Small world

With all the tragedies and disasters in the news, one can sometimes get numb.  Unless you are directly affected or have some ties to it through family or friends, you may gloss over it as another news story.    

In the last two months, we have seen a plant explosion in West, Texas, Boston Marathon bombing, several devastating tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma, flooding in the Midwest  storms in the east, devastating fires in New Mexico and Colorado.

It is the latter that has been on my mind of late.  I've been deeply worried about Abby and her family/home up in Colorado Springs.  After going through the same drill last year, she seems to be fairly calm and well prepared.  I am not sure I would be as calm given the circumstances.   

Life is funny how things are related.  I watched the news thinking that the wildfires in Colorado would not have any impact upon us this far south.  I did not realize until yesterday how close we are sometimes tied together.  A friend alerted us as to the status of our scout troop.  Our troop has been in existence for over 25 years and very active in camping and other outdoors activities.  They typically do camp outs every weekend and two long term camps in the winter and summer.  During my stint with the troop, we were always looking at new camps for the summer.  One of our criteria was simple:  some place cool.  That pretty much crossed out most of Texas and Louisiana.  Many summer camps for the troop were out of state:  New Mexico, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma.  Ever since my son left for college years ago, we haven't been keeping up with the troop activities.  It turns out that 1852 was spending this summer at Camp Chris Dobbins east of Colorado Springs (east of Black Forest).  They just hit camp last weekend and were to be there for a full week.  On Wednesday morning, the Elbert County officials pulled the plug and evacuated the camp.  Most of the local troops went home while several out of state troops were housed in the fair grounds.  Our troop was one of those.  Camped out at the fair grounds until it was either safe to go back to camp or they would head home.  Last word I had was that they were headed back here.  This was the first long term summer camp my son and I attended in scouts.  I led the trek there and it was a great camp for scouts and adults.  It had never occurred to me until recently that I was in Abby's neck of the woods (13 years ago).   

So many homes lost, so many people affected.  I'll keep praying for everyone in Colorado.  Hoping for some rain or a late snow storm.  Or at least the wind to die down.  

Philmont trail log

Ive been pondering this theme for a while.

The boy scout troop is heading back to Philmont and I've always had a hankering to go back on the trail one more time.  I've been fortunate to hike the tails of Philmont twice (both times as an adult advisor) and it was something I am proud to have done.

Let me start everyone off with a brief overview of Philmont:  Located in northern New Mexico, Philmont Scout Ranch is a national camping area, owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. Philmont is large, comprising 137,493 acres or about 215 square miles of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) range of the Rockies. 32 staffed camps and 50 unstaffed camps are operated by the ranch. Philmont has high mountains which dominate rough terrain with an elevation ranging from 6,500 to 12,441 feet.

Many people consider Philmont to be the ultimate scouting adventure (count me as one).  Crews of 8-12 boys/adults will hike over the trails of Philmont over 10 days with various levels of difficulty.  The treks each crew takes will be 10 days and may range from 70 to 120 miles and may range from 7,000 to 12,000 in elevation.  The level of difficulty of each trek is dependant upon the experience of the crew and how much they want to experience. 
 
Philmont is an experience for all who get to particpate.  10 hard days on the trail with a crew of boy scouts and adults where you will learn to depend upon each other for survival.  Not a walk in the park.  Not for the casual hiker.  No whiners allowed.  If you choose to participate, you need to step it up and bring your "A" game.  Seriously, you must be physically able to handle a backpacking trek over some rough terrain without any injury.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many that will help them later in life.  
 
Sound like I am trying to sell this?  Perhaps.  I've wanted to go to Philmont for many years.  As a young scout, I dropped out of the program before I realized what I was missing out on.  When my son joined scouts, I tried to encourage him to participate in this experience and was glad he chose to do it where I could participate as well. 
 
Getting into Philmont is not easy.  Requires lots of advanced planning and preparation.  Reservations are typically taken almost 18 months in advance and they are on the lottery system.  If you win a slot, you have 1.5 years to prepare.  This means both spiritually and physically.  The troop will typically attend Philmont every 3-5 years, depending upon scout participation and the drive of the troop leadership.  This year the troop is going back to the ranch and I am glad they have the opportunity to do so.  
 
