About Boots and Blisters

Boots and Blisters is a periodical newsletter published by the volunteers of the High Adventure Team (HAT) of the San Francisco Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. Boots and Blisters was founded by Lew Gardner in 1976. While never a Boy Scout himself, he became involved with Scouting in 1936 as a new Scoutmaster, and was continually active until his death at age 91. He earned the Silver Beaver at age 28, and has continually helped countless boys progress towards Eagle.

Lew Gardner helped found the SF High Adventure Team and started Boots 'n' Blisters in 1976.

Lew was known coast to coast, if not around the world, and his knowledge of the out-of-doors and how it pertains to Scouting was unquestioned. Quite a few National Chief Scout Executives knew, or corresponded with, Lew over the years. In the San Francisco Bay Area Council, if you asked who was the most influential person in high adventure programs, only one person came to mind: Lew. Along with a few others, Lew was one of the founding fathers of the High Adventure Training (HAT) program in SFBAC. We, as HAT trained scouters, stand a few feet taller because of Lew Gardner.

Boots and Blisters is officially the High Adventure Team (HAT) quarterly newsletter. It is sent to all HAT registered Scouters and Scoutmasters. In addition, the newsletter is mailed to representatives of scouting throughout the United States and beyond. Through the years it has given countless tips on the outdoor experience as well as being a handy resource on a large range of topics.

We have added over ten years of back issues to the web site. They are indexed both by topic and by date. The information in older issues is largely out of date, and we will continue to add future issues as they are published.

Chairman:  Vic Karpenko

Vice Chairman: Dick Smith

Editor:  Terry Pearson

Webmaster:  Brian Phelps