I'm going to propose a contrarian point of view here, so please bear with me. What I am about to submit for your consideration is a more time consuming, more difficult to get your youth involved with, but ultimately, I believe, more satisfying method of choosing an itinerary. It will also obviate, in a way, any concerns about changes or renumbering of treks.
What I propose is to look at the trek offerings LAST instead of first.
As I have mentioned several times in previous posts, get the sector maps from Tooth of Time Traders. NOW, while the thought is fresh. Include the Valle Vidal. Who knows what your crew will choose. They might like Rich Cabins better than Fish Camp. It's their trip. (I'd go for Fish Camp, myself, but that's just me-I'm into the history).
Study the sector maps until you can see the contour lines come to life. Green stuff on the map is actually GREEN in person. White and brown stuff, not so much. Blue lines are actually babbling brooks. Very peaceful. Some have trout. You can drink from them when you're thirsty. Not a bad deal, all things considered.
If your crew has already elected a crew leader, get him a copy of the sector maps. Include the cost in the crew expenditures. No question that the crew leader should have his own set of maps. If you are delaying the choice of crew leader (as in a contingent crew), buy a crew leader's set of maps anyway. Although you haven't formally elected a leader, you should be able to identify the three or four oldest or more experienced guys who would be candidates. Get them together for one or more intensive map-reading sessions, without the full crew (They will thank you for it later). Serve refreshments. A nice dip and chips or wings or pizza or something. (Pot luck would work if you've got a few real "Boy Scouts" in your crew. Good luck with that.) Otherwise, charge it to the expedition. It's that important.
That's why a crew requires LEADERS. Youth leaders. To LEAD. The founding fathers would tell you how inefficient and ultimately unsatisfying it is to refer every issue to a "Committee of the Whole". That's why Congress has individual committees. Select (or elect) a few guys to be the "trek selection committee".
End result: have your youth "trek selection committee" figure out what part of the ranch your crew wants to visit, considering ONLY the geography.
If they get real excited about their duties, they can check out the 3D images available on Google Earth or other sources. If you're the only one interested in the trip to that extent, it diminishes the idea of having the boys choose. Get at least a couple of them interested early, and often. Hence, the trek selection "committee".
Now, tackle the program choices. Get an old copy of the "Guidebook to Adventure" with its description of the various program features. Get a copy of Rock Rohrbacker's book "Philmanac; A Trekkers guide to the Philmont Backcountry" with its description of every Philmont camp, present and past, and the programs available at each. Share these sources with your "committee".
While we're on the topic of purchasing Philmont literature from Tooth of Time Traders, why wait until you get to the Ranch to buy books you will treasure the rest of your life and pass on to the youth in your troop, your son or sons or, at the very least, will be your own treasured possessions until, in an admittedly rare but not out of the question scenario, your loved ones place them in your casket to accompany you to your final rest? (Beloved spouses, let me know if this vision ever comes to pass).
Buying the books NOW, particularly the coffee table books, and having them shipped in a nice box rather than in your backpack would both help your crew prepare and get you the souvenir you know you're going to buy anyway. Get a photo of that camp where you're planning to set up your tent, sooner rather than later.
There are also many books available at the Seton Library, but not online. Call the Seton Library where someone will take whatever time you need to complete your purchase. The Seton Library is also your destination for Southwestern jewelry and textiles. Check it out if you're stumped for a holiday gift for those close to you.
But I digress.
Once your "trek selection committee" has vetted the program choices, have THEM describe the progam features to the rest of the crew. It is difficult, if not impossible, to pass on the geographical information, but they should be able to lead a discussion of the program features, keeping the geographical highlights in the back of their minds, ready to bring to the fore when a choice need be made.
Then, and only then, should the itinerary choices be examined and prioritized. I find that the skeleton maps which accompany the trek booklet provide next to no information about the hikes themselves. As I and many have observed : "the hikes are the program" notwithstanding what is available at the staffed camps. A trek which spends two days going from Cimmarroncito to Sawmill does not, in my opinion, offer enough pure hiking on those two days. An in-depth examination of the maps would cause an experienced youth to realize this on his own, without my input, or allow the youth to appreciate what I was talking about, with little waste of time.
On the other hand, a crew which chose that itinerary after diligent study would be forewarned to try to come up with their own program on those two days, to make up for the lack of hiking miles, if the crew leader had taken the time in advance to examine the sector maps.
Although my last three trips to the Ranch have been on Autumn Adventure, (all adult), where the only consideration is geography (no program features are in operation) and there are no pre-planned itineraries, I have served for many of the past few years as a "shakedown advisor", an extra adult who provides a car, some insight into what a Philmont expedition is all about, and a preview of Ranger training, for crews in my council.
I have found that the trek selection is done in a matter of a few minutes, by the crew as a whole, all of whom who have just been presented with the choices with no time for reflection, with the emphasis on getting the postcard back as fast as possible, rather than on a reasoned weighing of the treks. What good is it to get your first choice when not enough thinking went into that choice?
Democracy is a good thing. There is, however, a difference between New England town meeting democracy (everyone votes, no matter how well informed) and democracy where a committee is appointed to study the issue in depth and report to the whole crew.
I also urge you to ignore the Philmont designation of a trek as Typical, Rugged, Challenging, Strenuous or Super Strenuous. They're ALL more than a typical youth in that age category can handle. More suited to Boy Scouts and others of that ilk. Have your youth LOOK AT THE SECTOR MAPS THEMSELVES. They may prefer a long hike rather than the COPE course at the end of the hike (Nothing against COPE courses; that's for the youth, not for yours' truly).
This all takes TIME. If you get nothing out of this post other than TWO things, they are: STUDY THE SECTOR MAPS and TAKE YOUR TIME, regardless of the constraints of getting the postcard back. The more you want the youth to choose the treks, the more you must FORCE them to PAY ATTENTION and give trek selection the proper amount of time.
Of course, if you do it yourself, you won't have these problems, but all will agree that's not the way to go. Same goes for if you do it yourself, then unduly influence the "voting". It's for the youth to choose. (This one's hard for the repeat advisor. We all want to see parts of the Ranch we've never seen before. Thank goodness for Autumn Adventure, where these longings are easily satisfied).
If you study the maps and the program choices LONG before you tackle the trek selection, you will not be fazed by any renumbering or re-ordering of itineraries.
Yours in Scouting,
Bill Sheehan, ASM
Troop 55, Pitman, NJ
Philmont '70.'72, Autumn Adventure '01,'03,'05
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Received on Fri Nov 24 18:13:27 2006
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