-Other Great Scouting Ideas

orry to dilute the original purpose of this web site. But, here it is.

Irock Climbing Gym Ogden

We took our scouts here on our scout night and they loved it. If you schedule ahead you can go for just $5 a person for groups of 10 or more. You don't need to be a trained climbing instructor to take your scouts there because they and their parents assume the responsibility. Their ascending devices make it hard to mess up.

They have about 10 climbing ropes set up. One is an automatic belay, but the others need a belayer 18 or over. There is another shorter island that you don't need to belay to climb. We had a dozen boys and three adults and they all got to climb as much as they wanted in an hour and a half.

You will need to have their parents go to http://irockutah.com/ and electronically sign their release form or print it out and sign before you go. The adults should do it as well, to save time when you get there. The link is at the top center of the page. Note that they are not usually set up to do repelling. You will have to talk to the manager before you go, if you need to do that for the climbing merit badge. Not all of the people that work there know that. So ask to talk to the manager.

The climbing gym is in downtown Ogden at Fatcats next to Flowrider.

Troop Shirts

We have some nice looking troop shirts. We bought them from John Calvin of Deep End Design in Kaysville. They were a pretty good deal. They are polyester T-shirts (UC 8420) for $9 each. The cotton ones are cheaper, but we like these better. His phone is 801-447-8611. This below is on the back with a scout logo and troop number on the front .

Mountain Biking - Snow Basin/Green Pond

What a hoot! We just got back from a great bike ride. We drove to the Green Pond Trailhead pullover between Trapper's Loop and Snow Basin and unloaded the bikes from a trailer and then drove our three vehicles down the the bottom Wheeler Creek trail head below Pineview Reservior and left two vehicles there and drove back up in the third. While we were gone I had the scouts and another adult ride their bikes uphill to Green Pond and back. See the Green Pond camping site for directions. Then we rode down the trail just below the Green Pond turn off to the old Snow Basin highway (which is closed to vehicles) taking the middle fork (left) at the junction. We then rode down the road to skip the hardest section of the trail and then got back on the trail where the road levels out near the trail. There is a sign with a map left of the road where we got back on. We then rode the trail down to our vehicles. See the above Cross-Country section for more information about the area. It was a great ride and not too steep or rocky. Some of the scouts had sore hands or blisters from braking. They could have used some sport gloves.

Mountain Biking - Layton to Kaysville

I just love this bike ride. It's especially great for those in Kaysville, because you can just ride home after. It takes up to two hours. We leave around 5:45 p.m. (during daylight savings time) and get home by dusk.

We have someone drop us off at the top of the Fernwood picnic area in Layton and we head south on the shoreline trail. We end up at the Kaysville Wilderness Park. When heading down into the Wilderness Park, go left on any trails that aren't going straight up hill for a funner ride. They all end up at the same place. If you have time, explore all the trails around the park and check out some great camping spots.

Then we head down 650 North to Mountain Road and keep going south on that until Nichols Road and turn right on Nichols Road and cross highway 89 and then take a right at the top of Nichols Park and head down across the lawn and down the gully to the trails that goes along Bair Creek. You used to be able to turn down earlier on Green Road, cross 89 and take a left just past the storage pond on Laurelwood Drive, but there is a barrier on the highway now. So ignore the top red line. There are several creek crossings over Bair Creek with foot bridges, but it's much funner to just plow through the creek. The trail ends at Kaysville Main Street and we just ride home from there.

Below is a image showing two routes to the Bair Creek trail behind Nichols Park. Take the southern (Nichols Road) route now that there is a barrier in the middle of highway 89 at Green Road.

NOTE: There are also some great dirt trails if you continue southeast from the end of the paved trail in Riverdale going up along the Weber River. See the green trails on trailforks.com in Riverdale. The trail on the southeast side of the river isn't very exciting.

Downhill Skiing - We have an annual (night) ski trip at Nordic Valley or Powder Mountain. The boys really look forward to it. The cost at Nordic on Tuesdays for students with ID is $15. They also have group special group rates on Wednesday, but you have to email them to see the rate for your group. See http://nordicvalley.com for more information. At Powder Mountain, If you go on a Tuesday night you can get 6 people for $65, except on blackout days (Christmas break). If you don't have a multiple of 6 you can find someone else to sell extra tickets to. This is available for anyone. See http://www.powdermountain.com.

