Twelve-year-old Jared Ropelato of Utah has scout training to thank in surviving a night out alone with no gear after getting lost on a camping trip. The temperature dipped to 31 degrees overnight, but Jared toughed it out in a lean-to shelter he built. Jared is a Boy Scout, and learned about building wilderness shelters last year in scouts. Read the whole story here.
We note that, while Jared was very resourceful, he broke a cardinal rule in scouting. He was walking from a lake back to his camp alone. The Buddy System is in place for a reason, and is not optional. This is an excellent example of what can go wrong on an outing, and why we have the rules we do. Jared is very lucky the results weren’t worse.
Please share this story with your unit.
