Going to Philmont--This year!

The calendar has turned and now we are finally in 2012. This simple little change is making the reality of going to Philmont seem closer and more real. Our crew is continuing to prepare with winter training that includes a session of walking stairs at a downtown building follow by a learning session led by our Scoutmaster. We are fortunate that he has been to Philmont several times and has extensive knowledge.


During the meeting this week, he had several handouts for the Scouts about the various Trek offered and programs. Time was spent in detail discussing each option. Being Scout run, it is up to the guys to decide our Trek and they left with worksheets to prioritize what they would like to do. I like the point of the Scoutmaster---There are many great places to go hike but there is only one and the difference there is the programs. I know they will chose well.

Wrapping up Woodbadge

My time as a Troop Guide for Woodbadge Course 1017 officially came to a close a couple of weeks ago. In some ways it seems like eons ago since the actual course and in some ways it seems just like yesterday. I am proud to have had the great privilege to be the Troop Guide for the Owl Patrol and to have seen them grow together as a team during the course. Next, I saw the Owls put their learning into practice through the implementation of their goals (Tickets).


In my non- Scouting life I am a Human Resource Development manager (training) for Sprint. I therefore speak from many years of training experience when I say that Woodbadge is a leadership development course on par or better than any course you will find in corporate America. I wish that during my tenure as a leadership trainer I would have had at my disposal courses that teach theory(weekend one), practice application(weekend two) and then had the participants show effective use of the training out in the real world(Tickets) with accountability for successful completion. Scouters get all of this and more with Woodbadge.

I wonder if any other non-profit organization has as great and effective training as does the Boy Scouts of America. We are fortunate indeed.

It is my hope that the Owls and others of SR 1017 will take the many lessons from Woodbadge and will continue to apply them in practice to benefit Scouting, their family, and their professional life. I know as a Troop guide, I personally took away experiences that have helped me grow. Truly life is a process of continual learning.

Good Luck Owls and all the participants of SR 1017. Thank you for taking such a commitment for to improve your effectiveness as Scout volunteers and as mentors to the next generation.

They did it!

Wow they did it! Our Scouts participating in the hiking merit badge hiked 20 miles last week. This was their final hiking requirement for the merit badge and last Philmont urban training hike before moving on to winter stair climbing.

As we walked I thought back to the first 5 mile hike we did way back in summer. I know at that time the thought of going a full 20 in a single day seemed a little far-fetched. Heck I have run several marathons but the idea of walking that far seemed crazy and painful in my mind. There is power in youthful exuberance and the guys had so much fun on all the hikes that the time seemed to fly by. I especially enjoyed the variety of locations around OKC and Edmond they chose for us to walk. It was not very many years ago that walking these trails would have been impossible since they did not even exist.

I was shocked really to read in a Philmont Advisor guide “Rangers that we talked to say that, based on their experience, 80% of the adult advisors coming to Philmont are not adequately prepared for the physical demands of the backcountry and that 50% of the adult advisors had not exercised at all prior to their arrival at Philmont.” Ouch!

I know from my own miserable experience as a youth at Philmont that being physically prepared is a key to actually having fun. I was not in the right shape as a kid at Philmont and my memories now are mostly of blisters and pain on the trail. Our Scouts and adults will be ready.

Perhaps my favorite part of the hike was the look on the faces of folks we passed by as they stared at this group of 14 crazy folks walking with packs on through OKC. I guess it is pretty unusual to see youth hiking 10 -20 miles starting at 6AM. There were also the whoo hoos! from people that would yell “go Scouts!” or people that would say, “You guys must be Scouts!”. Kind of good to know that even out of uniform they can be recognizable by the community is such a positive way.

Now it is time to move on to stage two of the fitness training plan. Hiking stairs at a downtown high rise building. Now that is going to be hard. (well and a lot of fun I am sure)

Final Philmont 10 mile training hike...

Yesterday was our final 10 mile hike and next up is the super challenge of a 20 miler on Sunday. The hike this week around was a little more scenic thanks to some time on a short trail through a local wildlife refuge. All of our hikes have been urban walks on paved paths prior to this and it was kind of nice to get some dirt on our boots for a change. Trails for these hikes would be ideal of course but her in our part of the state we would be looking at a long drive to find such a thing. We are fortunate at least to have a wide variety of walking trails available.


