Bright Spot

After a summer filled with disappointment.  First the fires at Philmont cancelled our trek and many others, and then the cancellation of the entire year due to fires, we were looking for a bright spot.  We had a great number of scouts who attended summer camp and had a good time, but not a High Adventure type good time.

We have 4 scouts attending the National Order of the Arrow Conference.  They should have an amazing time!  Glad they could end the summer on a high note!  Look forward to hearing about what they learned.  Scouts attending from past years have had incredible experiences.

Philmont cancelled for the Season

PHILMONT SCOUT RANCH ANNOUNCES CLOSURE FOR 2018 SUMMER SEASON – 7/5/18

After careful consideration of the situation and available options, the difficult but prudent decision has been made that the Philmont backcountry will remain closed for treks and individual programs for the remainder of the 2018 summer season. This means that the following programs scheduled for this summer are canceled: 7- and 12-day treks; and individual backcountry programs, including Rayado, ROCS, Trail Crew, STEM and Ranch Hands.

This has been a difficult and at the same time inspiring summer at Philmont. For the first time in its history, Philmont is closing its backcountry. As difficult as this situation has been for our Philmont family and for Scouts across our country, we have been truly inspired by the incredible enthusiasm and perseverance shown by our staff, the resourcefulness displayed by displaced crews to find other summer adventures, and the understanding and good wishes from thousands of Scouts and Scouters from around the world. For all of these blessings, we are truly grateful.

Fire danger in northern New Mexico is currently classified as “extreme.” The fire danger has led to closure of most public lands near Philmont. The Carson National Forest’s nearby Questa and Camino Real Ranger Districts, including the Valle Vidal area that Philmont utilizes, have been closed to public access. The New Mexico Game and Fish Department has similarly closed all of its properties that border Philmont, including the Colin Neblett Wildlife Management Area on our western border and the Elliott S. Barker Wildlife Management Area adjacent to our North Country. Links to these closure notices are included at the end of this release.

On Friday, June 29, 2018, the Morris (Moras) Creek fire started south of the Philmont property line on private neighboring property near the Rayado River Canyon. This fire is currently more than 1500 acres and is burning on Philmont property.

Knowing the disappointment our crew went through when we learned that our trek was cancelled, I feel bad for the remaining crews that just learned their treks were cancelled.

Philmont Cancelled

As many of you are aware, Philmont has a major fire currently.  Over 30,000 acres have burned or are burning.  For safety sake, they have made the difficult decision to cancel ALL treks until July 14, 2018.  This includes our trek.  While we are all disappointed at losing our trek, we certainly understand them doing  what they must do to keep everyone safe.  We know they will make the best of what they can for the other crews coming to Philmont later this summer.

The dark border is the outline of Philmont National Scout Ranch.  The red area is what has/is burning.  Just devastating.

Server Migration

The site was down for a couple of days due to server migration.  As usual, everything did not go as smoothly as expected.  As of last night, I think all of the settings are fixed and everything is working properly again.  I can see the blog again, so thats a good thing.

Hopefully, everything is smooth from here on.

Philmont Training

Its hard to believe that we are less than 7 weeks away form Philmont.  Yea, everyones getting excited.

Its even tougher to believe that today’s 6 mile hike was only our second time out after 6 inches of SNOW last week.  Thats not even funny.  Not even a little.  Then it warmed up, and we had flooding on the route we normally train on.  The weather has improved,and its time to get serious about getting ready.  We had a good pace and finished in an hour and 50 minutes.

For those planning to go, I strongly recommend getting out with your pack twice a week for a 6-7 mile hike.  Get the boots broken in, figure out combination or type of sock works for you.  Start out with about 15-20 pounds in your back pack and learn how to adjust your pack.  Gradually work up to 45-50 pounds as that’s probably about where you will be when you leave camp with you clothes, camping gear, crew gear, water and food.  Its amazing what even 15-20 pounds does to change how you walk and distribute weight.

 

Philmont Trek Selection

Our scouts put a lot of time and effort into selecting the top 5 treks that they wanted to do this year.  Today was the day to put in our selections.  At 12:30 Central time, our trek was confirmed.  We have Trek 24!  Our first choice.  In 6 treks, I have gotten our 1st choice 5 times and 2nd choice once when we were going with a sister crew.  Going through the selection process is a little stressful and takes planning. Just make sure you follow all of their directions and get everything you can preloaded.

We are excited.  We will get to see the T-Rex track, see Metcalf Station and the train tracks.  We will go over Baldy and tooth of Time.

It has several camps that I have been through, but never stayed at – Anastazi, Baldy Town, Santa Claus, Pueblano.  It also has camps that I have never been to – Dan Beard, Deer Lake Mesa, Metcalf Station.

And camps that I have stayed at – we go through Indian Writings, Cimarroncito, Shaefers Pass.

It had a great combination of programs and trail camps. 

Should be a great time!

Training has been in low gear for the winter.  Now its time to get serious!

We are still looking for our 12th member.

OKPIK 2018

Okpik 2018 was a wonderful time. Good weather up and back.
They have multiple options for your stay. You can spend the entire trek out on the ice camping, do a ski trek where you move camp each night and ski at least 5 miles each day and a dog sled trek where you spend the trip dog sledding. Due to the weather forecast of very low temps, our crew decided to stay close to basecamp. This gave them the option to stay out in tents, build a quinzee to stay in, or stay in a cabin if the temperature got too cold.

When you arrive, you spend the first night in a small warm cabin.
The crew photo before the adventure begins.

meeting

Meeting their interpreter.  He will be with them for the entire trek.  He is also the one to be sure it is safe for them to be out in case of severe weather.Each crew starts with planning their trek.  Where they will stay and what they will be doing.  This is important for basecamp to know where everyone is out in the woods.

Part of their training session.  Talking about layering pads under the sleeping bag to stay warm.  They have enough gear to completely outfit your entire crew if needed.

 Forecast for the week.  Good thing they have plenty of warm gear!

Lots of skis, poles and snowshoes. Thats a lot of snow leading to a cabin. Sunrise in Northern Minnesota is always pretty in the winter. I think they need a sign for the winter. Getting ready to sled down one of their big hills. Yea, its fun!

Sledding closeup Another group photo Selfie

Outside, you can stay in a tent, or you can build a quinzee.  The quinzees are fun to build and really warm inside. A variation on broom ball A very clear ski at night Oh yea! Dogsledding. They are ready to go! Dogsledding is an amazing amount of fun!

 

The group had an incredible amount of fun at OKPIK.  They took advantage of all of the activities they offered.  Can’t wait for the next time to go back!

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