Ideas for Different Types of Outings

[Hedgehog]

I'm looking for some ideas for different types of outings to incorporate into the troop's outdoor program. Ideas that would up the excitement level and give the scouts different experiences. Some of the ideas we have done or are planning include:

 

Beach Campout

Campout at COPE Course

Canoeing Trip

Backpacking Trips

Lightweight Long Distance Backpacking (13 Miles in One Afternoon)

Sea Kayaking (One Day Adventure While Staying at Scout Camp)

Skiing / Snowshoeing (One Day Adventure While Staying at Scout Camp)

Single Day Hikes and Urban Hikes

Scout Camp Camping with Hikes (6 to 8 miles)

 

Any other ideas?

[Eagle94-A1]

Wilderness Survival Weekend Building shelters, utensiless cooking and having FUN!

 

My troop growing up turned this into an annual event with Webelos coming to camp with us. Long story short, our gear got destroyed and we found out the nite before the Webelos Overnighter. Adapt, Improvise. Overcome.

[resqman]

The boys really enjoyed a cooking challenge.

 

Troop supplied the food. Scouts did not know what they would get and had to cook something based on what they were provided. Did it two different ways.

 

One time each patrol was given basically the same ingredients but had to cook the using the specified method. One patrol had to use a box oven. One patrol was provided a propane turkey fryer, pot and oil. One patrol was provided an iron skillet and propane burner. Each patrol was given fish filets, potatoes, onions, and a bread mix that would work with their cooking style. The fryer people were given fry batter for the fish and hush puppy makings. The box oven patrol got ingredients to bake rolls and bread crumbs. The iron skillet was given something else. Each patrol cooked their food and then traded to see how it tasted when cooked using a different method.

 

The next time the troop filled a picnic table with food. All scouts were given 5 minutes to look at all the food on the table. The patrols were told to decide what food stuffs they wanted and build a menu. Then the twist. The SPL asked the PL to come select one item form the table. Then the PL from the next patrol selected an item. Then the third PL selected an item. They continued to select items from the table until they were satisfied. The problem became the other patrols may have selected the item you had on your menu and the patrol had to shift the menu/recipes to fit the remaining ingredients.

 

The table had a box of pasta, box of rice, and potatoes. It had three kinds of bread type makings. It had a variety of canned stuff like tomato paste/sauce, fruits, beans, vegetables, Rotel, etc. Also fresh carrots, onions, etc. So only one patrol could get rice, one pasta, one potatoes. There was enough materials for each patrol to have a starch, a vegetable and a bread. They could make whatever they liked. They had access to Dutch ovens, box ovens, and propane stoves. They also had their normal patrol box of cooking supplies.

 

They were provided with a meat and told what it would be before selections were made. They were given equal access to seasonings, oils, butter, salt, pepper etc. This is not for first time cooks. We had an extensive cooking competition for a year before these occurred.

 

This was the Sat evening meal. The selections were made mid-afternoon so they had time to build fires and necessary prep.

[Stosh]

Primitive camping... No facilities, no campsites, no resources, just a place to camp. Dig latrines, find and process water, cook using resources available, shelters from what is brought. It doesn't need to be a wilderness survival issue, just camping as pure camping and not dragging everything from home. Maybe limit it to what can be carried in backpacks, canoes, bikes, or best yet, kayaks. Maybe a 9 day trip down a river, 9 day trek on a trail, etc.

 

Stosh

[qwazse]

Shooting Sports Weekend. Rock Climbing. Visit the County Jail.or State Police Barraks. Fly Fishing. Serve at a Soup Kitchen. Visit a Farm (sleep in a hay loft). Hold a square dance (invite sisters and girlfriends). Oops, I got my venturing hat on ... But I bet certain troops could do that as well.

[Hedgehog]

Great ideas.

