[pct-l] adding to Firefly regarding packs and outdoor youth groups

[Connie Davis]

I recently did a presentation for a scout group here in BC on  
lightweight backpacking.  I had the scoutmaster pack his pack for a 3  
day-2 night early season hike in BC (without food and water) and I  
did the same and then we had a weigh-off.  The scouts helped catalog  
and weigh each item and we had a whiteboard with 2 columns, adding up  
his weight and mine.  I came in at 15 pounds (6.8 kg) and he came in  
at 30 (which is actually not too bad for most of the scoutmasters I  
have met!)  I did a demo of my aluminum can stove and the following  
week they made their own.

A game I have done with scouts is to fill a laundry basket of items  
you would want to take backpacking and some you wouldn't (like blue  
jeans, cotton sweat shirts, hair dryers, radios, etc). You also need  
2 backpacks.  You put the laundry basket and backpacks at one end of  
the room and form 2 relay teams.  Each team sends a member one at a  
time up to the basket and they have to pick out an item and if they  
would take it with them, put it in the backpack. If not, they throw  
it out of the basket.  They race until all the items are gone and  
then you go through the packs and have a discussion about the items  
chosen.  The team with the pack with the most acceptable items  
"wins" (although "winning" is usually forgotten by the end of the  
relay.)

I ended with a slide show from Mongous' and my PCT thru hike in  
2005.  The scoutmaster tells me they are all talking about hiking the  
PCT now.

I did this after a separate meeting spent on Leave No Trace doing  
interactive games.  	

I'd like to encourage other PCT hikers to work with groups that take  
youth into the outdoors. You just don't know what will happen!   
Firefly could be seeing them on the trail in a few years!

Lookout