Cub Scouts
Scott Mclean
My Mom and Dad were Scout leaders and I followed in their footsteps.
Sadly, due to mistakes at the national level and predatory scumbags who slipped into leadership roles, Scouting may not be around when my Grandkids get older.
Mom was a Cub Scout den leader even after my brother and I got past that age.
Besides the usual craft projects, she took her dens on a lot of outings. There were trips to Sunrise and Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park and a hike into the ice caves (They still existed then.) or the glacier overlook.
There were camping trips and every year a climb to Cot’s Peak on Mt. Clemens. There was a tradition of putting a rock on a pile on top every time you climbed it. I put a total of 17 rocks on the pile.
I took the pack up there a couple of times after Mom’s knee would not let her make it. Sadly, my days of climbing it are done but my boys and my nephew TJ have climbed it.
You have to start at the sheep feeding station now and cross waterworks canyon due to private property.
editors note: You should ask him some time about the sheep chasing Kyle down the mountain.
We usually climbed it when the snow left in March or April to avoid rattlers. There was quite often a little snow on top. I discovered something that I found odd there on one climb. Under the edge of a snow pile was a piece of lava rock. The holes on the outside of the rock had ladybugs in them. I’m still somewhat puzzled by that.
If a lizard ran across the rocks the chase was on. There was one strain of bigger ones that my son told me later were alligator lizards that were best avoided because they would bite the crap out of you!
In those days you came straight up the Ridgeline and had to climb the elk fence. Kind of like the World War 2 scenes where the Marines climbed boarding nets down to the landing craft. A couple of the moms who accompanied the group one year had a difficult time. They were really pretty funny due to a mixture of encouraging and berating each other. After a great series of squeals, squawks, and shouts they made it. One dad had an old super 8 movie camera (It was circa 1969!) and the two threatened to stomp him if the movie ever showed up.
We got hit with everything from hot weather to snow flurries on the climbs and the wind on the face of that mountain can be damned cold.
We were about 3/4’s of the way up on one climb and one of the Cubs in my age group started looking uncomfortable. He finally worked up the courage to go up to my mom and must not have spent much time in the outdoors. He asked “Mrs. McLean, where is the restroom?” She had to explain to him to just drop over the side of the hill. We were going to laugh at him but Mom gave us a look which told us that would be a bad idea.
There were many other adventures with more groups of Cubs over the years including a momentous campout at Boulder Cave with trips down the fanny slide.
I will relate these later.
Thanks Mom for all the time you put in with us kids. I love and miss you.
Bye now.