The Polar Bear campouts and points were started when one of troop 409 scouts moved here from Alaska and was awarded the Polar Bear Patch from the council he moved from.

What is the Polar Bear for troop 409? Basically it is a point system where a scout earns one Polar Bear point for each degree below freezing (32 degrees F) in which he spends a night camping. Since the introduction of this award, the troop has kept records of the minimum temperature each night during a campout.

Below is a list of campouts and the low temperatures so scouts can keep track of your campouts and record your respective Polar Bear nights.

Once a scout earns 100 Polar Bear points, he is awarded the coveted Troop Polar Bear patch.

***If a campout isn't listed it's because the webmaster and the records keeper are unaware of it. Send me email or something and we'll get it listed on the site and included in the Polar Bear Points list.***

Lava Tubes March 2001: 25 deg; Fri & Sat nights = 7 pts each night
Bland Canyon Dec. 2001: 15 deg; Fri & Sat nights = 17 pts each night
Chaco canyon March 2002: -4 deg Fri. & 9 deg Sat = 36 pts for Fri. & 23 pts for Sat
Lava Tubes April 2002: 30 deg Fri. & 30 deg Sat. = 2 pts for each night.
White Sands Nov 2002: Three Rivers Fri. 25 deg. White Sands Sat. 15 deg. = 7pts Fri. & 17 pts for Sat. nights
Bland Canyon Dec 2002: 25 deg. Fri & Sat. = 7 pts for each night.
2003 Sandia District Klondike Winter Camporee, Sandia Mountains @ 9950' 15 deg Fri. = 17 pts. 
........that didn't include the windchill factor which put it to an est. of 5-7 degs.
Turkey Creek Backpacking 2003, Sunday night, 28 degs. 4 pts.
Bosque del Apache 2003-Nov, Saturday night, 30degs. 2pts.
Bland Canyon Dec 2003: 12 deg. Fri & 20 deg Sat. = 20 pts for Fri. & 12 pts for Sat. night
Klondike Feb. 2004: 26 deg. Fri & 27 deg Sat. = 6pts for Fri. & 5 Sat night.
Chaco Canyon March 2004: 22 deg. Fri & 21 deg Sat. = 10pts for Fri. & 11pts Sat night.
VLA April 2004 31 deg. Fri & 30 deg Sat. = 1pts for Fri. & 2 Sat night.
Turkey Creek Backpacking 2004, 25 deg. Fri & 29 deg Sat. = 7pts for Fri. & 3 Sat night.
Philmount Prep Backpacking Pecos. 27 deg Sat. = 5pts.


Note:  The above list is historical.  Once I collect information on more recent Polar Bear points, I will post.  

Mr. Dubbert