There is a set of pictures of this hike in China floating around the email circuit. If you have not seen, check these out. I’m not exactly sure where this is but I’d like to know more about it. These people are crazy. Puts our “tough” hikes in perspective.   Amazing Hike in China Update: This link [...]

I was on a business acquisition trip in Wash DC with 5 British guys when 9/11 occurred. Stranded,  one of them had the ingenious idea that if we rented a 39′ sail boat and stayed on that for the week, it would be far less expensive than if each one of us reserved our own hotel room (if we could [...]

  Limited scuba activity is allowed under the Guide to Safe Scouting: “The use of scuba is not authorized for a BSA unit, except so that registered Boy Scout youth and leaders may participate in the Scuba BSA program conducted by a certified dive instructor in compliance with this policy. Scuba BSA is not a [...]

Not a boy scout topic, but like the Dentist, Law, and Veterinarian Merit Badge programs, this is another “Occupational Field” to learn about. Words like “duty”, “honor,” and “country” probably mean a lot to you, so having an initial discussion on military options is something you might be interested in. military-options2     addthis_url = [...]

If you are not a boy scout (maybe a girl scout or member of a high school outing club?) and you want to improve your outdoor skills over the summer, this may suit you: http://www.registeredmaineguide.com/juniorprogramsInfo.html Put on by the Maine Youth Camping Association and the Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Department, this looks like it [...]

Sea Kayaking is another great program idea. Just Goggle sea kayaking [your area] and you’re guaranteed to find some company offering some very good trip packages. We went up to Maine on one trip. Here is one recommended contact if you’re in the northeast: www.seaspraykayak.com A great place to ocean-side camp up in Maine is a place [...]

Your council isn’t the only one holding a MB college and often enough, other councils gladly welcome outside of council attendees if you simply ask.  We’ve been to the Millstone (CT) Nuclear Plant Badge-O-Ree and the Harvard University Merit Badge College (where better to get your law or medicine merit badge!).  Other’s we’ve considered are Camp [...]

You have to be prepared for several different type of camping excursions. Often you need to unload your car and tote your gear into the woods quite a ways. You know, the treks halfway between backpacking and car camping. I came up with this idea to buy these garden wagons as patrol carts. We had [...]

If this link stays active, here is a list of the possible northeast trail medals. Kids generally like these activities. The springtime Isaac Davis Trail march to the Old North Bridge in Concord was particularly enjoyable. Good for cubs as well. http://sne.tripod.com/trail-ma.htm or try this one: http://www.witchtrail.com/wtctrails.htm#solt Here is the handout from Troop 194 on the Bedford [...]

Here’s something interesting to do – visit Cole Palen’s Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.  Located in Rhinebeck NY (roughly between NYC and Albany), this is the only World War I living History Museum in existence.  I lived nearby when I was a kid and grew up watching the dogfights in the air. See their website for more: http://www.oldrhinebeck.org/ If in [...]

(Credit: wikipedia) At 14,494 feet (4,418 meters) above sea level, California’s Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada, a fault-block mountain range formed when shifting tectonic plates led to the cracking and faulting of the Earth’s surface. Limited access (one needs a permit to [...]