7. Wilderness Survival, Part the Third

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I thought I would drop by and post the thrilling conclusion to the trilogy of wilderness survival.

As it would happen, the summer camp I work at during the summer happens to have an Outdoor Skills class, and this summer I was the teacher of the class. I was restless, sitting on my bunk. The concentration was clearly evident from the sound of sneakers on concrete, circumscribing the small, hot space I lived in with 11 other twelve year olds and two other counselors. At last the idea struck that I could do a focus on Wilderness Survival, which is just what I did.

I had four days broken up into two-hour long classes to impart the wisdom of keeping themselves alive should disaster strike.

Covered were topics such as kits to use, knots and how to tie them, making fire, foraging for food, making shelter, and you know what? That perfectly covered the remaining requirements.

So fate being what it will, I was shoved into a position where I was able to do the rest of what I needed.

Huzzah.

Until next time, my friends.

And now for something a little different - The Gold Award

The Venturing Gold and Silver awards are Venturing's answer to Eagle. While Eagle scouts do have a bit more to do, and sure, the project takes a lot of time and effort, the two goals are sort of similar. Personally, I see the collection of the three - Ranger, Gold, and Silver - as the best equivalent I can do. And since my 21 birthday is a little over a year away, it is the best I'll ever be able to do.

Venturing is currently undergoing a change. The award system will be overhauled and gone will be the days of these medals. They will be replaced with new names and different requirements. While I don't have any information on the new changes set to come out, I do know that it will incorporate requirements such as a number of service hours. BSA's goal is to make the penultimate Venturing award as prestigious as the Eagle Rank. Truly an admirable decision, one that I wish happened before my time in this program came to a close. But then I also wish I had the chance to join the OA and go through that whole...ordeal. But that's beside the point, there's no use lamenting that which I cannot change.

BSA is moving forward: there's a push for equality in opportunity for girls and women in Venturing as well as for youth who are gay. Only time will show where it ultimately goes, but with Randall Stevenson, CEO of AT&T and a person instrumental in the push for equality, taking over as president of BSA in 2014, anything can happen.

Now with that being said, it's time to describe my time and effort in satisfying the requirements of the Gold Award. I will list out the requirements and talk about how I met each of them.

Back to business as usual:

1. 12 months tenure as an active, registered Venturer.
     You know, I forget exactly what day I first registered, but it's been a few years. Check.

2. Earn at least one Bronze Award.
     Outdoor bronze award obtained but not acquired. Check.

3. Served in a leadership role within the past 12 months.
     Served as President of our council's Jamboree contingent just the other week. Check.

4. Must participate in a district, council, area, region, or national Venturing event.
     I can name at least three. Jamboree, Venturing rendezvous, Camporee... Check.

