Re: [Philmont]: Pete Swiggum's inquiry

One more comment I haven't seen yet (or maybe I missed?) Philmont is
physical AND mental, and you must be prepared in both areas. It's great
Pete's crew is ready physically - at least the kids are. Our last crew was
comprised of eight very physically fit 15 1/2 - 19 year old youth, and four
'fairly' fit adult advisors. We were set in the physical department, but it
can be tough to keep spirits up for 7 days of rain and you're tired of
being cold and clammy. Day 3 when your ranger leaves can be tough even
though you may not attribute to the change in mood of the crew to the
ranger leaving. People have certain expectations of Philmont, or anything
they have looked forward to for so long, and sometime during the trek
someone may realize it's different than they expected. Little things that
didn't bother you about your tent-mate on shakedown trips might bother you
by the 10th day on the trail. And imagine our surprise when on day 6, our
19 y/o "cool guy" was the one who was homesick! Or, when you get too much
chlorine in the water at a staffed camp and suddenly everyone is scrambling
for the orange shovel at the same time! Keeping a positive attitude or
sense of humor in less than ideal circumstances has nothing to do with
physical preparation. Select your crew carefully, spend a lot of time
together before the trek, practice "Thorns and Roses" on the trail, and
you'll have a great "mental" trip as well.

Have a great trek!
Jill

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Received on Fri Sep 3 14:03:00 2004