Winter Nature & Adventure Challenge

Registration Notes:

• If you are registering minors, you will need to fill out some additional forms for the youth to participate.  
• All youth participating in the course must be registered participants.

As well as being a fun way to get outside and learn about nature, this is also an opportunity to highlight the Puget Sound region's destinations—both well-known ones and some lesser-known gems—while emphasizing participation by all ability levels. Some parts of the challenge will be time-limited, but many parts will remain open for the entire course. For participants who are unable to complete the tasks due to geographic, schedule, or health constraints, we encourage improvisation, and we will offer many close-to-home and online options. 

We will provide online lectures, content through a Google Classroom, details for destinations that you can explore on your own, and raffle prizes.  There will be a series of pins that participants can claim by earning points.  

Pins and/or digital badges will be offered for Birding, Geology, Trees & Plants, and Stewardship/Conservation.  We will also offer some photography and creative writing competitions.  There will also be scavenger hunts.

Feel free to join in and make this as competitive or as uncompetitive as you'd like.  This is a family-friendly course, and we will offer a weekly online activity for school-aged children, as well as ensure that we include destinations for all ages and abilities.

Your course leaders include Danielle Graham, Thomas Bancroft, and Stewart Hougen.  Danielle Graham grew up playing in the woods and lakes of Northern New England. She has a graduate degree in Natural Resource Planning and worked for various environmental non-profits, including the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, and the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.  Her favorite childhood book was My Side of the Mountain by  Jean Craighead George, her favorite plant is the maidenhair fern, and she is the co-leader of the Introduction to the Natural World course.  Thomas Bancroft has been a birder and ecologist all his life and has a Ph.D. in Ornithology. He has birded in 48 states, several Canadian providences, and on six continents. Tom began birding at a very young age in Pennsylvania, climbing into the kitchen sink to observe birds outside the window.  Just before moving to Seattle, he served as Chief Scientist for National Audubon. Tom is a published author, an avid photographer, and has a wonderful sense of humor.  Stewart Hougen grew up in Washington State in the Olympics, spending a lot of his childhood outdoors.  He began his career as a practicing geologist (ask him about his time in Alaska and the bears!). Stewart is a small business owner and co-leads the Mountaineers Moss & Lichen course.  He is an avid trip leader for the club, and he has created many chart systems to aid us all in learning ferns, flowers, trees, moss, lichen, and butterflies. When he is not outside, Stewart enjoys music, dance, and bridge.