RE: [Philmont]: Listening To The Grass Grow

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From: Herb Dulzo (hadulzo@attbi.com)
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 17:03:56 CST

Next message: Herb Dulzo: "RE: [Philmont]: Phollow the PhilRules Pholks"
Previous message: Dr. Bob Klein: "[Philmont]: Boiling Water Temperatures"
In reply to: Allen Corzine: "Re: [Philmont]: Listening To The Grass Grow"

All I can tell you is when the opportunity to go to Philmont comes your way
DO IT!! In the mean time start getting ready. When you need rain gear, get
the stuff you would use at Philmont......

In 2000 I decided I wasn't wasn't getting any younger. I decided I needed to
crank up scouting a few notches(High Adventure,Jamboree's, Philmont) I went
to a Troop committee meeting told them I was putting in a reservation for a
High Adventure Trip (Manistee Quest)and if anyone wants to go they should
follow. (4 boys and 3 adults went)That was 2000. 2001, you guessed it, I
went to Jambo as an Assistant Scoutmaster (9 scouts from my home troop
went). My participation with council provided me an opportunity to push a
council contingent to Philmont. Yes I ended up in charge of that. My only
regret is I couldn't get scouts from my home troop to go to Philmont. I
took a group of boys from my district. Best time of my life. Better than
Jambo. The boys are responsible for a lot more at Philmont, taking the load
of the adults. 2003 I am looking forward to kicking back and council summer
camp and then back to Philmont in 2004(council).

Listen to the Grass Grow but pick a time to start hiking in the grass.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com]On
Behalf Of Allen Corzine
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 2:28 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Listening To The Grass Grow

i'm am out of shape, overweight cub master from flat Kansas, but after
reading the lesson below, I want to go, any one got room?

Thanks John, where does the tuition check go?

allen

just a sly fox, and remember, my opinion and $ will buy coffee at the
trading post

