my_three_sons

I finally got all of the awesome pictures from our Troop’strip to MOHAB(Montana High Adventure Base) sorted and wanted to share a few ofthem with everyone. This is our Troop’s second trek at MOHAB we went backpackingtwo years ago and loved it so much we went back this year with an even largercrew for packrafting. TheTheodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch is my favorite base camp of any HighAdventure camp I have attended.  Thestaff was wonderful from the guides who spent a day and a half making sure ourcrew was prepared for the trial to the cook who prepared home-cooked meals forevery meal.  The base camp had plenty todo from cornhole, horseshoes, sitting on the deck enjoying the view to using spotting scopes to try to view elk in the mountains. Even though we didn't hit any monster peaks the hiking was challenging partly due to the extra 15lb of packrafting gear and the trails are very minimalistic and I don't think there is a switchback in the entire Bob Marshall.  We had a difficult hike to an alpine lake after a day on the water but climbing over all of the deadfalls was worth the views of the very picturesque, Castle Lake.  The packrafting was the main draw for much of our crew and it didn't disappoint. There was a learning curve with many in our crew taking an impromptu bath during the week but by the end, we were all pretty comfortable on the water from passing along hand signs of danger to properly navigating a wall. If your troop is looking for an adventure that is a little out of the ordinary and away from the crowds of the big 3 adventure bases MOHAB is the place for your scouts.  The first question asked from our scouts when we had a slideshow of our trek was "when are we going next?".

3 minutes ago, The Latin Scot said:

@my_three_sons Might I ask what your position is? Are you by chance the Scoutmaster or an ASM? 

The reason I ask is that I don't really know if it's the job of a Scout's leaders to test a Scout and "prove" whether or not he has completed the requirements for a badge after he comes to you with a signed card.

Of course he's going to forget parts of what he did when you start asking a bunch of questions. Kids have a natural aversion to being tested. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have spent an hour working with Scouts on a few simple activities, and then when I ask them "what did we JUST work on today?" I get stares and vapid, drooling faces without a clue in the world that they just spent an hour working hard and getting things done. It's in there, trust me, but at this age the adolescent mind takes a long time to incubate new information and experiences. 

But more to the point, the boy came to you with a completed, signed card, and he (and his father, though he's actually pretty irrelevant to this situation) says he has completed it. It's not really fair to him for a leader to grill him on what he did after it's supposedly complete, except for extenuating circumstances. We are trying to teach these boys that their word of honor means something. Part of that means trusting them now and then so they have the opportunity to prove what that's worth.

I am the Scoutmaster and was surprised that he went to the MB university since it was a few hours away so I was just asking about the meritbadge. I have had 3 sons complete the mb so I know its not the type of mb that 20 scouts knock out if 4 hours in a classroom without a bunch of prerequisites completed beforehand. 

The scout needed another Eagle-required meritbadge to rank up to Star so I am sure this is part of the motivation to get this meritbadge. He didn't want to go to summer camp this year so all of the other scouts in his grade have already ranked up except for him.  Yes, he seemed to think he did enough to earn the meritbadge but I don't think he fully understood all of the requirements. 

If this was a regular meritbadge I would let it go but we have a group of scouts that have been working on the Communications meritbadge for close to 3 months.  The scouts made a list of who planned past COH and fire programs so it won't take them long to question why this scout received this meritbadge so rather than having one angry parent I might have a handful.

    I recently had a scout go to a meritbadge weekend and returned with a signed blue card for the Communications meritbadge.  The problem lies in that when talking to him he couldn't tell me what his 5 minutes speech was about when I asked who he interviewed for that requirement he looked at me like I was speaking another language.  I know for a fact that he has never planned a troop court of honor, campfire program, or interfaith worship service.   After talking with him more it's clear that he didn't complete all of the requirements.  I suggested that we sit down with one of our committee members who are a registered comminutions MB counselor to figure out what he still needs to complete and work with him on finishing it.  I got an angry email from his father stating that he has a signed card so he is done and won't be meeting with anyone about this meritbadge.   He stated the Guide to Advancement - 7.0.4.6 Once It Is Earned, It’s Earned then I replied with it also states that "personally fulfilling the requirements as written" which clearly hasn't been done and by shortcutting meritbadge requirements he isn't doing his son any favors.   I am not sure how to proceed with this scout and his parents?

