[Philmont] What I'd do, if anything, different!

Great information, Kevin.

  In addition to the soy sauce, salt & pepper, I suggest buying the
spice wheel at Tooth of Time Trading post. With the right spice
mixture, you can improve any of the trail food. The spice wheel was a
big hit with our crew last summer.

Dan Preston
Louisville, KY
On Jul 2, 2007, at 9:32 AM, kevinaldrich@insightbb.com wrote:

> Hello Scouters,
>  
> We just got back on Friday night from our trek. It was fantastic. Here
> are some thoughts on what, if anything,  I would do different if . . .
>
> Trail Shoes - I took Crocs Off-Road shoes. Loved them. Wouldn't take
> anything else.
>
> Trekking Poles - Just started using these this year, Christmas
> present. I lost count of how many times my poles kept be from falling
> as I tripped and stumbled on rough trails. Your nuts if you don't have
> a nice lightweight pair of trekking poles.
>
> Boots - EEEEEK! My lightweight Dunham Waffle Stompers blew out about
> 60 days before our trek. I freaked. The only boot in my market that I
> could find to fit my wide feet were heavier Asolo boots. Much heavier
> & stiffer. What a blessing. After we got on the trail I was so
> grateful to have a heavier and stiffer pair of boots. I can't imagine
> hiking in lightweight "sneaker" like boots.
>
> Tent - My son and I tented together because we were with a council
> contingent crew and he didn't care much for the other Scouts . . . we
> took my Go-Lite Hex 3, a ultralight 3-man tent. Total weight was 6
> pounds with stakes and ground cloth. Loved having the extra room in
> the tent to read, write post cards, play cards & getting dressed and
> undressed. Glad we didn't take our smaller lighter backpacking tent.
>
> Spices & Eating Gear - We did not take enough soy sauce, salt or
> pepper. We did take some fast food packets of mayonaisse and pickle
> relish for tuna fish and ham. Fantastic. Some of the backcountry
> commissaries had packets of mayo and pickle relish. Some did not. We
> also took a couple throw-a-way plastic forks to mix and eat the tuna
> and ham. Great idea.
>
> Clothing - At some time during our trek I wore all the clothing I took
> except the long underwear.
>
> Camp Chair - Didn't plan to take one but at Tooth of Time Trading Post
> they had Crazy Creek chairs discounted to $14 because "Mexico" was
> miss-spelled in "New Mexico." The best 20oz I carried. What a
> wonderful luxury.
>
> Camp Suds - at our ranger's recommendation we left camp suds in
> basecamp and them purchased more on the trail. Didn't take enough to
> wash hands before meals and clothing.
>
> Cup - at our ranger's recommendations all the adults left their cups
> at base camp on the premise that the staffed camps would provide cups
> for the 7pm advisor's coffee. Bad call. Many staff camps did not have
> cups and we ended up purchasing cups at the general stores. Take your
> cup if you want to have a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or hot apple
> cider at the advisors coffee. Fun fellowship.
>
> Pocketknife - Our ranger recommended we take only one or two
> pocketknives in our crew. Everyone ignored him on this and we were all
> glad later. Take you knife.
>
> Handwashing Before Cooking - Our ranger taught our Scouts that they
> didn't need to wash their filthy dirt crusted hands before handling
> food. They just used some hand sanitizer. My opinion, this was stupid
> and disgusting, but our Scouts followed their ranger training.
>
> One Pot Cooking - Worked great. However our ranger didn't have a clue
> how to cook and advised our Scouts to use too little water thus we
> ended up almost every night with this thick goo that you couldn't
> shake off your spoon. Play around with the the receipes. My son and I
> added water to our bowl everynight.
>
> Dish Cleaning - Our ranger taught our Scouts not to wash dishes after
> eating and to sterilize the next night by dipping dirty dishes into
> boiling water for 5-10 seconds. Personally I think this was stupid. We
> were lucky we got through our trek without anyone getting sick. Some
> of us washed our dishes & spoon and then made sure our spoon and bowl
> were sterilized for 2-3 minutes in boiling water.
>
> Water - We didn't carry pump/filters  and didn't need them. We did
> carry 4-litres of water most days and abut 75% of our crew drank 3+
> litres on the trail. Personally I liked having the extra litre but
> never drank out of it . . .
>
> Good Luck,
>
> Kevin
Received on Mon Jul 2 10:14:02 2007