[philmont] What would you do??

FWIW, when we did our first trip in 2000 my younger son was still 13 (always
the youngest in his class), just a scrawny lad. I was careful to not
purchase such a large pack that he felt obligated to carry more than his
body weight allowed. I thought I would get complaints from the other crew
members about his not carrying the same amount of crew gear as them, wasn't
a problem. The scouts will figure out the proper dispersion of the gear,
its part of the crew bonding process.
 
Craig

  _____

From: philmont@troop47.com [mailto:philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of Bob
Schaettle
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 7:48 PM
To: philmont List Member
Subject: [philmont] What would you do??

Let him do the Grand Canyon hike. It won't hurt anything, and it will prove
beyond any doubt whether he can handle Philmont, or not. It will be far
easier to sit down with him at the end of the Grand Canyon hike and
realistically assess whether he could handle Philmont.
 
Have you tried adjusting his pack? Is the load falling primarily on his
shoulders? Inexperienced backpackers seem top have difficulty getting their
load to ride on their hips, and it makes a huge difference. Most packs have
a way to adjust where the should straps attach to the frame, and this
adjustment may make a big difference.
 
Also, look at how much weight he's carrying compared to his body weight. If
it's inappropriate, redistribute his load to older stronger boys. Also get
him to cut back on anything that he could possibly do without. Don't let
his mother pack the proverbial kitchen sink into his pack; I've seen that
fairly often.
 
--Bob Schaettle
Rochester, Minnesota
 

----- Original Message -----
From: Troop 681 <mailto:troop681@hotmail.com> scouter
To: philmont List Member <mailto:philmont@troop47.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 6:37 PM
Subject: [philmont] What would you do??

 
We have one scout who, though small, we thought would be able able to make
it backpacking Philmont for 10 days. He backpacked in the High Sierras of
northern Califorina last summer with a school group, 5-6 days. He is small,
completing the 8th grade this year........he is also the SPL right now and
doing a great job.
 
BUT, after completing our 2nd tune up this weekend, the other advisor and my
self are starting to have doubts. On the over night tune ups, by the end of
the hike he is taking steps and turning his feet in (pigeon toed). You can
also tell by his body language he is struggling, though he doesn't complain.
Our tune ups have only been 10 to 12 miles total so far, at elevations of
5200+ ft in San Diego county. We're backpacking the Grand Canyon (Havasupai
Indian Reservation) in April, and he's going too.
 
MY QUESTION --- should we tell his parents now about our doubts??? OR wait
until after we see how he does on the Grand Canyon hike??

Kim Pigorsch
Philmont '99, '03, '07 (724-T)
Troop 681 Outdoor Chairmun (sic)

www.troop681.com - troop website
www.sdicbsa.org - Council Website

San Diego, CA

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Received on Sun Mar 25 19:22:53 2007