[philmont] Keeping together on the trail

All during our trek we had heard, and were warned, about the Hawaiian
chicken, yet that one didn't even register on our bad food radar. I don't
recall how we cooked it but that meal didn't stand out, on the other hand,
and I don't think I've seen anyone mention this yet, the "beefy vegetable
soup" was truly awful. It was like drinking pure soy sauce. You would have
had to dilute it another 10x to make it edible. Even our garbage gut scout
had trouble getting that nasty stuff down. Our crew were big eaters. We
were a crew of 11, carrying food for 12, and even with the extra food, their
first activity at any staffed camp was to go dumpster diving for additional
chow in the swap box.

Concerning hiking pace, we initially struggled with that one. Most of our
scouts when given the opportunity to lead, would start at an adequate pass
but would increase over time and wear themselves (and everyone else) out.
We had one scout though that could maintain a rock steady pace, so when it
wasn't his turn to lead (and be naviguesser) we put him in the number two
position in the line and he basically kept the pace during the trek. Our
crew tended to take a 5 min pack on break every hour and then a longer pack
off break for lunch or a scenery stop. We had practiced the caterpillar
technique
during our training hikes but didn't use it at all during Philmont.
Climbing the goat trail up Phillips, the boys just geared way down and kept
a steady slow pace going. Each crew is different, but that is what worked
for us.

John Hibbard
ASM T216, Cary, NC
2006 707-N3, and hopefully again in 2008

----- Original Message -----
From: "David K. Palmer" <dkpcullen@comcast.net>
To: "philmont List Member" <philmont@troop47.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 12:32 AM
Subject: [philmont] Keeping together on the trail

>I did not think the Hawaiian Chicken was that bad when mixed with Ramen and
>vegetables, but that is not why I am writing tonight.
>
> I am a real stickler for keeping the crew on the trail together. For the
> most part, we kept together. Two strategies helped.
>
> First, the leader was always someone who hiked at a pace that the entire
> crew could follow. The leader did not need to be the slowest, but he
> needed to hike at a pace that the slowest hiker could maintain.
>
> Second, we hiked best when we took regular rest stops. Another advisor
> suggested a strategy at the Cyphers Mine advisors' coffee, and we found
> that it worked. You hike for 30 minutes, and then take a 5 minute pack on
> break. You follow that break with 30 additional minutes of hiking, with a
> 20 minute pack off break at the end. Then, you repeat the process.
>
> We used these two strategies instead of the caterpillar, which we used
> only once - climbing Mt. Phillips.
>
> --
> David K. Palmer
> Scoutmaster & Advisor
> 2006 Crew 806-C Trek #22
> Olympia, WA
>
>
>
>
>
>
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Tue Oct 3 21:10:11 2006