We leave as soon as the boys can get home from school. Nordic closes at 8:00 and Powder Mountain at 9:00

Cross-Country Skiing - We found another great annual activity. We usually work on the Winter Sports merit badge in February. They don't have to do cross-country for the badge, but it's worth the experience. We rented cross-country skis from Weber State. It is about $11 per boy with advanced reservations. Make reservations two or three weeks ahead so they have enough skis for you. See https://www.weber.edu/outdoor/RentalCenter.html . Scroll to about the bottom of the page until you see 'Rental Information'. Notice the option for 'Winter Group Reservation Form' .

Anyway, we drove up Ogden Canyon and left a car at the lower Wheeler Creek trailhead just below Pineview Reservoir.

Wheeler Creek Trailhead

We then drove up Trappers Loop (hwy 167) to Snow Basin. We parked at the bottom of parking lot two and went down the trail at the northwest corner and skied around the open areas below. We then headed east (above the creek area) to the old Snow Basin road (which is closed to vehicles now and maintained for cross-country skiing and winter hiking).

Anyway, the old road is a gentle downhill slope (great for learning) that goes down four miles to the Art Nord trail head, where the Old Snow Basin road now ends for vehicles. There is some uphill but not too much. When you get to the Art Nord trailhead, head northwest past the picnic area frame to what can be the best part of the course, down lower Wheeler Canyon for another two miles. It is a little steeper, but about right for (downhill) cross-country skiing if the snow isn't hard or crusty. Then you end up at the drop-off car, where you can take drivers back up for the other vehicles. This took us about 3 1/2 hours from the time we arrived at WSU to pick up the skis. If the snow is hard or crusty the lower part may be too steep, so you may want to just go to Art Nord, since can access it by vehicle.

After that, if you are interested in just going down the last section again, you can repeat the process by going to the Art Nord trail-head by driving up the Old Snow Basin Road (hwy 226) which is 3 miles up highway 39 from the ending point and then 3.8 miles to the end of the Old Snow Basin Road road (that is, to where the winter access ends).

Another option is the North Fork Park where you can rent skis on site. See http://www.ogdennordic.com/home . There is a trail fee also. It is open Fri, Sat & Sun 9 am - 4 pm. Trail Fees: Ski: Age 13 and older: $6; Twelve and under: Free; Snowshoe: $3 per Person, $6 per Family (immediate). Gear Rentals Classic Ski Rental: $10/8/5 Skate Ski Rental: $15/8/8 Snowshoe Rental: $10/7/5

Winter Tubing

On Trapper's Loop (Highway 167) about a mile north of the Snow Basin turnoff and the west side of the highway is a great tubing/sledding hill. We bought some tubes for the troop for summer and winter activities. They were a good investment, we use them a lot.

There is also a great place to tube in Kaysville when there is enough snow at Happy Hollow at 500 East and 400 North. In Bountiful there is a good place at 650 East and 500 North or above Mueller Park Junior High School.

Tubing the Weber in Riverdale - There are some nice places to tube down the Weber River up past Morgan, but they are too far away for a weeknight activity. Here is a short little mild run with some other options at the end of the run. We put in by the Riverdale Disc Golf park and got out by the Riverdale Kayaking park. The red line is the driving round and the blue line the river.

We had intended to do the run a couple times as it only take about a half an hour, but we decided to just play around the Kayaking park at the bottom since there a couple nice drops and it is a nice place to swim and there is a rope swing as well as trees and logs to jump off of. The kayaking park can be crowded with some questionable type people. Don't try to go down the rapids without a tube, unless what want a sore butt.

To get to the disk golf park, take the Riverdale Road exit and heading north turn right on 700 West and then the first left and follow it around until you come to a parking lot. To get to the Kayak park turn left onto 700 West from Riverdale Road instead of right, go straight through the round-about and then take the next right and you will see a sign pointing right to a parking lot. If the parking lot is full, there is a gate at the end of the parking lot you can open and park in the field or there is a dead end street just to the north.

Tubing the Ogden River in Ogden

A nice place to put in is just above Washington Blvd. Heading north on Washington take a right just before the bridge with the Ogden sign on Park Blvd and put in there. Float west past Wall Avenue just behind Walmart about 19th south. There is a man-made swimming area there, but it's not deep. We got out at the west end of the dirt road where there is a bridge for the Centenial trail. We had fun jumping off the bridge into the water. We hit bottom a little (in July), but not enough to hurt. So make sure the water is deep enough.

