Mt. Monadnock Summit

The last time we tried Mt. Monadnock in November, we got turned around just above treeline by rime ice and 30+ mph winds.  Four years later, the weather was perfect and the summit was great.  Cam Ballard and Pat Sullivan did a fantastic job leading the younger scouts.  Nate and Ross successfully led the Ventures up the Spellman Trail ("the most challenging on the mountain"), several with full winter packs to get ready for Mt. Washington in February.  Derek, Jack, and Tim reconned the lower elevations to build confidence and endurance.  A great hike all the way around.

Good job cooking by the patrols.  I wasn't so sure where we stood on cleaning up after cooking last night, but Nate had the show under control in the morning.  Great job getting the whole camp broken down, cooked and fed, cleaned up, and litter swept to get everyone on the road on time.

Thanks to Mr. Greenberg for his excellent dutch oven cooking (dinner and dessert) and breakfast.  As always, great adult company to go along with great scouts.

Blame the Boy Scouts

National Geographic Traveler editor Boyd Matson, an Eagle Scout, puts the blame squarely on Boy Scouts for his adventurous lifestyle.

"That organization stole my soul when I was a kid and planted it in the wilderness. I was too young to resist their clever sales pitch built around hiking and camping trips. And their system of rewarding accomplishments with higher ranks and colorful merit badges meant, in effect, there was always one more goal to reach, one more mountain to climb."

Worth being blamed for.  A nice article from National Geographic Traveler.

AT Recon for October 23-24 Campout

Sunday morning October 17, Mr. Starrett, Floyd, and I headed out to Kent to check out the campsites for next weekend.  See the video below for the approach to Mt. Algo shelter, where the Ventures will stay Friday night after a moonlight hike.

After that, we drove to to the High Bank Campsite along the Housatonic River where the troop will camp Saturday night.  It's a beautiful, open site -- perfect after a long day hiking.  Weather will be perfect: sunny, daytime temps in the 50's, and mid-30's overnight.

Let me know by this Tuesday, October 19, if you'll be going.  I promise you'll have a great time.

What's in Your Wallet?

Good ideas for survival kits in this article.

What's in your 10 Essentials kit?  Mine, which like all our scouts I throw in my backpack or daypack for every campout, includes: headlamp (plus maybe an extra somewhere else in my pack), knife, water purification tablets, matches, lint for tinder, a disposable lighter, flint and steel, duck tape, and an extra compass.  The extras are because every now and then a scout will forget one of those things.  I also bring a small first aid kit, and a small notebook and pen.  The rest of the 10 are somewhere else in the pack: extra clothes, extra food and water, sunscreen and lip balm, a map or two (extras, you know), whistle, etc.

The best list is of course in your Scout Handbook, p. 264.  Plus what to have in your first aid kit (p. 127), what to wear on a campout (p. 272), and what to bring camping (p. 292).

Get SCUBA certified

Mr. Lungarini has set-up a class for SCUBA certification. Oct 1 (6pm-10pm) Oct 2-3 (9am-5pm) This will allow us to have the class and do the open-water test before lakes get too cold. (they do not do open-water tests in the winter/early spring) If interested in Seabase this will be the last opportunity to get certified (required for Seabase). Contact Mr. Lungarini ASAP if interested.