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 as an earlier version file.

katahdin.ppt

 In the 1840s Henry David Thoreau climbed Katahdin (written then as “Ktaadn”); his ascent is recorded in a well-known chapter of The Maine Woods. His travels followed ancient Wabanaki canoe routes through vast, primitive wilderness. You might want to take in this history prior to any trip.  Lots of information is available in a simple web search. One place to start is the Thoreau-Wabanaki Trail association:

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 heard round the world.” so wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. This famous poem (actually a sung hymn) is studied & analyzed from grade school through college, but the history of the poem is what I was interested in. I knew it was prepared for the dedication of the battle monument at the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, but I wanted to get a feel for the circumstances. I visualized the famed orator standing near the obelisk, one arm on the monument, one arm raised high, flags around him ‘unfurling in the April breeze,’ but alas, it was much different. Surprisingly, very little is available on the web, it took hours/weeks to find out what I could.  I eventually had to make a trip to the Special Collections vault at the Concord Library. Maybe you’ll find interesting…

story-of-concord-hymn.pdf

Here is a midi of the tune sung: old_100th.mid

This is a great read on Emerson and transcendentalism: ralph-waldo-emerson.doc

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

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

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

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 provides the same type of outdoor training I’ve seen at summer camps.

 The AMC’s Mountain Leadership School held every August is another option for older youth and adults.

http://www.outdoors.org/education/leadership/mls/mls-overview.cfm

Outward Bound, the National Outdoor Leadership School, and countless outdoor trip companies are other obvious choices.

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 called Hermit Island. Sea Spray offers a program right from the campsite. Hermit Island is on a pennisula south of Bath, Me, so it is not too bad of a drive from the Boston area. Nearby there is a civil war fort and Popham Beach State Park, a beautiful beach (second only to Ogunquit) that is great for skim boarding.

This website serves to consolidate a listing of colleges:

http://www.meritbadge.info/index.html

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 the area, you may also want to drive down to the Dover Stone Church (in Dover Plains, NY). This is a short walk in the woods to an cave that has an interesting waterfall in it.  Google it for more info. Search around for some of the early indian history. Here’s a picture I took in Dec 2010: