le Voyageur

local400 is correct... Get your self a guide. Even with the best maps some sections of the West Branch can be deadly. Misread a horizon line, and it'll get interesting real quick...

Check with the MKA Council.... http://katahdinareabsa.org/ they run the Maine High Adventure Base, and should be able to provide you with the information you need....

Canoeing...Whitewater....Climbing....Wilderness Survival....Cycling....American Heritage also, teach Black Powder (flint locks) for new Shooting Sports Directors with no experience with muzzle loaders

Camp John Mensinger....Greater Yosemite Area Council http://www.bsa-gyc.org/camps_2006/06camp_CJM.htm Lost Valley http://www.ocbsa.org/site/c.khKQIWPBIoE/b.2627601/k.FC3/Schoepe_Scout_Reservation_at_Lost_Valley. High Sierra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_Council

Google for the local Councils in these areas, and give them a call.... In my neck of the woods, it would be the New River Gorge...best of luck

Google for the local Councils in these areas, and give them a call.... In my neck of the woods, it would be the New River Gorge...best of luck

gourds... http://www.dhyatt.com/craftsmanship.html

Condolences to the family for their loss... I keep harping on it, but BSA Lifeguard does not cut it. Way past time to develope a comprehensive BSA Swiftwater program for unit and trek leaders....

I've always considered BSA Lifeguard lacking....working as a professional guard at municipal pools we would not consider a BSA LG for hire unles he/she had an ARC cert. The reason, the lack of training in zone systems. At the muni pools, I could ask my on-duty guards how many souls they had in their zone and get an instant answer with an exact count. At BSA pools and waterfront, I've never seen that kind of attention to guarding any aquatic program.

Ye proud owners of the Sierra Zip, whatcha done to make this little burner work better for you.... My changes - a windscreen made from a Turtle Wax can. Fits perfect, and a small port on one side makes feeding the fire a lot easier. Power Pak - alligator clips, AA battery holder, small switch, and a rheostat stuffed into a small plastic box all from the Shack fine tunes the juice to the motor. Next change - a solar powered powerpak for those sunny days....

Not to worry, I know your boss....you'll do fine as you've got great support from this fine lady... see you staff week.....

Actually, Rangers have litte to do with offsite high adventure programs, thus as a resource they can do little in this reguard. However, reflecting on how I worded the title to this thread, a better choice would not be "upgrade", but maybe "augment". Having been a Waterfront Director once, I know that no AD, because of limited staffing, and merit badge schedules would allow one of his AI's to spend a week out on a swiftwater river trek supervising a training program that he, or she may not be qualified to instruct. Being that there is no swiftwater training in the NCS AD section, I've a feeling the traditional basecamp AD would not be able to create a viable program to meet the M40 standard. Nor is there time during staff week for experienced river runners to fully train an AD, or AI. The best short term solution for the now untill something better then BSA Lifeguard comes around, is simply to have the camp's AD sign off AI cards for river runners to meet M40. As such, the better augment would be the creation of a BSA Swiftwater program.

Raven.....

Dealing with hazardous weather is easy....getting BSA's online training site to work.....impossible

Of the seven camp schools that I've attended, the Council has always footed the bill. I only had to take care of transportation. But John is right. Here in the Southern Region NCS has just completed it's last school for the season. To find an AD now, and only two weeks away from staff week does not bode well...those positions should of been locked up a long long time ago....

Great Western Trail.... http://www.utah.com/hike/great_western_trail.htm

I'll have to disagree.... No garden grows productive without a gardener......

You've an interesting camp, and the climbing tower looks like a ton of fun. Also, checked out your high adventure program. My question, as you're on the Rock River why aren't you running a week long canoe trek with several outpost camps (for example, voyageur, long hunter, colonial living)?

As more and more Councils add off site high adventure program, BSA Lifeguard has become outdated for these programs. M40 in the current High Adventure Standards gives me the willies (...if instruction includes more than swim classification, a currently trained BSA Aquatics Instructor who is at least 21 years of age and currently trained in ARC Standard First Aid that includes CPR....must give instruction). BSA AI's, and BSA LG's are great for pools, and protected waterfronts, but they are not trained in swift water (for myself, and as an example, I would not want a BSA AI, or BSA LG's with no river skills or experience teaching my crews how to break through an eddy line in a Class 3 rapid, or how to rig a 3:1 to unpin a boat) My suggestion....a new certification, i.e. BSA Lifeguard, Swift Water which requires an internship and training with seasoned river runners....

Thankfully, being in a Venture Crew, we don't worry about them foo foo doo hickies....nothing better then running around in the woods dressed and armed like Nathanel Bumpo ....

So, what happens when the cell phone, or the PLB gets lost, dropped over a clift, or ends up at the bottom of the river? In ye olde days....we had morse code (old school, and out), did lots of map and compass, along with direction finding without compass. Knew how to read a map to locate water, or stay out of places that we didn't belong in. If our flashlights went dead, we made Betty lamps. No matches, flint and steel, or a bow drill got a fire going. A lost knife was no problem, just flake another blade out of stone, we knew how to boil water without a pot, or cook our meal without a pan.. Guess it's time to teach meself how to make a cell phones out of tree bark....

Knowing that you're 14 I would suggest struggling with this issue a few more years before calling it quits. As such,I would suggest future studies in Comparative Religions, Philosophy (maybe Mills and Locke to start), Taoism, Mathmatics, and Quantum Mechanics for satori....

By the tone of this thread it's apparent that you're still fishing for answers, trolling, or wanting approval for your decisions since you're now openly wearing your "nontheism" on your sleeve. Thus, I'll flip your question back your way....do you think that you belong in Scouting, and if so, why? Consider your answer along BSA standards on this subject...

The use of electronics in the backcountry as far as I'm concerned is technology that will fail. They also retard the learning curve in risk management and provide a false sense of security. Better to stay in the front country and developed solid wilderness skills before heading out for the deep woods....

For myself, I would prefer seeing a "blank". This way, one would have a patch that would allow one to wear their Palms without cluttering up their Eagle square knot. Would be much more impressive to see a rack of Palms. The reason, just because one has 121 mb's dosen't mean one gets a pass to wear the 6 Silvers, and a Gold without doing the work, or the time for them...Palms says more about leadership, and giving back to the program then merit badges.