Cub Scout Pack 159
Cub Scout Pack 159
20191123_095523 (1).png

Hiking Club

 

Hiking Club

 
hiking_sticks.png

Pack 159’s Hiking Club invites scouts to be active in the outdoors, learn about the environment, practice “Leave No Trace,” and learn what wild animals and birds live in their local area. If your child joined Cub Scouts to explore the outdoors, learn how to use a map or read a compass, experience camping, and go hiking in unique locations, the Hiking Club is for them.

As your scout hikes and learns the guidelines for “Leave No Trace”, how to “Trek Safely”, how to use a map and compass, and even the history of the local parks they’re in, they will get credit for their hikes. They will earn the symbol of the Hiking Club: the hiking staff or stick.

Hiking Club Rules

  • All scouts must have a parent or guardian with them on the hike

  • Scouts are encouraged to carry the Cub Scout Six Essentials

  • Family members are encouraged to attend

  • Only two-legged family members may attend – no dogs on Cub Scout events

Benefits

  • Outdoor-orientation – Council survey responses indicate that scouts want more camping and outdoor activities.

  • Motivation – hiking stick awards and decorations can be collected like stamps or rocks.

  • Experience – Hiking Club prepares scouts for Scouts BSA. By their Webelo year, they are comfortable in outdoor situations.

  • Recruitment – hiking sticks are a positive incentive for new scouts.

  • Pack participation – scouts enjoy the outdoors and look forward to earning their hiking stick and its awards and decorations.

  • Safety – scouts on the trail can learn the buddy system, which helps keep them safe in a variety of situations.

  • Responsibility – the Leader is responsible for following the trail correctly. The last hiker, known as the Sweep, is responsible for ensuring no hiker is left behind.

  • Advancement – outdoor activities provide opportunities to learn and meet scouting requirements.

Awards and Decorations

Scouts earn their hiking stick after completing three hikes. The hiking stick, with the pack’s unit number and the scout’s initials burned into it, is presented at a Pack meeting.

  • Three hikes – wood-burned walking stick

  • Five hikes – paracord wrap handle and 5-year service star

  • Seven hikes – arrow head

  • Ten hikes – World Crest Staff Shield

  • Twelve hikes – eagle feather

  • Five hikes in one scouting year (Summer through Spring) – rank medallion

  • Cub Scout Six Essentials carried – blue and gold beads on leather cord

  • Additional multiples of five hikes – 5-year service star