Scouting Tales, Trip Reports, Pictures, and Memories

That’s me on the right on my knees. This would have been in the fall of 1983. I was a Tenderfoot Scout at the time, after having attended Mount Norris Scout Reservation the summer before. I remember the names of most of the Scouts and adults in the picture with

Before my divorce last year I had been quite active with a pair of Scout Troops in San Antonio. The crossroads of Scouting and backpacking go a long way back for me. It was Scouts that first introduced me to the sport, and it was in Scouts that I accomplished

Philmont is Scouting’s premier high adventure base. I went twice as a youth. Once with my troop (1988) and once by myself as part of a trail crew program (1989.) It was my first time backpacking in the Rocky Mountains, and until last year, was the highest elevation I had

My 2023 Philmont trek MVP award goes to my Gossamer Gear sun umbrella. If you think these things are dorky you obviously haven’t tried one: this thing is amazing!!!!! I pulled it out on my crew’s June 17th shakedown (in Texas hill country) when it was hot as hades. My

I was 12 on my first backpacking trip - a 50-miler with Troop 676, Essex, Vermont. It was on Vermont’s Long Trail, from North Adam’s Massachusetts to Peru, Vermont. Sadly, I don’t have any pictures of that first year (1984.) 1985, however, was a different story. I started that year

This picture was taken in October of 1987. That is my grandfather behind me. My father is the photographer. This picture was taken as part of a slideshow that I used in my Eagle Court of Honor ceremony. I had this and other pictures timed to display according to wording

In 1987, a couple of members of my Scout troop joined those from a neighboring town attending a trek at Philmont. Back then my troop prided itself with our annual “50-miler” backpacking excursions along Vermont’s Long Trail. The tales of Philmont spurred my troop to send 2 crews in 1988.

One of my father’s childhood Scout leaders and mentors was a man named Bill Hall. Bill lived in the same town we did, and I met him several times. He was a forester by trade, and I can vividly remember tramping through the woods with Bill and my dad marking

Wisdom from the trail