Overall this 10 mile hike experience has been a good one. The boys have taken the lead on each of them with the adults hanging a few steps back. Next week is going to be a big challenge with a 20 miler. I have run marathons and done other distance events but walking 20 miles is something new and finishing this is going to be an accomplishment for everyone.

After we complete the hike, the boys will move on to winter training which will be walking up and down stairs at a building downtown. Whew that is going to fun too! We have backpacking campout weekends set for the spring in various location and there is no doubt that these guys will be as prepared as possible for a great experience when they take that first step on the trail at Philmont in July 2012.

Philmont Gear Meeting

 Recently we had one of the more exciting of our Philmont training experiences. Gear time! Our Scoutmaster is a true Philmont veteran with having gone on four previous trips. Learning from his level of experience and overall obsessiveness (he is an engineer) is a key positive for our Scouts to be completely prepared for the trail. We plan to have a strong focus on traveling light as well as being physically fit.


“an ounce in the morning is a pound in the afternoon”

For this meeting, Scouts and adults were treated to a buffet of gear examples from every price range. The gear required to travel light and comfortably is expensive. I have been lucky enough to have been buying the “good stuff” over the last few years which leaves our family with a little less to buy than some others. Even with that in mind, there are many things left for us to buy. My high adventure point of reference is Sea Base from 2011 which basically only required the purchase of some extra sun screen and flip flops.

Our Scoutmaster also provided the Scout families with a multipage document outlining the required gear and purchase suggestions. Finally, he is always on the prowl for good deals and sends emails out when he catches something on sale that would be good for the Scouts.

It was a fun meeting and now I am looking forward to some time at the store. : )

Strangers on a plane...

A Scout Twitter friend of mine recently wrote this article for her local paper in Panama City Beach. It is kind of preaching to the choir to share this with you but I thought I would anyway.


It got me thinking....

On our way back from Sea Base we had a young man sit with us on the plane. He was a second year student from OU that was traveling back to norman for the weekend from his home in Houston. We had our uniforms on and since it was a SWA flight he had specifically chosen to sit by us. Why? Turns out he was an Eagle Scout.

He told us over the next hour how he had never really got the value of Scouting until just that summer. He had applied for a summer internship with a Houston company that based upon his grades and work experience he really did not qualify for. To his suprise he was selected. Why? You guessed it! They told him that after seeing Eagle Scout on the application they had moved him to the top of the "pile" and did not consider any other candidate. What an awesome story.

He wanted us to hear this as a word of encouragement that what we do in Scouting does make a difference even if at times the Scouts don't realize it. Throughout that trip we had random people come up to us at the airport to share similiar stories.

There are so many distractions in the busy world of our youth and being a volunteer is a thankless job for sure. So...thank you for all you do and are doing. You make a difference.
 
What stories have you heard from strangers when traveling with the uniform? What about from former Scouts? 
 
Great stories to share this time of year as people consider joining Scouts and others consider quitting due to busy fall schedules.

Training for Philmont #3

Saturday was our third training hike for Philmont as the Scouts continue to train and work on requirements for the Hiking merit badge. Once again we met at the crack of dawn to get ahead of the oppressive heat here in Oklahoma City. This was an interesting route with a walk from one Edmond park to another basically through town. How lucky these Edmond people are to have such great walking trails basically in their backyards. Everyone seemed to do great on this hike and personally I found this one to be the most enjoyable so far mostly due to going a way I have never been before.

Next up for us is a gear meeting with the Scoutmaster to learn everything that will be needed to purchase. The total estimate for this is around $500 and includes pack, boots lightweight sleeping bag and more. My son and I are kind of lucky in that since we like hiking and have been buying Philmont ready gear already for a couple of years. That will help reduce the shock of what to buy in the next few months.

Overall things are going well for the boys. There are a few that currently do not meet the BSA high adventure guidelines for weight. Unfortunately, as with most teenagers the coaching to correct is having the opposite effect with some of them actually gaining weight. If they were to not meet criteria there is a real possibility that we will not have enough Scouts for two crews and some Scouts (and adults) will have to be pulled out. I am keeping my thoughts positive on this with hopes everything will work out for everyone. More on this later!

Less than a year to go!