January 4, 2007

Hello fellow Scouters,

 I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to you.  My name is Edwin Naeger, Program Director for Sierra Expeditions.  I come to the WLACC Boy Scouts from Missouri , with a history of 5 summers working for Eagle River Scout Camp in Juneau , Alaska .  I have taken over the task of revamping what was Whitsett Sierra, and expanding the program to better serve the scouting community.

For those of you familiar with Camp Whitsett , we are located in the Lower Sequoia National Forest , just 30 miles north of Kernville , CA . This last summer, 2006, I had the pleasure of being the Trek Director for Whitsett Sierra and while looking at the beauty of the Sequoia National Forest and Golden Trout Wilderness I found myself wondering why more troops and crews were not getting out in this wonderful part of our countries wilderness.  The answer, as I found, was that most of the units had not been informed of the availability of such a program as ours.

So our first, and foremost, concern is to let everyone know that we exist to assist them in getting out into the outdoors.   Sierra Expeditions works mostly as an opportunity for inexperienced troops to get out and get started backpacking.  We help you know everything that you'll need, and we provide a guide for your unit's safety, and all of the necessary permits to venture into the National Monument.  But there's more, we have mountain biking, rock climbing, rappelling, rafting, wrangling, and much more offered in our other programs, new to 2007.  So from the most beginner troops to the ultra-experienced backpackers, we have a wide gamut of intensities, and activities to suit your wants.

 I have always loved Scouting's leadership training methods as well.  It is therefore, that we have specifically added a program solely designed for that purpose.  C.P.T.  C.P.T. is not only an effort to keep the older boys active and interested in scouting, but more importantly, to help shape their character in leadership and ethics, For boys between the ages of 14 and 21, they can go to Camp Whitsett with your troop and leave on your arrival day with others in the same age range and spend the week in high adventure activities building character and friendships.  They will then join you on Friday evening for closing campfire where they will be awarded for their completion of this intense week.

All in all I think we have a great program planned for the summer of 2007.  If you would like to view the program further, you can check us out online at, http://www.sierraexpeditions.orgPlease feel free to call me with any questions.  573-883-6348.

 Yours in scouting,

Eddie Naeger

Sierra Expeditions, Program Director

PS: We are offering a 10% discount to all units that sign up before January 31st.