The Beginning


Bobcat, Wolf and Mouse were the names we gave each other on our first camping trip... We hiked around 6 miles to our site with packs that were far far too full... we had enough food for a five day trip, even though we would only be there for one night.  In our eagerness, we also chose a trail that was categorized as "strenuous" and which ended up being a significant amount of uphill for three out-of-practice campers.  Along the way, we adjusted who was carrying what, changed from pants to shorts, and generally figured things out as we went.  For all of us, it had been years since our last trip into the woods... but this trip sparked a pretty amazing journey for the three of us.


It all really started because we decided to engage in a survival exercise.  Imagining that we were in some sort of post-apocalyptic end world scenario (one where we could survive in the woods, albeit with risk - e.g. not a nuclear fallout situation), we started talking about the skills we each brought to the table, the friends we hoped would be with us and the skills they brought, and generally had a grand time imagining fortifying a perimeter and getting on with surviving.  This is a common topic of conversation in our friend group... this and the classic "if you could have any five liquids be endlessly accessible from each of the fingers on one hand, what would you choose" and the popular variant "they can only be consumable liquids" and the even more popular variant "David, if you choose oil, water, gold, Type O blood, and beer you're going to end up a finger slave"... it's a fun topic of conversation, I promise... but completely irrelevant to this post - my apologies.  The point is, we like these conversations and we were having a good time.  It distracted from the length and difficulty of the hike and our poorly planned packing.


We finally got to the site after hiking 6 miles up the mountain, and we set about making camp.  We gathered fire wood, organized it into piles based on size, pitched tents, laid out our feast and generally did an exceptional job of it if I do say so myself.  



The topic of Boy Scouts came up, since we have a few friends who are Eagle Scouts.  We talked about the skills you learn as a scout and over the course of the next few hours, we decided it might be worth it to look into the Eagle Scout requirements as adults... investigate the merit badge requirements for skills we thought worthwhile... after all, why let boys have all the fun?  I was hanging out with two women who wanted to learn about archery, fishing, tracking, etc.  they both played rugby in college... chances are they could take half the people who ended up as Eagle Scouts in a fight... maybe even at the same time... so why not?


On the hike back out, we made our plans... we would learn survival skills and look into what was required to become an Eagle Scout and we'd go from there.  We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into, but it sounded really fun and would force us to try some things we might not try otherwise.  Above all, next time, we'd pack lighter, smarter, and we'd be more prepared... that's the motto after all.  Still, that breakfast was worth the pack weight... so maybe we wouldn't pack too light.


   -Mouse










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