5. Set and accomplish personal goals as it relates to:

• Citizenship - This past election cycle, I decided to get really into politics. I watched all the presidential debates, looked up information and stances from both sides, even explored people running for other local positions. I was the very model of an informed voter. What was the takeaway? Politics needs a reform. Lobbyists control the interest of Congress and too many politicians are focused on their careers and the next election to effectively do anything. Both "sides" are poorly run. George Washington was right to warn us of the divisive nature of political parties, something that can plainly be seen by the fact that third parties don't even have a chance. But that's a story for another blog. Check.
• Leadership - Truly, I have so much leadership experience under my belt that it's kind of ridiculous. In leading peers in my high school days I had a good 3 or 4 clubs that I was running or on officership for. These days most of my leadership involves guiding children on their way to adulthood by way of being a camp counselor. Even being the Crew President for the Jamboree taught me a lot about leadership and being patient. It brought much to light about dealing with those that disagree with my style, how to compromise for the best of the group, and how to deal with those that are obstinate. Servant leadership and empathetic listening are two skills I've developed and will continue to develop. Check.
• Service to Others - More than just a resume booster, helping others is a paramount skill emphasized by the World Scouting Association. For this, I wanted something really good. And while I considered something like a coin drive in my high school days (and it would have happened if the club I was in was able to mobilize better under my gentle guidance), I ended up being a part of an outreach group sponsored by my university to bring some groups from the first-year chemistry class out to the local elementary school to do some scientific demonstrations for the kids. It's not that it was necessarily a mammoth undertaking, however it did take a lot of planning amongst the groups. While some logistical hassles did occur, it ended up working out really well and the kids all loved it (fire helps to keep their attention, especially when the fire color changes). I wanted to bring the same sense of excitement for science to them that I had received myself by things such as this when I was in elementary school. And I believe I succeeded, by the look on their faces. Check.
• Community/Family - The best way I could come up with to benefit the community was to better myself. At first, I considered raising my amount of culture so that I'd be a better citizen. I later figured that was a bit of a copout (even if the book recommends that as an option). My answer to that was to better my ability to help others by way of renewing my lifeguarding certification and taking a Wilderness First Responder class offered through NOLS. Lifeguarding is physically challenging, while the WFR class was full of information and skills. 10 days or 80 hours of it to be precise. I learned more about preventing and caring for injuries in that class than through my cumulative experience and classes beforehand. That being said, I now have aspirations to take the Wilderness EMT course offered through the same company this coming summer. This is a plug for NOLS, by the way. It's a fantastic outdoor experience. The Wilderness Medicine Institute in particular has the best teaching I've ever seen. Check.
• Outdoor Experience - When first setting these goals for myself, I figured 10 nights spent outside and 20 miles of backpacking/hiking experience would be reasonably difficult to achieve. That was before Jamboree where we easily reached 10 miles a day and were outside for 10 days easy. So that added to the rest of what I've done since setting those goals means I've well surpassed it. And with that comes many techniques learned and improved. The next thing I need to conquer is backpacking cooking, and I am well on my way to figuring it out. Always strive to improve yourself. Check.
• Total Fitness - And speaking of improving yourself, fitness is important. But as I considered the goal I set for myself and started getting into it, I realized even more important is nutrition. So I first focused on that. Carbs, protein, cholesterol. I decided the best thing I could do for myself was drink more water, eat healthier, eat smaller portions, and then get some exercise in. So I did that. Not only do I feel better, but I've lost some weight too, which is cool. We'll see how that goes, but I would like to continue this new activity thing. Check.

6. Plan, prepare for, and lead two or more crew activity projects relating to at least two of the preceding areas. 

     The first activity that I'll count was the recruitment drive held Spring 2012. While it didn't end up growing our numbers hugely, it certainly took some leadership and community participation. It was also a lot of fun, I got to pull out a lot of different stops to get the kids interacting and show just how much fun we have.

     The second activity, also taking place Spring of 2012 was the scout fair booth we ran. The president at the time, Matthew Greene, and I, decided to demonstrate some dutch oven cookery. The stunning display of outdoor experience from us as we figured out the recipes for pizza, cornbread, and peach cobbler, and then taught them to the others in our group so they could help run the booth was definitely a cool leadership experience. 

7. Candidate must be able to recite the Venturing Oath. 

     Speaking of things that are being shoved out, the three different scouting programs will soon be unified under one Scout Oath and Law, as well as the replacement of the Venturing Sign with the Scout Sign. But as of now, the Venturing Oath, known by few, is as follows:

As a Venturer,

I promise to do my duty to God

and to help strengthen America,

to help others and to seek truth,

fairness, and adventure in our world. 

Now this being the written word and also the internet, I have no way of proving I did that from memory except for saying a scout is trustworthy. But that being said, I was planning on reciting it anyway. Just thought you may want to know...although technically it never says you have to recite it from memory. Just saying.

8. Candidate must submit three letters of recommendation to the crew advisor that confirms he or she lives in accordance with the principles of the Venturing Oath. 

     Oh man. Well I'm working on this one. I'm waiting for one more letter to come in, but as you can see from the rest of it my work is done, which is why I consider this award gained. The only last requirement is:

9. Candidate should prepare evidence of completion of the work and submit it to the crew Advisor. The crew president, in conjunction with the crew Advisor, should hen appoint a review committee of four to six people including Venturers and adults. They should review the written presentation and interview the candidate to determine whether that person grew as a result of the pursuit of the Gold Award.

