[Philmont]: Value of Basecamp Experience (was "Rules" - Timing)

In an idealized sense, knowledge of Basecamp operations is "only"
moderately helpful, and quickly fades from memory once on the trail.
Idealized in this context means an early arrival, few Crews ahead of
you, a quickly assigned (and quickly arriving) Ranger - who is well
versed in what needs to be done - cooperative weather, no surprises at
the Trek planning, Admin, or Med stops, and so on. Smooth sailing....

When things are not running so well, or you're running way late, or
there's a pileup of Crews backed up in front of you, or so on, then
having one or multiple experienced Advisors (and also Crew Chiefs)
becomes a lot more important, allowing the Ranger to work with the Crew
while most other "basic" things are being taken care of by people who
know where things are and how things operate. Although in my case it's
usually by design (to give the Ranger and my Crew Chiefs some space), my
Crews often don't see me for hours-long stretches on arrival day - and
it's because I'm off doing necessary things, not because I'm catching a
nap. At least some of my Rangers were happy that they didn't have to
lead me or my co-Advisors around by the nose while simultaneously trying
to engage and work with the Crew(s).

And be assured, if your Basecamp experience was a frustrating, rushed,
semi-chaos, it does impact on your trek, especially the beginning. Not
just in stressed-out Advisors that had little or no down-time, or even
time to think, but also in things forgotten or neglected, and
organization by Advisor and Ranger edicts instead of by Scouts working
together. Y'all have heard me describe Category III Advisors, who
negatively impact on their Crew's collective experience (with spin-off
grief for the rest of us). If you take a reluctant soldier, add lack of
preparation, and further compound it with a frantic Basecamp experience,
guess what? - they're well on their way, eh?

We've all been novice Advisors once. Thinking back, I certainly
preferred my second arrival over my first. And even on my first, I at
least had the 16 and 17 year old memories of my previous Scout visits
(as Crew Chief), so things were at least somewhat familiar. Personally,
I prefer having a clue. As I posted earlier, "Knowledge is Power".

- Dr. Bob

Vannerson, William G. wrote:
>>Other than allaying the concerns of the lead advisor as to what is
> going to happen next, does having an experienced Philmonter really have
> value? Marginal at best, because regardless of what experience the crew
> has at base camp or how efficiently and organized the Ranger handled
> base camp functions, what is long remembered is the experience in the
> back country.<<

> I'd have to disagree somewhat. None of our crew had been to Philmont
> before and although the Advisors Guide is a tremendous asset, nothing
> beats the familiarty of having been there. As lead advisor, I know that
> if I go again my check in experience will be less frantic emotionally. I
> felt like I was a pinball for mt first 24 hrs. Of course this was
> aggrivated by the fact that our train was late so we had less time to
> run through check-in. As a result of that and a needless delay at
> health lodge (2 of our crew were forgotten while waiting for inhaler
> prescription refills), we didn't get a chance to catch our breath. We
> didn't even have time to quickly browse through Tooth of Time Traders.
> The crew leader and advisor ran in to purchase current trail maps and
> ran out.
>
> What would I do differently at Base Camp now that I'm an "old salt?"
>
> 1. Make sure everyone's prescriptions, especially inhalers, are current.
> Both boys have not needed to use their inhalers for years but still
> carry them with them just in case. Consiquently, they didn't even know
> they were expired.
>
> 2. Bring our own gear, including tents. It may add to cost but I think
> the benefit of saving time at both check-in and chack out is worth it.
> As well as the fact that the tents will likely be lighter and the crew
> will get a chance to become familiar with the gear during shakedowns.
>
> 3. Get photos at arrival. Our crew arrived in uniform and had put it
> back on the next day for the photo. I fgot some resistance but I
> insisted. Then we had to race back to the lockers to stash the shirts as
> we ran to the dining hall for lunch. It would have been easier to get
> the photo done the first day and stash the uniforms in the locker when
> we stored the rest of the gear insteads of an extra trip. Also, the crew
> number on the photo is off by one day as the photographer assumed we
> were 802-O not 801-O as it was the second. We were in too much of a rush
> to even think about checking. Next time I will!
>
> 4. Really consider arriving a day early if advisors vacation schedules
> allow. Neither of us on this crew could even consider it as we had no
> more days to use. But and extra day would solve a ton of check-in
> problems.
>
> BTW, when I say we ran between stops, we literally did have to run on
> occaision. The train delay and the health lodge delay really hurt our
> chances for a calm check-in. As a result, my base camp experience is a
> big negative. Although I must say everyone was helpful and friendly, so
> it wasn't a staff issue, just a lot to do in too little time.

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Received on Wed Jan 5 23:03:22 2005