Major events ... hmm.  I went to a National Jamboree at Valley
Forge when I was a Scout, but I remember Philmont better (went
twice, & did back-to-back treks on one of the trips).  But I think
the neatest "big" event I've attended was just last summer, when
the British Scouts came over to visit for a couple weeks.  We did
all the standard tourist-type things in town for a couple days,
since the Brits came straight from sea-level to 1620m & needed to
acclimate, then we high-tailed it out of town & camped our brains
out!  River rafting, mountain biking, gold panning (I *found* some!
(about a 10th of a penny's worth )), hiking all over, rock
climbing, horseback riding, swimming under a waterfall (rather
brisk even in August, since we could see the glacier that fed the
stream) checked out a Gold Rush ghost town, did a 14er (4267+m
peak).  But it wasn't so much all the cool things we did that made
it such a great time, but rather how much fun it was to hang out
with the Brits, who are real characters!  There's Robin, who rode a
mule when we went riding; Foz, who (I kid you not) is a nationally-
ranked UK badmitton player; Mason, who was so helpful all the time
that he was awarded T-361's highest honor, a Double Moose Leg (real
moose legs, too) (a *Single* Moose Leg is rare, & I think only 2
other Doubles have ever been awarded); Will, who thought that *I*
had become "geographically challenged" on a hike (I found the Pizza
Hut, didn't I?); and a score of others.  I can hardly wait to go to
England in the summer of '96 & see 'em again.
   As I mentioned, I hang out with the thrills-&-chills guys most
of the time - guess I'm sort of an adventure type of person myself.
I suppose you could say that I help supervise the go-for-the-gold
activities, but I do *not* lead 'em - the guys do all their own
planning, & I'm just there as a resource, teaching skills & such
when asked.  If something the guys have planned doesn't sound safe
or well-thought out, I'll tell 'em why I think so, but even then I
try to give as little unasked advice as possible.  If things look
*seriously* grim, I simply decline to participate: they can still
give it a try & sink or swim, but they usually understand that
there really *is* a problem with their plan & fix it.
   Personally, I love being outdoors.  I do a lot of camping all
thru the year, raft the wildest whitewater I can find (I own my own
16' river raft & about 60 tons of rafting gear, & especially like
river trips of 8-14 days duration), do a fair bit of rock climbing
& expedition-type mountaineering, ski whenever there's a trace of
snow, volunteer 3-5 weekends each summer as an instructor at the
Council's COPE course, volunteer a couple wks each summer as Range
Officer & Instructor & Gopher at the summer camp rifle range (this
summer I'm gonna be an Asst. Scoutmaster for a temporary Troop made
up of guys from all over the Council, who're going to summer camp
just to explore shooting sports in depth), & I recently fell in
love with SCUBA diving (five 10-15 day excursions to Caribbean dive
resorts so far).  Guess I just love to play!  And fun activities
are so much neater when there are great people to share 'em with.
   Well, that's it in a (large-ish) nutshell ... BSA, Scouting in
Denver Area Council, Troops 36/361, our camps, favorite campsites &
activities, & me!  So now tell us all about *you*!  I know what the
SC structure is like, having chatted with a bunch of SC leaders on
this & SCOUTER Echoes, but probably not everyone here has had the
same chance, so why not start with that?  Then you can tell us
about Regina, your Troop, & what you & your buddies like to do.
Chat with ya later!
 * OLX 2.2 TD * 
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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