     So basically what you're reading now is my submission of evidence. It'll basically be this post, cleaned up a little for readability. Then the fun task of having a board of review, or whatever the term for this interview will be.

10. Candidate must meet requirements before 21 birthday.

     As of the time of this writing, I still have one year and 3 months. Completely doable. Most eagles I know don't even do their project until they have less than a year left. 

Mission 1/4 accomplished.

7. Wilderness Survival (Part the Second, wherein our hero writes out a risk management plan)

Hello again, folk. Hope you didn't get lost on the way to this next post from the one directly below it. Isn't it fun how these things just keep getting spat out in the course of a few days? Amazing how that happens when there's not been an update in the months prior to that.

Anyway, this time we're going to talk about risk management. Let's assume a group of 8 youth and 2 adults are about to go on a natural rock climbing outing. What follows is the risk management plan.

Rock Climbing at Las Cruces, New Mexico

Date: 04/17/13 - 04/20/13

Itinerary on file with Assistant Advisor who cannot make it - distributed to families

Permit to enter park obtained

Responsibility for food claimed by ___(initial here)

Participants

A Venturing Crew consisting of 8 youth, and 3 parents who want to come along.

Plus 2 adult Advisors and a climbing expert.

Nutrition

Food while traveling will be at restaurants we decide to stop at. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on non-travel days (also travel days when camp is up) are being prepared by our volunteer cook using the menu he has prepared (oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and hotdogs for dinner, etc). 

Health

2 members have allergies to nuts, one is allergic to bees. They have their epipens and everyone is familiar with their use. No other known allergies. All other members are healthy, except for Susan who sprained her foot recently and will not be climbing.

First Aid

A first aid kit has been prepared and is being kept with one of the Advisors. Several members have a personal kit in their backpacks. 

Supervision

3 parents, 2 adult leaders, and a climbing expert. Almost a 1:1 ratio of youth to adults.

Insurance

Crew has insurance through the Council. 

Safety Rules and Regulations

To be explained by our climbing expert.

Proper Equipment

Provided by expert. He will inspect everything to make sure it's safe and will be watching us as we climb.

Maps and Compass

Unnecessary, the area isn't too far out from the city and is a popular enough location to where getting lost would take an act of incredible tenacity.

In-Service Training

First full day at site will begin with a 3 hour introductory course by our climbing expert.

Environmental Considerations

This area in New Mexico is near the desert and temperatures can get pretty high. The sun is expected to be out so sunburns can be a problem. The weather forecast shows a low probability of rain. Rockslides possible, but unlikely. Group is aware that plenty of water will be needed.

Emergency and Evacuation Procedures

Local EMS will be able to reach us for any extraction purposes. Every member has a cell phone.

Emergency Contacts

On file with the Advisor, along with medical records.

The group as a whole has read through this document and understand everything therein, 

Signed, 

<-------All          Date:______

Elective 4 [Physical Fitness]

To satisfy the requirements of my final elective, I've chosen to do some research and conduct an 8-week exercise regimen. However, I did not do it personally since at no point in the requirements was it pointed out that it had to be completed - only planned. I do not consider this a way of weaseling out of it because I have gained knowledge and am able to pass it on accordingly. However, the final call will of course be up to my lovely advisor. But until she objects, I consider this elective completed. What follows is my report, covering all aspects of it. You'll notice in the side bar that I did not bother to write it all out again as it will just be crossed off. And as per usual, there's a summary video containing all the information contained. Enjoy! I promise I'm going to bed now.

1. Had my physical.

2. Six principles of Physical Fitness:

• Overload - The system must be shocked to improve. It can't do anything remaining stagnant. Remove the comfort zone.
• Recovery - All sorts of things - massage, hydrotherapy, yoga - help the body recover after an intense session. It's important to let muscles repair themselves.
• Progression - Start small. Gradual increases keep you safe and healthy, as well as maintaining your body's need to work to do what you're asking of it.
• Individuality - Everyone will have different needs and body types to keep in mind when going through a program.
• Specificity - Remember to train specific areas if you play a sport that calls for it.
• Variety - Avoid monotony by changing things up every now and again.

