Venture Scouts Conduct 50 Mile Hike and Adopt Big Hill Pond State Park

Boy Scout Venture Crew 101, “The Rescue Crew,” recently hiked over 50 miles covering all of the marked trails at Big Hill Pond State Park. The hike spanned five days with four nights of camping and included more than 10 hours of service making and posting trail marker signs for the park. As a result of the efforts of the young men and young women all of the hiking trails at Big Hill Pond are now clearly marked and color coded to make enjoying nature and the beautiful vistas safer for all who journey out into the woods for a day of fun and relaxation.

The activity was the culmination of six months of planning, training and preparation by crew members. In addition to fun, adventure and service rendered one of the primary objectives of the crew was to learn and perfect search and rescue skills that they will provide to McNairy and surrounding counties. During this activity crew members developed advanced land navigation skills, using a map and compass, that they had previously learned and added new global positioning system (GPS) skills. The group also used amateur radio (ham radio) to maintain contact between groups and with adult leaders to develop the communication capabilities they will bring to local search and rescue efforts.

Events leading up to the “super activity” included numerous short and intermediate distance hikes to build strength, endurance and speed for the trek, Hikes were completed at Chickasaw State Forest, Natchez Trace State Park and Big Hill Pond State Park in preparation for the 50-miler. Eagle Scout Jamey Nunley, Eagle Scout Kevin Fox, Venturer Kristina Nunley and Venturer Shelby Fox along with scouts from other local troops were trained and certified in SOLO (Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities) Wilderness First Aid, an intense two-day program covering advanced first aid for remote wilderness locations. The crew also conducted four days of intense training in preparation for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Technician Class Amateur Radio License exam. As a result Eagle Scout Kevin Fox, Eagle Scout Jamey Nunley, Venturer Shelby Fox and two adult leaders hold technician licenses for ham radio and can provide critical communications support during emergencies.

Because of exceptional support by Ranger Justin King, the close proximity of the park and the opportunity it brings to provide service to the local community in general, the crew presented Ranger King with a certificate of adoption for Big Hill Pond State Park. With the adoption the crew elected to name Big Hill Pond as their primary search and rescue training site and to continue to provide service by periodically verifying and maintaining the trail markers. During their follow-up visits to check on trail pass-ability and marking, the crew will also take GPS tracks of each route and post them on the crew web page (http://www.foxkitsinc.com/venturing) for use by anyone who wants to enjoy the hiking trails at Big Hill Pond.

The crew is gearing up for their next super activity which will consist of ropes, rappelling, low-angle and high-angle technical rescues. They will continue to develop their wilderness first aid, land navigation and radio communications skills and roll all of that training into a search and rescue exercise where they must hike-in to rescue an “injured” hiker, give proper medical care, package the patient for extraction and carry them to a suitable location for vehicle recovery while maintaining communications and passing critical information. The crew is always looking for new members who want to learn, have fun and be a part of a goal oriented team with high standards.

Venturing is for young men and young women between the ages of 14 and 21 who have completed the eighth grade and are looking for fun and adventure through outdoor activities and fellowship. Crew 101 ties all of their high adventure activities to their search and rescue specialty and conducts a super activity about every six months. The level of training and preparation for Venturing activities goes beyond familiarization – Venturers train for proficiency. Any youth or adult volunteers who want more information on Venture Crew 101 can visit their web page at http://www.foxkitsinc.com/venturing or contact our charter organization, Fox Kits Wilderness Survival, at (731) 610-8020.

More Photos from the 50-Miler

Crew members post trail marker signs on all of the hiking trails at Big Hill Pond. As part of the 50-Miler Award, scouts must perform at least 10 hours of service and travel at least 50 miles (hiking, canoeing, etc.) in a five-day period.
		The crew presents a certificate of adoption to Ranger King. Adopting Big Hill Pond State Park is an opportunity to serve the community by helping to maintain the trails and trail markers for public use. It is also a selection of the park as the crew's primary search and rescue training location.