paper or small notebooks and pencils on hand).
• If you have a few teams playing, whoever completes their list first wins and gets an extra dessert or some other treat.
• You can also just list some items they need to locate and observe in the area. Here are a few ideas to get you started:  tree bark, lizard/frog/bird, moss/lichen/crypto-biotic soil, mushroom/wildflower, pine cone/acorn,  animal  scat, animal print, squirrel/chipmunk/marmot,  snakeskin, bird nest, natural object colored blue, four different shades of green, a heart-shaped rock, a piece of litter (pick it up and carry it out!), something made by humans.  

Rules (designed from a 10-year-old’s perspective)

1. You can’t use the same item twice. (I was busted because I tried to use dirt for ‘D’ and also for earth or ‘E’.)
2. You can use adjectives if you need to for letters X, Z, and Q such as zany-shaped tree leaf.

 
As Michele Hart – the “cool aunt” discovered with the right enticement, - you too can get those kids off the couch and their screens. From close-to-home forays to summer-long hunts, an outdoor scavenger hunt introduces a healthy dose of competition while giving kids a chance to be free to explore and learn to observe!
 
There are all kinds of ways to set up a scavenger hunt for younger and older youth. Here are some additional ideas:
Clue and Route-based Teamwork: When you want to take a team-based approach, you can hide a list of clues or riddles, one leading to the next, with a prize waiting at the end. The kids work together to solve the clues; for example, “This tree has strips of bark that peel off and burn easily making it an excellent fire starter. Go here for your next clue!” (Destination: juniper tree.) And the next clue: “Now that you’ve found the juniper, look for the home of earthworms, vegetable scraps, and grass clippings.” (Destination: compost pile.). Tailor your clues to your kids’ age group and interests—and get creative with your prizes: s’more fixings, fishing gear, or just simple bragging rights.
Season-Long Treasure Hunts: These are the granddaddies of all outdoors scavenger hunts: the season-long activity accomplishment checklists! These involve visiting a string of locations and/or accomplishing a certain set of activities within a season (summer vacation, for example) or beyond. Items might include: spend the night out under the stars, catch and release a fish, go canoeing, reach the top of a mountain, build a shelter out of natural materials, spend the night in a canyon, etc. There are over 100 things every kid absolutely has to do before they are 12! For instance, have you peeked under a rock in a creek to see what’s underneath,  walked a tight-rope on a log,  dug  for worms, danced in the rain, waded in a stream or spotted  the big dipper? These are just a few of those 100 things.  Need the list? You can download it from Generation Wild – The List.  Most of these things you can do in a park, or in your backyard.  You don’t have to go far to have fun outside - you just need to go! 
 
 
Start a summer tradition with your family - simple quests for the littles and more complicated hints possibly riddles for the older kids - or have teams composed of multiple age groups for even more comradery. After all, no matter what your age, who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt?
 
To see the results of the A-Z scavenger hunt visit FOYAN Facebook.  For some great hip pocket trail games and links to the backyard bucket list- go to our home page (www.friendsofyouthandnature.org)

Oh yes, we do love Girl Scout cookies...and their annual cookie sale fundraising event is happening right now! But the Girl Scouts are about so much more than cookies. I recently rediscovered Scouting for Girls, published by The Girl Scouts, Inc. in 1926, and my interest was piqued to take a look at how girl scouting has evolved and adapted to getting young girls outside in our world today.
 
Girl Scouts were originally started in England as the Girl Guides. Juliette Low brought the idea to the U.S. and founded Girl Guides in America, with the first troop in Savannah, Georgia in 1912. The name change to Girl Scouts was made in 1915, at the same time as the establishment of the national headquarters in Washington, D.C. The first national convention was held in 1915 as well, and Juliette Low’s Girl Scouts program was introduced and embraced by the public for a “growing army of girls and young women who are learning in the happiest way how to combine patriotism, outdoor activities of every kind, skill in every branch of domestic science, and high standards of community service”. The motto--”Be Prepared”; the slogan-- “Do a Good Turn Daily.”
 