I did a trek with my son in 2004.  Was my first time and I was green.  Did not know what to expect.  Did not know how to prepare.  We took two crews and had a great time.  Hiked 72+ miles over 10 days.  Several blisters.  Lost 12 lbs.  Had caffeine withdrawal.  Back hurt.  Knees hurt.  Was dirtier and smellier than we have ever been.  Was one of the most memorable times of our lives.  I gave up 2.5 weeks of vacation and paid my own ticket and was glad to have done my time on the trail.  
 
I got to go back in 2007, but, unfortuneatly, junior had a job that year and could not go.  Since I was the ringleader of this little excursion, I wound up going again to lead a new crew over the hills and valleys of northern New Mexico.  The troop went again in 2008 and I was unable to make that trek, but I sent out daily e-mail blasts to the parents/family to let them know what their son was doing each day.  It was kind of a trail diary to give them a picture of life while hiking the trails of Philmont.  Since the troop is going back again, I thought I would repeat those updates on this blog to give everyone an idea of what trail life was like at Philmont.   

 

So, here is my plan:  over the next 12 days, I will give everyone a daily update on where the crew is and what they should be doing.  Hopefully, I can give you an idea of what life on the trail is like. 

Happy Anniversary (plus one)

I was off Monday in an all day motivational seminar (whoo-hoo! I'm motivated! More on that later this week.) and forgot to post this yesterday. My bad. Must be the old age creeping up on me.

Anyhoo, yesterday, February 8th, was the 100th (as in 10 decades) anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.

Founded on the ideas and principles of Lord Robert Baden-Powell in England and brought to these shores in 1910 due, in part, to an act of kindness by one unknown scout doing his daily good turn, the BSA has grown from a small group into an international organization whose goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations.

Oh, sure it's really cool to camp out in the woods, play with fire, swim in the lakes and rivers, learn how to build stuff, but scouting builds character.

For the small crowd of people who infrequenlty visit my humble musings, ya'll might pick up, on occasion, that I support the BSA organization. Have done it for years and continue to do so now. I strongly believe in the purpose and mission of the BSA.

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to all Scouts & Scouters!

On My Honor

Nice way to end to a crappy day.

My days have been getting busier at the office. The system upgrade project is moving along at the speed of dark and I am only 3 weeks behind. When I try to block out a day to do some testing or verify the data, someone dumps another nebulous project or task in my lap (How many barks in a dog? or Where does light go when you turn it off?). Something that, it appears, only I can answer. At this rate, I'll be done with my project sometime in 2011. On top of that, I am trying to get things done before we hit the road to visit junior in Seattle in a couple of weeks. Needless to say, I was a wee bit testy.

But, I digress. Last week I was invited to sit in on a Board of Review for Eagle Scout rank for a kid in our old troop. I've known this kid for 7+ years and have been on many camp outs and camps with him. Great kid with a bright future. I have not been as active in the troop since my son moved off but I felt the need to be there so I said yes. Fast forward to today and, with my schedule/workload, I was questioning my acceptance (don't have time, running late, etc.), but somehow, I managed to sneak off, drive home in record time, change into my scout uniform and make it to the church in time to serve on the board. An Eagle Board of Review is the final review of a scout to determine if he is ready/qualified to become an Eagle Scout. We get to sit in judgement of the scout and his accomplishments over the past 6-7 years to deem him worthy of the rank. Now, for those not as familiar with Scouting and what an Eagle Scout is, I will just say it is the highest rank in scouting and very few people have achieve that rank (my son is one). It is considered a great honor and represents a mark of leadership and accomplishment for a young scout that will carry forward throughout his life. Many leaders/important people have earned that rank and it can open doors for those who can get it. Not everyone can get this award and it is a long road to earn it, but of the few that do, it is a measure of their character (IMHO). I am glad/proud to be able to have served on the board and helped him achieve this goal. I was part of his experience and remember sitting on a similar board when he turned Tenderfoot 6 years ago. I challenged him then to stay with the program and reach for the stars and, tonight, he has earned the rank. I am a big supporter of Boy Scouts and tend to give them my support whenever possible. One of the slogons we have is that: "Scouting Builds Character."

Congratulations Kevin!

Outstanding job!

Semper Paratus!