. . . Each hike is an adventure for the kids, many of whom have never been surrounded by trees before . . .

Writing - Sierra Club

Inner City Outings heads to Carol Park

The alarm goes off

The alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. Without enough time to hit the snooze, I stumble from my bed and into the shower, hoping that the scheduled rain holds off and wishing that I had gone to bed earlier the night before. A quick peak out the window shows some light cloud cover, but it doesn't look too stormy and I see no reason to call off the hike now. Shower over, I meet my wife in the kitchen and start packing supplies- a bag of apples, a case of fruit sodas, some oranges and two dozen peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Two dozen sandwiches??!! Yes, which, along with all of the other stuff, makes for a heavy pack as I get on my bicycle to pick up the rental van. In the early morning light of a summer Saturday, another Sierra Club Inner City Outings expedition is underway.

What, you might ask, is Inner City Outings (ICO)? A subgroup of the Sierra Club, ICO is dedicated to exposing youths between the ages of eight and fourteen to the delights of the natural world. Working with city youth agencies such as the West End Boys and Girls Club in Allston and the Red Oak School in Chinatown, ICO volunteers have taken dozens of Boston's youth to Franklin Park, Carol Park in Dover and the Blue Hills Reservation. While traditional hikes are our forte, we do have a somewhat wider range of activities. One rainy day trip took place at the Museum of Science, and tentative plans for the winter include ice skating and cross-country skiing.

The hiking adventures

Each hike is an adventure for the kids, many of whom have never been surrounded by trees before, as well as for the ICO volunteers and trip leaders, most of whom have never before been surrounded by a dozen 10-year olds, each of whom wants to carry the compass (or the binoculars, or the magnifying glass, or the map, or, in one case, my biking gloves). Evenly dividing up these "goodies" so that everyone is happy, at least until little Jimmy decides binoculars are "way more cool" than the map and decides to conduct a unilateral switch, provides an interesting mix of what my parent must have gone through while hiking with five kids and what I went through as a Marine lieutenant taking my troops out to the field.

For many of us, ICO is the only extensive contact we have with people two decades younger than we, much less with children who are growing up in a world where junkies, violence and the rest of the urban jungle lurk just outside their windows. Used to hiking the Grand Canyon or mountain biking in Utah, ICO volunteers find it exhilarating to see how much fun these children can have just being in the woods, discovering things like turtles, flowing water, fish and, for some, horses. It puts bagging New Hampshire's four thousand foot peaks in an interesting perspective- I can't brag about bagging Blue Hills, but the kids with whom I go sure can. Add skipping some stones in a pond, making wooden sailboats or running up a huge mound of sand, and it's a child's dream adventure come true.

Proper prior planning is key to a successful outing

Like any outing, an ICO trip starts long before the actual day of the hike. Once we've found an agency that is interested in working with us, we must schedule the hike, coordinate with fellow ICO volunteers to make sure that we have enough support, conduct a reconnaissance hike (getting lost in the woods with a van full of kids is not a good way to impress people) , ensure that the agency gets the permission slips signed, put together snacks, lunches and drinks, reserve the van and then double-check everything to make sure the trip goes smoothly. And then there's the last minute doubts about the weather- will it rain, will it be too cold, is it going to be so hot we need to worry about heatstroke? Pack the first aid kit, the bug spray, the sun screen and some extra bandaids (kids running through the woods seem to use up a surprising amount of bandaids) and we're set to hike.

Once we've picked up the van, we head over to the agency to pick up the kids and the agency staff member who must accompany us. Doublecheck the permission slips to make sure every child has one, introduce ourselves to any parents who may be there with the children, go over the basic ground rules (no one gets hurt, everyone has fun, don't go too far ahead and don't stray too far behind), load up the van and head over to the outing site. Thus far this season we haven't gone much beyond route 128, but as we develop deeper relationships with these agencies we will tackle bigger mountains like Monadnock, overnight camping and canoe trips, but for now Blue Hills is a good destination.

We generally meet up with the rest of the ICO volunteers, (usually around six or eight total) at the trail head. Once there we all play a variety of introductory games to learn each others' names, go over the ground rules in a bit more detail, make sure we've packed everything from the van, discuss the trail route and then hit the trail. Although the hikes themselves are relatively short, usually no more than three or four miles, with only minor increases in elevation, they can take a long time. When you're with kids who have never looked at an ant hill through a magnifying glass or tried to tell white pines from red pines (five needles versus three), it's wise not to hurry. Walk a bit, show an eight year old how to tell north on the compass, go a bit further, tell two more kids how to orient a map, then tell someone else how a compass works, pass out the bug spray, stop and give someone a drink and then it's break time. Enjoy the view of Boston's skyline (from Blue Hills) or skip rocks on the pond(Carol Park) while munching on orange and apple slices for half an hour, and then continue the journey to lunch. After lunch, depending on the weather and the timing, its a beeline back to the van (stopping to look at a birds' nest, a bees' nest and a chipmunk along the way) or a more roundabout jaunt (with the same stops).

All trips have to end

At Carol Park, a playground by the trailhead parking lot is a wonderful way to finish the trip. Chasing each other up and down slides, spinning on the handpowered merry-go-round and flying through the air on swings rejuvenates even the most tired hikers. Then it's back to the van- is everyone here, do they have everything that they came with, where's Susie's jacket- for the return trip to the agency. A hurried goodbye as the children dash off to their waiting parents or head into the club to catch their ride home, and it's time to return the van and hop on my bike to get home myself. Minus the sandwiches, sodas and fruit, my pack seems a lot lighter now. But somehow, I think as I pedal along, I am still so energized and happy from leading these youngsters through the natural world that is so special to me, that I wouldn't notice even if my pack were just as full.

And as we put the next ICO outing together, ever seeking more volunteers and more agencies, I look forward to sharing this wonderful feeling of sharing nature with needy children with more and more Sierra Club members. Anyone who would like to be a part of this magic may call me at 617-354-8353.

The Massachusetts Sierran