Well there is one more thing that I wanted to touch on. After writing yesterday's post it has been I my mind so I guess I'll share it with all of you. (all 3 of you, haha) I joined scouts 7 years ago this March, those 7 years have been the best years of my life thus far. I learned so much and grew alot. When I joined the troop I was a quite, frustrated little kid who was afraid of just about anything. I can remember my first campout without my father, I almost had a mental break down before I left but that weekend as Big Man says, we cut the cord and since then my father hasn't been on a campout. Scouts became a slight addiction for me and I was nicknamed Super Scout, mostly because I never missed a meeting or campout for years on end. I was a leader, a bad one at times, for a long time. I befriended adults and boys, I taught many but learned from more.
In scouts if your still active after your freshman year of High School your a relic and thats what I became. I learned to sit around and talk with adults and other older scouts. (Imagine a bunch of old men sitting around talking about random things and times gone by) It was during this time in my career that I started reading and researching backpacking. Like I've said in earlier posts when I find something that I like, I learn and research as much as humanly possible, If only I felt that way about my studies. That year I suggest that the troop take a trip to the White Mountains in early august and that we take a few practice trips before then. I can't tell you how many trips that I've been on since I made that suggestion. We learned from our mistakes and we became somewhat effiecent. In august we went on the trip that I had spent the year planning. It was great and had a few minor problems but it was great. To me this was the highlight of my career, outshadowing my eagle scout project by far. This past year we took the troop on two backpacking trips and taught our skills to the new kids. Big Man and I have even taken other groups on trips that we've planned. It's become an important aspect of my life and I hope to spend the rest of my life taking groups out backpacking.
So as you can see I owe alot to the Boy Scouts of America but there comes a time in your life when you know its time to step a side. Something that Big Man often spoke of and something I thought would never happen. Well here it is and I am ready to step aside. The troop will keep moving and if I'm lucky they will ask me back to help with a backpacking trip. If by some chance any of the members of Troop 86 should stumble across this blog, I want to thank you for changing my life, whether you know it or not.
Catch ya on the flip side.
