Chance packs a pack for the mountains

Tomorrow, Chance will head out at 5:00 a..m. for the great outdoors for 6 days of scout camp.  He is so excited that every time I pass him on the bed and do sleeping motions to tell him to go to sleep, he smiles and says,"I am trying, but I am too excited!"
It is an exciting time in life to go on your first week long camping adventure as a youth.
I remember my first week of camp quite vividly.  Obviously I was not a boy scout, but I went with my ward or youth group.  It was awesome and I have about 200 pictures of pot guts(ground hogs) to prove it.  My friend and I were quite taken by  the cute little critters.
I am excited for Chance to have this new adventure.
I am not overly worried, but I have had some thoughts come into my mind since Chance wears implants.
One,  Chance will not hear wake up calls no matter how loud they blow the horn or whatever.

Two, Chance will likely miss out on some of the ruckus in his tent since once those implants are off, he won't hear anything.  This is good and bad.  Chance may get more sleep.  He may also miss out on great jokes.

Three, Chance may not hear people calling him in the vast out doors if he should get separated from the group.   I have tried to tackle this fact and prepare Chance with out making him paranoid.
For instance, I told him to stick to the buddy system and take another scout with him should he need to use the loo or go back to camp from an activity.  And I gave him an orange survival whistle to put in his day pack which will be on his personage most of the time.  That way, if he gets separated from the troop, he can call out to them instead of relying on them to find him.
I did tell him one kind of scary scout story to help him see what could happen if he is not careful.  It was as a word of caution as it is hard to understand the vastness of our beautiful mountains nor the ease with which one can get lost.  This is the same story I told his brother to help him maintain a certain respect for our mountains.

The high Uintah  Mountains that Chance will be camping in are a great treasure.  Their majestic peaks tower over our valleys and provide a beautiful display for each season.  Snow covered peaks hang over us in the winter, with each snow storm dropping the snow level ever closer to the valley floor.  Spring and summer find an erasing of the snow replaced with blankets of greenery and ever green trees.  Then in the fall, the mountains give us the beauty of bursting color as the changing leaves put on an artistic display of red, orange and yellow.
Those mountains also demand respect with quick changes in weather and sudden drops in temperature year round.  They are also vast and one peak leads to another peak in one continuous chain of rounded mounds.
It is easy to get lost in the vastness of it all.  And every once in a while, that lost person is a scout.  A few years ago, we had a scout who was camping with his troop and his dad was up with him as well.  They were by a lake and the scout got wet or something and decided to go down the short path to camp to get some dry shoes I think it was. His dad nodded and off he went.  He was never seen again, and his body was never found even though hundreds of people responded to search and several searches were made over a period of weeks.   This boys father is now an expert  in searches and is often called in when someone goes missing in the mountains.  I am sure he wishes the need had never arisen for him to learn those skills, but he has been an invaluable resource for other families.   
 This is not a typical scenario, and most scouts return home from camp with priceless memories, having learned vital skills and grown in significant ways.  It is good for boys to get away and experience cooking outside, Indian lore and plant identification.  I absolutely love the Boy Scout program and feel it does a superb job of helping boys grow into decent men.
Camping in the mountains comes with needed precautions no matter who the group of campers is.  A deaf scout who does not hear when his implants come off or may not hear when he is called as the wind blows the trees or groups of boys laugh and joke around needs to be a little extra cautious.
 I think Chance is prepared.  He is a level headed kid and he has fabulous leaders who understand  that he won't hear wake up calls etc.  He also has two of  his best friends as tent mates and they have each others backs.
Chance is very excited and I am excited for him. I am curious to see what kinds of pictures Chance has to show us at the end of the week.  Maybe pot guts will feature prominently, you never know.