From: pnsf01dw@UMASSD.EDU (Dennis J. Wilkinson)
Newsgroups: rec.scouting
Subject: Scouts in the backcountry
Date: 9 Nov 92 20:36:47 GMT
Reply-To: pnsf01dw@UMASSD.EDU
Organization: UMASS DARTMOUTH, NO. DARTMOUTH, MA.

The post on backpacking recently sparked my memory...

This spring, myself and two of my assistants took some time off from the
uncivilized world and thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail (for those of you who are
unfamiliar with this, it's a footpath that runs 2,144 miles from Georgia to
Maine along the major ridgelines of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern 
USA). During the course of the trip, we met a large number of hardcore
backpackers and outdoorspeople who, to put it lightly, were extremely annoyed
with Scout troops as being the worst "offenders" in the backcountry.

I have taken my boys out backpacking a  number of times, and I know the reason
of their concerns. First off, many leaders (being recruited dads or whatever)
have had limited camping experience to begin with, and backcountry camping adds
entirely new dimensions over camping in your local Scout camp. Even at Philmont
(crew 809-F '84...) minimum impact camping doesn't have quite the same meaning
to the crews, with their coming into well-established camps every day or two.

The BSA _does_ publish some literature concerning no-trace camping. If your unit
plans on doing any significant backcountry stuff, be sure to read it. The
typical Scout troop is much too large to bring out into the wilderness and avoid
impact. Recommended group size is a minimum of two, maximum of eight to ten,
depending on the terrain -- overstepping these bounds can often be the principal
cause of aggravation.

Secondly, if there are established rules in thearea that you're camping, *follow
them*!!!! This should go without saying. 

If there are shelters available for lodging, remember that they are designed
principally for long-distance hikers and not weekend hikers, as long-distance
hikers often sacrifice the weight of a tent to make their lives a bit easier. 

I myself actually had a bad experience with another troop on my thru-hike, in
Shenandoah National Park in VA. After hiking a 22 mile day in a downpour, myself
and three other thru-hikers arrived to find that the shelter was already packed
full with the leaders of a Scout troop, while the troop itself camped all around
the shelter. We were (not too politely) informed that, "well, there's another
camping area down the road apiece, three miles or so...." To make matters worse:

  - There were nearly 25 Scouts all told (group size in Shenandoah is limited to
    10 persons at a maximum for overnight groups)
  - Camping is not allowed within 1/2 mile of any shelter or road in the park.
  - Well over half of the shelter was being used up by (get this) - GEAR!!
  - When we finally convinced the Scoutmaster that he was using the shelter
    incorrectly, he didn't want to allow one of the thru-hikers in because
    she was female.

And sometimes I wonder how we get a bad name among outdoor enthusiats, even
though we generate so many of them...

If there's enough interest, I do have a copy of the BSA's policy on low- and no-
impact camping that can be posted.

----------------------------------------------------
Dennis J. Wilkinson, II  (pnsf01dw@umassd.edu)
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth - Design/CS Project

The opinions reflected in this post are MINE!!!! ALL MINE!!!!!