Scout's (Dis)Honor

“A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent” which are the words I still try to live by and heard them echoing in my head as I crossed over Mount Baden Powell. For those of you who don't know Baden Powell,  (which I'm assuming is most of you) he was the founder of Scouting in the US which I will always remember because the best performing troop at summer camp would win the Baden Powell award which I don't think we ever did win (at least not when I was in charge).

As I crosssed over this mountain, I also feel a lot of guilt because I have not been an ideal Boy Scout these last few weeks. I have not been following the Scout handbook very well out here on the trail. I will admit many times the Scouts take things to the extreme especially Scouting Dads. For example, we had to bear bag our batteries because some of the Dads were afraid bears would smell them and raid our tents at night. The following post details some of the ways I have not necessarily been doing everything as I have been taught in Scouts.

Eating/Cooking

What I Should Do: Prepare your food and eat in in a location away from your sleeping area so you do not attract critters.

What I Have Been Doing: Dropping my pack, setting out my ground pad and sleeping bag, getting in my sleeping bag, then eating dinner and falling asleep. I cook my lunch, so dinner is usually just a simple tortilla meal or trail mix often eaten in bed. Most of this stems from the fact that there isn't too much wildlife to worry about disturbing you (besides the insects) and laziness. When I get to the Sierras, I plan to eat dinner a mile before where I camp.

Food Waste Disposal

What I Should Do: Pack out everything not leaving even a crumb. When you cook food, you should drink the pasta water, and if you do use soap, you should dig a cat-hole or a sump to dispose of your water in.

What I Have Been Doing: I definitely pack everything out but can't say I have grabbed every crumb and get a little careless especially with food like pop-tarts that can crumble all over the place. I also have been dumping out my pasta water. Every time I do this I feel so guilty but I have been doing it anyways, and I should just drink it, but hot water on a hot afternoon it is the last thing I want to drink. Other than that, I try my best to leave no trace but have gotten a bit more lax than my strict Scoutmasters.

Storing your Food at Night

What I Should Do: Put all of my smellables including food, toiletries, and anything else that may smell (like batteries I guess) in a bag. Then find a tree with a high branch and hang the bag from a rope so that it is far enough off the ground so I cannot reach it and far enough away from the trunk of the tree so a bear couldn't climb up to it.

What I Have Been Doing: I have put all my food in a bag at night, but most nights I just leave the bag on the ground next to me. Sometimes this is because there are no trees, but most times because I'm getting lazy, and there really aren't enough critters to worry about. At least I take the food out of my pack so they don't tear through my pack, but like I said, I’ve mostly seen birds and lizards out here which aren't a big problem. Though, when I get out of the desert, these habits will quickly change.

Sleep in Designated Camp Sites

What I Should Do: Try my best to only sleeping in campgrounds to minimize my impact and not create new campsites along the trail.

All set up in a designated campsite. 

What I Have Been Doing: I have been doing a little stealth camping from time to time where you just get tired at the end of the day and step off the trail a bit to find a flat area to lay down in. With my hammock, I really don't leave much of an impact, and I always try to minimize my footprint when I cowboy camp. (sleep on my pad and sleeping bag with no tarp) I should stick with designated sites to have the least impact  which I know is important from my experience working for the Forest Service in Utah, and much of my job was deconstructing campsites that popped up. Even though I still live by “leave no trace,” and I have a minimal impact, much of the dessert and alpine environment can be quite fragile and I must be careful.

Be Prepared

What I Should Do: Scouting teaches you to be prepared for everything and have something for all emergencies.

What I Have Been Doing: Lightweight backpacking teaches you to minimize as much as possible and get rid of gear you don't need. While I feel prepared for most any situation, I feel in order to become more lightweight I have made some sacrifices and dropped some gear that might help me to be more prepared for tough situations. However, I think I have struck a great balance so far and allowed myself to remain prepared to handle most emergencies while ridding myself of unnecessary gear.

I think this last point captures all of the other areas where I feel I'm not living up to the Scouting Standards. While I may not be following all the rules, I still live by so much of what I learned in Scouts. In my heart, I will always cherish everything I learned from Scouts and know it has helped get me to where I am in life today. So Baden Powell, thank you for everything you have given me, and it’s been great to be able to pay my respects to the mountain named in your honor.