 

I like the wilderness survival idea. I've thought about having the boys go on a hike and "get lost" so that they have to survive. They will know ahead of time what is going on, but they will only be able to bring what they would have on a hike - i.e. the ten essentials plus an emergency blanket or bivy. The goal will be to stay out overnight and then hike back into camp the next morning. The only dinner the boys would get is what they have in their day pack - Cliff Bars, trail mix, etc. There probably wouldn't be time to build shelters (I've always laughed at the Wilderness Survival merit badge at camp where the boys have three days to build their shelters). The instructions would be that the adults are silent and "invisible" and we can only intervene in case of a true emergency.

 

Our boys have done the "Cast Iron Chef" competitions at both campouts and at patrol / troop meetings. Those competitions are always a lot of fun.

 

The primitive camping ideas is great too. We have one scout who wants to go on a fishing trip. Maybe a hike to a lake, some tarps for tents, wool blankets for sleeping and cooking over the fire. The boys can cary the cast iron frying pan, a grate to grill over the fire and an aluminum pot for boiling water. I can almost taste the freshly caught trout with some homestyle potato wedges on the side.

 

We're thinking about canoeing and then backpacking into summer camp this summer. Last summer, we backpacked in 18 miles. The boys kept asking the other scouts, "So how did you get to camp?"

 

We are also thinking of a 5 day, 30+ mile backpacking trip on the AT in Shenandoah at the end of the summer. I'm really looking forward to that.

 

I love the shooting sports weekend idea, especially because the boys picked "ballistics and projectiles" as one of their monthly themes for this spring.

 

We've done real rock climbing (i.e. not a climbing wall) earlier this year (COPE on Saturday, rock climbing on Sunday). Well worth it, especially for the kids that had only done the climbing walls before.

[koolaidman]

One thing I've been wanting to try is a Search and Rescue mission. Nothing fancy here. An adult or older scout gets "lost" and the rest of the troop apply Search and Rescue techniques to find him.

[Recycle]

Take a bike ride. Depending on experience, equipment, and nearby facilities, some options are 1) make a day trip in or to an interesting locale, 2) haul bikes to a camping area adjacent to a bike trail, camp and day trip from that base. 3) take an overnight (or longer) bike trip. It could be self supported if the scouts have access to suitable lightweight gear, or vehicle supported if not.

 

[KenDavis500]

Things we've done:

1. Stay cool campout - normally held in August. Camp near a cold spring for swimming; build hammocks from a twin size bed sheet to sleep in on Saturday night.

2. First aid campout - goes along with the First Aid theme; patrols hikes in the morning and an ASM will "injure" a Scout. The Patrol performs first aid actions

3. Camp & Shoot - local gun club shuts down for the weekend and hosts Troops.

4. Canoeing/camping on a lake

5. Canoeing/camping on a river (scheduled)

6. Wilderness survival

7. Orienteering campout - neighboring council has a yearly event; this year our district is putting one on in conjunction with the local orienteering club

8. Astronomy campout - heading out to West Texas (scheduled) to camp at a state park and visiting the McDonald Observatory

 

[Eagle94-A1]

Hedge,

 

there are a lot of different variations on wilderness survival that I've encountered. Some variations have folks only using survival kits. some make some accommodations, specifically sleeping bags. When we did the trips with Webelos, we took it relatively easy on them, and the adults that wanted to got to stay in tents .

 

One of the ones I liked was a "crash site" done at a summer camp and everything needed was provided by the camp staff, if they could find it After waiting about 30 minutes for contraband to appear on the amnesty blanket, the scouts were taken to the site where they "crashed." Some stuff was strewn all over the place for easy collecting. Some stuff was "hidden" a ways. Those poor guys sufffered all kinds of calamities that nite: earthquakes, snake bites, etc etc. rteally put them through their paces.

 

One thing NOT to do is make actual,visible air to ground signals. First time the MBC at summer camp did the experience above, he made the scouts make visible Air to ground signals. State troopers in a chopper saw it and landed to find out what was wrong.

[Stosh]

KenDavis500's #7 could be a rogaine event.

