Hiking MB a thing of the past

[Horizon]

I have taken Scouts on some pretty fun hikes and backpacking trips to the various mountain ranges of California. They can be broken up into the following groups:

 

1) Nice View

2) Another Peak

3) Fastest to the Objective

4) Are we done yet?

5) Does this count for X badge / Y requirement?

6) Never doing this again

 

 

[Horizon]

That list is the attitudes of different groups of Scouts, if that was not obvious.

 

To really mess with everyone, I have never forbidden cell phones on backpacking trips (no headphones while hiking due to safety though). If figure if you are willing to carry it and risk it, it is your business. Some of the boys get great joy at finding a signal on top of a peak and "checking in" on Facebook from, say, Mt. San Jacinto.

 

If that gets one more boy on the Trail - wahoo!

 

For the 20 miler, we have talked about doing the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon that is 26.2 miles of hiking from site to site listening to live bands.

[Scoutfish]

That's a great point I never would have thought of Horizon:}

Checking in at - and thus advertising to the world via facebook - that you are on top of "Mt Alot of sweat to get there".

 

I see no harm at all in this and in fact, it issues a challenge to your other scout friends to do the same.

[dkurtenbach]

Last summer I offered to counsel the Hiking merit badge for Scouts in my troop. Had an introductory meeting with about six interested Scouts AND their parents to go over the requirements. Lots of enthusiasm, particularly from some of the guys going to Philmont this summer. I loaned out some books describing hiking trails in the area, asked the guys to figure out where they wanted to go and start working on hike plans, per the requirements. And pretty much nothing happened after that.

 

I'm convinced that had _I_ planned the hikes and all that the boys had to do was show up, there'd be half a dozen boys with 70 miles on their boots. But because they had to take the initiative to plan the hikes, that was too hard. That is, the physical exertion was no problem; it was the mental effort of the Hiking merit badge that made it unappealing.

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

[Basementdweller]

Yep kurt......that is generally what happens.....Met with a scout for hiking merit badge....He has his training hikes planned we go over his first aid....then they never come back......oh well.

 

Horizon that sounds outstanding and I bet the boys buy into it.....

 

 

I will not ban cellphones on trips....they are much more than just phones......Banning is obsolete, teaching responsible usage is the way to go......Not teaches that faster than a dead battery friday night when your gone for the entire weekend.

[Deaf Scouter]

Basement...

What's wrong with Hooters? Scout uniform and alcohol can NOT be together! You know that thing called 'Regulations'.

 

As for the word I... The posting was referencing back to being able to find trails in my area which I stated 'I' can find plenty of them locally. True the boys decide but my group probably doesn't even know most of them unless they are connected to their local park. I get it plenty Basement that its Patrol Method and boys decisions. We start our training for the next 6 weeks tomorrow.

[Basementdweller]

Depends what part of the country your in I guess.

 

I saw a group of adult scouters knocking back some adult beverages at a place called cluckers one weeknight, Our District staff go to the VFW after Roundtable, I am certain it isn't for the tea....Uniforms and all....

 

I struggle with parents bringing alcohol on Pack family campouts....The then Pack CC brought his girl friend a big cooler full of wine coolers and shared a tent......The first Pack campout I attended at the local scout camp was embarrassing. the clank of emptys going in the dumpster.

 

How about all those cigar beer drinking poker nights that still go on at Troop campouts??? They still go on, if you doubt me ask around.

 

You need to give me a little credit here deaf......Son, friend and I were not in uniform it was 90 degrees out.....

 

If you going to judge me......I like bourbon, I treat myself to a nice cigar and a glass of bourbon occasional.... Not a big beer drinker. I enjoy the female form, I am a man that is the way I am wired....

 

 

[Tampa Turtle]

I talked with my 12 year old slip of a First Class, 90 pounds dripping wet, who has racked 60 miles in less than a year about this discussion. He thought it was silly--Boy Scouts should hike. He said if you take the Camping, Hiking, Cooking out of scouting it was just like his elementry school program working on robotics, or reading or whatever afterschool.

[Deaf Scouter]

Glad to know Basement you weren't in uniform but I have to say I was SHOCKED at what you described that goes on. I know one of our Council dinners we have to make sure NOT to wear our uniforms because of that little alcohol regulations rule. If I was in any of the situations you described, I'd be embarrassed and leave rather than suffer through it.

 

I'm right now having to deal with cigarette smoking regulations and a new parent... *sighs

 

 

[dkurtenbach]

I really don't mean this to sound like another "Scouting was better in the good old days" comment -- you can actually look this up in the 7th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook, which I used when I was a Scout. (I note that this same handbook was spoofed by The History Bluff website ("Making a mess of history"), http://www.thehistorybluff.com/?p=2391.) Anyway, under that handbook, Second Class rank was centered on hiking, while First Class was centered on camping. Excerpt from the table of contents (see http://www.troop97.net/bshb_ed6.htm):

 

Hiking Trail to SECOND CLASS

-Second Class Tests

-Your Life as a Scout

-Let's Go Hiking

-Find Your Way

-Lost

-Get to Know Nature

-Trailing, Tracking, and Stalking

-The Tools of a Woodsman

-Your Hike Meal

-Emergency Preparation

-Scout Spirit

 

Camping Trail to FIRST CLASS

-First Class Test

-Your Life as a Scout

-To Camp!

-Your First Class Camps

-Mapping

-The Stars in the Sky

-Woodlore

-Go Swimming

-Get a Message Through

-Be Prepared for Accidents

-Scout Spirit

-Adventure Camping

 

Dan Kurtenbach

Fairfax, VA

 

 

[gershon]

I was in Scouts in the late 60's. I got my hiking merit badge. My 20 mile hike was in Morristown, NJ. I don't remember anything about 10 mile hikes. Maybe they didn't have them then.

 

Now I live in Colorado and backpack a lot. This year, I'm seeing a lot of kids on the trail. There is a 12 year old kid on the Appalacian Trail this year. She hiked the Pacific Crest Trail last year. It's not unusual to see kids 5 to 10 years old far from a trailhead with their parents. I met an 8 year old who is already dreaming of the long trails.

 

My personal opinion is 8 miles should be about the longest required for the MB. I have a few reasons for this.

 

1. It's easier to find adults who can hike 8 miles.

2. 20 miles is really a darn difficult hike on trails, so it leads to urban hikes. I like urban hikes, so I'm not knocking them.

3. Being able to do 8 miles is good enough for going backpacking. It's a more realistic distance in mountainous areas.

4. It's probably easier for a scout to legitimately plan an 8 mile hike. I would really insist each scout planned the hike even if an adult picked a trail.

 

With shorter hikes, it's more realistic to allow a scout to make all the decisions. Rest breaks, lunch, wading in a stream or standing under a waterfall. Perhaps it could be a requirement for a scout to lead a hike for the last one of the MB. (With adult supervision if needed.)