Youth Opportunities Underground

By Ethan Wheeler, Life Scout, Troop 214, Helena, MTI was elected Patrol Leader of the Venture Patrol and was challenged with coming up with a high adventure activity. I talked to the patrol about some options and they voted for a caving trip. We were connected to Vern Bowden through a message left with the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto.On September 25, 2013, Vern came to a meeting with the scouts planning on going. He brought lots of interesting pictures, brochures and a slideshow explaining the rules and concerns with caving. He also handed out equipment lists for the trip. He explained what to expect at Dragon’s Breath, and we were excited to check it out.The actual caving date was set for October 18-19, 2013. We ended up having 6 scouts and 2 adults go on the trip, plus Vern. We followed him out to the camping spot. The area seemed like a desert wasteland. It was hard to imagine anything interesting being out there. We set up camp and cooked dinner. There was an awesome…

Youth Groups Liaison Committee (YGLC) Report Q3 2014
Regional Reports ·Arizona Regional Association – No RC ·Mid Atlantic Region – Allen Maddox Caving Program for CampHorseshoe at a stalling point. Checked-in with Grottos about putting YGL information on their web sites. Some have responded positively, but I haven't seen changes yet. There was some interest in a cave geology program in a NJ school. There is an interest is a caving program for BSA Area 6 V-Week (summer camp). I have solicited to a local YMCA camp to help develop a caving program for their summer camp. ·Mississippi Valley-Ozark Region – No RC ·Northeastern Regional Organization – No RC ·Northwest Caving Association – Debbie Spoon ·Ozark Valley Region – Eric Edelman ·Rocky Mountain Region – No RC ·Southeastern Regional Association – Lewis Baker ·Southwestern Region - Deanna Younger ·Texas Speleological Association – Mark Alman Pretty quiet summer here in Texas. My kids and I took a local DFW Boy Scout Troop caving in Austin in August a…