Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
Umm. Wow.. It's been a while, but that is more than I remember from my Boy Scout days. 135?? It was a fun read for a bit to look at the requirements and the process.
You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business, and future careers as you earn merit badges. There are more than 135 merit badges, and any Boy Scout or Varsity Scout, or any qualified Venturer or Sea Scout may earn any of these at any time.
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Merit Badge Requirements
Below is a list, in alphabetical order, of all of the current merit badge subjects. Click each subject to see the requirements for that merit badge.
The requirements posted here are the most current, accurate, and official. This will always be the best place to find the most up-to-date requirements.
I'm a Scoutmaster that took over the Troop 5 1/2 years ago, with maybe 6-8 Scouts. The Scoutmaster quit and I was put in, otherwise the Troop would have been gone. For a year and a half, I had no Son of mine in the Troop, but, I made sure that the other new Scouts can have something's to look forward too. I took them everywhere, to the beach, desert, mountain's, lakes, white water rafting, canoeing down the Colorado river, snow and ice hiking, camping, backpacking, fishing, etc... Now, I have over 40 Scouts in my Troop.
I believe in the Scouting Program, one of my Scout got accepted to West Point and another to Brown University. I'm just passing my knowledge of the outdoor life I know.
rlown, I'm going to get my Radon (boat) fixed to catch some Bluefin !!!
I completely agree that the scouting program is a great place to start; You learn a lot if you're engaged. Heck, my mom had a girl scout troop, and I went along to teach them skills (first aid, knots, setting up camp.)
Glad you stepped up.. Now about this boat rebuild?
Also agree it's great you stepped up to take over a troop. It's the leader who sets the standard for the kids and, not to be a downer, but I have run into huge numbers of scoutmasters who set a poor example for their kids. My worst day was having 3 troop scoutmasters (and scouts) lie to me about numbers in group and where they camped. I gave citations to two of them. Accepting the citation, one said he was an officer in a PD and had written a colleague on east side who told him "not to worry, 'cause there were no rangers in the backcountry to enforce regulations." Not to state the obvious, but what kind of example does this set? It's like lying was another scout merit badge. A really bad day but not, in my direct experience, unusual for scout leaders.
Most of my dealing with scouting was through my father and brother. My father led troop 786 and my mother was a den mother. This was when my brother was going through scouting. He's 4 years older than me, so I was the tagalong on all of their outings. Once I got into cubscouts, my parents were burning out. I made it to webelo, whatever that is. When my parents parted the troop, so did I. I do have a lot of fond memories of seemingly endless day hikes and car camping, but was never on a backpacking trip through scouting. My uncle was responsible for introducing me to that. My dad did have some interesting projects though. Once, we made our own cane fishing poles and melted lead tire balancing weights to mold our own fishing weights, then used them to fish along Piru creek. That was pretty cool. Other than that, I gained a liking to hiking in our local mountains and became familiar with the many trails here in So. Cal.
It was during these times that I learned I am a firebug. I used to sit by the campfire and stare into the embers. Oh yeah, I used to keep adding logs to the fire. My dad kept telling me "that's enough wood Jim", "THAT'S ENOUGH WOOD, JIM!". I never really paid attention until he moved me away from the wood.
If you don't know where you're going, then any path will get you there.
When I was in the scouts for a couple of years, back in the 70's, my troop disbanded due to no Adults wanted to take the leadership position. I took the chance to become a leader for my present troop, even though I'm really bad at computers or communication skills. The Sierra is/or fells like my home or where I belong.
gdurkee, I know the rules when hiking and it's a challenge when backpacking with a Boy Scout Troop. Personally, I like just going with a couple of people, but, when I have a bunch of scouts and parents that have no experience, I need to teach by more backpacking outings.
My parents took my brother and sister and I,to Mammoth a lot, back in the late 60's and 70's. I remember going to one store in Mammoth and my Mom asked me if I wanted anything, I said yes, I wanted a map. There were times, my Dad driving around, looking for a place to park at a lake and I'd see a trailhead sign and I asked if we can walk up the trail to see what's on the other side of the mountain. We went hiking. And eventually a long backpacking trip.
Yes jimr, a few years ago, I took the scouts car camping at a local lake,Piru. I had one new scout that just enjoyed a campfire. Maybe a first time campfire for him. Anyway, I awoke at 3:00am with someone chopping wood, he thought the sun was rising and wanted to start a fire, but it was a very bright full moon. I had the scouts to go back to sleep.
The BSA is an awesome adventure for the kids. Sometimes I just stand back on a hiking/backpacking trip, to witness what these Scouts can do in some bad weather. They learned their lesson, by experiencing it the hard way.( No harm was ever done to the Scouts.) It's the bad trips that the scouts will remember for a long time and also the hard trips with the complaints about hiking, the mosquitoes, the trail, scary water crossing's, the altitude, rain, snow, hail, etc... It made them a better leader to deal with these things.
The scouts I take, will, "Leave No Trace" and find other pieces of trash that we pack out. I have a great bunch of Scouts and Parents to help out with the Troop. I'm so happy !!!
I still have all my stuff/badges from that "era." No, I don't wear them on the trail.. (often)