Scouts taught me a lot... I attribute a lot of what I learned in Scouting, to many of the successful endeavors I have achieved in the 50 years that followed.
My scouting experience may not be the more traditional in the later years, but the early ones in Cub Scouts, Webelo's were all about "earning the badge"
Upon graduating to Boy Scouts... our troop was once again, by the Scoutmasters Handbook.. Summer Camp, Winter Camp, Jamboree and a once-a-year visit to the sea-base in Long Beach.
Then, our troop started to fall apart... a blessing in disguise really - I got my Star Badge and after that, stopped working on the merit-badges... for something more inspiring, challenging and that kept me interested. Our Scoutmaster was a dad of one of the kids in our troop of 10.
Yes, it went from 40 to ten. We changed focus from hauling a pickup truck of stuff into a field (or Awahnee) and camping for a weekend --- to getting a quality backpack, Sleeping bag and setting our sights on conquering Mt. Whitney. Whitney is the tallest peak in the 48-states at 14,495 ft. Our Scoutmaster had a a couple of adult buddies that were "all-in" on the adventure.
In our 2-year preparation for that trip, we hiked to the top of San-Gorgonio, Mt. San-Jacinto, Mt. Baden Powell and more that I just can't remember.. In the Snow on San Jacinto in winter, In the Sweltering Heat of the De Anza Trail in summer. We learned how to survive in the wilderness... and then we took on Mt. Whitney. What an experience it was..
Then we went back two years later and did it again. Since our troop was no longer a legitimate and "Sanctioned" boy scout troop, mostly because we did not hold the required meetings, collect the dues and do all the paperwork - I did not really let my peers at school know that I was still in Boy Scouts - by then it was not something that was socially cool to be associated with, but we got to enjoy the absolute best of both worlds... world class hiking and outdoors training with the remnants of troop 664 in the Sunset Honor District.
