[Philmont]: Navigation was Daily Itinerary Mileage

Coop Wright says, "At each trail intersection, the entire crew should stop and examine the map."

I believe stopping at each trail intersection is critical at Philmont. These intersections offer multiple opportunities to get lost. You might as well spend the extra time to pick the correct trail.

We ended up with a different system than the "naviguesser." Our system worked for us.

We had two scouts who eventually became the permanent navigators. One volunteered to serve as crew navigator early in our planning process. Every scout had a role, and he volunteered for this one. The other scout has good terrain awareness.

We only missed the trail once, and then only by 200 yards. These two guys took their job very seriously, and we became confident in their navigation.

Between Copper Park and Head of Dean, we came upon a fire cut along a ridge. This cut was wide, as I remember almost a two-lane jeep trail. You could see it from the top of Baldy. It was made during the fire fighting of the 2002 Ponil Complex fire. Fortunately, they did not need to use it.

Anyway, this fire cut was not on the map. It cut through several trails, and it wasn't immediately apparent where we needed to go. Our two navigators got our their map. They then walked to a higher point to get a better view. They found the correct trail, and we moved on. No adult instructed them what do to; they figured it out. At that point, I knew we were boy led.

When you think about it, you do not rotate the crew chief, you do not rotate the chaplains aide. Why do you need to rotate the navigator when finding where you need to go is important.

Again, this system worked for us. The key point is to stop at each trail junction and look at the map.

David K. Palmer
Scoutmaster - Olympia (Wash.) Troop 266
2003 Crew 726-O Trek #24
Every Scout Absolutely Matters

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Received on Sun May 23 22:37:54 2004