Chapter 55 Scout Class - part 2 - from my book Changes.

Chapter 55

Scout Class - part 2

The idea of being present, or in the moment, was cultivated in all Trackerschool classes, but never more impactfully than in Scout class.  If a student asked one of the instructors what was coming up next, they would be told something like, “You’ll see.”  From moment to moment, there was always something new for us to experience, without any forewarning.

One of the most poignant of these lessons on being present was when I was on a night exercise with my scout team.

A scout team is meant to move as a unit.  The “point” person is the first person in the line, and is responsible for seeing what is ahead, and guiding the team safely through the landscape.  This means being aware of any dangers: like tripwires across the path, or running into other scout teams, or being seen by anyone at all.  The people in the middle of the line are responsible for looking from side to side, making the team aware of any dangers to the right or left of the team.  The person at the end of the line is the rear guard and responsible for being aware of danger that could come up from behind.  The rear guard is also responsible for erasing the tracks of the team as the team moves along.  At times, the scout team may stop and group up to discuss a decision before moving on, deal with an obstacle, switch out the point person, or help a team member in trouble.

With our team, we had to stop a couple times to aid a team member.  Once when someone got stung by a bee because we stumbled across an underground nest, and once when someone fell into a ditch and needed help to get up.

Our nightly raids as a team were set up and described to all the teams in the Taj during the day.  We were shown a map on the whiteboard of the roads and paths we could take to raid a certain party that would be taking place in the night.  The parties were mock up parties set up by instructors for us to practice our stalking skills on.

After dinner we spent time before dark to get ourselves camouflaged and discuss our strategy for the night’s raid.  Strategy for scouts was supposed to include one, two, or even three places we would meet up if we got separated.  If our team ever got split up and separated, and I was alone, I don’t know what I would’ve done considering I am not very good at directions!

Our team decided to take the small trails that started behind the swim area; an area we students typically were not allowed to go into, but it was one of the possible routs we could take that night.

As we began, the light was fading, and as the night progressed we found ourselves in utter blackness.  I could not see my hand in front of my face, or anything around me, no matter how widely I opened my eyes.  It was unnerving.  Those little paths, with the tall pine trees, thick scrub oak, and abundant blueberry bushes on each side, let in no light.  The only faint light we could see was if we looked straight up into the sky, where the faint silhouettes of the tops of the pine trees could be seen.

At that point we discussed what to do.  We chose to continue on in the dark rather than try to turn back.  We had learned, through blindfold exercises, how to move as a team, without our sight, and that knowledge came in handy.  Our point person, had to feel her way along the path to guide us.  I think she was actually crawling but I was a few people behind so I’m not sure.  The rest of the team followed, each person with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front, and we moved very slowly through the blackness.

There was nothing we could do but trust our point to find the way; nothing but moment by moment baby steps, following.  It felt like we were in the thick of that pine forest for hours.  I knew that if worst came to worst, we would still be there, feeling our way along until morning, when we would find our way back to camp in the daylight.

Eventually we saw some faint light ahead through the trees, and we come to an open sand road.  Here we could see more easily in the meager light of the night.

I have to mention here that flashlights were not used on these raids, nor were they used anytime at night for the experienced students if we could help it.

As I mentioned, I am admittedly not great with directions.  I put all my trust in my teammates.  Some of them had been Trackerschool students decades before I started, and were confident about which direction to take at each intersection to get us where we needed to go.

By the time we got out of the trees and onto the roads, it had gotten very late.  As we continued on toward the party, we began to see other scout teams trudging back toward camp.  At the sight of another team, our team did the old “sink and fade” into the bushes.  To trudge along in the middle of the road was considered bad form for a scout, but at 2 or 3 am, it happened sometimes.

Sink and fade is the phrase we used to describe how we were taught to hide.  It means to back into the bushes, quickly and quietly, as a team.  Usually it involves crawling backwards, maybe even on our bellies, scooting the lance alongside us, until we are hidden under the bushes.  By moving backwards to hide, we are facing forward to exit the bushes when it’s time to move on.

Eventually we learned that the party was over and we were too late, so we headed back to camp too.

That night may have been the night that one of my teammates and I went to the bathing area and rinsed some of the dirt and sand off ourselves before going to bed.  She and I were sometimes mistaken for sisters.  The moon was out but not yet full and the water was dark and cool.  In the summer there in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the days were hot and that water felt wonderful, even at 3am.  It was lovely to fall asleep in my tent that night, feeling exhausted but refreshed.