There is a prayer we were taught at Philmont. A prayer that we did before each meal, 15 years ago, that goes like this: “For food, for raiment, for life, for opportunity, for friendship and fellowship, we thank thee oh Lord.” While I have not been among the most religious of people on planet Earth, this prayer seems to hit all the right notes.
The reason I bring this up is that I spent the weekend at a cabin on Lake Minisink called Lakeside. My Boy Scout troop used to come up here every year and stay in a much colder version of Lakeside known as the “Canteen”. While there are 100 stories I can tell you from those days, I am going to try to stay focused on the importance of Lakeside in the year 2024 and the perspective it brought me this weekend.
This gentleman to my right is Bob Macmillan. He and my Scout Master Tom McCann had grown up in Troop 160 together. A Boy Scout troop that had lasted 100 years as of this year. From that troop, my Troop, 603, was born. The bond between these two gentlemen has created a generation of young men that share a similar bond. And that brings me to this weekend.
Once a year in the dead of winter we all come back together around a frozen lake and tell stories. We catch up on the things that have happened in our lives. We share pieces of ourselves and admire the passing of time. While I will be telling you about the very adventurous hike we took this weekend in a later post, I wanted to focus on why we even took it.
This weekend was a reminder about how adventure can provide you with a gratitude for the things that are most important. As I talked with my old friends about our time together, one thing really stood out: the hardest things we did and the most miserable of experiences, have become our favorite stories. It provides a powerful perspective on the things that bond friends together. So while obviously I will be writing about some of the adventure later this week. I felt it important to pay my respect to the Friendship and the Fellowship that made it all possible to start with.
UnBEARable Adventures 
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