3. Endurance, strength, flexibility, body composition.

• Endurance is important to maintain a strong metabolism and be able to use muscles longer before they fatigue. Strength is the muscle's ability to do work - the more strength you have, the easier things will become - as the muscles will be used to working more. Flexibility lets your body move more, it's important due to the avoidance of pulling anything major during exercise. Body composition is important to know so you can know how healthy you are - if your BMI is in the normal range, you're fine. It could be that you're overweight or under. Your BMI will tell you.
• Pacer test (the mandated Texas physical exam) tests all four of these. They're required yearly for high school students.

4. Develop an eight-week program. 

• Simple! Using weight training to tone muscles and running for cardio, it's simple to develop a plan: 
• Week 1: Run 10 minutes (2 min warm up jog, 2 min warm down jog) M, F. Exercise arms and back (3 sets, 10 reps) on W, legs on Sat. All other days rest.
• Week 2: Run 12 minutes (2 min warm up jog assumed from here) M, F. Exercise core (3 sets, 10 reps) on W, pushups/crunches/planking on Sat.
• Week 3: Run 15 minutes M, F. Arms and back, W. Legs F, Core Sat.
• Week 4: Run 15 minutes M, W, F. (3 sets, 15 reps) Endurance, M. Arms and back, W. Legs F. Core, Sat. 
• Week 5: Run 20 minutes M, W, F. (3 sets 20 reps) Endurance, M. Arms and back, W. Legs F. Core, Sat.
• Week 6: Run 20 minutes M, W, F. (3 sets 20 reps) Endurance, M. Arms and back, W. Legs F. Core, Sat.
• Week 7: Run 25 minutes M, W, F. (3 sets 20 reps) Endurance, M. Arms and back, W. Legs F. Core, Sat.
• Week 8: Run 30 minutes M, W, F. (3 sets 20 reps) Endurance, M. Arms and back, W. Legs F. Core, Sat. Celebrate Sunday.

5. Six elements of a good diet.

• Proteins - Meat, fish, eggs... important for bodily processes.
• Carbs - Fruits and vegetables are the best for carbs, which are stored as simple sugars to be broken down by glycolysis... yeah too much biology for me. Basically, this is energy.
• Fat - And speaking of energy, this is even more energy than carbs. Not all fats are bad. Things such as olive oil have heart-healthy components. You want a monounsaturated fat - those liquid at room temperature. Saturated is marginally unhealthy, and transfats are to be avoided.
• Vitamins/Minerals - Your body needs these for processes and electrical signals. Supplements can be taken, but they can be found naturally too.
• Water - Drink 2 liters a day. Your urine should almost be clear or you're dehydrated. 
• Exercise - It's important to remain healthy. 

6. List six food from each USDA food pyramid group. (Really? Is this necessary?)

• Grains - bread, rice, pasta, cereal, oatmeal, flour.
• Vegetables - green beans, lettuce, celery, bell peppers, tomato, carrot.
• Fruit - banana, grape, apple, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry.
• Milk - milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, cream, sour cream.
• Meat & Beans - pork, beef, chicken, fish, garbanzo beans, black beans.

7. Calories needed for: Sedentary (2500), Moderately active (2700), Active (3000).

8. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are both eating disorders that limit your body's ability to get the nutrition it needs to survive. Anorexia is intentionally starving oneself, usually as a result of a poor body image. Bulimia is the forced expellation of food after it's been consumed. If athletes have these disorders, it makes training harder since they won't be able to obtain their nutrients.

