I had the privilege of accompanying an excellent troop of boy scouts recently. These boys were all 12 and 13 years old but highly experienced in the outdoors. All the older boys have completed 50 miler backpacking trips and all the boys are well versed in both light weight cooking as well as camp cooking with dutch ovens and grills. We traveled to Southern Utah's Cedar Mesa area via Arches NP and Canyon lands NP. We day hiked into a couple of canyons with many ancient ruins. The sharp eyed boys found more pottery shards and took great delight in leaving them for display for others to enjoy. Later in the week, we traveled west through Capitol Reef NP, viewing many glyphs. That night, camping primitive in the grand staircase, we took a late evening walk up Calf Creek and waited for the full moon to rise highlighting the beautiful Lower Calf Creek Falls. The young men were quite proud of their culinary skills, especially with the dutch ovens. They have prepared several meals this past winter, for parents and leaders, learning various menus and skills and their work proved excellent as they cooked full course meals on this trip. Bacon, eggs, and hash browns were a given for some of the breakfasts but chicken Alfredo, cheesy potatoes, dump cakes, biscuits and the like really set off their evening meals. They are now busy planning their next major outing, a backpacking trip into the Frank Church Wilderness in central Idaho. It is a real pleasure to see these young men take a real interest in the outdoors. The respect they show and the skills they have reflect on a good troop program. I wish all young people could show this kind of respect and enthusiasm.
Sounds great Grandpa it's good to hear a bunch of young men still actively honing outdoor activities. I consider cooking out doors a valuable skill and if you dont you aint ever been alone in the outdoors for very long.
A great story. They already get it at age 13 just like we did. How do we spread the word outside of eastern Idaho and get more kids involved?
Not sure how to get more kids correctly involved. We sure heard some horror stories about other scouts from people coming up to compliment our boys. Such as a bunch from Arizona burning down a back country out house in Coyote Gulch recently. I'd like to say it was the great leadership these boys had but the truth is, they came to us from homes where respect and manners had been taught. With that respect from home, they were ready and willing to learn the little details their leaders provided. It's easy and fun to work with young men who have manners and respect. With that thought, I am sure there are scout groups all across the country with similar good kids. We just hear about the bad ones more.
This is great that kids are starting into backpacking at an early age like that. Keep them away from video game addiction and get them involved in productive outdoor activities.
Grandpa makes an important point. Some kids respect authority and are able to take direction really well. They pick things up quickly and show responsibility at an early age. Some are born leaders. I had two young people aged 19 and 22 on a canoe trip last summer. Neither of them knew much about the outdoors or canoeing. The 22 year old was out of his element coming from upstate NY but was an athlete and a hard worker. By the end of the trip he was a competent bow paddler and very helpful around camp. A nice kid that had his confidence boosted by the trip. The second kid is the son of a good friend. He as been coddled his whole life. He has a high opinion of himself even though he has accomplished little. I tried to light a fire under him. After a week he was more respectful and more helpful but still disappointing. Some kids need to go out in the real world for awhile and realize they are not special until they get serious and do something.
Learning the skills it takes to not only survive but be comfortable in the wilderness is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. We have electronics and a steady supply of food transported to us daily. I like pizza delivery. On the other hand, if I have a compass, weapons and tools, I will not only arrive at my destination, I will get there relaxed and fat. I can do it with less. I just don't prefer it. To the bulk of our population, hunting, trapping, and foraging are the antiquated skills of the independent.
One point to bring up in this area is that forgetting about and losing self-sufficiency skills leaves one at the whim of the grid and utterly dependent upon it for survival. For example, if a government would turn tyrannical it could bring the population to its knees by cutting off food and electrical supplies. People who are grid-dependent are at the whim of those who control the grid. If the trucks were to stop rolling tomorrow, would we be prepared?
