HikerLou

Wow! I must say I am very impressed with this site. I know I should have been responding to some of your questions, but I was just enjoying the read! Thank you all for your posts. First off, the Scouts - or nearly all of them - had current medical forms. They needed these to be valid to go to summer camp. This was really more about the parents - my position was that ALL of the parents needed the form due to the type of trip and the relative inexperience of some of the parents (in fact, one of the parents did need to be helicoptered out due to an injury to his leg -- the fact that the helicopter was more of a taxi, and not a LifeFlight, is all that prevented this from being Charter-threatening event!) As for the miles, we do so using Troopmaster as a way of tracking and recognizing participation. We post big charts at our courts of honor, and the boys can be quite comptetive about who has hiked the most miles or camped the most nights. We also award the seven league boot, etc., which is based upon miles hiked. YIS, -Lou

I am an ASM in Southern California. Recently, our Troop organized a trip to Supai in the Grand Canyon. During the planning stages, I pointed out that the scouts and adult participants needed to complete their medical forms. Because several of the parents whined about having to do so, THE SCOUTMASTER DECIDED NOT TO PULL A TOUR PERMIT, instead calling the trip a "family camp" (at this point, my sons and I dropped out of the trip). None of the normal Patrol preparations took place - it was truly a family trip with many younger siblings and non-hiking parents participating (via horseback). On several occasions prior to the trip, I advised the parents and Scouts that this was a bad idea, but - should they go through with it - the Scouts would NOT be credited with nights or miles. The trip is now over and done with, and I am now taking a lot of flak because I have stood by my word not to credit nights or miles for this trip. Putting the very serious GTSS issues aside (I am dealing with that through the Council), am I correct in taking this stance about nights/miles? Will the Scouts learn from this, or am I just punishing them for the stupidity of their parents? I appreciate your thoughts. YIS, -Lou