We have also put in up by Rainbow Garden and floated down to just above Harrison. The river was low and we hit rocks, but survived. To get to where we took out, go north off of Harrison on 16th Street and immediately turn right on a dirt road up to the trees and walk to the river. There was also a rope swing there to play on. There are probably some better access points from the other side of the river. Between Harrison and Washington Blvd there are a lot more obstructions.

Stretcher Race

Have a fun activity and a learning experience at the same time. I do this a couple times a year as a warm up activity with those who show up first and then have them strategize in their patrol corners and have another race at the end with the two patrols. I have them start with the tarp folded up and poles separated and have them make the stretcher and race around the halls of the church. I use 4 8' 2x2's and 2 tarps about 6'x8'.

Bike the Bear

The Trapper Trail's Council sponsors an annual Bike the Bear with snack stations and nice t-shirts. It is September 25-26 in 2015. You can camp the night before at Hunt. See: https://www.trappertrails.org/bike. You could also do this on your own.

Bear Lake is a great place for doing the 50 miler for the cycling merit badge. It is about 51 miles all the way around. Except, try to do it in the spring or after Labor Day, since the traffic is so bad in the summer. There are some bicycle paths along the highway. The two worst parts without much of a shoulder are the north shore and the south shore (east of Ideal Beach) so try to hit one of those in the morning. The northeast side has a lot of hills.

Wildcat camps - We have been doing our own summer camp every other year and loving it. We spend a lot more time with the boys and have more fun. It is a little more work, but worth it. And it is a lot cheaper. But, you need to find a place that has some fun things to do such as a lake etc.

We have done Pine Lake just north of Bryce Canyon. It has great group sites, the lake is nice for boating, but some got rashes swimming from the vegetation in the water. We spent an afternoon (after our merit badge classes) and an evening exploring Bryce Canyon and another evening at Mammoth Cave. We have done Bloomington Lake near Bear Lake (not in an established campground) and had a great time. See the page on Bloomington Lake. A couple years before that we went to Boulder Mountain in southern Utah (not really worth the long drive). We have also done dispersed camping areas near Payson Lakes.

Group sites or a couple individual sites at pay campgrounds that are more isolated can work well for a wildcat camp. But you may need to reserve the good sites months in advance. We spend about three hours a day having merit badge classes and do some one-on-one at other times. We have enough adults come to teach the classes. We have two different classes going at a time. To be honest, I'm getting tired of the long flag ceremonies and 15 year old boys on staff who don't care or don't know what they are teaching at the BSA camps.

Sport Jerseys or Pinnies - Playing any team sport can be frustrating to keep track of who is on your team. I bought a set of 12 of these for only about $16 on Amazon. It's also nice for assigning teams without much commotion or making anyone feel bad. I just alternate colors handing them out, and it's done in 10 seconds.

Foam Pads - Nothing can turn a boy off from scouting like being cold and uncomfortable when camping. I have gradually purchased enough foam pads for our troop that I keep in our scout trailer. They are only $20-25 each at Smith's Market Place in Bountiful. Watch for a 10% off coupon in their add. Home Depot has them now for $20. I have also been making sheets covers for them to keep them cleaner and lasting longer. Home Depot also sell nice covers for them. I roll them up with a couple short ropes.

Summer Camp Note Books - I got this idea from great scoutmaster, Eric Gray. Before summer camp I make up camp notebooks for each boy. I buy those cheap folders with the three gold prongs, the prior year at the back to school sales for about fifteen cents. I usually include a current copy of their advancement record, a list of the merit badge classes that they (and everyone else) signed up for (time & place), a map of the camp with our camp site highlighted, a theme for the camp with a scripture, a copy of the chore chart and menu, merit badge cards and about six sheets of notebook paper for taking notes. I put a mailing sticker on the front of the notebook with their name, troop number, campsite and dates. I keep a small plastic tub on the picnic table for the boys to keep them in while at camp. We make sure they have them and pencils or pens when they leave for their classes. I even do as much as I can if we do our own non-BSA summer camp. Every year I have boys thank me for the notebooks. It not only motivates them to do their merit badges but becomes a keepsake after camp.

