Cowboy Trail - 2010

"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President

To the Scouts of Troop 55...

As you gain experience, the world opens up with new exciting possibilities. Part of Scouting is to help make those possibilities a reality.

Our weekend campouts provide the learning laboratory where you can work on outdoor skills. It's now time to start thinking about taking things to the "next level."

Scouting relies heavily on outdoor activities as teaching tools. Very few people see beyond the camping and hiking to the skills that will matter most in your day-to-day life. One of the most important skills is being able to set a goal and to follow through with a plan that will acheive that goal. A High Adventure outing is supposed to be fun, but more importantly, it provides a lot of opportunities for goal setting and planning. Basically, it is an academic exercise who's reward is an exciting trip doing things you never dreamed of.

GOAL SETTING

In order to be a "good" goal, a goal should be S.M.A.R.T.

That is:

S - Specific.
M - Measurable.
A - Attainable.
R - Realistic.
T - Timely.

Our goal will be - To earn the 50-miler award.

Let's see how that fits with the S.M.A.R.T. goals.

It is specific - in a way. It actually references an award and there are specific requirements to earn that award. In order to complete our goal setting, we should probably find out what those requirements are (hint!)

It is measurable - if the goal is acheived, you will receive a 50-miler patch. If you don't make it, no patch.

It is attainable - it may not be attainable TODAY, but if you list out the skills and abilities you will need to attain this goal and start working toward developing those skills and abilities, it's certainly withing reach. (hint: Hiking merit badge requirement 3)

It is realistic - you may not believe it, but thousands of boys have earned the 50-miler award and lived to tell about it. I have no doubt that any of you can acheive this goal and I hope you also have no doubts.

It is timely - we have a time limit that is appropriate to the level of the goal. It's not so short that we can't develop skills and abilities and it's not so long that it doesn't seem real.

So we have our S.M.A.R.T. goal - now let's get busy making it real!

The Cowboy Trail

One of the first things to figure out is WHERE are we going to be able to hike 50 miles that is:

Accessible - open to the public
Safe - from vehicle traffic and other dangers
Layover points - where we can camp for the night

Luckily, Nebraska is home to the largest Rails-to-Trails conversion of an abandoned railway line to a hiking trail in the country!

The trail extends west from Norfolk. At the moment, it extends to Valentine but will eventually go all the way to Chadron. For now, we're primarily interested in the stretch from Norfolk to O'Neill.

Small towns mark the trail at regular intervals. Many of these towns allow camping and provide other services to support the trail.

A proposed schedule would be something like:

Day 1 - Nofolk to Battle Creek - 10 miles. Battle Creek has a public swimming pool.
Day 2 - Battle Creek to Tilden - 13 miles. Tilden has a public swimming pool.
Day 3 - Tilden to Neligh - 13.5 miles. Neligh has a public swimming pool.
Day 4 - Drive up to Ashfall Fossil Beds for the morning. Pick the trail back up at Jct US 20 & US 275. Hike to Inman - 5.5 miles. Inman does NOT have a pool.
Day 5 - Inman to O'Neill - 8 miles. O'Neill has a public swimming pool.

Somewhere along the way, we will also need to perform a conservation project required by the award.

Preqequisites

Unlike other Troop activities, High Adventure outings will carry some prequisites that must be completed beforehand. Failure to complete the prerequisites will mean you will NOT be able to participate.

The prerequisites for the Cowboy Trail hike have not been finalized, but are sure to include requirements that you participate in a certain number of hikes for a certain distance. These requirements will not exceed the Hiking merit badge requirements, so that is a good place to start. We will also include requirements from the Cooking merit badge relating to trail menus and possibly other requirements. At this time, there are no plans to have age or rank requirements.

There will also be equipment requirements which for the Cowboy Trail will probably be limited to appropriate footwear. You will not be allowed to participate in tennis shoes or heelys.

You will be informed when the final list of prerequisites is complete, but that should not deter you from anticipating what skills and abilities you might need and start working on those now. The Hiking and Cooking merit badges will get you 95% of the way there.

What next?

There are a number of other possible trips we can plan and take. These are not limited by your imagination, but by your commitment. I have heard of a Scout Troop from Lincoln that went to Hawaii a few years ago. That's a pretty big goal and would take a lot of work, but it's not impossible.

Other possibilities include:
- A canoe trip down the Republican river. There is a 50 mile stretch that's pretty easy paddling.

- Camping in the Black Hills and hiking up Harney Peak, the tallest peak between the Alps to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the west.

- Tubing the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon.

- Florida Sea Base, Boundry Waters canoe base or Philmont Scout ranch.

The bigger the goal, the more work is required. I'm willing to help facilitate things, but you're going to have to take the lead.