Scoutmaster Musings

With the blog being dormant for the past few months, I've had a few folks ask, "Where are you?" - not many, but a couple.

Well, that little thing called 'life' has gotten in the way of blogging. And, unfortunately, not much of life has involved Scouting. Passing on the scoutmaster position to another volunteer, giving unit commissioner a try, and helping with a new troop (that didn't work out) all resulted in my actual scouting time dropping to nearly nil.

But, I have trained about 150 Scouts and Scouters in Red Cross Wilderness First Aid this year, helping them prepare for those high adventures. I even did a crash course for a troop 2 days before their plane left for SeaBase and they had missed the step about certification being required! It all worked out.

There have also been some Leave No Trace talks and lightweight backpacking presentations to some scout troops interested in those things.

So, I've been doing Scouting support, but nothing really too interesting that would help you all deliver a better program.

Now, I'll be gone hiking for awhile. Last year, I did the 1,100 mile Ice Age Trail through Wisconsin and before that the 800 mile Arizona Trail. This year's adventure is what I call a "Half Hike" of the Appalachian Trail.

I'll tell you a bit more about it tomorrow, but just wanted to let those two people know I'm still here. And, I'll be blogging from the trail starting in a couple days.

Scout On