 

Stosh

[Rick_in_CA]

One idea I remember from my youth: back country trail maintenance. It's a backpacking trip combined with a service project. There are back country trails in parks, national forests and wilderness areas that are not accessible by road or day hike, but they still need maintenance. My troop did do some local trail maintenance when I was a scout, but not the overnight back country stuff. But several of our neighboring troops did it. It was a great way to give back to the parks we used so much.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know if the NPS or BLM allow youth to do that anymore. In my day, my council summer camp used to use volunteer boy scout labor to do road maintenance (you got to ride in an old Army deuce and a half), but that stopped years ago.

[Hedgehog]

This is great. A lot of ideas here I can bring to the PLC and they can build on.

 

The search and rescue idea is one I remember talking to a couple of the younger scouts in our Troop about. They thought it would be a good idea to do that as a patrol competition -- see who finds the lost scout the quickest.

 

One of our ASMs is really into cycling, so the camp and bike idea would be great. I think a couple of day bike trip would be great. We would probably need a support vehicle for gear for that. Also, camping and then having a Saturday bike trip would be fun too.

 

Ken -- those are all great ideas. Last summer we passed by a couple of waterfalls and springs while hiking. One of the other ASMs and I both thought it would be fun just to hike to one of those spots and let the boys just play in the water and hang out. OK, the adults would enjoy it too. The orienteering campout is a great idea. We tried something like that last year, but the "permanent course" was less that exciting. The good part was that the older boys took responsibility for teaching the skills and leading -- all I had to do was tell the adults that they had to stay at the back of each group and were not permitted to talk (I'm working up to the boys going out hiking without the adults -- change takes time). Astronomy camp out sounds cool too. We have an amateur observatory nearby, but I'd love to go way out (hard to get away from city lights when you are sandwiched between Philadelphia and NYC). I saw a "dark skies" site at a state park out in Western Pennsylvania. A long drive, but I think it would be worth it.

 

Eagle94 -- I love the crash site idea. There actually is an old WWII B-29 crash site within hiking distance of where we do summer camp. I think that some of the older guys would enjoy coming up with a series of calamities. Thank for the laugh on the signaling -- at least they know it works. One exercise I want to do is to have the boys at different distances and show the difference between yelling, whistling and signaling and how effective they are. I wonder how may guys in our Troop actually carry whistles and signal mirrors (other than me and my son).

 

The trail maintenance idea is a good one. At camp this summer, the venture patrol and I did some trail maintenance on the hiking trails within the scout camp. That worked well as part of the requirements for some camp awards and the Paul Bunyan award and was in line with the venture patrols' goal of spending a lot of time hiking and backpacking (we did 44 miles over the course of the week). I'm also a member of the NY/NJ trail conference and they are the group responsible for maintaining the trails (including the AT) in this area. There are a bunch of scout camps that abut various trails.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and keep them coming.

[SSScout]

Depending on where you are and how "urban" a setting, think about taking the bus or train or subway OUT somewhere and hiking BACK. I have been trying to interest my home Troop in this idea, and so far only "umm - mmms", but it is being mulled over. Or maybe there is a touristy site that migh tlend itself to such a trip. Helps eliminate the "shuttle". Check your map....

[koolaidman]

 

One of our ASMs is really into cycling' date=' so the camp and bike idea would be great. I think a couple of day bike trip would be great. We would probably need a support vehicle for gear for that. Also, camping and then having a Saturday bike trip would be fun too.[/quote']

 

Make sure to do some kind of bike safety check or inspection before the event.

 

We planned a ride for a couple of miles and some of the scouts showed up with bikes that weren't quite up to the task. Specifically some scouts showed up with BMX "Freestyle" bikes and the seats were set at the lowest they could go. When told they would be much more comfortable with the seat raised, they just said "It's a Freestyle Bike. It's supposed to be that way".

 

All we could do was roll our eyes while waiting for them to catch up. We'll do better next time...