le Voyageur

Gunny, Not a jarhead, but worked and trained with them in the Nam(MACV I Corp VAP 61 Igloo White/Red Watch) Good to have you in the program, and lots of great opportunities and adventures in Scouting just ahead for you. Starting off as an ASM is a great way to learn the ropes. Other areas are District and Council positions that could use your leadership skills. And, if you''ve got the time, consider a camp staff position. After retiring from the Nav I started like you as an ASM with a small rural troop that eventually folded. In a way, it turned out to be a blessing, allowing me to try different areas in Scouting at the District and Council level. My niche is high adventure, and developing high adventure programs at the Council level. What I''ve learned over the years in scouting is to have fun, be flexible, and knowing when to ask for help....

Again with my universal warning. BSA lifeguards, nor BSA Aquatic Directors "are not" quailfied, nor trained" for swift water. If you''re running flat water (Class A, B, or C up to easy 1''s) then that cert, along with the BSA standards of Safety Afloat, and Safe Swim Defense will see you find. However, if you plan to run anything over Class 1 with low water temps, then I suggest finding a person/s who has the skill to shepard your group....

A better source then REI for WAG bags is NRS http://www.nrsweb.com/default.asp These bags should be considered as part of one's E kit....

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote 'The Hokey Pokey' died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

bout time to get that nasty hooter out of there....as for WAG bags, nothing new. Been a requirment to pack out one's own waste on many rivers and mountains out west for more then a decade.

A human being should be able to heal a wound, plan an expedition, order from a French menu, climb a mountain face, enjoy a ballet, balance accounts, roll a kayak, embolden a friend, tell a joke, laugh at himself, cooperate, act alone, sing a children's song, solve equations, throw a dog a stick, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, love heartily, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. -- Lew Hitchner

The ARC WFA is a fair course, and overall not too bad. However, the gold standard for us guides is either SOLO or NOLS....for myself I plan to recert the WFR with SOLO, and do a refresher Wilderness Educator course with NOLS to stay current with the changes.... http://www.soloschools.com/home.html http://www.nols.edu/ Reminds me, gotta call the Y and get in some swim time, gotta recert my lifeguarding....again

About the only place that I know where the majority of guides, and base staff are trained in WFA, and CPR is Maine High Adventure Base. Additionally, after a month of training, and testing they are certified by the State of Maine as Trek Leaders. They've been doing this for nearly 30 years, and run a solid program. The differance between the training for MHA, and National's week long Trek Leader module is night and day. National should consider the same standards of training for BSA Trek Leaders. The reason being, the Trek Leader has to operate outside and be independant of any support from Base Camp. On a different subject, two major weakness which I see for programs afloat is that the BSA Lifeguard cert is weak. Great for waterfronts, and protected areas, but worthless for swift water, surf zones, and open ocean. The other problem with the BSA Lifeguard is the lack of zone training, the all important primary zone of visual coverage. Without this training, it makes for a lot of sloppy lifeguarding.

another.... http://www.virginiagasprices.com/

For a place to stay in DC.... http://www.hiusa.org/ If you've got bikes, you can cycle into DC from Mt. Vernon http://www.bikewashington.org/trails/vernon/vernon.htm For transportation, AmTrak is a fair way to go. I'll be headed to California shortly via train, about 3 days from my location to Sacramento. Then a short jaunt to Stockton to pick up a rental and on to Yosemite....the fair is a little over 300 for a roundtrip, about the price of flying a one way business class ticket...

Forgot to add links... http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/mog_rim/general-crook-tr.shtml Thinking of another option for Arizona, you could drive and car camp the following route....Globe to Ft. Apache, Ft Apache to Maverick, Maverick to Alpine, Alpine to Show Low, Show Low to Globe....

Let me suggest Maine High Adventure Base should your Scouts be interested in a canoeing adventure. Consider mid to late July as the ideal time for the North Woods... However, I would not recommend a trek in the Grand Canyon during summer. The best season is mid October. But, if Arizona is on your radar, then maybe consider the General Crook trail along the Mogollon Rim starting at Show Low, picking up the Arizona trail heading north to Walnut Canyon and Flagstaff. From Flagstaff you can continue on the AzT to the South Rim. The section from Flag to the Rim is fairly dry, and water will be a problem, more so in the summer.....

For Florida you might like to consider Camp Shands would be closer, about a two hour drive.... http://www.campshands.org/

Quoting AvidSM....."There should be a BSA safety course that all direct contact leaders must take and a get refreshed in periodically." Let's change "safety" to Risk Management. Safety means free from harm, and in the outdoors, nothing is safe. At NOLS risks are divided into two groups. Objective Risks, they being the things that can be seen and sensed, such as lighting, cold water, altitude, wilderness, wildlife, etc. On the other side of the coin are the Subject Risks, the stuff that gets into trouble very quickly. Some examples; no training, outdated training, no experience for the activity, poor leadership, indecision, under budget, egos, poor planning, no plan b, etc, etc..... NOLS Risk Management module from their Wilderness Educator course would do everything that you suggested in your post. No need to re-invent the wheel....

Speaking from experience, I'll be the first to say it. He goes for the greater good, you can't save them all.