We have always left a tip for our guides whenever we go on a trek since most of them are college students and these camps don't pay a high wage it more of a labor of love for the guides. Normally I ask everyone give $10-20 for adults and $5-$10 per scout if they feel the need to do so. We then have everyone sign a card with a short thank you and our youth trek leader presents it to our guide.  Our last trek was awesome and most everyone gave more than normal so out guide ended up getting close to $300 which when he thanked us he was tearing up since he was a grad student who lived on very little so a not to accumulate a huge debit while finishing college.  Its a small price to pay for someone who might have a life long influence on your scouts life.

I discussed it a few other scoutmasters at the call out ceremony and apparently he asked every troop but none of them took him up on it.  Our chapter has been in disarray for a while the meetings are sporadic and differ on day of the week and time.  Every year I try to get the members excited about the OA and they last 2 or 3 meetings before just fading away.

4 hours ago, skeptic said:

The National Lodge needs tor to reevaluate the history and find a way to reinstate the mystique and actual "honor" in being a member.  It has been beaten to death, but there need to be more actual limits on eligibility that make it less a "gimme".  They sill have a purpose and in ur council do help, though, as noted, getting higher participation is difficult.  But that has as much to do with the lesser honor issues than simply the over-scheduled lives of the scouts in general. 

 

We had 3 scout eligible this spring and two were elected then a short time before the Call Out ceremony out Chapter adult leader call to tell me that he could put the third scout in since he can put in deserving scouts that don't get elected.  I told him that I have never heard of that before and no the troops vote can stand but he replied that there weren't many scout elected for our chapter.  Sometimes it feels like they want more Arrowmen just to have a larger audience to sell all of their OA swag to.

So what happens when you change the policy and this scout doesn't get elected?  If you keep changing policies then why even have policies.

Our troop had a crew return from a backpacking trek with MOHAB. The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch is a truly beautiful base camp with the best view of any high adventure base and the staff was all super friendly.  Our guides, Stephen and Conner, were awesome with the scouts from the minute we walked in the door through training as well as along our trek and all the way to getting up at 6am to have breakfast with us before we headed home.  Having completed a Philmont trek I though I was prepared for the hikes but some of these climbs were kicked my butt but every view was well worth it. The guides gave us an entry point and we hiked back to the basecamp but everything in between was planned by the scouts.  The highlight for me was an extra two mile hike to spend the night a century old trappers cabin to top off an 18 mile day.  The view sitting outside the cabin with a grass field in front of us leading up the mountains while cattle mooed away in the back ground as the sun went down was million dollar view that Hollywood would have a hard time capturing.  The discussion on the ride home (when the scouts weren't sleeping)  wasn't if we are coming back to try packrafting but if we are going for one or two weeks. To any troops looking at a High Adventure base, MOHAB definitely deserves to be on your list.  This camp sitting on the edge of the Bob Marshall is a remarkable place the fact they don't more scouts visiting is a shame.

I do it the same way. 2 years is 24 months so the scouts they can stay with the same in May as it is in September.

We always created design categories since not everyone has the means or the know how to compete on speed. We gave out a certificate for each rank then a trophy for the winner in each category.  We came out awards for best in show, blackest black, hand decorated, hand painted {my favorite}, scout theme, sports theme, military theme, American theme but if you just google cub scout pinewood derby themes there will be more than you can ever imagine.

Have you discussed this with his Scoutmaster? Some leaders will take it as a challenge to make sure your son have the greatest week of his life.

Point it our right away don't wait until another time also make it a big deal without making the scout embarrassed.   A simple " Thanks Billy for helping the new scouts with knots tonight its great to see a scout step up without being asked" during a scoutmaster minute means more than you could ever know.

Our pack supplied the AOL plaque and arrow along with cake and ice cream for after the ceremony.   The troop gives each scout crossing over a new scout handbook, bolo and troop number badge.

