We hiked in 5 miles....to make a long story short, I brought all the food for the survival campout, Farrah packed it for me, and we discovered that the main course was missing.
So that was kind of a bummer, but we survived. Whole ears of corn in foil placed on coals was a big hit. We also cooked potatoes, and an apple dessert. Cored apple with sugar and cinnamon placed in the middle. Was like apple pie without the crust.
It's been a long time since I have camped in cold weather. Not since I was in teacher's quorum. I put long longjohns, got in my summer bag which I was using as a liner in my down bag. That was probably overkill, as I started sweating. But as the night wore on, man did my face get cold. Eventually I mummified my bag so that only mouth and nose were exposed. I found that it's not particularly comfortable to be confined in one position. I am someone that moves a lot when I sleep.
I'll post pictures of our various shelters (no tents on the survival campout). This is survival-camping-lite. We can bring tarps. But given that when I started it was a big deal for the boys to bring and cook their own foil dinners, I think we have made some progress. They can actually cook bacon and eggs, even if at first the claim it is impossible. "What do I cook it in?" "How about that pan you brought."
Sometimes being scoutmaster does not make confident for the future of the church. Or world.
We have a 12 year old who loves to act like a bump on a log. He is one of the laziest guys I have ever seen. And selfish. (example: one campout everyone was asked to bring something, I asked his mother to have him bring some drinks. at the end of the campout I notice that he has many drinks, all of which he drank himself.) This same kid, knowing that we would do some hiking, did not even bring a school backpack. Why not? "Because it has my schoolbooks in it." He had never brought any water on a campout. For about three weeks, I reminded him to bring water. Of course he didn't. He slapped his forehead, "I knew I forgot something." On another campout, I arrived at teh church parking lot and he picks up his stuff from on the ground to put in my truck. His father is in their minivan, and says "Why is your sleeping bag wet?" "I guess because I set it down in that puddle." And to top it off he's a smart-aleck. We had a ward youth bonfire, where everyone said what they were grateful for. As luck would have it, he was the last one in the circle, and he gave some extended smart-aleck response. Nice cap stone to the evening.
I hope parents realize that it is not my responsbility to shape these kids' character. I can't move mountains.
I take my victories where I can. And the definition of victory keeps getting watered down.