[philmont] Treks book reports-dry camps

As I have written before at length, while the Treks book provides a wealth of information in a digest format, the "gold standard" for deciding what hikes you want to take, where you want to camp, and what parts of the Ranch you want to explore remains the sector maps themselves. In my view, there is no substitute for the depth of information a good hard look at the maps can reveal.

The same goes for characterization of treks as "typical", "rugged" or "challenging" (although when it gets to "strenuous" or "super-strenuous", it may be time to take a deep breath and do some soul-searching).

As far as lugging water from the nearest source to a dry or usually dry camp, that's why you take some 14, 15 or 16 year olds with you on your once in a lifetime adventure.

The book "Philmanac" by Rock Rohrbacher, available at Tooth of Time Traders, offers valuable insights into each Philmont camp, and often about the trails connecting them. Nice to have for reference during trek selection.

I would agree with dinner at dinner time. Crackers and squeeze cheese just isn't the same at the end of the day, in camp. When I was a youth, before backpacking stoves, we took this option when firewood was water saturated. In those days, there were cooked breakfasts in the rotation, as well. This one is probably best left to the discretion of the crew leader and the crew. It's not a make or break either way.

When offered the choice, they may just say "that's ok, Mr. Advisor, we'd just as soon carry the extra water" and may even decline your offer to carry your share.

Your maps will show you "program" features not in the Treks book, such as fishing opportunities in camps and locations other than those that offer "fly tying and fishing". The little critters live in those blue lines that squiggle down the valleys. Neat side hikes may also be apparent on the maps, yet unmentioned in the digest in the book.

As has been said, "the hikes are the program". Everything else the Ranch offers is gravy.

Yours in Scouting,

Bill Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, NJ
Philmont '70,'72, Autumn Adventure '01,'03,'05

-------------------------------------------------------
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 Tue Feb 27 14:37:52 2007