Like Mt. Washington, Katahdin is one of those classic, must do, northeastern hikes. Logistically it is a challenge because of the remoteness and competitiveness for campground space. The attached gives an overview of the hike. I wrote it using powerpoint 07, if it does not open for you, send a note and I’ll try saving [...]

The Ukulele is a great instrument to pick up and learn. With four strings, it’s not at all complicated like a guitar and ANYONE can play it.  You can pick it up and start playing in 15 minutes (the strumming takes a little getting used to). Give yourself a few days to really get better then [...]

A friend at work introduced this to me and I introduced it to my daughter. I’m bringing it up because they have a great Junior Program for kids starting at the age of 14. I think this is a great opportunity to do something challenging and really build confidence.  If your son has any thoughts [...]

  This is an easy but interesting merit badge. In the northeast, we’re blessed with numerous early American history sites, but I bet wherever you are you can find something interesting. I’ll work on some training material, in the meantime, I’ll share this one piece I was working on:   The Concord Hymn  ”…And fired the shot [...]

      Leave No Trace is not simply a program for visiting the backcountry, it is an attitude and a way of life. I plan to expand this area considerably, I have lots of material to share on this topic. Here’s one that is pretty good - an extensive powerpoint done on the entire program: Leave No [...]

Wilderness Survival Merit Badge Supplement  Here are three good survival scenarios to use with your kids. Not part of the badge requirements but can be used as a warm-up or post-badge activity. If you are cabin camping some night and want an interesting group activity, pull these out. survival1.doc survival2.doc survival3.doc     addthis_url = [...]

  Last year we did this whitewater rafting trip out in western MA. They actually organize a full Whitewater MB class, but we wanted the kids to have an introductory run first before getting into the whole MB requirement process. It was on class III rapids which I thought were pretty mild (albeit, it was [...]

  Here’s something that looks pretty interesting – earning the geology merit badge (and mammal study) while exploring a cave. They seem to have a nice program designed. Could do all year, not just a summer activity. Lincoln Caverns is somewhat in the area of Gettysburg (center, bottom of PA), so if you are traveling there [...]

  These may help – free sky maps showing what is in the sky by month. New one Dec 2010:  http://stellarium.org/ The telescope.com one is a little better for locating planets. Skymaps.com has nice descriptions of the night sky. http://www.space.com/spacewatch/sky_calendar.html (click on planets 1/2 way down), map at bottom. http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fscoutingclub.com%2Fastronomy-mb-sky-maps.html’; addthis_title = ‘Astronomy+MB%2C+Sky+maps’; [...]

 If this link stays active, here is a program for the Bird Study Merit Badge: http://k2gw.tripod.com/birdstudy/ addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fscoutingclub.com%2Fbird-study-merit-badge.html’; addthis_title = ‘Bird+Study+Merit+Badge’; addthis_pub = ”;

Here’s a powerpoint to use for oceanography. Not my work, but one of the few docs available on this topic. Maybe it helps… oceanography.pdf addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fscoutingclub.com%2Foceanography-merit-badge.html’; addthis_title = ‘Oceanography+Merit+Badge’; addthis_pub = ”;