Dave,
My max weight was at the start of the trek; 58 lbs, the heaviest in our
three crew contingent. I don't feel so bad now with your reported 66 lbs. My 58
lbs included the extras every lead advisor tends to take (yours may vary).
I had a special morale kit that came in handy for those special days; it
cheered up the crew down times and rewarded the special days. We were
616-K3-2006, trek #7 when the entire area was under "Extreme Fire Danger - EVERYWHERE!"
Water was a major concern for me, so I had six liters at the start of each
day. We never ran dry, but when we arrived at Iris Park we were running near
empty. We left Rich Cabins with frost on the tents and arrived at Iris Park
at just over 100 degrees. Iris Park was reported as dry when we cleared
Logistics, but a crew we met on the trail told us the US Forest Service had
repaired the solar powered water cistern (used by the elk). There was no
reliable water along Ponil; only scattered pools of stagnant water. It would have
been a rough day to have water purification duty otherwise.
We trained well with shakedowns and everyone was used to their packs.
Over-training is the only way to prepare, particularly when you go from living at
112 ft above sea level to Philmont. I also climbed 12 flights of stairs 10
times in repetition each day at work (yes, 120 flights of stairs); one of the
advantages of working in a chemical process industry. I had mild altitude
sickness for the first 3-4 nights on the trail and then I adapted to it. One
advantage of not being able to sleep at night was getting to see the stars and
hear the wildlife!
My one oversight to start the trek was not securing the thumb latch for my
Black Diamond hiking poles before leaving the tent for the bus ride out to
start the trek. They are supposed to be stored loose and I had never lost one
before, but when I took my pack out of the back of the bus the latch was
missing. No where to be found in the bus or on the ground. So I had one pole,
not two. I tried various repairs, but nothing held up. Then at Whiteman Vega
I spied a hose screw clamp in the dirt at the windmill. Viola! The pole was
repaired and served me well the remainder of the trek, which really helped
crossing the ridge behind Seally Canyon.
Wade Dickens
COR with Troop 476, St. Paul UMC, Florence SC
...used to be a Bob White, SR-582....
In a message dated 8/19/2007 2:38:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
dave@daretowntroop60.com writes:
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:55:01 EDT, WHDickens@aol.com jammed all night, and
by sunrise was heard saying:
> Hip belts are designed to carry most of the load. Your spinal column
needs
> all the help it can get to protect it from the stresses and strains of
> weight. One misstep with full load on your shoulders and you may meet
PhilSAR's
> finest.
And while that's the correct use, it's easy enough to not learn this
from the get-go. In training for this year's Philmont expedition, I
started right off with my pack filled with my trek gear AND increasing
amount of filler weight.
But there were plenty of folks training without any real weight. Not
only does that not give you the full workout, but it doesn't help you
learn the right way to carry the backpack, the new dynamics of your
modified center of gravity, etc.
> I trained getting ready for Philmont in 2006 by fast pace hiking two miles
> in 30 minutes with a 60 pound pack every day. The shoulder straps only
kept
> the load from shifting horizontally; it had no vertical load. All the
weight
> was on my hips.
And when you have that much weight, that's the only way to carry it. I
began with my gear plus 8kg, and worked my way up to 75lbs. for training
hikes (up to four miles). On shakedowns, I tried to stay at about 60lbs.,
assuming it was overkill... but on the actual trek, my total weight
maxxed out at 66lbs... and I was ready for it.
-- Dave Haynie Philmont 2007 Crew 712K1 Trek 8 Troop Advancement Coordinator <advancement@daretowntroop60.com> ------------------------------------------------------- Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp ------------------------------------------------------- Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com ------------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe send text email to: To: listserv@troop47.com Subject: unsubscribe Body: unsubscribe philmont@troop47.com ------------------------------------------------------- As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. ------------------------------------------------------- ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour ------------------------------------------------------- Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp ------------------------------------------------------- Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com ------------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe send text email to: To: listserv@troop47.com Subject: unsubscribe Body: unsubscribe philmont@troop47.com ------------------------------------------------------- As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. -------------------------------------------------------Received on Sun Aug 19 14:12:59 2007
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