Scouting Tales, Trip Reports, Pictures, and Memories

Scouting Tales, Trip Reports, Pictures, and Memories
Brian’s First Ever BSA Camporee
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
Trip Report - March 11-13 2021
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
How to go UL at Philmont
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
Philmont Most Valuable Player Award
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 so pathetic
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
Eagle Ceremony
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
A Philmont Story, Trail Crew 1989
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.
The Final Mile
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