ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - At 17 years old, Larry M. Eiden has distinguished himself as one of the most proficient outdoorsmen in the Boy Scouts of America.
Eiden, a junior at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School, recently received the National Medal for Outdoor Achievement, something only about 300 Scouts across the country have ever done, according to Boy Scouts of America. The award was established in 2010 and it’s described as the “highest recognition that a Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Sea Scout or Venturer can earn for exemplary achievement, experience and skill in multiple areas of outdoor endeavor.”
It took Eiden five years to complete the extensive requirements for the outdoor achievement award, and Troop No. 27 Scoutmaster Matt Wishart presented him with the medal at the troop’s annual awards ceremony on Oct. 3.
“It was kind of amazing,” Eiden said. “I was glad to have it, and I was kind of glad to be over with it. And I was thinking, ’What do I do next?’”
MLive.com (https://bit.ly/2fwBJll ) reports that his father, Larry S. Eiden, hopes his son will take a break from the Scouts as he keeps up the rest of his rigorous schedule attending school, working two part-time jobs, preparing to be an election inspector and volunteering at a local nursing home. He also recently joined Venturing, a Boy Scouts program for young men and women.
“There’s not too many awards he can still win in the Boy Scouts,” the elder Eiden said, adding that his son has eight palms on his Eagle Scout award, which each represent another level of achievement he’s completed.
He’s proud of the leadership skills his son developed in earning the National Medal for Outdoor Achievement.
Because it’s so rare for someone to complete the award, there was no clear-cut path for meeting all the requirements. Larry M. Eiden had to research classes and connect with mentors on his own to complete the various components of the award, which includes badges for cooking, first aid, wilderness survival, search and rescue, horsemanship and other specialties, in addition to completing 125 days and nights of camping, hiking 300 miles, 125 hours of conservation work, 200 miles of riding a non-motorized bike or stock animal and planning and leading trips for the troop.
“This award has allowed him to just take it and do it himself. He even raised the money. You can imagine the kind of money it takes (to purchase the equipment and pay for the travel expenses). … He had to get jobs for all that,” Larry S. Eiden said of his son. “I’m really proud, obviously. I think he’s done really well. One of the things that they’ve said is they’re anxious to see what he does next.”
Eiden joined Cub Scouts as a first grader living in Angola, Indiana. He advanced to the Boy Scouts in fifth grade and knew then he’d become an Eagle Scout - a significant accomplishment. He made up his mind to earn the National Medal for Outdoor Achievement as a sixth grader.
“I just kind of like the challenge, I suppose,” Eiden said, smiling easily as he sat in the living room of his family’s Ann Arbor home. They moved to Michigan when Eiden was in seventh grade, and the summer before that his father took him and his younger brother, William, 15, on a cross-country camping trip.
They spent 31 days travelling 7,000 miles and visiting as many National Parks as they could out West. Larry S. Eiden said he wanted to give his sons an experience he didn’t have as a child, even though camping is something he associates more with his days as an Army officer than a hobby.
“I thought that would be enough. I thought I’d punched that ticket and I wouldn’t have to take them again,” Larry S. Eiden joked, adding that the road trip actually cemented his sons’ love for the outdoors.
William is well on his way to earning his own National Medal for Outdoor Achievement. He needs just 10 more nights of camping to complete the award next year.
Larry M. Eiden recalls spending a lot of time outside with his brother as young children and having bonfires in their yard almost every weekend.
“One summer, we put up a tent and never took it down,” he said. “Like every other night, we’d just go and sleep in that.”
There’s just more to do outside, he added.
“You know, I’ve never been huge on video games anyway,” Eiden said. “It’s just more quiet (outside). It’s just more fun. There’s more to do. You know, you go camping and you go on a hike, go swimming, go kayaking, go get a football and play football, play Frisbee - do whatever you want. Inside, it’s just kind of like OK I’m sitting here, what’s going on?”
Looking back on his years in the Scouts, three trips stand out to Eiden as the highlights.
As a sixth grade, he kayaked across the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. The summer after eighth grade, he went to the Florida Sea Base and sailed around the Bahamas. This past summer, he completed a 50-mile hike at Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula, and he would like to take a trip to Alaska next summer.
Each trip requires months of planning because the Scouts have to carry their supplies with them. Eiden has come a long way from that first big trip to the Apostle Islands, where he forgot to leave room in his packs for food.
“I remember the night before getting to the destination, my scoutmaster opened up all the bags and was like, ’You guys have way too much,’” he said. “I remember kind of frantically going through everything and seeing what I could get rid of because I had completely forgotten that I’m going to have to carry my own food and water.”
That first trip ended up being incredibly difficult, Eiden said, as the group battled 5-foot waves to kayak from one island to the next. But, as a result, the boys learned to make the best of a situation.
“It was just very physically challenging, just finding the strength to get across the lake to the next island,” he said. “Then mentally, it was, ’I kind of wish we could take a break,’ but you can’t take a break in the middle of the lake. You’ve got to keep going.”
The trip to the Florida Sea Base was more laid-back, he said, and he enjoyed snorkeling and seeing a shark while they sailed.
This past summer, Eiden got to put his expertise to work when another member of the troop sprained his ankle during their Pictured Rocks hike. He’s certified in wilderness survival, emergency preparedness, CPR and first aid.
“We kind of had to help him out a little,” Eiden said. “We took some of his weight (from his backpack). Once in awhile, when it was just flat, we would help him walk.
“On trips like those, you always kind of stay as a group and when you get back, you still just hang out with those core guys,” he added.
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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press:MLive.com, https://www.mlive.com
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