Camp Steiner
Encyclopedia
The Great Salt Lake Council is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America
and serves the Utah counties of Salt Lake, Tooele, Summit and much of Davis County.
camp in the United States
and the second highest in the world. It was founded in 1930 in the Uinta Mountains
. The camp is located about 30 miles (48.3 km) outside of Kamas
, Utah
. The camp lies on the shores of Scout Lake with several other lakes nearby, such as Lofty Lake, Kamas Lake, Castle Lake, Picturesque Lake and Pearl Lake. It has views of Bald Mountain
, Reids Peak, Hayden Peak
and Mount Agassiz. Between 1,500 and 2,500 people attend the camp every year.
Camp Steiner is considered the flagship camp for the Great Salt Lake Council. The camp's motto is: "Designed to serve the many, but dedicated to embrace and serve the one."
, followed by the Honor Trail, a dawn hike and the Polar Bear Plunge are all a part of Steiner's program.
The legend of Hyrum is an old folktale about a miner who was blown to pieces in a horrible mining accident. Legend states that Hyrum still hikes the hills of Steiner as a monster of some sort.
The Lost Gold Mine is a true story of LDS miner Caleb Rhoades who mined what were considered to be the richest gold mines in the country. The story of the Rhoades Mines includes an ambush by Butch Cassidy
and his "Hole in the Wall Gang." The locations of the mines died with Rhoades, but in his journal he describes a heart-shaped lake surrounded by castles; possibly referring to Scout Lake (formerly known as Heart Lake) and the cliff faces and mountain peaks that can be seen from the lake shores.
nor cell phone coverage. The camp gets its water from a pump system that is gravity powered.
The climbing wall at Camp Steiner is a natural rock face located just above the campfire bowl, which is sometimes referred to as the amphitheater.
beach and floating docks. Canoeing, rowing, swimming and life-saving merit badges are available. Small-boat sailing was abandoned in 2003 because the winds were never good enough to consistently teach the merit badge, it was brought back in 2008 and 2009, but the council has not been able to attain sailboats in good enough repair for the camp to use anymore. The lake has a temperature that stays between 35 and 55 °F (1.7 and 12.8 C) during the summer. Passing the swim check is a rite of passage and swimming a mile in the lake is something that only between 10 and 20 people achieve every year.
Merit badges offered in the summer camp include; in handicraft: basketry, Indian lore, leatherwork and woodcarving. Merit badges offered in Outdoor Skills, once called Scoutcraft: first aid, pioneering, orienteering, fishing, and wilderness survival. Also for the 2010 season, one of the historic (centennial) merit badges: signaling.
Adventure activities are designed to keep older boys, who may already have Eagles, busy at camp. They include hiking, team building games, and the climbing merit badge. High Adventure staffers teach Leave No Trace training at least once a week.
There is also an action center program that teaches trail to first class.
Nature merit badges include: Environmental science, Bird study, Soil and water conservation, forestry, and for the 2010 season only, the centennial merit badges for tracking.
Steiner offers two different shooting sports: rifle
and archery
, although these merit badges are subject to weather.
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and serves the Utah counties of Salt Lake, Tooele, Summit and much of Davis County.
Organization
The council is divided into these districts:- City Creek District
- Cottonwood District
- Deseret Peak District
- Eagle Peaks District
- East Millcreek District
- Farmington Bay District
- Golden Eagle District
- Granger District
- Granite Trail District
- Indian Springs District
- Lone Peak District
- Olde English Fort District
- Pony Express District
- Red Butte District
- Silver Mesa District
- Stone Creek District
- Summit District
- Union Fort District
- Wagon Wheel District
- Wasatch Peaks
- Westview District
- White Buffalo District
Camp Steiner
At 10400 feet (3,169.9 m), Camp Steiner is the highest Boy ScoutBoy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
camp in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the second highest in the world. It was founded in 1930 in the Uinta Mountains
Uinta Mountains
The Uinta Mountains are a high chain of mountains in northeastern Utah and extreme northwestern Colorado in the United States. A subrange of the Rocky Mountains, they are unusual for being the highest range in the contiguous United States running east to west, and lie approximately east of Salt...