Back in the 80's Walrus introduced their first line of tents. I bought one of their ultra light bivy tents (I've since repurposed it into other things)to section hike the PCT. The problems - not free standing, required carrying several deadmen to anchor in snow. - leaked like a sieve (mesh screening along the sides just above the narrow floor tub) - high condensation - no place to store gear during bad weather - poor wind shedding, more so above the tree line - unable to handle anything but light snow loads. Snow would enter through the mesh - difficult to get into - unable to sit up while waiting out storms - not suitable for a downbag, requiring the use of a heavier synbag at altitude In the long run, the tent may of been ultra light, but it required a lot of support to make it work, thus negating it's ulta light status. I've since learn to carry a little heavier tent to save weight.....

Quoting Hunt....."For a perhaps less cynical way of parsing it, perhaps LFL is a way for BSA to provide service to people who otherwise wouldn't get it, even if those people don't ascribe to all of BSA's principles...just as we don't ask the recipients of the food that is gathered in Scouting for Food to sign the DRP." Apples and Oranges. Scouting for Food is not supported by HUD, the US Department of Education, nor the taxpayer....should these revenue sources dry up, LFL will go away

Speaking as a cynic, the God of BSA is money, all the rest that National touts is just smoke and mirrors and a lot of baloney. Over the years, I've watched a lot of young, idealistic DE's quit the profession when they got a peek behind the curtain. As it stands, LFL is a subsidiary of BSA created for revenue enhancement. As a subsidiary, BSA is free to exclude the DRP to protect the flow of money from their cash cow. So how much is BSA raking in per year. Roughly, the numbers are less than 1.6 million participants in over 20,000 schools and organizations participating in the program. At a cost of approximately $10 per participant and $250 per classroom it's easy to do the math, and understand why the DRP had to be excluded....

One of the more interesting aspects of DHMO is that it crystalizes and expands at 0 degrees celsius, allowing me to add it safely to my favorite breakfast cereal of sour mash....

Our new well is contaminated with the stuff...as such, when it comes to personal hygene, we're forced to use a hydrophobic (non-polar) hydrocarbon "tail" and a hydrophilic (polar) "head" group for lowering the interfacial tension between two media or interfaces.

Grits.....

An Irish Lament.... The Water is Wide The water is wide, I can't cross over and neither I have wings to fly give me a boat that can carry two and both shall row - my love and I Now love is gentle, and love is kind the sweetest flower when first it's new but love grows old, and waxes cold and fades away like morning dew There is a ship, she sails the sea she's loaded deep as deep can be but not as deep as the love I'm in I know not how I sink or swim The water is wide, I can't cross over and neither I have wings to fly give me a boat that can carry two and both shall row - my love and I and both shall row - my love and I

Paddle Your Own Canoe I've travelled about a bit in me time, of troubles I've seen a few I found it far better in every clime to paddle me own canoe Me wants they are small I care not at all, me debts they are paid when due I drive away strife from the ocean of life and paddle me own canoe And I have no wife to bother me life, no lover to prove untrue The whole day long I laugh with the song and paddle me own canoe So love everybody, trust only the few as the world I go travelling through And never sit down with a tear and a frown, but paddle your own canoe I rise with the lark from daylight to dark, I do what I have to do I'm careless in wealth, I've only me health to paddle me own canoe And I have no wife to bother me life, no lover to prove untrue The whole day long I laugh with the song and paddle me own canoe It's all very well to depend on a friend, that is if you proved him true You'll find it better by far in the end to paddle your own canoe To borrow is dearer by far than to buy, a saying though old still true You never will sigh if you only will try to paddle your own canoe And I have no wife to bother me life, no lover to prove untrue The whole day long I laugh with the song and paddle me own canoe Though England has ruled our small little land and manys the country too Just take my advice and never think twice to paddle your own canoe It's better I say to make your own way as the world you go travelling through You never will sigh if you only will try to paddle your own canoe And I have no wife to bother me life, no lover to prove untrue The whole day long I laugh with the song and paddle me own canoe

You may find this site usefull http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/

Nathaniel Bumpo.... "The frame of the white man, judging by such parts as were not concealed by his clothes, was like that of one who had known hardships and exertion from his earliest youth. His person, though muscular, was rather attenuated than full; but every nerve and muscle appeared strung and indurated by unremitted exposure and toil. He wore a hunting-shirt of forest green, fringed with faded yellow,and a summer cap of skins which had been shorn of their fur. He also bore a knife in a girdle of wampum, like that which confined the scanty garments of the Indians, but no tomahawk. His moccasins were ornamented after the gay fashion of the natives, while the only part of his under-dress which appeared below the hunting-frock, was a pair of buckskin leggings that laced at the sides, and which were gatered above the kness with the sinews of a deer. A pouch and horn comleted his personal accoutrements, though a rifle of great length which the theory of the more ingenious whites had taught them was the most dangerous of all fire-arms, leaned against a neighboring sapling. The eye of the hunter, or scout, whichever he might be, was small, quick, keen, and restless, roving while he spoke, on every side of him, as if in quest of game, or distrusting the sudden approach of some lurking enemy. Notwithwtanding these symtoms of habitual suspcion, his countenace was not only without guile, but at the moment at which he is introduce, it was charged with the expression of sturdy honesty." James Fenimore Cooper - The Last of the Mohicans