A LEADER'S PERSPECTIVE

Saturday 7:00AM
The Troop assembled at Mr. Mooney’s house ready for the long 11 mile, 2 day hike ahead of them. 

The Troop motto for the hike was, “If Mr. Leonard can do it; anyone can do it”.  Mr. Leonard was ready.  He had a new lightweight pack, lightweight sleeping bag and lightweight inflatable mat.  He could carry this pack for days without a problem, but then he added the water.  Unlike his gear, Mr. Leonard is not a lightweight and water is heavy.  Ten liters of water later, Mr. Leonard is wondering where he can purchase lightweight water for the next hike.

We arrived at the starting point near 8:00AM.  We all started well.  The brave included:

It was cold when we started, so Teddy put on a light sweater.  He was warned that he’d be warm in a few minutes, but he knew best.  Brian

packed his sleeping bag behind his pack, not on top or bottom as normal.  Although it was easy to carry, if he turned left or right too quickly, his sleeping bag could knock someone out.  Bobby, Colin and big Anthony carried the tents; they must be the strong scouts, or the scouts that got Mr. Mooney mad.

The hike started as it always does down this soft, wide, cinder path, but just after you get comfortable, Mr. Mooney asks you to take a left.  You look into the woods and ask, where’s the path?  Mr. Mooney points out a small brightly colored white rectangle on a tree and that’s what we follow until we hit the yellow rectangle.

Things moved well, we kept together, gathered leaves for identification and sang songs.  Actually, there was no singing. We did hear an amazing sound.  It was a loud guttural burp. We thought it came from Mr. Mooney only to realize it came from Brian Seidel.  Then we climbed the first big hill; after we made it to the top, we took a short break.  Teddy took off his sweater and little Anthony complained of a stomach ache.  As stomach aches are common in scouting, we ignored the problem and moved out.

The first lean-to
Little Anthony kept complaining of a worsening stomach ache.  When we made it to the first lean-to, we took off our packs and investigated further.  Little Anthony had a snack and things seemed better.  We also took 2 sweatshirts out of little Anthony’s pack and had big Anthony carry them. 

Chris Cortese asked a new, now infamous question, “Mr. Leonard is the metal in my backpack cast iron?”  Mr. Leonard looked at Chris’ father and was met with a blank expression.  Then, they both explained that it was made of lightweight aluminum.  Chris thought cast iron would last longer, but after they explained that aluminum was non-corrosive, would last millions of years, and is much lighter than cast iron, Chris was happy.  Mr. Leonard can’t wait until Chris’ next question.

We noticed the lean-to was recently repaired and even had a new roof.  We took a picture of the scouts in front of the lean-to and moved out.

Anthony Trivino and Joey led the way; the adults kept up the rear or maybe kept back the rear.  After we completed 3 miles in about 3 hours, we stopped again as Anthony Mancino was still having stomach pains.  We off loaded his pack and everyone shared the load.  Joey took his mat, Mr. Leonard his MRE, pillow and first aid kit, and his water was split amongst the rest of the scouts and leaders.  Anthony’s stomach ache improved.

Lunch
Just after 12:00 noon, we reached the 4 mile mark and sat down for lunch.  We had our fill and little Anthony took a nap.  The scouts swapped some gear.  Joey took Bobby’s tent; Arjun took big Anthony’s; Colin, the super strong scout, kept his tent. 

As we walked down the hill after lunch, big Anthony and Joey saw a 4 foot black snake.  Anthony jumped on Joey and screamed as did Joey, but Anthony had the loud school girl scream.  Mr. Mooney ran after the snake, but didn’t catch it.  We think Mr. Mooney was planning on having fresh meat for dinner.  When Mr. Cortese came down the hill, he found the skull of an animal.  Mr. Mooney thought it might be a coyote.  We placed it in a zip lock bag and will bring it to our next meeting for identification.  Arjun came through with the zip lock bag.   Mr. Mooney found a wild turkey feather.  Going down hill can be fun, but at the bottom of the hill, Mr. Leonard slipped on the rocks. He was going down hard, and then grabbed another rock before he hit the ground.  Bobby saw the fall and said, “Nice save”.   Mr. Leonard’s hand was roughed up, but his pride, what little was left, was intact.

The older scouts asked if they could pick up the pace and the leaders said, “Yes”.  Luckily for the leaders, Bobby Duggan realized they would need help with the younger scouts and stayed back.  He was so right. 

The Troop passed only one other hiking group on the trail.  Normally, you see a few.  They were very nice, but looked way too comfortable.  We think they hike like this more than once a year.  Those fools.

