Therapeutic Ultralight: Using Lightweight Backpacking to Help Troubled Boys

Love it! This is really a great read. I can sense your emotions in the writing, you are a proud Chief…and so you should be! Good work.

A close friend of mine leads a highschool class in leadership. It targets troubled teens and puts them in all kinds of situations where they need to work together to accomplish tasks. They are a few years older, so he takes them backpacking, winter camping, route finding and such. It has been a great success at his highschool.

He told me a major obstacle for many of the boys and girls is going "#2" in the woods. Some of them (first timers) can't believe it when they ask him where the washroom is and he points to the woods :)

Funny you should mention the #2 issue. We definately had it, and I had some funny experiences with "#2 breakes." Usually the new kids would wait till they had no choice.

Luke

What better thing to do than to invest in the lives of young boys and teaching them how to respect each other and how to work together to accomplish tasks! In your role as chief, you modeled for them how to be a man – a model that probably none of them had, hence their troubled behaviors.

I would love to do something like this too. I live in NC and would be interested in finding out more about working with boys like this. More so, I could even see myself changing careers and doing something like this full-time. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Anyone have any contacts, either in NC or any other state (out west preferabley), that you could put me in touch with?

Thanks,

Darren

Eric Hansen, in Strangers in the Forest reported that defecation was among the things he was unable to "go native" about. The semi-nomadic people he traveled with would just step to the side, drop pants and do their business and found his need of privacy in that matter to be an endless source of humor.

Usually the new kids would wait till they had no choice

LOL…my girlfriend does that now. It's still a traumatic experience for her. :)

Funniest typo ever:

Eric Hansen, in Strangers in the Forest reported that deification was among the things he was unable to "go native" about. The semi-nomadic people he traveled with would just step to the side, drop pants and do their business and found his need of privacy in that matter to be an endless source of humor.

ha, Nate! as if he was letting go of last nights supper, the bowl of flying Spaghetti monsters.. lol

Thanks Darren, camp was a great experience and I am very greatful I did it. If you're interested in learning more by all means contact me I would LOVE to point you in the right direction. I won't name names cause they're good people doing their best but there are definately some other programs I would be hesitant to work for. If you find one you're interested in let me know and I'll give you a few pointers on what to ask about. I know of one program in Virginia that you could check out.

Luke

Good on ya.

Any of those "Chiefs" work at Passport for Adventure out
of Kansas previously?

An extremely self-absorbed buddy of mine was always disappointed that there were no THRONES out in the woods.

I am a therapist for a non-profit co-ed therapeutic boarding school in Kalispell,MT and loved reading Luke's article because he is so right! We often take our students out on 4-8 day "challenge Trips" where they learn patience, self-discipline, communication and develop resiliency through challenges such as whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, backpacking, and mountain biking. Natural consequences (as long as they aren't deadly) can teach powerful lessons. And it's very rewarding to see young people push themselves beyond what they think is capable! Thanks for your great work Luke!

Funniest typo ever: ..

More like mindless use of spell check.

I've corrected that.

another wise move to make this article open to non-members. Thanks BPL and great work Luke!