We had another meeting for the Philmont trip this summer. Currently we have 9 of the 12 positions filled, but still looking to see if we can fill it.

The scouts did an amazing job tonight! In under 90 minutes, they watched a video of a prior trip, talked about what happens on a philmont trek. And picked their 6 top choices for their trek.

Mark got it entered into the Gateway.

They also decided on the leadership positions, so one more thing finalized.

Now, just waiting/hoping AMTRAK will have their sale on train tickets again.

The crew is in great shape for their upcoming trip.

Our crew just got back from an amazing trek. And now, we are doing planning for our 2022 trek. Some have been before, for some it will be their first trek. They are in for another trip of a lifetime!

Our crew is back from Philmont. They had an amazing time. Good weather. They were able to climb Baldy. You never know due to fog and weather. Full writeup has been posted under pages. It was another amazing trip, as they all are.

1 week to go. They have been training hard and are ready. They have all of their gear. They are ready for the train ride out.

Have a great trek!

Our crew has been training and working hard getting ready for their trek.

Under 2 weeks to go. They will have an amazing journey.

I tell all crews that they will be tested physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I tell the parents to look at their scouts now, because the scouts who return will not be the same scouts. This has been a life altering experience for more scouts than I can count. It’s a good thing.

We are ready for high Adventures. Last month, our Council held another class for Wilderness First Aid. We had about 20 participants. I really believe in this class. I think the material is very important.

The first time I took the class, it was 16 hours of lecture and a written test. I love the current format with more hands-on and scenarios.

Been happy to be on staff for the last 10 years. We have an amazing team that teaches the class. I am the only physician on the team, but we all bring so much experience, that it works. We have members who have done Philmont, hiked the Grand Canyon, and many other treks.

Out of 5 trips to Philmont, I have only needed to use Wilderness First Aid once when a leader fell about 10 feet off Tooth of Time into a crevasse in front of me. I was glad we had 5 members in my crew who had done the training and it worked exactly as it should. My training kicked in and everything worked as it should, despite everyone else on the mountain freaking out. It turned out fine.

This true scenario has become one of our test situations.

If you have the chance to take the class, do it!