9. Hazards of:

• Performance enhancing drugs in general: Anything that changes your natural mental status should be something you need to be cautious around. Especially when you bring sports into it. If not for moral reasons, then for safety concerns.
• Stimulants: Damages decision making and ability to adapt mentally.
• Painkillers: If not used as prescribed, it could lead to slow thought, dependency, stomach aches, etc.
• Anabolic steroids: Leads to mood swings, increased testosterone, anger bouts, problems with the male genitalia, and stunted growth.
• Beta blockers: Can lead to heart problems, hypoglycemia, and respiratory depression.
• Diuretics: Can dehydrate or lead to electrolyte imbalance.
• Alcohol: Besides it being illegal to consume under the age of 21, it can be a depressant, lead to liver failure, and cause family troubles if it leads to alcoholism.
• Marijuana: Poor judgement, laziness, bad decisions, illegal.
• Cocaine: Addictive, also illegal, heart problems, damage to the nose, addictive.

10. Preventing injury:

• If you're overly sore, just stop and rest. Overuse injuries are common, as well as hyperextension, burnout, and the like.
• To prevent the bad stuff, remember to cross-train, or work on different muscle groups at a time. Stretch before and after, and stop if you're feeling pain. If you do injure yourself, ice it, rest it, add some compression and let it recover. Don't overwork yourself too much!

5. Land Navigation

Oh what a blast! We did this back in July (Maybe... it's been a while), and unfortunately I got busy with camp and then that whole college nonsense. But at last here it is. I know y'all have been anxiously awaiting the day when you'd get to hear the lovely escapades of how to navigate by compass and contour map. I know I have.

Here's a video of me talking about all the important points.... which appears to be having trouble with that whole "uploading" thing. It must be rebelling due to not being used. Such is life.

Well assuming you don't like watching videos or don't have 11 minutes of  your life free, here's the important bits:

1) A good source to learn the all important map symbols is a guide, straight from the source. It's fantastic, really. I used it in my research.

2) Contour lines. Basically, the closer together they are, the steeper the slope. (I believe I had this backwards in the video. My apologies, it's 2 in the morning.) I had tried to find the picture with the hand as seen in the lovely BSA Fieldbook and Handbook, but alas it must be copyrighted. Instead I found a drawing that shows how contour lines make things look 3D, enjoy!

Honestly, I think it's a little creepy, but you can see how they work.

3) Land Navigation. This is relatively simple. There's a few steps to it though - 

• Find your pace! This is done by seeing how many steps (full cycles, meaning left foot + right foot = 1) it takes to travel a premeasured 100ft. Once you know that you can accurately travel for miles. Which leaves...
• Know your heading! Conventionally, this is done by sighting with a compass. Find the heading, look in to see where the landmark is, get your distance and go. Alternatively, assuming you're trying to follow a map, get your heading and pick a landmark and travel to it.
• You have arrived at your destination! Congo-rats. You deserve it.

4) The all important GPS. Use technology to your favor. With the advent of smartphones, hiking/geocaching is simple. Just type in your coordinates (or pick a geocache from their lovely app, and align your blue dot with the target. Then all you have to do is search!)

Well that's all for now folks. As the handbook points out, I'm now allowed to start Wilderness Survival, which is a whole other kettle of fish. It's mostly easy - except for the parts that aren't, so yeah. This might take a while, but I'm almost confident it will be done by next summer. If not sooner. 

Have a pleasant new year!


EDIT: It turns out, orienteering was on June 23rd, by the recking on the hints I left myself in earlier posts. June 23rd. Might not mean much to y'all, but there you go!

Elective 1 [First Aid]

Bet you thought I'd given up.

I thought I did for a while. But after some heavy thinking and helping with one of my friend's projects - I realized I had not given up. There's still much to do. I can still become a Ranger.

This elective was a cakewalk for me. I'm unreasonably obsessed with anything that has to do with medicine, so of course I'd jump at this elective. The only hold up was the 25-hour course. Woah.

That's a tough one to do, mostly because I couldn't find a 25-hour course. The best I could do was a 17-hour Wilderness First Aid course offered through the fantastic NOLS. And it really was fantastic. I don't think I had ever taken a better first aid course (And I had taken quite a few in my time). Unfortunately, it was of course only 17 hours.

After a chat with my advisor on how this was an impossibility, I came up with an alternative: what if I took a 6-hour CPR/AED for the professional rescuer as well? She agreed, saying it was a good idea, and off I went. However, when school started shortly after finishing the Wilderness First Aid course I sort of got distracted. Luckily, I had to take the aforementioned course as part of a requirement for my job at my university - so I unwittingly managed to complete my task. Huzzah.

