RangerEagle

2004 it was Dan Beard to Abreu. Hiked to Dan Beard after dropping a crew and met up with my partner. Had full packs as we both had just been with crews. Ate spaghetti with the staff then headed off about 4am the next morning. Hit rain coming over Shaefers. Finished the hike in my sleep clothes as they were the only dry things I had. 15 hours, 43 minutes. Wore 1960s era Class A for it.

Volunteered to be Cubmaster for next year, turning over in a few weeks with the current leader. I've been den leader, assistant den leader, awards chair, many things within a pack, but first time being Cubmaster.I know I'll learn a lot of things along the way, but what things do I absolutely need to know about before taking the reigns?Never worked with district or council before. How beneficial do you find roundtables and district executives? How have you used your pack committee? We've (leadership team so Cubmaster, committee, and den leaders) been meeting virtually, COVID remanent, but do you find in-person better? Anything you've learned along the way you wished you knew on day one?

Campout went well. Weather was cold with snow on the ground, so Thursday night had a quick powwow with the parents to ensure all were willing and prepared for it. Last den meeting the boys planned the menu. As expected, hot dogs, PB&J, were the main items. First night, boys put up their tents. We had a quick meeting about expectations for the weekend and told them staying dry was key to the weekend. They also made a fire without matches. Last year they all got fire starters and learned how to use lint to start a fire, so this was a good opportunity for them to use that skill again. Clear skies, so we did astronomy. They identified multiple constellations and learned how to find the North Star. Didn't take a laser pointer, but one kid had a flashlight that was pretty much a spotlight. Worked well for pointing out individual stars and drawing the line from the Big Dipper to the North Star. Earned 10 frost points over night. Saturday morning, boys made pancakes and sausage and did clean-up. We then did a flag ceremony before they made their lunches and cleaned up. Went on a hike. Patrol leader learned why the question is "is anybody not ready?" instead of "everyone ready?" Our navigator almost lead us astray before I encouraged him to check the map instead of his gut. Had they been in a Troop, I'd let them go the wrong way, but Cub Scouts still need that direct intervention. Was supposed to be longer, but with snow and mud, ended up shorter. 3.25 miles, with a lunch break. Used the Philmont Grace before meals. I'll say a line and have them repeat. Someday they will learn it! Boys also learned why I stressed the importance of staying dry. They all had dry shoes at camp, but learned that cold wet feet are not happy feet. We were looking at going around a lake, but I said I didn't think we could cross the stream. They wanted to show they could and ended up in knee deep snow melt. Lesson learned! While on the trail we went over LNT and Outdoor Code. They are still working on keeping the 4 Cs and the 7 LNT principles separate. Also worked on Into the Woods. Returning to camp we got dry socks and shoes on then played ladder ball before they went to build a snow fort. Supper they roasted their hotdogs and I showed them how to use a dutch oven and made a cobbler. Conducted a flag retirement ceremony during campfire. They then created a game where someone would bring a block of snow and they'd guess how many minutes it would last on the grate above the fire. 14 frost points. Sunday morning they made taquitos, broke camp, and we headed home. Ensuring everyone had proper gear was essential. I brought extras, including hand warmers. Lots of blankets to form insulation under their sleeping bags. And dry socks and shoes! Also made an adaptation from Thorns and Roses. Figured the thorn for all would be the hike, so had them all say what they enjoyed most from the weekend. They weren't interested in my "mindfulness scavenger hunt" while hiking, but this helped create some mindfulness and focus on the positives.

Planning an AOL campout for March. The boys wanted to do another campout together before crossing over. Will be in the mountains of southern California, so a chance of being cool to cold. Planning on having the boys plan/cook the meals. We will do a hike, probably 5-6 miles, minimal elevation change with lunch on the trail. Flag retirement ceremony. Of course they will do fire building! Looking for additional items to add into the weekend. Want it to be fun, outdoor educational, but also be a capstone for AOL and Cub Scouts. Will use it to review outdoor skills we've learned over the years and ensure our scouts who joined late are caught up for crossing over. I like the color guard idea. We won't have a flag pole, but can certainly do a flag ceremony in the morning and night. Moon looks to be just past new, so maybe astronomy. I just don't own a telescope. Maybe having them use a star map and teach celestial navigation? During the hike, maybe have a nature scavenger hunt? I took my then 7 and 9 year old hiking on this same trail once and .5 miles into it they started complaining. Had them start counting the number of animals they saw and their complaints were non-existent. Figure it would be good to keep them mentally occupied while also engaged in the hike. Will probably need to add a prize in to get the boys to participate in it! Our last pack campout we did a faith service. Maybe 10 minutes, but had the boys lead most of it. Had a call to worship, sang God Bless America, a thanksgiving prayer, the "message" was a scout reciting the scout law with a three to five sentence explanation for each point, and a benediction. Anyone do a faith service?

My uniform tells a story, but it's the story I want it to tell. I don't put on all the knots that I could, just the story I want to tell. For me, Scouting revolves around the youth, so I mainly have items on my uniform from my youth. My religious knot and Eagle knot. I don't have a good reason to not wear the Arrow of Light knot, just not in the story I tell with my uniform. On the right side, almost always with a Philmont arrowhead. Either staff or Rayado. Belt always Philmont. Only "adult" item I have on it my pack position and the pins associated with my kids rank. My uniform is a story, my story. But yeah, if we brought back old uniforms with no collar and community patches and wear garrison covers, I'm all in.

Greetings from California. Been involved in Scout most of my life. Did Cub Scouts from Wolf through Arrow of Light, then Scouts through Eagle. Worked at Philmont a couple of summers and was in a Venture crew in college. Been involved with a couple of Packs for my oldest son as we moved around the country and served as awards chair and assistant den leader through Webelos. Now a den leader with my two youngest involved in Cub Scouts. Scouting has changed over the years and is still changing, but remains the best program for the youth of our nation. Proud to be involved in Scouting.