Last August, BSA released its new Outdoor awards. These awards recognize Scouts BSA and Varsity Scouts who really get into outdoor activities. The five badges are for camping, hiking, aquatics, riding, and adventure. There is a center badge which is earned when the first badge is earned also. There are also gold and silver devices which can be attached to the badges for additional achievements.
Last month, I wrote a post about the camping award. Today I am promoting the hiking award. I don’t think anyone in our troop has come close to doing this much hiking, but we do have a group currently training for Philmont, so maybe they will make these goals.
You can learn more about this program at the BSA website.
National Outdoor Badges – Hiking
- Earn the First Class rank.
- Earn the Hiking and Orienteering merit badges.
- Complete 100 miles of hiking or backpacking under the auspices of the Boy Scouts of America, including miles hiked as part of requirement 2.
A gold device may be earned for each additional 50 miles hiked. A silver device is earned for each additional 200 miles of hiking. The Scout may wear any combination of devices totaling his current number of miles hiking.