Browning Mill Pond, Arcadia

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Our winter hike tradition goes back before my time in scouts, which is at about ten years. The first winter hike I ever went on was around Browning Mill Pond, and about that long ago. It was cold that day. Seriously cold. Our hot chocolate was barely room temperature when we were done. I didn't check the temperature, but I've never been that cold on a hike, before or since. Cub hike or otherwise. This year five scouts and a sister braved the weather.

Browning Mill Pond is absolutely stunning in the winter. There was a fair amount of snow on the ground to give us a workout but not enough to ruin the fun. There was no wildlife to see but small rodent tracks were in evidence. We went clockwise around the pond. The path was well marked and fairly easy to follow despite the snow. Most of the way around is a covered picnic area where we paused for snacks.

Along the way we met up with a Rhode Island hiking club called "Walks and Rambles", apparently named after the Ken Weber series of books. We had a nice chat and went on our way.

There is an optional leg of the hike to make it a bit longer, but after a quick discussion the scouts decided to head on to the hot chocolate, still piping hot I have to say. A boy's enthusiasm for an activity can be quickly diminished when it goes just a little bit too long, so off to the parking lot we did go.

A good time was had by our group, but it's too bad we don't get more participation. If you prepare, a little cold is no barrier to fun. I'll leave you with the best advice we got that day:

BSA and their future

Readers of this blog know that I am a volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America. Recently BSA reaffirmed their policy to exclude homosexuals from membership. While I am not surprised by this decision, I am disappointed. But what really confounds me is that they failed to take the opportunity to at least clarify their position.

What this does is allow for speculation. Is this a moral judgment on gays or are they trying to remove sexuality like they do by excluding girls? With camping, scouting’s signature method, it’s easy to segregate girls from boys for sleeping arrangements, and the need goes without question. But if we have gay scouts, what then? Will there be need for leader training on how to deal with camping nookie?

And with gay scout leaders, are they afraid of leader abuse or the nefarious notion of “gay conversion”? In Scouts defense, I understand the concern of allowing leaders to camp with boys they may be sexually attracted to. However, we know that Venture Scouts allow female members and the Girl Scouts allow male leaders. Add to this the fact that the most recent publicized case of a gay leader being ousted was a woman.

Were I to speculate, I would think a principle concern is the reaction of the more than one million volunteer leaders. Once BSA as a whole allows gay membership, no single unit will be able to opt out, and some among our ranks may choose to walk. A drop of just five percent of the trained, dedicated leaders would send repercussions across the community. Units would fail. And the number may be much higher than that.

The Boy Scouts of America is committed to the healthy development of American boys, and gay youths certainly can benefit from the program. And if they believe their mantra that all boys deserve the benefit of scouting, they will include all boys.

We don’t know yet what the public reaction will be, but we are on the cusp of two critical moments: recruitment and popcorn sales. Will Americans vote with both their feet and their wallet? I hope not. That could spell disaster for two scout units I work with. But we will soon see.

I can’t say how the leaders I know would react to a policy change, but I think it would mostly be positive. I hope BSA’s reasoning doesn’t center around Hellfire and Damnation but I can’t know. When religious doctrine becomes an obstacle to compassion and understanding it must be discarded. Boy Scouts of America must change, and, difficulties be damned, it will. Otherwise this will be it’s demise. BSA must take the moral high road and the initial membership hit. And if we are going to exclude people, we should at least say why.

Wickaboxet Management Area

Saturday, August 6, 2011

See, I'm catching up!

No pictures again. Sorry.

This was the second summer hike I invited my Cub Scout Pack to attend, and once again I got a low turnout. In fact, two scouts. Partially because of this I didn't plan any summer hikes for 2012. Besides, my youngest transitioned over to Boy Scouts earlier this month. I'll be finishing up my stint early next year and saying goodbye to the Pack I called home for about ten years.

Anyhow, the two scouts and two parents made a leisurely stroll around the property, menaced not by neither ATV riders nor mound ants. We made it to rattlesnake ledges and the boys wanted to climb up and down all day. After a brief Leave No Trace talk that included the abomination of leaving behind cans of lousy beer in makeshift (illegal) fire pits, we progressed on our way.

I've said it before but it bears repeating: it is so important to bring youngsters into the outdoors, even if for a short while. A simple day hike can do wonders for the child who sees the outdoors only as the small spaces between the chain link fences. They don't need to go survivorman, certainly not at Cub Scout ages, but we must not foster the world view that wild spaces are irrelevant. Our drinking water does not come from chemlawn runoff. Or at least, it shouldn't.

The Flume Trail, New Hampshire

Saturday, July 23, 2011

My brother-in-law, buddy, and I traveled north for our annual "Guys Hike". This time it was to be the Flume Trail, which Lou did when he was much younger. We were looking for something a little less strenuous than what we've done in the past.

Funny thing, though. We weren't entirely sure where this trail was. We weren't too concerned, though. Climb up, get to top, climb down, drive back to campsite. As long as we accomplished those goals, the details weren't terribly important.

The trail we were on took us past picnic areas over a paved path. The river was off in the distance.

Soon we were in the forest proper.

After what we presumed to be the Flume Slide (no pictures) we started to reach overlooks.

And, here we are at the top (that's Lou looking like a pirate).

And then back down.

That's the caretaker's shelter. He came out and spoke for a bit. He lives there for the summer and does stuff like remove illegal camp sites and keep an eye on the hikers. He is payed a small amount to live there for the summer and has to weather some real bad conditions occasionally. I kinda envied him.

Despite the smiles on my face, I really didn't enjoy this hike. I was in as good of shape as ever and this climb does not come close to Washington in terms of difficulty, but had some serious moments of doubt. I kept going on for no other reason than to not disappoint my friends. Maybe age is catching up with me.

Escoheag Trail, Arcadia

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Rule 1 of Leave No Trace: Plan Ahead and Prepare.

This rule is first for a variety of reasons. It highlights the intersection between protecting the environment and protecting yourself. Most people who get into trouble in the wilds do so because they do not plan ahead. A hiker in trouble does not concern themself with low impact camping. If there is anything I can impart on my young scouts, it is the importance of this rule.

I've faulted myself on occasion for being too prepared. I've gone on a two mile day hike with a medical kit, extra food, clothing, and water, flashlight, and gotten weird glances from fellow hikers carrying a half liter of water and a banana. So why do I bring this up? On a well planned cub scout hike, I forgot the book. Weekend Walks in Rhode Island somehow never made it back into my pack or the car.

Using my crappy work-issued blackberry, I manged to find direction to the trail head and took extra time to locate it. Once there, of course, I didn't have a trail map. We did things by committee. "Which way do you want to go?" Three cub scouts, two other parents, two siblings, and I made our way through the woods for a couple hours.

Due to my bad planning, we missed many of the highlights of the trail, most notably the Steppingstone falls, my favorite Arcadia feature. I can't help but see my misstep as a knock on my outdoors trail cred, but still, the boys, and the siblings (teenage girls) enjoyed themselves. I did better the next time. And I may add a photo or two once I find my camera's data cable.

How do you pronounce "Escoheag", anyhow?