Famous
Last Words
Famous
Last Words
Several merit badges require scout to maintain a
journal of his efforts. Through
these reports, one has the opportunity to enter the mind of a young scout, and
to learn first-hand their many and varied insights. A few of these include the following:
·
“The
next hike was on August the 18th after a camp at Fremont Peak. The camp was fun even though I threw up during it.”
·
“The
hike was easy but hard on your legs.”
·
“Anton
fell. Anton ate a banana slug.
Saw the waterfall. We lost Sammy. The
end.”
·
“On
this hike we saw 72 cars, 44 cows, 33 horses, 9 bikes, 6 dogs, 3 motorcycles, 3
dead squirrels, 1 dead mouse, and 1 mule. We
hiked for three hours and thirty minutes. There
were a total of 23 people. We
stopped for water seven times.”
·
“We
hiked on the orange, brown and parts of the blue & yellow trails, with a
couple of detours.”
·
“On
the boiling hot morning of October the 6th we started on the hardest and hottest
hike ever. Halfway up the hill just
about all of us were out of water. Also
about halfway up [Scoutmaster] Dave had to head back because he was feeling
sick. That was really
discouraging….”
·
“On
the trail we found some fox bones picked clean.
After that disgusting sight we had lunch.”
·
“The
20-mile hike started too early and ended too late.
This hike would have been really easy if it wasn’t so long.”
·
“Our
first break… it was sunny. Our
second break… it was foggy. Our
third break… it was foggy. Our
fourth break… it was foggy. Our
fifth break… it was foggy. Our
sixth break… it was foggy. Our
seventh break… it was foggy. Our
eighth break… it was foggy. Our
ninth break… it was foggy. Our
tenth break… it was foggy. We
finished at 1:28 at Royal Oaks (32.8 miles), it was… sunny!”
·
“When
we got to Royal Oaks we tried to catch as many lizards as we could.”
·
“Yesterday
I was really tired after the bike ride but when I got up in the morning, I felt
really energized and ready to bike. I
was glad that I didn’t go back home with my mom in the car.
As soon as I got on my bike and off the hills of Royal Oaks, I felt
really tired again and wished I had gone with my mom in her car the night
before… but I’m sure glad that I didn’t.”
It
is clear that today’s scouts are not easily impressed.
On one hike Troop 90 journeyed to Big Basin State Park, above Santa Cruz.
This is California’s oldest state park.
Founded in 1902 by redwood enthusiasts, they convinced the state to buy
the land to preserve its natural beauty. This
20,000-acre wonderland offers waterfalls, old growth redwoods, and
chaparral-covered slopes. What did
one of our scouts have to say about our hike over the coastal peak, ending at
the Pacific Ocean?
·
“This
10.6-mile hike was boring. Scenery
did not vary. There were just
Redwoods, Tan Bark Oaks and Redwood Sorrel.
We ate lunch by this huge waterfall.
Lower down there were farms and the beach.
We ended at the ocean.”
Scouts
also submit reports for independent hikes, outings taken if their schedule did
not allow them to attend the requisite number of group hikes sponsored by the
troop. These “make-up” hikes
often had a style and tenor that differed dramatically from our group hikes.
One scout described his “make-up” hike in a manner evidencing this
unique style,
·
“We
took many frequent stops at different stores and gas stations getting things to
drink and looking at stuff.”
Another
scout even decided to complete one of these individual hikes at a local track,
·
"I
couldn’t make the other one the Troop had and we were visiting my Grandma with
nothing much to do. I had joked
with Darby Fuerst about just doing the 10 miles on a track and he said ‘yeah,
sure if you want to plan it.’ My
mom called one of the schools to see if it was ok to use the track.
My mom met me there and I just walked the laps – 40 of them.
It was really easy, but boring."