Calling all scouters!!

[Bulldawg]

Hey, the whole Boy Scout thread got me to thinking about something that would be really cool and maybe garner some publicity for the BSA. Surely this has been thought of before. I am thinking here that you get the BSA to put this together, maybe with a state director in each state, then a council director in each council that wanted to participate. Put it together with a good bit of publicity. You get 200-250 troops to each commit to hiking a section of the AT on the same day. You know a troop, 8-10 boys and leaders. I am not sure about the NE, but I know down here, there isn't a section that can't be turned into a day hike. A virtual BSA thru hike in one day. It would take some logistics, but I think it could be put together. I pitched it tonight at our district round table meeting and almost immediately got asked to put together the logistics to simply complete Georgia that way. Then we will study it. I think it would be really, really cool. What do you other scouters think?

[Bulldawg]

I guess the Smokies might be a real task to do in one day. I am sure there are some other stretches. Maybe you do it in one weekend maybe?

[Blissful]

Sure my hubby would like to have his troop do a part in VA. And link some trail maintenance with the effort too.
But it would take huge coordination. I assume this is one day hike.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Difficult if not impossible in parts of ME and NH to do as a day hike.

[Bulldawg]

Well Buzzard, like I said, I has somehow stupidly forgot about GSMNP. Maybe you put it together as done all in one 3 day weekend??

[Alligator]

You could still do it in a day, but not all scout troops would be dayhiking. Scout troops for interior locations like GSMNP could overnight to the point they need to start.

[4eyedbuzzard]

You could probably have groups at staggered points of multiday hikes through the 100 mile wilderness in ME. There's also problems through the Whites but there are enough side trails to make it doable with a few overnight hikes. Of course, weather in the Whites ad Katahdin may also be a factor.

It'll take one heck of an organizational effort to pull it off, but it does sound like a cool idea.

[Bulldawg]

No doubt it would take some organization. But I just broke Georgia out into 5-13 mile sections in 12 minutes in Excel. Lots of people putting their heads together could make it happen pretty easily. I wouldn't want to head up the entire thing, but I'd certainly volunteer to head up the Georgia section.

[Bulldawg]

Oh, and of course take credit for the idea.....

[Bearpaw]

4th of July weekend would likely be doable over the whole trail. Long weekend. A bit hot in the south and central states, but still doable.

[SteveJ]

Great idea, Bulldawg. I'd be happy to help you with GA, and to try to coordinate scouters from other states. I'm not sure about trying to do this on the 4th, tho.... I'm sure I could get a group of Scouts to do a section in GA, tho.

[Bulldawg]

Sounds good Steve, I will keep you in mind. Even if we just do Georgia. My boy is just a cub scout. But some of those short sections, cub scouts could easily do those sections if they wanted to.

[big_muddy]

I think the BSA is too gun shy come liability to do anything really. I got out just about time the Legal Council took over.

[Bulldawg]

Oh yeah, 4th of July this year might be too early with it already being January. I could see where this would take months to put together for the whole trail. The way I see it happening actually is as follows: You get the BSA to support it. You get each council that boarders the AT to commit to mapping out their section. They plan it out just as I did in Excel. That file is submitted to some national committee. That committee approves it, then a date is set. Then each section is assigned on a volunteer basis to a troop/pack/crew. Then you just DO IT!!

[Bulldawg]

I think the BSA is too gun shy come liability to do anything really. I got out just about time the Legal Council took over.

If they let boys do Philmont, they can do the rather tame AT.

[waywardfool]

I'd get our guys in. BTW, I think this is what started this....

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...19&postcount=3

And it wasn't my idea either...somebody tried to pitch it, I think on usenet, about 100 years ago (technology-years, that is). I remember it getting kicked around way back then...maybe it was emails on an early listserv. Original idea was for a week, IIRC, each unit taking 50-75 mile chunk of the trail for a week....just 40 or so units spending a week on the AT. A 'thru-hike in a day' is a bigger attention-grabber, a little more concrete in concept, and would be fun to be a part of.

Anyway, I think it'd be doable, and a great PR thing for the Scouts.

[waywardfool]

Hmmm, Boy Scouts was founded in Britain in 1907, and in America in 1910....Summer of 2010...100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America....could be a good tie-in for media/PR/etc, and just for the heck of it.

100 units doing 20 miles in a weekend....that breaks it down to a managable number of participants/leaders/organizers, etc.

[Bulldawg]

I'd get our guys in. BTW, I think this is what started this....

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...19&postcount=3

And it wasn't my idea either...somebody tried to pitch it, I think on usenet, about 100 years ago (technology-years, that is). I remember it getting kicked around way back then...maybe it was emails on an early listserv. Original idea was for a week, IIRC, each unit taking 50-75 mile chunk of the trail for a week....just 40 or so units spending a week on the AT. A 'thru-hike in a day' is a bigger attention-grabber, a little more concrete in concept, and would be fun to be a part of.

Anyway, I think it'd be doable, and a great PR thing for the Scouts.

I think it would be a huge PR thing for the scouts and for the AT. And the idea for a dayhike. There are some large sections out there where the boys might actually have to hike some 30-40 miles in 3 or 4 days, but be staged at their section like someone said. It would take a huge plan. But I guarantee you, that if you contacted each council close to the trail, there is SOMEONE in that council in leadership, who knows there area of the trail intimately. Much like I said I would not mind taking on Georgia AT ALL. Because I know the trail in Georgia pretty good I like to think, I put that Excel together in a matter of 10 or 12 minutes. I don't remember reading your post, but I may have. The whole thing really just popped in my head driving home today. The district executive I pitched it too tonight was like "Dude, why didn't you mention that in front of the 30 other guys here tonight". I pitched it just to him and two other adult leaders. He said, "Put it together, we will make it happen, even if JUST in Georgia."

[KG4FAM]

You could do it in a day. You probably could not go from road crossing to road crossing, but if you staged people at the remote places and had everyone shift during one day then it could be done. Day hikes are just part of a short backpacking trip in the same way that short backpacking trips are part of a thru hike.

[Sly]

Pittsburgh organized something similar a few years back called HATT or Hands Across The Trail. I think they did it over a weekend. Here's the sections...

http://web.archive.org/web/200309270.../sections.html

The idea was teams would start at one place shaking hands, going in opposite directions where they'd meet up with other teams finishing their respective sections.