Interlochen State Park held an Outdoor Explorer event for a visually impaired group from the Traverse City area. Below is a story of the event written by Norah Challker, Interlochen State Park Explorer Guide.

The TBA Visually Impaired Group is very diverse with their eye sight. Many kids did not even wear glasses, some wore thick glasses, others wore glasses and held a cane, and a few were completely blind. They came from the surrounding school districts in the Traverse City area.

As the TBA Visually Impaired Group arrived we began cooking hot dogs over an open fire. Many of the students had done it before but they were very excited about it. I had the opportunity to help one blind student, Brandon with cooking his hotdog. He was very capable of doing most on his own. I was there to make sure it wasn't getting burnt or telling him to rotate the handle. After lunch the students began cooking marshmallow and making s'mores.

For the afternoon the students would be making a bird feeder out of White Pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seeds. I was unable to be a part of this project due to time but, the TBA staff said it was a big hit. They would also be learning about White and Red Pines, White and Red Oaks, and the Eastern Hemlock.

We began the hike discussing how to identify these trees using your sense of smell and touch. For the Pine trees we discussed the number of needles in a cluster and the texture of the bark. The students caught on quickly to these two trees. They were very excited to count the needles and they loved the smooth Red Pine bark. Austin a 14 year old boy who is completely blind was very excited about identifying. He was so focused and attentive to this new information and held the information very quickly. The White and Red Oaks were not as exciting for the kids but they caught on to the differences in the leaves. The Eastern Hemlock was a big hit and the students came up with some very interesting things of what it smelt like and a couple did say "CHRISTMAS!" We hiked along a path in search of the trees and the students were very determined to find them. Many of the students would find the tree and shout the name and tell me how they identified it. Even though there was a range in disabilities each student was able to challenge themselves in a new way. As I was walking with Ella, a blind girl, she stopped at a tree and I told her she was at a Pine. She began feeling the bark and said, "this bark is so rough, it's a White Pine!"