Cub World at Scouters' Mountain

It’s been quite a while since Cub World at Scouter’s Mountain, the two night / three day Cub Scout camp that Alex and I went to. It’s been pretty hectic, though, and there's a lot to write about - making this a long post. I've been writing it little by little since camp.

Alex and Chandler Salyards were the only boys from Pack 402 to go. Chandler’s dad, Dan, also went, so we had two boys and two adults there. Avery Deer was planning on going, but his dad had some last minute issues come up at work and they couldn't make it. We were paired up with a few other packs and ended up with 13 boys and about 9 adults in our group. Because the theme was “Cavalry”, our group was called the Kansas Regiment. The boys in our regiment slept in two large wooden teepees set back in the trees, while most of the adults slept in canvas two-man pup tents with moss-covered wooden floors. A few adults pitched small personal tents.

On Friday afternoon, we had our first set of activities. Because it was very hot (well into the 90s), the boys were lethargic and were actually asking to take a nap. We kept pushing water. At one point, one of the camp leaders pulled the adults aside and asked us if there was anything else wrong with the boys other than the heat.

All of the activities were arranged in sets of three, with about 30 minutes in each station. Our Friday activities were making a large (4” X 4”) Jacob’s ladder out of wood blocks, ribbons, and tacks; riding BMX bicycles through an off-road dirt course through the forest with hills, roots, etc., and learning to fold the American flag. Alex seemed to enjoy the Jacob’s ladder. He was a bit bored with the flag folding, since he had already learned to properly fold it. He did not appear to enjoy the BMX course. He started by complaining that the bicycle didn’t fit him. Because everything was quick-release, I tried adjusting the seat, but he didn’t want it adjusted. The course started with a downhill section, and Alex opted to walk the bike down the hill. He got on the bike at the bottom of the hill and rode around the corner. A few minutes later, Alex reappeared from the woods at the end of the course, once again walking his bike. He said he was tired, and was done riding the bike. He parked it and sat out the remaining 10-15 minutes of bicycle time.

After the activities, the boys were given some much-needed down time. We then lowered the flag, ate dinner (spaghetti), and went to bed.

About an hour after bedtime the boys were pretty quiet, and we were pretty sure they were mostly asleep. The three adults camping outside Alex’s teepee decided to go up to the all-night adult’s break room to relax and talk for a while. The room had ice water, coffee, a few snacks, and was basically a place to get away from the camp for a few minutes. We sat for about 45 minutes, and then decided we’d better get back to camp. On our way back, we heard the boys from 75 feet away. The boys were literally climbing the walls. Alex was in his bunk, but two other boys were trying to climb in. There was quite a bit of argument about what had gone on while we were away, but it was clear that there had been very little sleeping. All six boys were pretty raucous.

It took another 45 minutes to get things quieted down, and we were finally able to sleep. There were a couple interruptions during the night, but no more major issues.

Saturday morning came early. I discovered that a very good time to shower was while the whole camp was at breakfast (I had brought my own food, and was not eating with the camp).

After breakfast, we went to the next group of activities – a nature trail, outdoor cooking, and leatherworking. In leatherworking, the boys made leather bracelets. On the nature trail they learned about different animal’s tracks and about various plants. In outdoor cooking, we learned to bake a small cake in a campfire (I will post the instructions separately). The cakes came out very good and moist . . . Alex was the only person there who said he didn’t like them.

At lunch Alex, Chandler and another had kitchen duty. Dan and I took the boys to the mess hall before lunch for them to set the tables and bring out the food. We had taco salad, so they had to go to the kitchen and replenish our food and drinks when we ran out. After lunch, they had to clean the tables.

Saturday afternoon was pretty warm again, but we had very good activities – we went to the marksmanship area. On the BB Gun range, Alex had trouble; his left arm was not quite long enough to hold the gun correctly, and he did not quite have the strength to pump the gun. He was allowed to shoot as many times as he could in 3 minutes, but I think he only got out about 3 shots. He really enjoyed archery, even though most of his arrows went over the top of the hay bales. Finally, at the slingshot range, he really had a blast. They were shooting dried garbanzo beans at pans hanging from ropes. Alex decided that he wanted to come back later and shoot paintballs.

After the activities, the boys had a couple hours to do any activity they wanted. They also turned on the waterslide for the first time. Alex rode the waterslide for the entire free time.

Saturday night went much better than the first night. We popped a huge batch of popcorn in a giant kettle (10 gallon?) over a small fire. Based on things we learned the previous night, the boys (and adults!) traded bunks around slightly. The boys went to sleep fairly quickly; the adults retreated to the break room for awhile, and upon our return everything was quiet. There were still a few interruptions in the middle of the night. For example, we were awoken at one point by a boy running through our camp. After chasing him down and catching him, we found that he was not one of ours, and he was calling out for his dad. The boy was sleepwalking, and his dad was not at camp. Finally he came to his senses and was able to lead us back to his camp.

