[Philmont]: Route selection' (burros)

I knew you were going to get many responses and I looked forward to them. And I was right, all great advice. Basically, you will get the Treks book and then you will select the top four or five treks which offer what you want. The book provides a grid which allows you to compare treks.

  So, what do I add to the discussion? I want to second what one person said. That is: I would not go for the horseback ride again. That was the only bust we have had in our treks. And I want to ask the list - would you do the burros again? We have never done the burros but I have heard that they are not fun. In fact, our Ranger this year told us a story about a Japanese Troop that has been banned from Philmont forever. He said that they got so frustrated with the burros that they pushed them off a cliff! Somehow the burros were walking along, not loaded with any gear, and slipped! That story went around our proverbial campfire for an hour, and I heard boys discussing it from tents late into the night. "How could they?" "Where were the leaders?"

Don't micromanage. Let the scouts choose. Don't sweat the small stuff, it will all come together. Philmont logistics and rangers are great. (Don't call home collect from those phones next to the lockers - incredibly expensive.) Enjoy the journey every step of the way. The journey is more important than the destination. Everyone is our troop is going to remember the burro story (and some other great conversations), more than we will remember that we did not get to one program area early enough to do the rock climbing. (We did get on the climbing wall.)

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Received on Fri Sep 3 14:54:02 2004