Boy Scout Hike, Fisherville Brook, both sides

Saturday, May 30

Boy Scouts need various things to advance in rank. Map and compass skills, nature knowledge, and just to be on scout outings. This is why I was disappointed when only three scouts went on our hike. Two of which went on the Great Swamp hike.

The path I chose was to do the South side of Pardon Joslin road, the entire orange then blue loops, then do the North red and white loops. We spent a lot of time going over material, so it took a while. My son and his best friend could not restrain from chattering away about nonsense. We passed a lady clearly inspired by the bird watchers from the old Woody Woodpecker cartoons. I smiled and said hello. She said "I could hear you over the hill. Shush!" When we passed her way again, she was clearly unhappy to see us.

I handed the Audubon map and a compass to one boy and asked him to orient it, and locate our position. He did so in short order. I gave it to my son's buddy and he did the same, but I was certain it was a lucky guess. A little later on I had him try again and he was way off. Again, I explained it and I think he understood.

I intended on doing both the red and while loops on the North side, but time was growing short, so we did just the Red outer loop. Not a soul was seen. A scout did find a tiny deer tick nymph on his shirt, but that was it for those suckers. We returned to the parking lot and drove home.

A rude comment may get the immediate desired result from a small but noisy band of Scouts, but I wonder if this lady understood that the greater good is served when as many noisy kids as possible become familiar with, comfortable in, and learn to respect our natural places. When these places are viewed as exclusive, they will not be valued by all.