So looking back at the dwindling list of requirements just now I was reinvigorated. I can do this. Nothing will stop me. Except for maybe the Wilderness Survival for a bit... but we'll see.

3. Cooking

Cooking! What a fun hobby, but in the context of this requirement, it's long and tough to do... though probably not as bad as wilderness survival will be. Well anyway, this was a rather time consuming one.

The first requirement was completed as our crew prepared to staff camporee. While they wanted to feed us anyway, I chose to cook the meals for us all. It was rather elaborate, with omelets, silver turtles, and various other interesting things to toss over fire. I ended up cooking for about 12 or 13, and never did bother to collect the rest of the money I was owed... Definitely an interesting experience - and a lot of planning involved, with food costs and meal costs per person. I would do it again, but maybe put in a better system for obtaining payment. The second part of the requirement was done with the first by simply using coals and a stove while making the meals.


While the demonstration of food safety was done every opportunity to cook, a bit of explaining what went into the planning would help.
Simply put, the way to accomplish safe food handling anywhere is to keep hot things hot, and cold things cold, while keeping raw meat away from everything. But in the interest of writing a lot and taking up a large amount of room, I will summarize the points of the USDA's website.

Firstly, avoid the danger zone (between 40°F and 140°F) because that's when bacteria multiply and can reach dangerous levels after 2 hours. Keeping things hot is difficult, so strive for cold. Pack things with a cold source; ice or frozen foods. And once the trip is finished, discard any perishable food in a cooler if there is no longer any ice in it.

Second, cleanliness! Cross contamination is a serious concern, as it could lead to some awful diseases. Keep raw meat from touching any other foods, and thoroughly wash any utensils that may have handled it. If no soap and water is available, bring it with you! And simple 1 tbs. bleach to 1 gallon water solution is a very effective sanitizer.


The fourth requirement is to show competency with a backpacking stove, which I just so happened to have obtained for the purpose. As most backpacking meals consist of boiling water and applying to a freeze-dried package, I decided to do exactly that with a package of green beans.

The set up was exactly how it would be while backpacking. 

After this picture it reached a full boil.

After pouring it in, I let it rest.

Once they're ready...

They tasted like they'd just been picked.

The next requirement was to prepare a meal without utensils with the four basic food groups. After some searching, I took this to mean meat, vegetable, dairy, and bread. So just looking at that, the food object that came to mind was a cheeseburger (or a hotdog, which in retrospect would have been so much easier). Cooking this without utensils wasn't difficult but it was a challenge indeed. The meat was mixed by hand, and moving them was as easy as touching hot meat, with the help from lifting it slightly with a stick (does that count?).

Mixed and formed by hand with a special mix of spices! =)

Tossed on the grill.

Flipped by hand with aid from a stick.

Incorporating the diary.

And the bread.

And the vegetables.

Yay finished product!

By now you have to be asking yourself, "Self? How long can this post be! It's going on forever and there doesn't seem to be an ending point." Well for you I'd just like to say, welcome to my world! I've been working on this since March! And it was a rather long requirement. But finally we reach the last requirement and celebrate as I did; we'll finish it!

The final requirement demands us to cook a bread, entree, and dessert in a dutch oven. There was a celebration of scouting skills called the, aptly named, Scout Fair last April. Our Crew did a dutch oven demonstration. We had pizza, cookies, and cornbread. Lots, and lots of cornbread. now, not to brag or anything, but we did win a silver spoon for our fantastic cornbread. The ingredients came from Walmart; in fact it was for the most part from a package with water (except for the cornbread, which was made from scratch). After some difficulty getting the coals started, we finally got the hang of it and entered (to borrow something I learned recently at NYLT) the performing stage. We churned out food for the kiddos and judges, our covered pavilion blew away, it was a blast. And a perfect way to end our cooking requirement post. (Though the last three requirements were done last... just to be clear.) See y'all after orienteering this weekend!