[philmont] 618-B1 is home...

We were not speedsters by any means. Remember, we had a 14 year old co-ed
Venturer in our crew. She weighed 102 pounds and carried about 35 pounds.
There was no quit in her little heart, but she was by no means a speedster.

We train on our shakedowns to break camp in 40 minutes. This is done by
taking care of things before you go to bed at night. Ever heard the story
about the hired hand that could "sleep when the wind blew?" He took care of
things ahead of time so he didn't have to worry when the storms hit. We
actually spend one shakedown (usually February) doing nothing but setting up
and tearing down camp (with a few miles of hiking thrown in) just to get the
techniques down. Our longest time this trip for breaking camp was 1:10.
This was because we had a VERY short hike - Lovers to Crater Lake - and
didn't want to be there before staff woke up. Most mornings were 40 to 45
minutes from wake up to packs on.

We have a duty roster that the crew treats as law. Morning and evening jobs
are assigned and expectations are included. The crew never complained about
their assigned duties and got the job done. A day of backpacking includes
about 2 hours of work (not hiking, but just general work). The crew has the
option of doing these 2 hours of work in 2 hours, or they can spread it out
over 6-8 hours and lose the opportunity to do program, take a nap, see a
different trail, etc. Our crew did the work in 2 hours.

We prepare in camp the evening before - hiking water fully loaded, all
non-smellable crew gear loaded, all personal gear not needed in the tents
loaded. This takes about 10 minutes with a crew willing and ready to get
the job done. Also, the crew hits the sack fairly early. Most evening on
this trip we were in bed by 9:30pm. One night was 8:00pm (Beaubien to Wild
Horse) and one night was around 10:45 (after the great Crater Lake campfire
- next day was Crater to Black Mountain, a fairly easy hike).

We get up early. We got up at 4am the morning of hiking from Cito to Tooth
Ridge and were packs on at 4:40am. We actually waited around for 15 minutes
in order to be able to hike without headlamps. The reason for the early
start was two-fold. First, the Tooth Ridge hike is basically shade-free.
Hiking it in the heat of the day is brutal and no fun for kids. Second, an
early start allows us to beat the early afternoon storms as proven by the
early arrival at Tooth Ridge before the rain & hail. There were supposed to
be 8 crews camping at Tooth Ridge that evening. Two crews made it to camp
before the rain and hail. We beat it by 3 hours. The next crew beat it by
10 minutes. The rest were stuck on the trail.

Also, we caterpillar. We took our packs off one time on the hike from Cito
to Tooth Ridge. We stopped at Clarks Fork for 27 minutes to max out on
water and to eat breakfast. We made Clarks at 6am and left at 6:27am.
Other than that, our breaks were many along the trail, but the crew was
always moving forward.

I'm not trying to brag. This is the way I was trained for Philmont and any
mountain backpacking (except for the caterpillar) as a youth by my
Scoutmaster, and this is the way I train my kids. Gene (gives the nightly
advisors meeting at Philmont) is a BIG FAN of getting up early and getting
on the trail. Our ranger said most of his crews took at least 2 hours to
break camp (not including eating breakfast in camp). I just don't know how
that happens. I've never done it. I don't know that our way is the best
way, but I do know that our kids are never worn out on the trail and they
always get to camp in time for program or that coveted afternoon nap.

And I was VERY proud of our crew for making Tooth Ridge at 10:20am. The
advisors figured it would be closer to noon. Kids are remarkable creatures,
and they make us envy them on a daily basis at Philmont. I just wish they
knew how good they have it.

Shane Hoffman

Advisor - Crew 445 - <http://www.crew445.org> www.crew445.org

Committee Member - Troop 445 - <http://www.troop445.org> www.troop445.org

Webmaster - www.philmontforum.com

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose" ~
Jim Elliot

  _____

From: philmont@troop47.com [mailto:philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of
dtadsen@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 2:57 PM
To: philmont List Member
Subject: [philmont] 618-B1 is home...

Sounds like your crew a fantastic experience.
I am in awe....
"Our day 11 was a hike from Cito to Tooth Ridge. We arrived at Tooth Ridge
at 10:20am under clear skies."
Your crew must have absolute speedsters on the trail... very impressive.

DT

 
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Received on Thu Jul 3 19:46:12 2008