Sunday morning I didn’t hear Revile. Suddenly my eyes opened, the sun was up, and there were boys running around outside. I missed Revile by about 10 minutes. Inside the teepee, Alex was the only boy still sleeping, and the rest of the boys were trying to wake him up.

After breakfast for everyone (except me . . . I enjoyed a shower while everyone else ate), we went to the logging area for our last round of activities. The first activity was whittling. Alex really enjoyed this, and was very careful with the knife. The boys learned how to safely open and close a pocket knife, and how to shave chips off a soft piece of wood. They also learned about a "blood circle". This is basically the area around your body that the knife blade can reach with an outstretched hand. Before opening the knife, the boy has to check that his blood circle is clear. While whittling, if someone enters the blood circle, they are supposed to ask the person to leave their blood circle. Here's a little advice . . . if a person with an open knife asks you to leave their blood circle, DO IT! After a little practice, the boys demonstrated that they had learned the safe was to handle a pocket knife. With a successful demonstration, they earned their whittling chip. The whittling chip is a card that has safety rules printed on back, and acts like a license to carry a pocket knife. As long as the boy has his whittling chip on him, he is allowed to carry a pocket knife at Scout events, and is allowed to use the pocket knife after an adult gives him permission. If he is ever seen using a pocketknife in an unsafe manner, a corner gets cut off the whittling chip - when the last corner gets clipped, he loses the whittling chip and has to earn it all over again.

The boys proceeded from whittling to the four-man saw. The four-man saw was a two-man saw with the handles removed and a T-Handle welded in its place, allowing two boys to get on each end. I sat on the log we were cutting for ballast, and with a lot of sweat and grunting, the boys cut a thin slice (a 'cookie') off of a log about 2-3 feet in diameter. They worked in shifts, but completed the cut in about 10 minutes. Next, the dads got our turn. I was one of four dads involved in this - it seems like it took us about an hour and a half of straining and grunting, but I'm sure it was more like three minutes. I was a little sore afterwards (the four of us did the whole job - we did not take shifts!)

Finally, we went to the blacksmith. In this station, the boys made a wooden cover for their stamp books, and the blacksmith branded the cover of each book with a Cub World logo. The branding created lots of smoke, and even some flames.

We went to lunch, and then had several hours in the afternoon as open time during which families could come and enjoy activities with the kids. Alex had bought some paintballs at the store that he was going to shoot on the slingshot range with grandpas, and wanted to go down the waterslide with Madeline and Everett. While waiting for everyone to arrive, Alex went to the slingshot range to practice. He was goofing off a little bit and shot a garbanzo bean into the metal roof above him. The range master told him to only shoot downrange. A few minutes later, Alex ducked underneath the rail, likely to reach a bean on the ground out in the range. Without saying another word, the range master removed him from the range. When Alex asked if he could come back later, he was told 'No'.

Alex was extremely upset about being kicked out of the slingshot range, and even more so because he had been wanting to shoot slingshots with both grandpas for quite a while . . . I think this is the whole reason he wanted them to come. Plus, he had a couple dozen paintballs that he could not use now. I think it was too hot and dry out there for tears to actually form, but he was this close to breaking down. About 45 minutes later, I calmed Alex down enough and coached him on exactly what to say to the range master. I led him back, and he gave the range master the most sincere apology I have ever heard come out of Alex, then he explained that he really wanted to shoot slingshots with his grandpas once they arrived. The range master told Alex that he never took back a punishment, but that he also was not into breaking little boys hearts . . . he told Alex that he could come back with his grandpas when they arrived, but that he had better be EXTRA responsible, and that ANY slip-up would result in him being expelled for good (again).

About 2/3 of the way through the family free time, the family arrived. Tiffany, Grandpa and Grandma Kennedy, Grandpa and Grandma Wiser, Madeline, Everett, and Aunt Laurie all came. Austin Johns also came along with them, to check out what this Cub Scout thing is all about. The arrival of the family raised Alex's spirits and he quickly forgot about how upset he had just been. There was not enough time left for Alex to do all of the activities, so he chose one area - the shooting ranges - to take the grandpas while Madeline and Everett enjoyed the water slide. Alex tried the BB guns again and nearly (but not quite) won his marksmanship award. He then happily led the grandpas to the slingshot range and let go of all of the paintballs he had been so patiently saving. He even let the grandpas shoot one or two paintballs. Almost none of them actually broke.

Finally, it was time for dinner - outdoor bar-b-q - then closing songs and skits, and it was all over. We loaded up the truck, and went home.

That night we both slept very well.