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For us,

Fall weekend backpacking trips tend to be shorter, fun, intro/training activities - proper gear, water management, cooking, hiking, map reading,..Spring weekend backpacking trips tend to be longer and more challenging (terrain, mud season, bugs) as preparation for summer treks.

 

My $0.02

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Ok why?????

 

We backpack 2 or 3 times a year, Typical trip is 3 day 20 mile weekend in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.

 

So as SM you know your boys....You know the trip they are planning.....

 

Someplace new, scout son and I will go investigate and do a weekend trip on our own.

 

 

Once a week shake down hikes are completely worthless as a conditioning tool.....They are fine for gear testing....

 

Do you have a bunch of fluffy couch potato types????

 

If we were going somewhere significantly higher in elevation, or mountains that have very long steep climbs.....I would encourage the Patrols to condition 3 or 4 days a week......

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In my expereince, the weekend backpacking trek is the "Tune Up"or as I've heard them called "shakedown" trip. Like Base, the troops I know use weekly hikes more for conditioning than anything.

 

I sure hope oldest picks a troop that goes backpacking like the one he visited that is going to Philmont in 2016. Although he will be to young to go, I bet he'll love the shakedowns.

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having witnessed a troop hike where several of the scouts weren't truly successful in hiking just 5-8 miles on a good day carrying just water/food i dont have much hope for them ever doing a 3 day backing trip.

 

if you are doing monthly or so backpacking trips i would say you are doing pretty well as a troop. I agree with the above posters that these trips should be the lead up to things such as winter backpacking, and the more difficult and longer treks.

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Depends. Kids who play soccer or run cross-country year round aren't such an issue. I do like to get newbs to try an afternoon hike with their gear to get their gear shaken down. Kids who only hike their avatars playing Skyrim and don't try out their equipment either drag the contingent down, or hit "the wall" at about mile six on a seven mile hike.

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We found tune up hikes to be very useful for gear checking and getting your pack to fit right but, as mentioned, they really don't lead to conditioning. If a boy can't hike 5 miles with a loaded pack he needs to work on his own or wait on the trip--one or two hikes with the troop won't help.

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We found tune up hikes to be very useful for gear checking and getting your pack to fit right but, as mentioned, they really don't lead to conditioning. If a boy can't hike 5 miles with a loaded pack he needs to work on his own or wait on the trip--one or two hikes with the troop won't help.
I suppose footwear falls into the gear category, but very useful for identifying those issues.
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having witnessed a troop hike where several of the scouts weren't truly successful in hiking just 5-8 miles on a good day carrying just water/food i dont have much hope for them ever doing a 3 day backing trip.

 

if you are doing monthly or so backpacking trips i would say you are doing pretty well as a troop. I agree with the above posters that these trips should be the lead up to things such as winter backpacking, and the more difficult and longer treks.

So Kristian how do you measure success on a Back pack trip??? Distance???

 

Why do you say 5-8 miles isn't enough????

 

Success from my perspective.....The patrols heading out a head of the of the Adults. When we arrive at the campsite everyone is there in one piece and their camp site is set up. We head home and everyone is present with minimal blisters and no permanent visible scares.

 

Hopefully they learned a thing or two and had some fun.

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Depends. Kids who play soccer or run cross-country year round aren't such an issue. I do like to get newbs to try an afternoon hike with their gear to get their gear shaken down. Kids who only hike their avatars playing Skyrim and don't try out their equipment either drag the contingent down, or hit "the wall" at about mile six on a seven mile hike.
Hitting the wall is not the end of the world....Sit them down feed them, hydrate them....Call a half an hour break, get their shoes off......

 

They will make the last mile.

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What I am seeing is the Adults are over thinking it....

 

What do the boys want???? Why is this a troop and not a Patrol activity?

 

Young scouts aren't going to plan a 30 mile weekend trip..... Fluffy body type scouts aren't going to go backpacking at all if they have a choice.

 

I attended a Backpacking district camporee in a neighboring council....The camporee was in April so you had lots of new crossovers along. It was 10 miles along a river to the camp ground.....We passed more than a few very young scouts broken down in tears along the trail. Then it was 10 more miles then next day back to the parking lot, It was more rugged. Lots more boys broken down in tears completely exhausted with way too much gear on their backs for their size.

 

I learned from the experience and what I witnessed. I would never take the average new crossover on a trek like that, most of them simply don't have the physical strength to do it. Shakedown everyones gear ever trip..... watch the weight.

 

​I wonder how many boys that camporee cost scouting.

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What I am seeing is the Adults are over thinking it....

 

What do the boys want???? Why is this a troop and not a Patrol activity?

 

Young scouts aren't going to plan a 30 mile weekend trip..... Fluffy body type scouts aren't going to go backpacking at all if they have a choice.

 

I attended a Backpacking district camporee in a neighboring council....The camporee was in April so you had lots of new crossovers along. It was 10 miles along a river to the camp ground.....We passed more than a few very young scouts broken down in tears along the trail. Then it was 10 more miles then next day back to the parking lot, It was more rugged. Lots more boys broken down in tears completely exhausted with way too much gear on their backs for their size.

 

I learned from the experience and what I witnessed. I would never take the average new crossover on a trek like that, most of them simply don't have the physical strength to do it. Shakedown everyones gear ever trip..... watch the weight.

 

​I wonder how many boys that camporee cost scouting.

I don't see it as adults over-thinking it. The adults are doing their job by making sure the boys are prepared for what they are undertaking. Even in the most mature boy-run troop it is incumbent on the scoutmaster to trust the troop youth leadership in their capabilities.

 

Also, the boys may not plan a long weekend backpack trip because they simply haven't broadened their perspective enough to think of it but, if presented to them, they will choose it. Youth program planning sessions tend to default to the familiar and sometimes it is quite proper for adults to suggest broader and more complicated options.

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5 miles on Thursday, 10 on Friday, 10 on Saturday, and 5 on Sunday. 1860's equipment.... At 60 years of age I made it, but on some of the trek I had to go without shoes, they were more painful than walking barefoot. I cut my gear to the minimum, survived the whole trip on water and trail mix. About 75% didn't finish, but if it wasn't for a ton of "shakedown" hikes over the years, neither would I. No tent, only 1 wool blanket, 1 gum blanket, food sachel, canteen, and the 11# gun was all I carried. And yes it did rain, but my feet, out the bottom of my gum blanket, felt really good all night long being cooled off.

 

Scouting is not just for the scouting program. There are a lot of other activities out there that I do outside the BSA program that are much more enjoyable because of what I learned in Scouting.

 

Besides reenacting, there's hunting, camping, fishing, biking, kayaking/canoeing, just to mention a few things that my wife and I enjoy doing that has nothing to do with the BSA. We'll be heading out to Colorado to assist in the clean up this month and I'm not expecting to have a hotel available, but that won't slow us up a bit.

 

Hikes should not be tune-ups or shakedowns. They should be a normal part of the program.

 

Stosh

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