Re: [Philmont]: RE: Philmont crews

All excellent points that I agree with completely. Our two crews, from the time we landed at Philmont, were 2 separate crews (it's almost impossible to keep together, even if you wanted to). They had our two crew chiefs running hard from minute 2... Shakedowns were distinct and separate and because our treks were so significantly different (itineraries 24 and 6), our put-in was even different.

Funny thing to mention: even though itinerary 6 is the "easier" of the two, the camp they were headed to on the first day out had a pump down and, as a result, had 2 dry campsites in a row, forcing them to carry a *lot* of water. Good thing day one is a light day!

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Joe Tavares
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Joe Tavares writes...

It's also a good idea, perhaps, to have some of the practice hikes separate so the crews have a chance to learn the responsibilities of the crew without having the older guys covering for the younger ones and, on the flip side, without
having the younger guys doing all the work :-) for both crews.

Our 2 crews actually met on the Tooth on the last day with our assaults to the ridge coming from opposite directions. That last day was pretty fun with 2 crews talking and telling some of the stories all the way to base camp.

Comment...

I was going to expand my first response to the posting asking about two crews, but decided to hold back and just answer the direct question. But now I will throw in my two cents...

1. IF the two crews are going to do separate treks, absolutely they need to do separate shakedowns. For scheduling purposes, that could be the same hike at the same time, as long as each crew is hiking separately, sets up camp separately, and interaction is just socialization. (This is exactly how sister crews - two on the same trek - operate at Philmont).

2. A back country rendevouz between crews on different treks is great. There actually are quite a few opportunities, as long as the two crews are hiking the same sections of the ranch. In 2001 the crew I was with (I was a 'guest') had a second crew from the troop, who we met Day 10 at Cito and did rock climbing together. Also that year, scouts from my troop were in a different crew - we were doing Trek 21 and they were doing Trek 24 - both North / Central routes. Our paths crossed five times, including one night where we were both camping at Upper Dean Cow. But the highlight was meeting on top of Baldy, which we climbed from opposite sides.

3. If the two crews WANT to be sister crews and doing the same trek, I would still 'strongly suggest' thinking of them as two distinct entities and not one large one for just about everything EXCEPT selecting the five treks they want. As I noted above, at Philmont they will be operating independently. Having said that, I will also admit that in 2003 I was with one of two sister crews did not train separately (for a number of reasons). That worked, but I and the veteran advisor with the other crew were very cognizant of the issue, both before and during the trek.

--
Al Thomson, Troop 236, 
Schooley's Mountain, NJ 
Treks 1999, 2001, 2003 
Autumn Adventures 2000, 2002, 2004
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