I learned this evening that three of my IRC GNOME buddies were Boy Scouts when they were younger, as was I. Go figure. It was a great experience for me. It was where I learned to rebel against authority, grow my hair long and purposefully leave out the "under God" when we said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Plus, we went backpacking once a month, and took two week-long summer trips every year. My favorite was a leisurely canoe float down the Colorado River from Blythe to Imperial Dam. I don't know what we were thinking. Blythe is desert writ large, and we went in dead hot summer not fit for humanity, but we swam and dawdled on what was more slow-moving lake than river and had the time of our lives. I've never been so tanned.
Somewhere I still have that canoe paddle. It was a "Navajo brand", and I painted out the picture of the Indian in a teenage gesture of solidarity. The Navajo's didn't have canoes, for chrissakes!