Camping MB Requirement 9b

[robhixkg]

Just a quick question here.  I am an old Boy Scout and a new merit badge counselor, so naturally I have questions sometimes.

 

For the camping merit badge 9b.  I read it as the two events can be done on separate or the same camping trip.  Is that how you read it.  It does not specifically say that it has to be on two different trips.

 

Next, let's say the scouts want to do the 4 mile backpacking option and the route that they have chosen (slightly more than 4 miles) has an elevation gain of over 1000 feet along the way.  Does that count for both requirements or only one.  What hangs me up on this is the difference in definition between hiking and backpacking.  How do you feel about this.

 

My thought ... it should count as both.  After all, a backpacking trip covering that elevation is a WHOLE lot harder than a simple hike covering that elevation.

 

Thanks for the opinion.

[RememberSchiff]

I agree. Backpack 4 miles with a 1000ft elevation gain and 9b, as stated, has been completed.

Edited September 11, 2016 by RememberSchiff

[qwazse]

@@robhixkg, welcome to the forums and thanks for your service to the boys.

 

Note: the requirement only talks about elevation "gain". So, they could set up a campsite at the foot of the mountain, hike up 1000', have an outfitter cache some cycles at the summit, and cycle a long winding route back to camp.

[Hedgehog]

It counts. The requirements can be done on one camping experience or two. Backpacking is hiking with a backpack. I've counted days where a boy has backpacked10 miles for the Hiking Merit Badge.

[DuctTape]

There would be less emphasis, and monopolizing by merit badge classes (and I abhor the term. MB's should not be "taught" as a "class", but done in a counseling fashion. But that is another topic altogether). One way to fix it would be for BSA camps to follow their own BSA policies and not allow 15 or 16 year old to act as MB counselors, even if signoffs are done by an adult. Adults should be the counselor, and conducting the testing. Other scouts with some experience can always help other scouts, but should never in any way shape or form be de facto MB counselors. This current method bastardizes the process, denies scouts the opportunity to benefit from adult association, etc... It would radically reduce the number of scouts in the MB, giving them the real opportunity to benefit and not just be granted a badge without really being counseled and tested by an adult counselor. The boys are the ones who lose in this. Less "classes" = more free time =more fun.

[DuctTape]

I posted in wrong topic. Sorry.

[perdidochas]

Just a quick question here.  I am an old Boy Scout and a new merit badge counselor, so naturally I have questions sometimes.

 

For the camping merit badge 9b.  I read it as the two events can be done on separate or the same camping trip.  Is that how you read it.  It does not specifically say that it has to be on two different trips.

 

Next, let's say the scouts want to do the 4 mile backpacking option and the route that they have chosen (slightly more than 4 miles) has an elevation gain of over 1000 feet along the way.  Does that count for both requirements or only one.  What hangs me up on this is the difference in definition between hiking and backpacking.  How do you feel about this.

 

My thought ... it should count as both.  After all, a backpacking trip covering that elevation is a WHOLE lot harder than a simple hike covering that elevation.

 

Thanks for the opinion.

Yes, it counts for both. It's much easier to do them separately.  Our troop did a backpacking trip that met both. There's a section of the Pinhoti trail close to Mt. Cheaha in Alabama known as the Stairway to Heaven.  It's about a 900 foot elevation gain in about half a mile on the map--a lot of rocky switchbacks. 

Edited September 12, 2016 by perdidochas