. The camp is located about 30 miles (48.3 km) outside of Kamas
Kamas, Utah
Kamas is a city in Summit County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,274 at the 2000 census....
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. The camp lies on the shores of Scout Lake with several other lakes nearby, such as Lofty Lake, Kamas Lake, Castle Lake, Picturesque Lake and Pearl Lake. It has views of Bald Mountain
Bald Mountain (Utah)
Bald Mountain is a peak in the western Uinta Mountain Range. It is an easy hike from Bald Mountain Pass and has spectacular views of the surrounding areas. The mountain is home to mountain goats, pika, and many species of wildflowers....
, Reids Peak, Hayden Peak
Hayden Peak
Hayden Peak is a peak in the western Uinta Mountain Range. The mountain is home to mountain goats, pika, and many species of wildflowers. The peak is named for Ferdinand Hayden, an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century....
and Mount Agassiz. Between 1,500 and 2,500 people attend the camp every year.
Camp Steiner is considered the flagship camp for the Great Salt Lake Council. The camp's motto is: "Designed to serve the many, but dedicated to embrace and serve the one."
History
Founded in 1930, Camp Steiner is known for its many traditions including Mountain Man competitions and the Steiner Yell. The reenactment of the siege of MafekingSiege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
, followed by the Honor Trail, a dawn hike and the Polar Bear Plunge are all a part of Steiner's program.
The legend of Hyrum is an old folktale about a miner who was blown to pieces in a horrible mining accident. Legend states that Hyrum still hikes the hills of Steiner as a monster of some sort.
The Lost Gold Mine is a true story of LDS miner Caleb Rhoades who mined what were considered to be the richest gold mines in the country. The story of the Rhoades Mines includes an ambush by Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
and his "Hole in the Wall Gang." The locations of the mines died with Rhoades, but in his journal he describes a heart-shaped lake surrounded by castles; possibly referring to Scout Lake (formerly known as Heart Lake) and the cliff faces and mountain peaks that can be seen from the lake shores.
Facilities
The main buildings of the camp are the kitchen, the museum, the trading post, the wilderness cabin, the first aid cabin/director's office, the tool shed and the handicraft lodge. The camp has neither electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
nor cell phone coverage. The camp gets its water from a pump system that is gravity powered.
The climbing wall at Camp Steiner is a natural rock face located just above the campfire bowl, which is sometimes referred to as the amphitheater.
Program
The waterfront of Camp Steiner had a tower (which was rebuilt in 2004, yet collapsed in 2009 because of heavy snowfall), a canoeCanoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
beach and floating docks. Canoeing, rowing, swimming and life-saving merit badges are available. Small-boat sailing was abandoned in 2003 because the winds were never good enough to consistently teach the merit badge, it was brought back in 2008 and 2009, but the council has not been able to attain sailboats in good enough repair for the camp to use anymore. The lake has a temperature that stays between 35 and 55 °F (1.7 and 12.8 C) during the summer. Passing the swim check is a rite of passage and swimming a mile in the lake is something that only between 10 and 20 people achieve every year.
Merit badges offered in the summer camp include; in handicraft: basketry, Indian lore, leatherwork and woodcarving. Merit badges offered in Outdoor Skills, once called Scoutcraft: first aid, pioneering, orienteering, fishing, and wilderness survival. Also for the 2010 season, one of the historic (centennial) merit badges: signaling.
Adventure activities are designed to keep older boys, who may already have Eagles, busy at camp. They include hiking, team building games, and the climbing merit badge. High Adventure staffers teach Leave No Trace training at least once a week.
There is also an action center program that teaches trail to first class.
Nature merit badges include: Environmental science, Bird study, Soil and water conservation, forestry, and for the 2010 season only, the centennial merit badges for tracking.
Steiner offers two different shooting sports: rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
and archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
, although these merit badges are subject to weather.