About Me

Who is The Backpacking Scouter?

With all the great things on my site, you decided to come to this page, so I’m guessing I should tell you about myself. My name is Ricky Stephenson and I live in Conifer, CO. I’m originally from Mississippi, but when I was in my late 20’s I was brought to Colorado for a work trip and I knew from that very weekend that the mountains would be my home. It took me 3 years to eventually find a job that would bring me back to Colorado permanently, but in 2010 I moved to Lakewood, CO. Then in 2018 my wife, the boys and I decided to really become mountain residents when we moved to Conifer, CO.

I grew up with a father who loved camping, fishing and hunting, so we were out in the woods regularly as I grew up. I am also very thankful to have been a part of a great Boy Scout Troop, with a multi-decade Scoutmaster who believed a troop should be Scout Led and actively getting the scouts outdoors. I reached the rank of Eagle Scout at 16, with a lot of great adult support and started getting big into backpacking. During my college days I continued to serve as an ASM and a camp director at our Summer Camp for many summers in a row.

My Mission

Since going through the BSA Woodbadge leadership training I realized how much information I have researched over the many decades from all of my trips and the trips I’ve done with my sons Troop, and I decided I wanted to find a way to share this information with others. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful state with so many amazing trails and campsites. Especially for so many of my fellow scouters out there. When so many of us are working full time jobs and volunteering our free time to help the scouts find fun trips any hep we can get makes it that much better. So please help yourself to any and all the resources I’m making available here and feel free to share with anyone you think may be interested.

I ended up finding a career in Emergency Management, which took me all over the United States, where I got to hike, bike, camp and backpack in some of the most amazing places across the nation. I have always found my peace out in nature.

Our whole family loves being outdoors, whether it’s my wife’s preference of a nice R.V. trip to one of our mountain lakes, me and the boys out backpacking new trails each year, or our yearly family ski trips, we are always doing whatever we can to get outside. This summer I’m super excited to be planning to backpack the Colorado Trail with my oldest before he heads off to college in August.

I really enjoy the personal challenge that backpacking continues to give me, but I’ll go camping any chance I get. I’ve even recently been winter camping more and even got myself a hot tent that I plan on trying on in some really cold temperatures. I’m also starting to look into ski touring and more winter backpacking trips in the future.

“Scoutmasters need the capacity to enjoy the out-of-doors.”

— Robert Baden-Powell

What I’ve Achieved What I Want to Achieve

  • Achieved the rank of Eagle Scout

  • Hiked and backpacked a large portion of the Colorado Trail, with plans to finish the trail this year

  • Was Lead Advisor for our Troops Philmont Trek

  • Hike and backpacked hundreds of trails in Colorado and many other states across the nation

  • Working to complete my Woodbadge tickets

  • Assistant Scout Master

  • NYLT Adult Volunteer

  • Wilderness Survival Instructor

  • Finish the Colorado Trail (this summer)

  • Backpack some or all of the Appalachian Trail

  • Backpack in Switzerland

  • Get my WoodBadge beads

  • Philmont Leadership Challenge

  • Backpack Rim to Rim at Grand Canyon

  • Hot Tent Camping and Backpacking