RE: [Philmont] - philmont Digest - V01 #1302

Per Tom's message below, I can only say "Not so fast my friend".
Sometimes having more than one map can be helpful. QED:

Coming out of Baldy Town on the trail that brings you down and around
the "Southern Approach" to Baldy, we took a side trail that had a sign
indicating "To Baldy". Violated Rule # 3 for signs "Don't Trust Them".
Anyway, we ended up bushwhacking up a big draw that runs on an
almost-straight east-west line on the eastern side of Baldy. By the
time the trail petered out after almost a klick, we realized we were NOT
on a trail we wanted. We did not want to go back. The sectional was
pulled out by the Navi-Guesser. We saw the draw we were in, saw the
stream that ran through it, saw the spring where it originated further
up the hillside. What the sectional did not show was that a trail from
the north side of Baldy cut along the eastern side and ran down to
eventually run in to the trail for the southern route. I was carrying
the larger scale / single map given by Philmont so I could keep up with
the Navi-Guesser. That map showed that there was a trail up ahead at
the spring that would take us where we wanted to go. We had a brief
Council-of-War, decided that we did not want to pay for the same ground
twice, pressed up the hill a few hundred more meters and sure enough,
when we hit the spring, we hit the trail my map showed, but which did
not appear on the sectional. We decided that if we got to the spring
and there was no trail, we could always reverse our tracks at that
point.

Lessons Learned:
1. All maps lie when it comes to man-made objects. The terrain does not
lie. We knew exactly where we were. The problem was choosing the best
way to get to where we wanted to be.
2. Having another map doesn't hurt and could give you options you didn't
have before. Of course, my map could have been wrong and the sectional
correct.
3. Have a spot that you can return to where you know exactly where you
are so you can try another approach.
4. Let the boys decide what to do. Encourage or discourage certain
perspectives and don't forget the overriding consideration of safety,
but let them choose. They are more willing to accept the consequences
when they made the choice.

Dave Parmly
Philmont 2004

-----Original Message-----
From: philmont-request@troop47.com [mailto:philmont-request@troop47.com]

Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 6:19 AM
To: Philmont
Subject: [Philmont] - philmont Digest - V01 #1302

philmont Digest Tue, 22 Mar 2005 05:19:16 -0600 V01 #1302

Today's topics:
     'RE: [Philmont]: Re: Philmont Package'
     'RE: [Philmont]: 2005 Advisor's kit, w/Itinerary Guide, arrives'
     'Re: [Philmont]: Re: Philmont Package'
     'Re: [Philmont]: Re: Philmont Package'
     'RE: [Philmont]: Re: Philmont Package'

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 19:01:18 -0500
From: "Tom Lindtveit" <n2sa@bestweb.net>
Subject: RE: [Philmont]: Re: Philmont Package

Something we learned last year about maps: Call the Tooth of Time
Traders NOW and order this years sectional maps. The single map they
send you for planning does not always give you the kind of detail you
might want for making decisions, and the active trails get adjusted each
year. The single map (we called it the souvenir map) leaves out a lot of
details.
Happy Hiking,
 Tom

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Received on Tue Mar 22 08:21:03 2005