>From: Johnlebl@aol.com
>Reply-To: philmont@troop47.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list philmont <philmont@troop47.com>
>Subject: [Philmont]: Listening To The Grass Grow
>Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 15:00:22 EST
>
>Subtitled: The Water Budget.
>
>Ladies and gentlemen, I live where it rains 64 inches per year. This year
>it
>has rained 69 inches so far, breaking the all time record. I like water!
>I
>like it wet. I like wet trails, wet campsites and wet.........no, I did
>not
>say that.
>
>I am also a canoeist and a kayaker. Canoeists and kayakers paddle their
>craft on water for good reason. They like water. They like water carrying
>them instead of them carrying the water.
>
>I get the distinct feeling of paranoia by some on this list concerning
>PhilWater. PhilWater won't kill you!
>
>Seems like I'm hearing mommys and daddys hollering their last bits of
>advise
>through closed windows and hopefully closed ears to junior as he leaves for
>Philmont on the bus, train or plane as it rolls down the highway, rails or
>tarmac headed to New Mexico...........DON'T DRINK THE WATER BILLY OR YOU'LL
>GET SICK!!!!!!
>
>Pholks, this is NEW Mexico not south of the border in OLD Mexico! You can
>drink the water and NOT get sick!
>
>This paranoia is the absolutely most WRONG message to be sending your
>Scouts.
> I hope this stays on this list and NOT in your crew training discussions.
>
><<But as John states, if you plan properly, you'll have the water you need
>when
>you get to camp, and can wait for the PolarPure to work. It depends on
>whether you want to carry the pump, extra filter, spare parts and spend
>probably 10-15min pumping, or carry the extra water weight on the trail
>so you don't have to pump when you get there.>>
>
>
>
>It is adaptable to PolarPure OR filter pumps.
>
>Here is a typical day on the trail.......waterwise.
>
>You wake up and somehow decide you need breakfast. That's not a hard
>decision after hiking some 35 miles on the trail so far. It's a hot cereal
>day and a good thing too because the temp is hovering just above freezing.
>Or so it seems. And something hot to drink would be good too.
>
>Water gathered last night from the stream is in the pot just waiting to be
>put on the stove. The stove is lit and while gear is packed the water
>comes
>to a boil......or almost. And that is fine because all you need to do is
>get
>it to 180 degrees F to kill anything that grows in water anyway. Water
>boils
>at 212 F, so boiling it is overkill.
>
>The water comes to a boil anyway.......just to make sure someone says, and
>each person takes their turn dunking bowl, cup and spoon in the hot water
>leaving behind any bacteria to be destroyed by the heat and a few bits of
>pine needles, dirt and rocks they did not see on the bottom of the cup. It
>all gets sterilized together.
>
>Anyway, you take your plastic or lexan bowl and dump in Quaker Instant
>maple
>and brown sugar oatmeal from the food bag. You take your stainless steel
>cup
>and dump in some Swiss Miss with marshmallows in it. One of the crew
>ladles
>some hot water into your cup and bowl and you are in bidness.
>
>You saunter over to a rock overlooking the stream and sit to eat with your
>back to the cooking fire ring just to relieve the view and reduce it to
>more
>simple things so you can relax during your meal.
>
>It's good, warm and filling. You lick the bowl clean.........literally!
>Not
>a drop is left in the cup either. Human sumping they call it. You have
>been
>doing it for years whenever you mother did not catch you doing it.
>
>You saunter over to "your tree" which has your pack propped up against it
>and
>your 3L Camelback Unbottle hanging from a branch stub and rotate the 90
>degree block valve to the on position. You squirt an ounce or two into the
>bowl, swirl it around and drink it down. Some call this human sumping.
>Some
>don't even call it, but just do it. Same for the cup into which you swish
>around the spoon. Bottoms up the cup. You fill the cup with cool, clear
>iodinated water from the Unbottle bite valve and get out your "morning
>pills". Every adult on trek has their "morning pills" simply because they
>are getting older. Even if you don't do drugs, you pop three Advil just
>for
>good measure! Vitamin I Cooper Wright calls them.
>
>Chase them down with the whole cup of water. Tastes so good, you draw
>another and drink that too.
>
>You put away your cup, bowl and spoon in their proper place.
>
>Finally your slow tent partner is out of the tent with his stuff, so while
>he
>packs (you already have) you take the tent down divide it up and pack away
>your share. You then take his part of the bargain to him to pack up. He
>thanks you.
>
>While watching the crew get their act together, you draw and drink another
>couple of cups of water from the bite valve. Danged this mountain water
>tastes good! You don't even notice the iodine taste simply because you
>aren't trying to. Your thoughts are on what a beautiful place the campsite
>was and not about what iodine tastes like anyway.
>
>Finally you are ready to "saddle up" and hit the trail. Before cinching
>down
>your pack top flap, you decide to "camel up" and take one more long draw of
>water from the bite valve.
>
>You take your 1 L Nalgene bottle out of the side pocket and dump it into
