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Campouts, cooking, backpacking and Leave No Trace. The outdoors is where Scouting happens, and these posts are full of gear lists, Dutch oven recipes and lessons learned on the trail.
540 posts · 2006–2020
29 posts
Here is our year-end camp summary for 2017: 1) Jan – 3rd annual Winter backpacking on snowshoes in Little Cottonwood Canyon 2) Feb – Last minute change to Fivemile Pass* 3) Mar – Yurt experience at East Fork of the Bear River** 4) Apr – 3rd annual Spring outing to White Rock near Dugway 5) May – 8th annual backpack…
A Scout hike likely conjures up images of journeying by a pristine lake, hiking staff in hand, surrounded by tall trees with a view of snowcapped mountains in the distance. Or for one Ohio Scout, it could mean touring the streets of downtown Manhattan.
Kevin Callan is here, it’s time to go winter camping! Canada’s Happy Camper, our friend Kevin Callan, author of the new Complete Guide to Winter Camping joins us on this podcast with his welcoming way of sharing his knowledge of the woods in winter.
Here’s some advice from Wade Bastian on the Appalachian trail gear he carried on his hike. Wade set out on the 2200 mile trail with fellow Eagle Scout Bucky Kellorg in February. As planned, Wade interrupted his hike to spend the summer employed as a peak steward in New York’s Adirondack mountains (he’s stewarding a…
These Appalachian Trail Lessons come from Wade Bastian, one of two of my old Scouts hiking the 2200 mile trail. Wade and fellow Eagle Scout Bucky Kellorg started in February. As planned, Wade interrupted his hike to spend the summer employed as a peak steward in New York’s Adirondack mountains Bucky completed the trail in…
The outdoor ethics guide, a troop-level position of responsibility for youth that in January 2016 replaced the position of Leave No Trace trainer, now has its very own handbook. The Outdoor Ethics Guide Handbook is available now as a free PDF download .
Along with welcoming new members into our packs and troops and starting the program year, fall is the time when many units collect updated health forms from their youth and adult members. The Boy Scouts of America recommends that each member have on file with his or her unit a completed copy of the General…
A big part of Cub Scouts involves introducing boys to the fun and adventure of spending time outdoors. And if you’re going to spend time outdoors, you’re going to want the right gear. The Cub Scout Six Essentials, learned as part of the Wolf Rank, is a list of a half-dozen items every Cub Scout…
Story contributed by Jane Parikh of the Michigan Crossroads Council Peter “Madcat” Ruth could stay in hotels when touring, but the Grammy-award winning musician and Eagle Scout says he prefers to camp like he did when he was a Boy Scout.
Scout Camp 2017 Time to carve: who cares it's Scout Camp Location: Rotary Scout Reservation #rsrbsa Finishing: at home 1.5 hour Summer Camp is one of those times when time passes effortlessly and I can just let the whittling knife take me to the things hidden in the wood.
You might think little Chess merit badge would get lost amid action-packed Jamboree activities like mountain biking, shotgun shooting and zip lining. But then you climb the hill to the Chess merit badge tent and see the truth. The main tent — plus a second, larger tent beside it — is full.
The number of overnight campouts required for a young man to earn the Second Class and First Class ranks will be reduced under new requirements that take effect Aug. 1, 2017. But the total number of camping nights a Boy Scout will experience in the program as he progresses toward the rank of Eagle Scout…
Scouts are brave, helpful and kind. All three qualities are symbolized in a single photo that comes to us from Boy Scout summer camp. This is a true story that happened last month at Woodruff Scout Reservation, part of the Atlanta Area Council.
They say becoming an Eagle Scout isn’t the end of a young person’s journey — it’s the beginning. Few go as far to prove that adage as Matthew Warrick. This summer, the 17-year-old from Troop 505 of Austin, Texas, is hiking the entire Appalachian Trail.
Sponsored post courtesy of Thermacell Summer camping season is upon us and while every Scout is equipped to embark on the great outdoors with the bare necessities, there are some modern-day camping items that have revolutionized the camping experience in ways Baden Powell couldn’t enjoy.
In rainy weather (and KonTiki frequently brings rainy weather), it can be a good idea to get your tent up out of the mud. Bush Hill Scout Troop built this four-tier stepped tent platform for their campsite at KonTiki 2017.
When your council contingents depart from the 2017 National Jamboree this summer, they can bring the equipment home to support local council/troop camping opportunities back home. If your council is not interested in acquiring the equipment, participants will be able to purchase the very gear they used at the Summit Bechtel Reserve!
Philmont is a land of starlit skies, aspen-covered hills and wind in whisp’ring pines. That’s how John Westfall, who wrote “The Philmont Hymn,” described the Scouting paradise in New Mexico. Westfall was a teenager in 1945 when he wrote the song.
Why buy separate gear items when things already in your backpack or trunk can pull double (or triple) duty? A Scout is thrifty, after all. So here, courtesy of our friends at Thermacell , you’ll find a list of 5 camping items that can serve purposes beyond the obvious.
It’s May, so summer is almost here, and many Cub Scout packs are wrapping up their school year meeting schedules with springtime events designed to cap off a year of fun with a lighter activity or a ceremony to mark the transition from one year to the next.
When it comes to camp cuisine, there’s no better food critic than a Boy Scout. Who better to judge the merit of food prepared outdoors than the inventors of the Cooking merit badge? The fine folks at the Fox show MasterChef Junior sure think so.
Scouts and Scouters, meet your repeat champion: the First Aid merit badge. After losing its top spot to the Cooking merit badge in 2014, First Aid retook the crown in 2015 and defended its title in 2016. That means more Scouts earned the First Aid merit badge in 2016 than any other badge.
The BSA’s 2017 Boy Scout Requirements book, detailing major and minor changes to Boy Scout ranks and merit badges, is now available. Inside you’ll find: Modifications to the Second Class and First Class ranks The new Exploration merit badge Major changes to four merit badges Minor changes to 32 merit badges The changes are the…
On a magazine assignment last summer, I joined Troop 7031 from Flagstaff, Ariz., on a canoe trip through Yellowstone National Park. (Shameless plug: Find my story in the May 2017 Boys’ Life and May-June 2017 Scouting !) The first day of paddling was the longest, and we arrived at camp exhausted.
It seems like an ideal troop outing. A trip to a local ski area for a weekend of snow sports. The slopes are not too steep but still full of fun and challenge. They offer downhill and cross-country skiing trails, snowboarding runs, ice skating and tubing.
At councils across the country, Ten Commandments hikes help Scouts and Venturers learn more about their faith and the faiths and cultures of others. An upcoming example: the 10th annual Ten Commandments Hike in the Baden Powell District, part of the North Florida Council.
As Scouts, camping is an important part of our identity. At some point, you went on your first camping trip… then you went on the next one… and then the next. These experiences became memories which in turn shaped your understanding of the true purpose of Scout camping.
In some packs, troops and crews, adults pay nothing to attend weekend camping trips. Instead, as a way to thank the Scouters for their service and time, their costs are included in the campout fee for the Scouts/Venturers. In other words, instead of paying $12 to cover food and supplies during a weekend trip, Scouts…
In this Saturday Quick Tip video.. I show a quick and easy way to store your sleeping bag. Your sleeping bag is an essential piece of gear. Part of the "Big 3", your sleeping bag is a piece of gear that you count on when you are in the woods.
