A Cub Scout Hike

Yesterday afternoon some of my cub scouts and I went on an adventure. Some of the boys (they don't all go to the same school) had this week off for Spring Break, and I wanted to do something out of the ordinary to break our routine, so I decided to push them a bit and have them hike up a mountain. To be more precise, Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the city of San Diego.

We got to the trail head just before 4pm, with some threatening clouds in the sky, and some threatening looks from the parents. Totally kidding on the second part of that. One thing that has been great about cub scouts from the very beginning three years ago has been the friendship with the other parents. They have been great, supportive, helpful, willing to put up with some of my crazy ideas (like take their little angels up a 'mountain').

Four scouts were with us, Cameron, Daniel, David and Malachi, and a fellow parent, Dave, was going up with me. The boys haven't seen each other all week, so there was much to share on the way up. Dave and I were amazed at the unending conversation between the boys. Suzy later asked what they talked about. I have no idea, but it never stopped. Never is too strong a word, the only time it stopped was when one of them biffed it trying to scramble up a steep part. I tried upping the pace to see if I could tire the conversation out of them, no go. All the way up, all the way down.

There was one more situation where it got quiet, both times we crossed the first bridge (going up and going down) the boys all were eerily quiet, probably because every other hiker we saw had mentioned the rattlesnake seen near the bridge. I was disappointed that we didn't actually see (or hear) the aforementioned rattlesnake, but the boys sure loved the drama. Cameron's first thing he said to his dad when we got down was, 'I am so glad that i'm alive!'. His dad gave me a bit of a look, and then got the story in a rush.

I had a great time with the boys, and seeing their happy faces at the top of the mountain is one of the main reasons why. They had some boyish confidence at the bottom, trusting that us adults wouldn't push them past what they could take. However, when we would point up and say that's where we were going they seemed rather doubtful. When they at last turned the final corner and saw that we were at the top, it was one of those moments as a parent that you cherish, happiness.