Matt Gidney

Let Boys be Boys Troop Adventures Masculinity

Five Peaks in Five Days: Troop TX-0022 Conquers the Wheeler Peak Wilderness

Wheeler Peak Wilderness, Taos, NM – July 2025 On July 17, 2025, Trailmen of Troop TX-0022 stood on top of Wheeler Peak, New Mexico’s highest summit at 13,160 feet. But their story began long before the final summit. It began with a bold idea: a backpacking trip to conquer five rugged peaks above 11,000 feet in the ...
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Mark Hancock

Mentoring Parenting Let Boys be Boys Masculinity

What Every Boy is Asking

A boy doesn’t usually say it out loud. But he’s always asking: Who’s in charge? Who’s with me? What’s the mission?
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Matt Gidney

Parenting Let Boys be Boys Leadership Troop Adventures

Blisters, Grit, and Grace: How One Trailman with Autism Became a Leader Worth Following

When 16-year-old Noah laced up his boots to summit Guadalupe Peak—the highest point in Texas—he was ready for the challenge. But by the time he descended, his feet were raw with blisters and his spirit was wavering.
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Mark Hancock

Let Boys be Boys

Boys Were Made to Move

What if the thing that drives you crazy about your son… is actually one of his greatest God-given strengths?
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Mark Hancock

Parenting Let Boys be Boys

Raising Sons Who Won’t Be Swept Away: Forming Character in a Changing World

Op-ed by Trail Life CEO, Mark Hancock, published by TownHall.com on May 18, 2025 On April 29, Meta launched a suite of AI tools designed to seamlessly blend into daily life. Ask a question in WhatsApp — Meta AI answers. Search on Instagram — it suggests. Use your Ray-Ban smart glasses — they see and respond, ...
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Matt Gidney

Let Boys be Boys Leadership Troop Adventures

Adventure in the Everglades

As the last light faded over Fisheating Creek, the Everglades came alive. Palmettos glowed gold in the twilight. Cypress trees cast long shadows in the tannin-stained water. Crickets chirped. Tree frogs sang. And the boys—well, the boys were stirring chili.
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Stephen Ashton

Parenting Let Boys be Boys

Delaying Manhood, Developing Manliness

Let Boys Be Boys There was a time when boyhood was an untamed, unhurried thing. When creek beds turned into racetracks for hand-carved boats, the tops of hay bales became mountain peaks to be conquered, and backyard disputes ended in a wrestling match and a handshake.
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Matt Gidney

Let Boys be Boys Troop Adventures Masculinity

Trailmen Don't Hibernate!

There's No Offseason for Adventure When the world falls asleep beneath a blanket of snow, when bears slumber in their dens and squirrels hunker down, waiting for warmer days—boys see something different. To them, winter is a blank canvas for adventure.
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Matt Gidney

Let Boys be Boys Troop Adventures Masculinity

Yukon Adventure: Mud, Mayhem, and the Measure of a Trailman

The rain started the night before, a steady drumbeat on the tents that turned the ground into a quagmire by morning. But no amount of mud was going to dampen the spirits of the Trailmen. This was the Yukon Adventure—one of Trail Life’s longest-running and most challenging events—and they had come prepared.
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