>the
>Unbottle hydration bladder. You had filled the 1 L bottle last night and
>added the proper amount of Polar Pure. It sat all night so you aren't
>worried about how long since it was treated.
>
>You go to the creek and find the spot that the crew member assigned as
>"water
>bearer" designated or improved to get water from and fill your bottle to
>1/2
>inch below the rim. Back at "your tree", you add the right amount of Polar
>Pure to the water bottle according to what your Ranger taught you and place
>both in the pack pocket after refilling the Polar Pure bottle and turning
>the
>water bottle upside down and "bleeding the threads".
>
>All secured, you are ready to hit the trail.
>
>You are carrying three liters of ready to drink water in the hydration
>bladder. It's cold from hanging in the cold night mountain air overnight
>and
>will stay that way all day because of the 1/8" neoprene insulation of the
>Unbottle and the fact it is packed INSIDE your pack out of the sun.
>
>The 1 L Lexan bottle has to wait 30 minutes before it is ready to drink.
>You
>notice the time and make mental note. It resides in the side pocket of the
>pack. You more than likely won't even use it today because it is just a 10
>mile hike to the next camp and you are high where it is cool and in a
>valley
>in the shade. And it is raining.
>
>Along the way you sip water constantly from the bite valve, not worrying at
>all about running out of water in the hydration bladder because you are
>carrying that 3 liters plus another liter backup in the lexan bottle.
>
>When the crew stops for lunch, you decide Gatorade would go good with the
>PBJ
>on crackers, so you dump a little powder into the stainless steel cup and
>squeeze the bite valve to fill the cup.
>
>After lunch you wash down the sides of the cup with the fine stream
>produced
>by the bite valve and human sump your cup and put it away.
>
>Each meal you want Gatorade you do the same thing and therefore you don't
>have any water containers besides your cup that have had drink mix in them
>so
>none need go up in the bear bag.
>
>When you get to camp, the "water bearer" takes off to find "clean water"
>and
>returns with two buckets full for the evening meal.
>
>It was a long trail today so you examine your 3L Unbottle and find that it
>only contains about a half cup of water. Your 1L bottle is still not been
>touched, so you still have a good reserve. You ask where the "water
>faucet"
>is and he tells you up around the bend in the creek and over off the edge
>of
>the big gray flat rock. With those directions, you take the 3L Unbottle
>and
>your 1L Nalgene and go to fill them up. Away from the stream you pour the
>1L
>bottle into the 3L Unbottle because you know that to spill iodine treated
>water into the stream would harm some of the biota living in the stream and
>as a good land steward you don't want to do that.
>
>After pouring the 1L into the 3L, you dip the 1L full and use it to fill
>the
>3L and then fill the 1L also.
>
>You return to "your tree" where you get out the PolarPure and add the
>requisite amount to the 3L Unbottle and the 1L Nalgene, you "bleed the
>threads" and refil the PolarPure bottle.
>
>After waiting the required thirty minutes, all your water is drinkable.
>
>You repeat this daily for each day on the trail. You are never without 4L
>of
>water starting out each day. You never are drinking your last water from
>the
>bladder and not knowing how much water you have left.
>
>You are budgeting your water but that does not mean skimping on it. You
>drink freely from the bite valve and when others holler "water stop" you
>simply stand there enjoying the view knowing full well that they are
>getting
>dehydrated and you are not because you continuously sip water as you walk.
>
>And that is all there is to it.
>
>The only addendum is on extra long trail days, I fill a 1L Platypus roll up
>bottle fore a total of 5 liters of available water.
>
>If you have a dry camp.roper food and meal planning should not require
>anything but each person filling their extra 1L Platy roll bottle.
>
>If a crew chooses to carry on of those "water buffalo bladders" then
>somebody
>had to be the mule. Better it be your crew than mine, but so be it if you
>got to do that. I just know that it isn't necessary.
>
>If one chooses to use a filter pump, then they can do the same thing only
>pumping their water.
>
>From observation and practical application, it takes about 30 minutes to
>get
>out the pump, set it up, pump the days supply of water and put the pump
>away
>again.
>
>The decision to pump or not is yours and yours alone.
>
>Personally I got more to do in those ten days on the trail at Philmont than
>spend 5 hours plus pumping water.
>
>Sometimes I just want to sit there and listen to the grass grow.
>
>John LeBlanc
>Eagle Class of 1959
>Phirst Phil Ptrek 1959
>PhilTrek 2002 630H2 Trek 16
>My latest adventure was yesterday,
>Today is not over yet!
>
>

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Next message: Herb Dulzo: "RE: [Philmont]: Phollow the PhilRules Pholks"
Previous message: Dr. Bob Klein: "[Philmont]: Boiling Water Temperatures"
In reply to: Allen Corzine: "Re: [Philmont]: Listening To The Grass Grow"

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