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If you read and listen regularly you know I am a big promoter of High Adventure in Scouting. How are your plans for your next high adventure trip coming along?
That’s right, you, how are the plans coming along?
Here’s a few reasons why most of us don’t even get started:
It’s too expensive.
No, it’s not. A perfectly great high adventure trip doesn’t have to cost a lot – we’ve done backpacking trips of five days for less than $200.oo all inclusive.
I don’t have the time.
Yes, you do. Vacation days are precious when you have a family, you can’t invest all of them in a Scout trip. You can take three days though; leave on a Wednesday and return on a Monday. Even allowing a day of travel each way you’ll have a four day adventure. If you are the parent of a Scout you have a limited opportunity to enjoy this with your son – four to six years. Trust me there are a LOT if years afterward. Take the days and head into the wilderness with your son; you won’t forget it.
I don’t have the skills or confidence.
Most people don’t; they have to learn them. One of the best parts of a High Adventure trip is the months spent planning, learning and practicing skills. I have seen a lot of back-country groups who were very inexperienced and ill-prepared yet survived and flourished in the outdoors. You will be more prepared than most of them.
So here’s my advice – select a modest goal, be the spark plug to make this happen and start planning now. You’ll do more for your patrols and troop than you can imagine. Don’t complicate things – make it accessible financially and time-wise. Go, do it now.
Contact me, I will help you through the process. Go, do it now.
Dan Beard, Burlington KY, Troop 727 created our own “high adventure” trip dubbed “little philmont”.
Unfortunately, our plans for attending Philmont in 2012 did not work out. The cost proved just too much. So I kept the spirit of the trip alive, creating a 50 mile backpacking trip in Danial Boone National Forest in Kentucky. We hiked from Red River Gorge to Cave Run Lake. Along the way we had several side trips and other excursions to make the trip more exciting just like the activity areas of Philmont. We had a total of 7 days on the trail with parents helping out logistically providing food/water drop points.
The point of all of this?…The scouts came out of this trip with the same character, leadership, and service mindset that you would get out of Philmont. In other words, it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Any troop with the right leadership can make big, memorable trips happen. Our troop does this through our Venture Patrol within the Boy Scout program.
Nicely put. My Troop does high adventure every year. This year was Philmont – much more expensive and lots more preparation than most trips but the guys really came together as a crew and had a ton of fun. We haven’t done annual planning yet so I dont know what is in store for next year.