Outings
Outing Commitment Forms
Backpacking - A.T. - July 17-19 (Req. for Philmont Crew)
Philmont Scout Ranch - July 29 - August 11
Patrol Box Outing in Concord - August 28-30
Advancement Mania - October 3
District Fall Camporee - October 9-11
Troop 128 Beaver Day - October 31
Recruitment Lock-In - December 11-12
Advancement Mania - December 12
District Winter Camporee - January 9-10
Winterplace Skiing - January 23-24
100th Anniversary of Scouting Camporee - March 26-28
Swim with the Manatees - April 8-11 (tentative date)
Epworth Campout - Annual Planning Conf. - May 21-23
Virginia Creeper Trail or Backpacking - June
Summer Camp - Raven Knob - July 11-17
Sea Base - Spring/Summer 2011 (tentative)
General Outing Information
You cannot take the “OUTING” out of “SCOUTING.” In fact most boys join and stay in Scouts so that they can go on adventures. On campouts boys learn skills like cooking, hiking, and orienteering, but also life skills like teamwork, self-reliance, and leadership. Troop 128’s objective is to maintain an active and varied outdoor program that has an outing at least 10 times per year. Each summer the troop will plan all of its outings for the entire year and put it on a calendar that gets distributed to Scouts and parents. Scouts will remember the outings; they will not remember the Troop Meetings. Please note that Scout must be registered as a Scout and have turned in the BSA Medical Form and the Medical Release for Emergency Care before he can be allowed to go on a troop outing.
Monthly Campouts generally begin around 5:00 p.m. on Friday and last until around noon on Sunday. These events will vary greatly from District or Council Camporees (multi-troop events), backpacking trips, mountain biking trips, snow skiing, canoeing, whitewater rafting, or advancement/training activities. The cost of the trip depends on the activity, but a campout typically costs around $20. In order to go on a campout a Scout must complete his commitment form and turn it in with the money by the date listed on the commitment form. We need to know up-front who is going so we can plan for drivers, admission, and food.
Summer Camp lasts one entire week in either the month of June or July. Our council’s summer camp is Camp John J. Barnhardt on the William C. Cannon Scout Reservation located near Albemarle, NC. We are going to be rotating between Camp Barnhardt and 2 other summer camps nearby to give the Scouts an opportunity to experience something new each year. There are many Summer Camps in the mountains of North Carolina and Virginia that come highly recommended. Summer camp usually costs around $180.
High Adventure Trips are usually a boy’s most fulfilling experience in Scouting. These trips could be 10 days of hiking in Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico or the Appalachian Trial, or a week of sailing a ship in the Caribbean Sea, or an extended period of canoeing on lakes and rivers near Canada. These are only examples of what is possible in Scouting. To go on a High Adventure Trip, the Scout must be First Class rank and will need to meet an age requirement depending on where we go. These trips cost around $1000 and are usually planned 2 years or more in advance. This allows enough time to participate in fundraisers to offset the large cost.