Well, it’s the New Year and I’ve finally found what appears to be an awesome Boy Scout troop. Troop 62 is a fairly large troop here in Orlando with a good sized number of younger and older Scouts who are crazy about backpacking, even in the swamp that is Florida. I went to their first meeting of the year last week, which was run a half hour early and concluded as soon as the leadership for the next term was elected so that everyone could watch the Florida-Ohio football game. I liked what I saw; everything was well organized, several Scouts had Eagle projects running, they even had merit badge class sign-ups! In my Troop, one had to do all the work involved in getting a merit badge by one’s self: gather the paperwork, approach the counselor, work out times to meet, get it done. Here, it’s an organized class to sign up for, a bit like summer camp. I’m not sure I like the concept for now, but I must admit it’s a sign of very high organization for the Troop adult leadership, and that’s extremely favorable.
They’ve got a campout set for this weekend to a place called Potts Preserve where we’ll be backpacking. I find it amusingly ironic that according to the link there, the place was named for a district employee who got killed there while doing the pre-acquisition land survey on the place, what with me being in surveying and all. It’s rather hard to get killed on a survey crew in Florida, especially in the woods like that; most survey profession deaths occur from traffic accidents, not out in the sticks. How that could happen to him is something of a mystery… Perhaps I’ll find out this weekend when we go there.
Anyhow, the place promises to be “the Real Florida” or some such, complete with “important surface water features,” “wetland habitats,” and something to do with “groundwater recharge,” all of which translates as, “the trails will have 6 inches of water on them and serve as drainage for the rest of the local area, and all other places will have sticky mud. Here be large mosquitos.” It’s the sort of place I grew up backpacking, so it’s nothing new; I just have grown out of liking it. There’s no character to the land. But perhaps I’ll find it enjoyable with these guys, and I am curious to see what they’re made of. They’ve organized trips into the Appalachians for the AT, and been to Philmont within the last few years. I’m curious to see if they’d be interested in BTSR when the time comes for me to go out there this summer.
Anyhow, I’m headed to their meeting now. It’s the first full regular one of the year, and I look forward to meeting everyone, especially alot of the older Scouts who weren’t in last week. Till next time, dear reader.