Spiritual thoughts - For summer camp, I pre-assign each night and have every adult that comes to camp come prepared with a short spiritual thought to share just before bed time and group prayer. The boys learn to expect it and don't mind it at all. I usually start the week and introduce a theme for the week. Tell the adults to keep in under 10 minutes. We have also been doing it on camp outs at the end of our campfire program. We assign a scout to be in charge of a campfire program on each camp out.

Omelets in a bag - For a fun easy breakfast try omelets in a bag. Buy quart size or sandwich size zip lock bags. I like the kind with the slider for this. Take eggs (about three per person), chopped ham, onions, peppers, grated cheese, seasonings and permanent markers. Get a large pot of boiling water going. Have the boys put their name on a bag and have them crack eggs into the bag and add any of the other items that they want and then seal their bag and throw them in to the pot of boiling water. Tell them to squeeze their bag every few minutes so the middle gets cooked. It takes about 15-20 minutes to cook them depending on how much is in them and longer at high elevations. So it's not very fast. The last time we made them I had some cubed boiled potatoes left over from the night before, so I put them out also and they went quick. One boy who didn't like eggs just used potatoes, ham and cheese.

BYU Merit badge pow-wow - The Utah National Parks (Provo) Council, BYU and Utah Valley Community College sponsor a merit badge Pow-wow twice a year, in October & March. They have a later sign up date for out-of-council scouts, so a lot of the UVCC and swimming classes at BYU are filled up. But, there are still a lot of classes available. Have the scout's parents sign them up and pay at http://ce.byu.edu/cw/powwow/ . We sometimes do a camp out the night before at Utah Lake State Park or the Willow Park in Lehi. Check the closing dates for Utah Lake since they sometimes close November first for the winter. Scout leaders can attend and help out in the classes. The hardest part is getting the parent's to sign them up. The March Pow-wow sign-up starts in January.

Homemade Soccer Goals - I found this website for homemade PVC soccer goals and made some for scouts. http://trimberger.org/programs/goal_document.htm . They took about an hour to make and cost me about $38, including about $4 for the glue. I used 7 10' PVC pipes. The prices must have gone up significantly since that site was made. I used 1" pipe rather than 1½", 1½" pipe would have cost me about double that. 1" pipe has worked fine so far. I glued everything except the crossbars so they can be stored in a smaller space. I just slide them together. I didn't buy a net. Since we just played indoors it was fine without one. Use for crab soccer in a smaller area or regular soccer in a larger area or even hockey with tennis balls. I made some hockey sticks using the thicker 1" pvc with a 45 angle a T and a cap at the end and played using a tennis ball. It worked pretty well, but broke a couple of the sticks on the first game.

PLC / Presidency meeting

We have our monthly PLC (combined patrol leaders council / deacons quorum presidency meeting) the second Sunday of each month at my home. This meeting or something similar is crucial to the success of a scout troop. I always provide some type of treat (brownies, nachos, pudding, fruit salad, etc.) to further entice the boys to come. As indicated in the manual, the quorum president conducts the first part of the meeting and discusses quorum business and the senior patrol leader the second part and discusses troop business. Here is the agenda that I modify and print out each month for the president and senior patrol leader.

PLC/Deacons Quorum Presidency Meeting Agenda

Opening Prayer

Quorum Business: Trey (quorum president)

Report on BYC & combined activities

Decide lesson topics for next month

Sacrament

Fast Offerings

Temple

Quorum Brotherhood & Inactivity (visits etc.)

Quorum Spirituality (including how we can improve quorum meetings)

Quorum Service

Troop Business: Clark (senior patrol leader)

Briefly review recent activities – Bear Lake, Court of Honor,

Etiquette Night, swimming

Assign Kayden to a patrol

Discuss phone calling for activities

Review calendar for next two months, decide on food for campout

Closing Prayer

Continuous Calendar - I keep a single troop calendar in Excel in a continuous format that I email to the scouts regularly and print the first page weekly for announcements at scout and church meetings. This saves having to keep a separate calendar for each month. As each week passes I delete that week from the calendar and occasionally add weeks to the bottom. I also insert little symbols for some activities that I find in Webding, Winging or MS Outlook fonts for the different activities that I couldn't reproduce here, such as birthday cakes for birthdays, tents for campouts or bicycles for bike rides.