Today’s Girl Scouts are very active on Colorado’s Western Slope with 30 troops in Mesa County, 4 in Delta County, and 3 in Montrose County. While the initial motto and slogan is still important to daily life, they have since updated to the more comprehensive mission of “Building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.”  I spoke with Ashley Douglas, Regional Volunteer Support Specialist, to get some insight into girl scouting in our current times. Girls are still organized into troops with an adult troop leader, and they work together and individually towards earning skill-building badges in many areas of interest including one close to Friends of Youth and Nature’s hearts with outdoor learning experiences. The badges are organized by type of activity and by age group. The age groups range from kindergarteners named the Daisies, through to grade twelve, aptly named the Ambassadors. All the activities are age-appropriate so I took a look at the junior group, consisting of fourth and fifth graders. Within the Outdoor Badge section, the activities are very broad such as Animal Habitats, Gardener, Outdoor Art Explorer, Eco-Camper, Geocacher, and so on. You can dig deeper to learn all about the badges and the requirements at www.girlscouts.org. There are requirements for each badge, and troop leaders provide support to learn and experience each requirement. For example, the Junior Eco-Camper badge requires a scout to learn how to protect the environment when going on a camping trip, learn the seven principles of leave no trace, plan meals with the environment in mind, build a minimal impact campsite, and learn how to take a hike with a focus on conservation. Once the badge is earned the Girl Scout will have gained skills that can be applied during their entire life and be passed onto future generation--all while having a wonderful time and sharing in the experience of the great outdoors.
 
Many Girl Scout troops engage in activities that bring out the whole family, such as a recent outing on skis and snowshoes on the Grand Mesa. Sixty families signed up! Because of concerns due to COVID-19, the girl scouts worked with the Health Department to make certain their activities were safe by taking various precautions such as forming small groups, wearing masks, and being outdoors at safe distances. The coordination for this type of activity falls to a volunteer group, the Western Slope Outdoors Committee, made up of troop leaders and parents. The snowshoe/ski day was a big success for girls and their families due largely to the efforts of these volunteers.
 
In the foreword of Scouting for Girls 1926 edition, Robert Baden Powell (the founder of Boy Scouts Association in Britain circa 1908) states that he “used Scouting--that is, wood craft, handiness, and cherry helpfulness--as a means for training young soldiers when they first joined the army.” He would continue to use these training methods as a boon to boys and society in peacetime as well. Soon the girls wanted their own organization, and the Girl Guides were born. Today, as well as in the early days of Girl Scouts, being helpful to others is very much a core belief and behavior. Ashley Douglas, the local Regional Volunteer Support Specialist, said the girls and young women take the idea of community service to the next level with action.  The Take-Action community service can best be explained with this example: A troop might decide a problem in their community is the proliferation of trash scattered around their favorite park. Community service could be to spend a Saturday afternoon picking up the trash. Take-Action is to first identify the root cause of that problem, for instance, it might be that there are not enough trash cans in the park. The girls could then develop a sustainable solution to the root cause of that problem by going to City Council and asking how they can help get more trash cans in the park. Twenty years ago the Take-Action approach to community service was introduced as part of the silver and gold awards. Now, Girl Scouts of all ages are creating Take-Action projects, and it becomes second nature to them as they grow up--creating wonderful adult public service thinkers and do’ers.
 
If you are looking for ways to inspire a young girl to get outdoors, explore Mother Nature, learn and have fun, the Girl Scouts may be a perfect fit. Scouting creates a family that lasts a lifetime and provides experiences to build on for that lifetime as well! If you are interested in learning more, finding a troop, or volunteering, go to the Colorado website for Girl Scouts, www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org, or reach out directly to Ashley Douglas at 970-628-8009. And meanwhile, support your local troop by enjoying those cookies--it is cookie season!
 

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