All American Boy has joined the Cub Scouts! We've found an English-speaking Troop here where the boys come from Switzerland and neighboring France. The total Troop has around 100 boys in it, but the Den sizes are small. AAB's Den has 6 including him and he's probably one of the older ones.
Yesterday, we went to his first Den meeting/activity--a hike in the Jura mountains. Geneva sits between two mountain ranges--the Alps, which contains Mt. Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe--and the Jura Mountains which are directly behind us. The hike yesterday was into the Jura and started at a small village called Trellex. We parked at the head of the trail, then started out--8 boys, 5 dads, and a dog.
Along the way, the boys worked towards a hiking/wilderness badge. We demonstrated making raincoats out of trash bags as a light-weight way to be prepared for bad weather, marking tracks with footprints made using reflective aluminum foil (as a potential marker), and discussed the importance of 'leaving no trace.'
It was about a 2 hour hike up to the top and for us landlubbers, it was a bit of work. But AAB did great! At the top, we had some hot chocolate, cookies, and apples before starting back down. Not surprisingly, the downward journey was a tad faster--maybe an hour and a half. We made it back down just before it started to get dark, so it perfect timing.
As you can see, the scenery was fantastic. CW suspects that a month ago, when everything was in full color, it would have been even more spectacular.Maybe next year. But AAB and CS definitely plan to get SoulSwister, SweetSwissTeen, and SwissSis out there to join us.Then their legs can feel like CW's the next day! :)
That is so cool. What an amazing experience, that you can't find in Texas.
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