The meetings are over.
All of the planning is done.

The hiking and training is complete.

Saturday, 10 of us leave for another Adventure of a Lifetime!

We are hoping for good weather, but prepared for anything.

Philmont, here we come!

We are getting closer. The selections have been made and we got our first choice! We have trek 28. It looks really fun and really challenging. There are lots of great activities on this trek, but its a lot of miles over some challenging terrain. However, I am really excited to finally get the chance to climb Mount Baldy! I’ve missed it the other 3 times I have been to Philmont, so I was really excited when the scouts wanted to do a trek that went over Baldy.

Now, its time to get in shape for the trek . . .

Are you getting excited? The book with the 2014 treks should be coming out in March and trek selection in April.
Then, 2 months later – we are There!

We will look at having our next Philmont planning meeting mid to late March (after the book has arrived). The largest part of that meeting will be to decide and rank our top 5 treks.
We also need to decided on positions of responsibility.
We also need a design for t-shirts! We have had some creative ones in the past, so start thinking and be creative.

Know anyone who still wants to go? We still have 2 spots open.

We heard about the Ice Silo. What is it? And why would one want to climb it?
That’s easy – because its fun!
The Ice Silo has been around for a few years. It is part of the University Of Northern Iowa Outdoors Program. They took a normal silo, added safety lines and a custom water spraying system to it. They can control the amount of ice and its distribution. They are extremely well equipped. They have the helmets, safety glasses, harnesses, boots with cleats and ice hammers for each climber.

The Silo, ready to climb.

4 scouts start climbing

Ben looking relaxed as he decided where to put his axes

Aaron gets close to the top

3 others are working their way to the top

When you are ready to come down, you let your belayer know and they let you down.

Ben shows his climbing style

Ben and Caleb at the top

Ryan nears the top

Travis was new to ice climbing, but did great.

Aaron gets an easy ride down

Ryan nearing the top again

Aaron reaches for another hold

about 85 feet to the top of the ice

Our group.

The Ice Silo is a ridiculous amount of fun. For anyone who enjoys rock climbing, this is a really fun alternative.

You can find more information about it at here

Hard to believe, but we are back in Philmont planning mode.
Had 11 participants and several parents show up for the planning meeting.
A lot of information was given and lots of questions answered.
Caleb brought his gear in for everyone to see about what he packed for Philmont. Christmas is coming and Philmont gear makes great gifts. Even Santa has brought Philmont gear to our house!

7 months and counting. Going to be another great trip!

I have posted notes from our trek this year. As always, it is an amazing journey. As they say, the journey is the destination! Each year and crew brings its own challenges and skills to the table. No trip is identical to a previous trip. I have been fortunate enough to be part of three different and wonderful crews!

My notes from this years trip can be viewed here

What an amazing trip! Two crews, no injuries.
Our train left Fort Madison on time and got to Raton on time.

 

On the train were 5 other crews.  They were all fun to talk to, but one gentleman was really interesting.  This was his 31st trip to Philmont!  Wow!
It rained on us 7 out of 10 days on the trail. But, we never set up camp wet or in the rain. We always had time to dry out the tents during the day at program stops. We often put the tents away wet.
In the past, we never saw a bear. This time, we saw a mountain lion and a cinnamon black bear.  Our other crew also saw bears.  Some of them saw 4 bears, the others saw those 4 bears and found 2 others along the way.

 

On the way back, the train was 1 hour late and got to Fort Madison 2 ours late.