I normally just search for team building or ice breaker games there are tons to look through online. Pinterest (No, its not all crafts) is also a great resource for finding games the more you search and look for something the more pinterest pushes out suggestions to you.

There has been a bunch of great advice so far my two cents would be that most ideas get shot down because the scout's idea wasn't reflected in the workbook. If the scout needs to explain the project after the coordinator looks at his workbook he needs to go back expand on his idea in the workbook.  I always tell scouts that pictures are great to get your idea across{they are worth 1000 words} since most people won't read thru a workbook completely when they can just look a few pictures to get the premise.  Maybe bring an example kit with or at least the instruction so the coordinator can see the scope of the project.  Lastly, don't let your son get discouraged this is the part of the project where you want to find issues and flush out details it makes the rest of the project go much easier.

  We had a crew go to Swapbase this summer the heat and humidity wasn't bad until it was time to sleep.  The mosquitoes were almost none existent I didn't see any until our last night. We spent a bunch of time taking breaks for swimming since I over estimated the difficulty of the trek and we spent a lot of time canoeing before our trek.  If you are looking for an outdoor adventure do trek 2 its camping outside every night in hammocks rather than house boats and cabins.

   We are looking at getting a crew together to go to MOHAB for 2019. I recommend giving them a call or send an email with any questions. One of the guys gave me a call to answer a few questions I had and we end up talking to close to an hour.

If he likes the sleeping bag and it fits try getting a sleeping bag liner to help when its colder. You should be able to to get one for $10-$15 if you shop around.  Most are advertised as comfortable up to 50 degrees alone and add 15 degrees when added to another sleeping bag.  I sleep in my fleece liner all summer  on top of my normal sleeping bag.

Criminal Background Check

I was surprised at the camp directors response I was expecting "No, please submit your $33" but here is his response:

"I would say that yes, it does meet the new rule.  The reason for the change was to ensure the CBC and YPT are completed and a Merit Badge Counselor application will check those boxes.  At Camp this summer we are planning to accept registered Merit Badge Counselors to satisfy the requirement. "

On 3/1/2018 at 7:26 AM, Chisos said:

This comes from the new policy that adults attending events over 72 hrs in duration have to be registered leaders (so they would have the background check).  I've seen this in a couple of leader guides for this summer's summer camp season.  New policy is in effect June 1 (so, starting this summer camp season).

If an adult is registered as a meritbadge counselor and takes that new YP are they good to attend summer camp with the Troop or do they need to register for a position within the Troop?

Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a week so this might post might be a little long.

Last year we went on a 12 day trek at the end of July and put our itinerary choices in on April 19th then got our itinerary on the 20th. I don't know if the 7 day treks are different but give them a call and see when they will be drawn.

There was a question about hiking real early. We were told we had to wait to for sunrise to start hiking because of bears. That being said the staff at Miranda told us that they weren't up early in the morning to check if anyone left before sunrise.

Checking in with Baldy Town is mainly for them to give you a weather report. The day before we climbed Baldy some of the staff at Miranda had to go up Baldy to help an adult advisor who got caught in a rain storm. Once he got wet and cold he stopped for a while to warm up and he pretty much went down hill from there.

My suggestion to the crew advisor would be to plan on being on the trail at sunrise. If you get into staff camp late you can always do a program in the next morning but that puts you behind the next day.  Its nicer to hike during the morning that later in the day when either it going to start to get really hot or be raining. How early you need to get up to be on the trail at sunrise is up to your crew. When we started out the first day it was taking up close to an hour but toward the end it was under 30 minutes.  I would spend some time during our shakedowns setting up and tearing down camp over and over.

In the end give your suggestion to the crew leader and let the scouts lead. They will make mistakes but there are consequences so they will adapt.  In the beginning our crew leader would always allow one member of our crew to talk him into taking 20 minutes breaks after a few days of finishing out hikes in the rain he learned that sometimes a leader has to be the bad guy and say 'no'.

Post your itinerary number once you get it and I might have more input specifically for your trek.

I would let your new pack leadership know about the situation if they don't know already then let it go and work on getting the scouts ready for Boy Scouts.

If your old pack isn't on the district's radar with losing two dens of 12 scouts then you have a crappy DE who probably won't be much help anyways.