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Scouting Builds Leaders And Doers


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My son is 19. He and his chum Donald were in scouting together since Wolf scouts.  They joined the same troop and same patrol.   They tented together, camped together, went to summer camp together.  They were SPL and ASPL.  They attended Philmont together.  They both attended Northern Tier and Florida Seabase but at different times.  My son was the crew leader for their Philmont trek while Donald was the Chaplin.   They both earned the rank of Eagle.  Both have aged out and are currently enrolled in college.  They travel back and forth between their two colleges several hours apart to hike, camp and enjoy each others company.

 

Today the two of them started a 9 day, 110 mile backpacking trip from Springer Mtn, Ga. to the state border of Georgia/North Carolina along the Appalachian Trail.  They planned it. They figured out public transportation from their home in North Carolina to the trail head in Ga. They organized their gear, made menu selections, and mailed themselves supplies so they can resupply along the trail. 

 

The years of scouting have prepared them to plan and lead their own expeditions into the outdoors.  They invited me to join them at the southern most point of the Appalachian Trail and backpack along with them for half of the first day.  I got a hug from both when I headed back to the vehicle and they headed North to adventure.  I can hardly wait to hear the tales from the adventure. 

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@@resqman surely they are Tweeting it. ;)

No tweets but the Donald's parents have asked for a text once a day to confirm they are still alive and well.   Meant they had to pack a spare battery for the phone.

 

They were making haste.  The were backpacking 3 mph while I was with them up and over mountains.  Oh, to be young again. 

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Awesome.  I can say that I'm hoping that my son and his buddies will still invite me to come along backpacking after they age out.  I'm trying to make the last week of the summer trek a tradition.

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Hedgehog, it pains me to inform you that if they DO issue such an invitation, my personal experience is that they also might do that in order to show you how OLD you are..."What, we have to wait for HIM again?" LOL, if this happens, just play along and enjoy the stroll.

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@@packsaddle  I think I've got two more years where I can out pace him.  I can probably stretch it for a couple of more years by putting more and more gear in his backpack instead of mine.  I'm hoping that after doing this for 5 more years, I'll be in good enough shape to at least keep it respectable.  If not, all I've got is my charming personality to make them want to backpack with me.  :D   

 

But there is hope.   I met a 60 year old thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail a couple of weeks ago.  He said that when he was a scout at age 12 he met a thru-hiker and promised himself that he would do that some day.  He said it just took 48 years to keep that promise.

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I'll be on the trail on Tuesday. Just a segment. There was a time that I would blast through everything. Today, I like to experience everything, just sit once in a while and listen and watch everything around me and enjoy the experience. It takes forever to get there but it isn't a race anymore.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

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