High adventure programs of the Order of the Arrow

High Adventure Triple Crown

The Order of the Arrow in the Boy Scouts of America, in its focus on service, contains four different high adventure programs at the national level that focus on conservation. These programs occur at the three national high adventure bases that the Boy Scouts own. They are only open to youth aged 16 to 20 and are available at a substantially lower price than other programs at the base. They each include a week of service and a trek week during which the participants get to plan their own routes and experience the best of the bases.

Trail Crew

The first program that the Order of the Arrow established occurs at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Beginning in 1995, the program has sessions every summer that last for a two week period and include a week of conservation work and a week-long trek for the participants. Among its important achievements at the base are creating the new trail on the Tooth of Time and working on US Forest Service land in the Valle Vidal Unit of the Carson National Forest.

At Trail Crew, participants are led by Foremen, employed by the Philmont Conservation Department, and spend the first week of the program building a trail to be used by the thousands of scouts and scouters who visit the ranch each year. Compared to a regular Philmont trek, OATC is a bargain at $200 (plus transportation), and is used by many scouts as a way to get to the scouting mecca of Philmont at a much more affordable price. Although the program is inexpensive, many OA lodges and sections will give scholarships to youth in need of assistance with the program or travel costs.

Wilderness Voyage

Wilderness Voyage Foremen doing trail work

After the success of the Trail Crew program, the Order of the Arrow established another program following the same model at the Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases in Minnesota. Here, instead of hiking the Rocky Mountains the participants use canoes for transportation. Their work occurs in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Superior National Forest. Since its inception, the program has worked on some of the most treacherous portage trails in the area including the notorious Birch to Frog and Ensign to Boot portages. In the summer of 2007, the program did its first work in Canada on the Big Knife portage on the US-Canada border.

Like its sister program Trail Crew, participants are led by Foremen but at this program they make up the entirety of the Northern Tier Conservation Department. The cost to attend is $200. It also has a week of service followed by a week-long trek. Crews at this program have traveled all the way to International Falls and the Grand Portage National Monument on Lake Superior in only a week. The program also draws a lot from the history of the area, as many of the trails were previously maintained by the Civilian Conservation Corps and crews often map their treks around historic routes often including the Height of Land Portage.

In 2003, the program and the Order of the Arrow received the US Forest Service Chief's Volunteer Award for Youth Volunteer Service.^[1]

Ocean Adventure

Ocean Adventure Crew at the bottom of the Ocean

Starting in the summer of 2005, another program was established at the Florida National High Adventure Sea Base in the Florida Keys. This program also has a week of service but here it follows a week during which participants gain PADI SCUBA Certification. The program offered a definite bargain to participants not only to attend the base but to receive this expensive certification. The OAOA provided services such as marine life monitoring for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, and coral reef conservation for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. OAOA was nonoperational during the summer of 2010 and will be redesigned for the summer of 2011.

Canadian Odyssey

The newest Order of the Arrow High Adventure Program began in the summer of 2009. Based at the Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases, this program builds on the success of the Wilderness Voyage program by doing trail work in Canada. Their work will occur in the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. Its crews canoe from the base in Atikokan, Ontario to base Ely, Minnesota.

Connections

In an effort to keep former participants and future participants connected, the High Adventure team produced a Blog, a Facebook group, and a Twitter Account. The team used, NOAC 2009 to promote these resources to the Nation.

See also

• High-adventure bases of the Boy Scouts of America
• Northern Tier National High Adventure Bases
• Florida National High Adventure Sea Base
• Philmont Scout Ranch

References

1. ^ http://www.oa-bsa.org/annc/g03/OAWVaward.htm OA Wilderness Voyage Awarded USFS Highest Volunteer Service Award

External links

• Order of the Arrow High Adventure Official Site