Re: [Philmont]: Mileage and navigation

The skill is very useful for years like 2002 where new substitute treks
were being conjured every other week. Some of the hikes were pretty
stiff, like Baldy Skyline to Upper Bench, with program at Head of Dean
on the way. That's two days of hiking on the normal version of Trek 32.
  Having done that stretch probably 4 times in my Philmont career, I
knew it was going to be a looooooong day! But a Philmont novice Crew?
A trail profile would have at least warned them of what I already knew.
  And yes, encouraged some strict time management for that day at least.

Another scenario is where a Crew wants to know how long they can stay at
an exciting staff camp before moving on to a trail camp, and still get
there 2 hours before sunset. that is, plenty of time for dinner and camp
setup before dark. For example, Clark's Fork to Tooth Ridge. If you
have good values, you can figure your time requirement pretty accurately.

Of course, most Philmont treks are designed to be reasonable WRT their
day-to-day hiking. T'ain't necessarily so elsewhere. I have personally
found that trail profiling is much more useful for treks in true
wilderness scenarios where mileage and elevation changes are more a
matter of "windage and elevation" than true knowledge. For example, we
planned out our stops in the Wind Rivers (Wyoming) with the partial
assistance of some trail profiling, to ensure we weren't biting off more
than we could chew. A useful skill to have.

Finally, trail profiling increases the Scouts' knowledge of the day to
come, which (I suppose) is empowering. Certainly it cuts way down on
the dumb questions about how much further, where's the next water, where
the next latrine, etc. The entire Crew approaches the day with a more
confident attitude, based on knowledge and not just machismo.

Certainly neither Coop or I split hairs on tenths of miles or +/- 15
minutes, and neither should anyone else. If you're that pressed for
time, get up earlier and get out of camp quicker. But for a good
overview and reasonable estimates, it's hard to beat.

- Dr. Bob

Roman Smith wrote:
> I hang around this list for general backpacking info. We have no
> Philmont trips planned at this time. I am asking this question for all
> of those who are just not taking the time to really send an email to
> actually get the question out in the open.
>
> Will all of the discussion of how actually to calculate the exact
> mileage for the trek and for the day, the question is...why do it? It
> really sounds like a great skill. But does it really make a difference
> if the actually mileage for one day is 10.5 or 10.8 miles? I doubt it.
> Will you leave 7 minutes earlier in the morning? No. Will you cut a 20
> minute break down to 5? I doubt it.
>
> If you think you will late for your chuck wagon dinner, then just by the
> fact that you are arriving *that* late in the day shows you have bigger
> problems than calculating distances down to the foot.
>
> Mind you, I am not against any exercise in trail skills that helps a
> scout learn new skills or takes an average activity one more step for
> the crew. If you want to do these types of calculations, do them. I
> doubt that you will get much benefit from the overall experience, get
> somewhere significantly earlier, or avoid missing an activity. If I am
> missing something here, let me know. What real benefit is there to a
> Philmont crew that would help them get through the trek? What benefit
> is there other than learning a worthwhile skill? (Which as I pointed is
> reason enough to do it in and of itself.)
>
>
> ----------------------------------
> Roman J. Smith
> Organizational Representative
> St. Joseph Church, South Bend, IN
> to Pack & Troop 505
> roman.j.smith.13@nd.edu
>
> "None but cowards have to prove their bravery."
> Asply Cherry-Garrard
> From: The Worst Journey in the World

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Received on Thu May 20 18:09:58 2004