Scouts: Expanded options for High Adventure

Troop 18 has been a regular participant in the High Adventure program at Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of New Mexico — you can see a picture from the Troop’s most recent trip there on our home page.

Philmont’s first camping season was in 1939, but it isn’t the oldest High Adventure program. The Northern Tier base, in Minnesota on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, started its summer canoe adventures in 1923, and started its OKPIK winter program in the 1970s.

The Florida Sea Base began offering Scouts adventures at sea in the early 1970s, and includes tall ship sailing, island camping, ecology study, fishing and SCUBA diving.

This summer, scouting’s newest high adventure location opened in West Virginia. The Summit was the site of he 2013 National Scout Jamboree,and its summer programs will offer BMX, skateboarding, mountain biking, zip lines, challenge courses, climbing, shooting sports, whitewater and more.

The benefits of Scouting include the opportunities that are available to the Scouts, and the fact that the Scouts work together to set the goals and make the plans and preparations needed to take advantage of the opportunities.

Troop 18 Scouts: Please take some time to explore the Web sites, and start thinking about the adventures you’re like to take. Over the next few months, the patrols and the Troop will be laying out near-term plans and longer-term goals. Think about the adventures offered by Scouting’s national bases, but don’t hesitate to be an advocate for an adventure that isn’t offered at those bases.