4/6/00 4:11 PM
I wanted the two crews of guys heading out to Philmont to have the most open-minded experience they could. I also wanted for myself to experience the other end of getting to Philmont. Seeing how the Staff acted on an individual crew basis and not from a whole day’s worth of crews. There is a major difference in how you approach each crew, which could affect the crew’s entire perspective. I was certainly looking forward to that.
The first thing I wanted to experience was the way my Baltimore Area Council handled Philmont prep. Once a month for several months, there would be updates and information for each head advisor of each crew going. Major items at these times were money payments, prep work for future Philmont related issues, and conversations between the 3-4 different people helping coordinate the council contingent. One item that I found interesting was the way they selected treks. This was based wholly on what percentage of your crew has paid for Philmont. The better the percent your crew has sent in, the better the chance you would get at getting the trek you wanted. (pretty fair from what I could tell)
Some other notes from what I experienced in these few meetings I made it to. The crew advisor I was in the crew with had the same passion for backpacking as I had, and was on the same wavelength for gear. He said that he was the youngest guy in the room by a couple years, and I couldn’t believe him. I got to the meeting and was shocked; I looked WAY out of place there. Most of the people there were adult leaders looking like they came from the manual on what your typical leader looks like book. Quiet a few were overweight and that worried me. From experience I knew Philmont was cracking down on this trend. The leaders of the contingent made it painfully clear of Philmont’s position on this. Don’t meet the medical guidelines, you don’t go. Simple as that.
Our crews also had some meetings on our own. They were usually held during our normal weekly troop meetings. Which means you are getting a grab bag of who might not show up that week, as you are dealing with that critical age bracket of 13-18. Medical forms were passed out, information passed along, schedules lined up, and shakedowns were discussed.
On the side though, I did sit down with each group of crew advisors and go over what ever they wanted out of Philmont. This was during the time of trek selection, so I covered which area of Philmont had what. Which camp had what to offer, and what they ought to expect from these different distances and terrain. Somehow just reading the extremely well written and described treks are not always enough. There was a much easier comfort level for both crews as I described things. I actually had some flashbacks to Philmont doing this. It was a very cool feeling.
I took the traditional 11 day trip, 14 day vacation in July. It was hard, not physically but mentally. After some consideration, I don't think I am going to write up my journal entries. You can check out a journal and other pictures from my trek on my troop's webpage.
[Below are thoughts and ideas I came up with as I was getting ready to go back to Philmont as a camper.]
My initial response to going back:
During the summer of 2000, I went back to Philmont with my Troop to be an advisor with the crew. I did have have the time of my life. This was a much different prospective than my first visit in 1991 as a camper. This was also a very different view than being staff for 4 summers. I tried to see what it is like to revisit just a couple years after working there. As I have said before, "it is like working with the magician. You know how the rabbit is shoved in the sleeve before the show. When you come back to see the show, you don't look for the rabbit, you see how the trick is done."
- Initial response to going back
- What I expect so far
- My history with Philmont- Why going back means something special for me. (Also see: A Brief history of what I have done at Philmont)
- What can you do at Philmont?
- What intrigues me about Philmont?