[pct-l] Scout Merit Badge Hikes

[goforth at cnw.com (Joanne Lennox)]

>
> I am working with Boy Scouts in Troop 3 in Corvallis, Oregon on their
> Hiking Merit Badge.
>
> This will culminate with a 20-mile dayhike -- and of course the PCT came
> to mind.
>>
>

This sounds like an accident waiting to happen!!!!

Most experienced hikers do not think about 20 miles in one day, let alone
mountainous terrain, never mind a 12 year old.  Just how much hiking are
these youngster going to do before they start on a 20 mile hike. How many
youngsters have been turned off on the wilderness by oversized expectations.
It is important to start slowly and to make it enjoyable.

I have a friend who regularily takes scouts on their fifty mile
"adventurehike" and what he found out right away was the meaning of
"tenderfoot" scout. Seems kids walk so little now adays that their feet
could not stand up to much trail wear, and they also had very poor ideas of
shoe fit and suitability.

Do the conditioning in the same terrain and with the same equipment as the
20 mile.

Goforth