I volunteered to help our Scoutmaster, Anna, to take 6 Boy Scouts and 3 Webelos on a hike today. Since the weather report was for high winds and 70% chance of rain today, I was not sure what kind of day it would be. Since the Cowan policy is never to cancel an outing for weather (well almost never), we were going rain or shine. It is a shame to disappoint boys! Thanks to Mike for driving for us, and joining us on the hike. He is a Webelos leader.
We met at 9 AM, with warm, humid, overcast weather. We had not a drop of rain all day! That is why the Cowan policy works!!! After some quick activities and a pack check in the Scout Hall, we were off to the S. Holston Dam and the alternate spillway trail, about 2+ miles each way. One of the reasons for the hike was to work on rank advancement, and since plants and spring flowers are a perennial favorite of mine, that was what we did. It is always amazing to me that kids do not know what poison ivy looks like so that was high on the list...and distinguishing between that and Virginia creeper. They successfully learned ten plants and enjoyed the romp around the spillway. The lake was extraordinarily high after 9 straight days of rain, over 3" in that time period.
It is fun to see kids learning. They saw a snake, a lizard, and skunk signs, as well as cliff swallows, yellow swallowtail butterfly, damsel fly, and carp spawning by the shoreline. All great stuff for boys! I enjoy taking them out and seeing them bloom in the outdoors. We talked about all kinds of things...Leave No Trace, getting lost, bears, and other such things in the woods. ....great fun.
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