Two miles to the lean-to
Near mile 6, little Anthony’s legs started to hurt.  Mr. Leonard had him rest as the others caught up.  He told Mr. Leonard that he thought his legs would fall off.  Mr. Leonard understood, but assured him that spontaneous leg separation rarely happens while hiking.  Also, Mr. Leonard suggested that he rest whenever he felt it was necessary and we would all wait with him.  We’re in this together, we all finish.  Little Anthony started to rest for a few seconds at nearly every rock.  There was one rock that he jumped onto like a recliner.  Mr. Leonard suggested that he rest for a few minutes and then hike more than a few steps at a time.  That worked well and Mr. Mooney helped them over the last big rock.  We were within a mile of the lean-to.  Mr. Mooney waited for Mr. Cortese and Chris while Mr. Leonard finished with Bobby, Brian and little Anthony. 

The lean-to a.k.a. salvation
Mr. Leonard could not see it, but was told by Mr. Ryerson that little Anthony’s expression was pure exhilaration at the sight of the lean-to.  Mr. Leonard was grateful as well, since unbeknownst to everyone, Mr. Leonard had been carrying over 3 lbs. of Hostess Cupcakes for the celebration.  What celebration?  Well, Saturday was Mr. Leonard’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mr. Leonard.  After dinner, the scouts enjoyed a rare treat on this hike.

We arrived at the lean-to around 4:00PM.

The back way
Some scouts come the back way to the lean-to.  It’s a two mile trek on a nice trail.  The new scouts have to come this way as they are too inexperienced to go the long way. Other older scouts come this way if they have other obligations on Saturday morning.  These included:

The scouts that come the back way secure the lean-to, set up tents and gather fire wood as needed.

Dinner and beyond
Dinner is always fun on this hike.  It’s like Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanza all in one.  No one really knows the contents of an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) until you open it up.  This year had some extra challenges as we had to add boiling water to some of the meals.  The troop sits on a huge rock and the trading begins.  A pack of Charms candy is worth a fortune, but pineapple pound cake does not trade well.  Mr. Leonard got the pineapple pound cake in his MRE.  Everyone ate well, but we all felt a little sorry for Josh as he got bacon and eggs, not a good MRE choice.  Luckily, he had extra pop tarts.

The leaders also learned a lesson on how to instruct the new scouts.  We asked them to gather fire wood.  After they came back with twigs the size of matches, we asked them to get wood the size and thickness of their arms.  Some took this literally and began to panic as most of the wood was not the exact size of their arms.  Mr. Ryerson took charge and explained in more general terms that it was just a guideline and that any big piece of wood is fine.  He calmed the upset scouts down and peace came over the camp.

After dinner, Mr. Leonard gave out the cupcakes; there was joy and happiness in the air.  Mr. Leonard thought it was midnight only to find out it was 6:30PM.  Mr. Mooney lay on his mat.  Mr. Leonard laid down on a rock.  The rock was comfortable.  The other leaders had a nice conversation as they could still stand up.

David told the leaders that he already sold nearly $300 worth of popcorn.  The leaders love a scout that will inspire the other scouts.

The scouts sat around the fire, but slowly migrated to the rock.  Mr. Leonard was at peace until the great scout migration.  The starry sky was amazing.

We got the scouts to bed by 8:30PM, a miracle indeed.  It was a normal night until the horses rode into camp.  Mr. Mooney, Mr. Leonard and Mr. Cortese jumped up and sure enough two hikers rode into camp on horses.  It was a son and his father.  Nice people, but horses are big and scouts can be silly, so we made a rule that no scout was to go near or even look at the horses.  Everyone obeyed this rule, another miracle.

The following morning
As normal, Mr. Mooney was up by 5:15AM. Surprisingly, so were most of the leaders.  We packed up, loaded up and hit the trail.  Mr. Leonard was so eager; he had his pack on first.  He knew donuts, coffee and hot chocolate were waiting.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Mooney, the yellow trail, the trail out, was changed, so we took a longer way out.  That wasn’t a big problem, except Sam needed help.  Mr. Duggan, Mr. Ryerson and Mr. Cortese were ahead on the trail with the Troop; Mr. Leonard and Mr. Mooney were back with Sam.  Evan and Joey came back to see if they could help.  Evan carried Sam’s pack until we got caught up with the Troop.  Joey and Mr. Mooney looked at the map to see where we got side tracked.  When we met up with the Troop, Mr. Cortese and Mr. Leonard took Sam’s pack so he could walk out without one.  Mr. Mooney took Brian’s sleeping bag and Mr. Duggan figured out the rest.  We made it; we always do. 

Mr. Mancino and Mrs. Leonard had the goods: donuts, coffee and hot chocolate.  The kids smiled and cheered, but not as loud as Mr. Leonard.  He needed that coffee.

Mr. Duggan arranged the cars and we all headed out.  The Troop would like to thank Mr. Farrell, Mr. Mancino, Mr. Ray and Mrs. Leonard without whom we’d still be sitting on the side of the highway.

Next year, Mr. Leonard plans to ride a horse to the camp.  Giddy up.