Hi! I’m Evan and I’m 12 years old and I am a member of the Bragg Creek Junior Forest Wardens. This year, our theme is Forestry, so we are learning all about “woodstravel” and that includes mountain biking to experience the forest! About a week ago, our club did a bike night in West Bragg and it turned into a big adventure! Our particular biking group included about 10 kids age 9-12 and 4 parent volunteers. We started off by going about a half hour down a trail, stopping to identify plants and trees, and then continuing on. We took another turn and biked further and we soon realized that we had taken a wrong turn! It was getting darker and a bit colder and we were still a ways from the parking lot. Some of the kids became worried. Our parent leaders encouraged us and used the two-way radios to get into contact with the rest of our club. Many of us were prepared with head lamps and layers and water and snacks. One of our parent leaders reminded us to stick together and find a buddy to stick with. We had to make sure to take care of our buddy as we biked back. My buddy was a kind-hearted father of three kids and he helped us navigate on GPS. On the way back, I kept talking with him, which he might have enjoyed. Then the parents got a call from the other adults back at the parking lot to check our location. Two extra JFW parent leaders (including my own father!) rode back on the trail with extra headlamps to come find us and support us on the way back. It was an unexpected challenge that night in the outdoors, but that is what our club is all about. We learned we can do hard things, we just need to be prepared, stay positive, and stick together!
Evangeline B., Age 12
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