Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Meeting The Challenge
February 25, 2003
George Denise, Scoutmaster

Last weekend, fourteen Scouts, five adults, and two Siberian huskies from Troop and Crew 325 attended Bear Paw Winter Training, the outdoor session. This is the outdoor portion of Santa Clara County Council's winter camping training program. Altogether, there were 307 Scouts and Scouters present, representing 19 Boy Scout troops and two Venture Crews. Together, we camped at 7,500 feet of elevation on Tamarack Ridge in the Sierra National Forest for three days and two nights. There were only one to two feet of snow on the ground, and the weather was clear all weekend. Nonetheless, the temperatures dropped to 10 degrees F the first night, and 20 degrees F the second night. For those who were properly prepared, meaning dressed correctly and equipped correctly, it was easier to deal with. For those who were not properly prepared, it became pretty cold and miserable at times. A number of Scouts forgot to drink enough and became dehydrated. One Scout became cold, anxious, and homesick and had to be driven home Friday night (actually 4:00 am Saturday morning). One adult's pulse began to race and he had an anxiety attack. He too had forgotten to drink enough. Sitting down, enjoying a bottle of Gator-Aide, and talking for a while calmed him down and brought his pulse down too. He did fine the rest of the weekend.

Make no mistake about it. The conditions we camped in are challenging. Cold, high altitude, decreased oxygen in the air, and the increased potential for dehydration under these conditions all work against you. For adolescents, and many adults too, this was a challenging weekend. Yet in spite of these conditions, most of the leaders attended the Friday night leader's campfire. Most of the participants competed in the activities Saturday morning and managed to win a total of 40 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons for their participation in the various competitions. Over 70 attended the presentation on pine martins and fishers (both members of the weasel family) by the Forest Service wildlife biologist Saturday afternoon. All but one troop attended the campfire program Saturday evening. All but one troop attended the all-denominational religious service, Scout's Own, Sunday morning. At least three beautiful igloos were built, as were many snow caves, backpacker kitchens carved out of the snow, and forts ready to hold off all but the strongest snowball attack.

Scout after Scout and Scouter after Scouter remarked what a great program it was and what a good time they had Sunday morning as they were leaving.

Scouting is about lots of things: having fun in the outdoors (keep the outing in Scouting, as they say), learning outdoor skills, reinforcing positive values, developing good citizens, and not least of which, developing the individual. While we do what we can to minimize risk through training, qualified leadership, and placing reasonable qualifications on certain higher-risk activities, for example, rock-climbing counselors must be certified, Scouting is not about eliminating risk. Hundred mile canoe voyages in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and eighty mile treks in Philmont Scout Ranch in the Southern Rockies are fraught with risk, from being surprised by rattlesnakes in the path, to lightning strikes on adjacent ridges, to facing storms of the century; not to mention braving the winter colds of Bear Paw.

But each time we face these potential dangers, properly prepared, we come away a little stronger, a little more confident, a little more ready to meet the next challenge and to overcome it. We do not prepare for life by hiding from it; we prepare for life by meeting it head on and mastering it. It is not always comfortable at the time, not always fun; but afterward, we look back and say with genuine pride, "I did that!"

On that note, I would like to share with you a poem written by Dr. E. Urner Goodman, the founder of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scout's society of honor campers.

The Tree of Life

"The tree that never had to fight for sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain and always got its share of rain
Never became a forest king, but lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil, who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow in ease. The stronger wind, the tougher tree,
The farther sky, the greater length, the more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snows, in tree or man, good timber grows."

Thank you, thank you for coming tonight, and may God bless you and keep you.