Register NOW

Spring Basic Backpacking
Feb 28-29, 2020

Winter Basic Backpacking
TBD, 2020

Desert Basic Backpacking
TBD 2020
Basic Backpacking
Learn the skills you need to take your scouts into the wild with confidence.
The course is organized around three components:
1. Classroom session focused on deep content (Friday evening / Saturday)
2. "In the field" map & compass day hike
3. Overnight backpacking trek with fellow classmates & a HAT Instructor
Syllabus
Adult Leadership
Bear Management
Clothing
Low Impact Camping
Mountain Medicine
Places To Go
Scout's Own
Stoves
Tents
Camps & Parks Guide
Backpacks
Boots
Food Planning
Map & Compass
Physical Conditioning
Putting It All Together
Sleeping Bags
Ten Essentials
Wilderness Survival
HAT Awards

John's Meadow, San Gorgonio Wilderness
Desert Backpack Award

Sponsoring Council
San Diego - Imperial
Award Dimensions
3'' x 3''
Summary
Complete an overnight backpack of 7-1/2 hours scheduled backpack time in 2 consecutive days, camping at least 1-1/2 hours scheduled backpack time from both the trail head and the pick-up point in the Mojave or Sonoran Deserts.
Map Link (where applicable)
External Reference (where applicable)
Detailed Requirements
DESERT BACKPACK
Requirements:
1. The backpack must be made in the Mojave or Sonoran Deserts of the Southwest U.S.
2. Complete an overnight backpack of 7-1/2 hours scheduled backpack time in 2 consecutive days, camping at least 1-1/2 hours scheduled backpack time from both the trail head and the pick-up point.
3. The backpack must be in an arid desert defined as "an area of low annual rainfall, high evaporation rate, scarcity of water, wide range of temperature and sparse vegetation". This does not include the chaparral ecology. It ranges from sandy flat lands to jagged, steep mountains. The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Joshua Tree National Monument are excellent examples of desert parklands.
4. Each person shall, as part of a group project, complete one hour of conservation work to improve the trail, the campsites, or the general area either on or within 30 days of the Backpack. NOTE: Trail work, except clean-up, must be authorized in advance by an area Ranger.
5. Comply with the General Requirements.