Need a trail with water!

[SuperstitionMAN]

Hi Everybody,

I'm in a jam. I'm taking a group of 11 year old scouts on their first backpacking trip this weekend. I'm having trouble finding a hike that meets these criteria:

- The hike needs to be 3-5 miles each way
- WATER!! I need a hike that has running water that we can pump/purify
- Destination must be large enough to accommodate 10-15 tents
- Elevation, don't want desert, still not cool enough. 4-7K ft. elevation ideal

Anybody have any ideas for me??

[SuperstitionGuy]

Three to five miles is normally to much for this age group to be backpacking unless some of their gear is being transported by horses. Especially if this is their first time carrying their backpacks with their bedrolls, ground pads and tents. You will be amazed how difficult it is for first timers to learn how to properly load and pack their backpacks and attach tents, bedrolls and sleeping pads to their backpacks. you will be picking up their gear off the ground and constantly stopping and reloading their equipment as you go. And this is very difficult if you are starting after school when time is of the essence and it gets dark before you reach the campsite.

I used to stand at the entrance of Camp Geronimo each Saturday morning during the summer months and assist Scoutmasters with the repacking of their Scouts packs. I have the most comical photos of some of these Scouts as they approached the entrance gate to camp. I would use these photos in my backpacking demos to Troops around the greater Phoenix valley area while training Scoutmasters.

One Troop that went to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon had a young Scout carry six railroad spikes wrapped up in his pup tent. They had to take off his water and food to lighten his pack to the extent that he could keep up with the rest of the Troop. It wasn't until he went to put up his tent that they discovered the railroad spikes. Rumor has it that they never did leave the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

[SuperstitionMAN]

SuperstitionMAN to Superstitionguy:

Thanks for your reply. It sounds like you've been around scouts before. I know what you're saying is generally true, but we've been at this business for almost 30 years and do a lot of prep leading up to their first backpacker. Every October, we treat our new class to a 6-10 miler backpacker (round trip - we wouldn't think of making the Grand Canyon their intro to backpacking!!!). We do not carry any of their stuff. True, some new scouts will bray like angry mules, but they always pull through. This year, because we've brought in 57 new scouts, we're looking for more than one moderately strenuous trail that has water, since it's not quite practical to take 80 scouts on the same trail at the same time. Any suggestions?

Russ
http://www.phxtroop109.org

[big_load]

How about the Houston Brothers Trail from Pinchot Cabin to the cabin by the spring (I can't remember the name right now)?

[SuperstitionMAN]

Thanks big load. That definitely sounds like a possibility.

[azbackpackr]

Have to say I agree, with some reservations, on the distance to take young Scouts. Having been an asst. Scoutmaster for two backpacking-only troops, I have a little experience with it. 3 miles is generally a pretty good distance for their first backpack, I'd say. Even a shorter one than that can be just fine, if what you are doing is learning how to use the gear.

It's kind of amazing that sometimes you actually have to teach 11-year-old kids how to walk.

That being said, my younger son's first backpack was a Scout trip, he was 10 1/2, we did Grand Canyon's New Hance-Tonto-Grandview loop, 2 nights, 18 miles. He was out in front the whole trip, stopping to wait for the rest of us. My older son's second backpack was the 50 mile Catalina Challenge, a neat hike for which they could earn a special patch, (an award which was unfortunately later on forgotten about or discontinued by the Catalina Council.) He had just turned 11, and was very small for his age, but he did fine. Some kids are just really into it. It didn't hurt that we went hiking as a family most weekends.