Maize Maze - Oct 2019

It was a delightful Saturday morning when Troupe 001 decided to meet up for a trip to the Maize Maze. This year the maze was located in Livermore at G&M Farms and it was a welcomed change. The small farm greeted us all warmly and as explorers congregated in the early morning we were surrounded by the sights and smell of the fall. We had a minor hiccup to begin with as directions for our rendezvous point were obtuse and two separate groups were formed. It didn't take long though to figure out what was going on and for everyone to come together. This was an auspicious start to the day when everyone decides to get lost together in a maize maze, but spirits remained high.

We entered the maze and took account of our redshirts, I had calculated that if we were to lose someone they were the most likely candidates. I counted 23 Explorers, including Wiggle who I wasn't worried about this year as she was happy being carried around (we'll see about the coming years though). At our first decision point, we realized we needed to make a plan for how we were planning to get out of the Maize Maze successfully. We decided upon the left-hand rule, which essentially means we always keep our left hand on the wall. We delighted in our good decision making and were soon after confronted with a bridge. Seeing this as a good lookout point, we scanned the horizon to see if we could discern our path. Olivander brought their seeing scope but found the detailed to be of little use to us.

We came off the bridge and, following the left-hand rule, went underneath it where we were met with a problem. The trail and the rule were now leading us back to the beginning! We reconvened and learned a very important feature of mazes: the left-hand/right-hand rule only works if the maze doesn't go up over itself! Now armed with this important piece of knowledge, it was imperative that we made our way back to Explorers HQ in hopes of letting other Explorers know before they too got lost.

Back at the bridge, we dispatched a couple of search teams to find the right direction and were quickly rewarded. A plaque commemorating the history of Livermore helped us identify we were on the right track. We met back up and continued the left-hand rule, knowing we'd need to discuss if we ever found another bridge. Luckily, that wasn't the case! The troupe meandered and snaked its way through the Maize Maze. K-Dawg offered to keep the flag high, which was of great benefit to us as it was one of the few things we could see above the corn stalks. As long as the flag stayed near the front, we could all know where we were heading. As well, despite the efforts of Ben, Nova, and Celsius to get lost/discover every route possible, we all made it out. 23 Explorers into the maze and 23 out!

We had our final reading of Semper Explorandum, then broke to enjoy the pumpkins, kettle corn, and hay maze.