GernBlansten

No matter what boot you buy, put at least 100 miles in them to make sure they work for you before you go to Philmont. If you have the proper gear and training, I can't see how you can have a bad experience at Philmont.

One of our sister crews in our contingent had a few bad stories. Their biggest complaint was not getting picked up at the end the trek. Waited several hours at the trailhead. Then got passed by by several staff trucks until they put their packs in the road to get them to stop. They were pretty grumpy when we connected back up to them at base.

I was skiing with my daughter when we came over the rise on a very steep run. At the bottom of the face, two people had just collided. One, a 18 yrold girl, was splayed out. The other was an older gentleman a few yards below her. As I skied up to her, her brother was rolling her over. I screamed for him to stop and kicked off my skis. She was knocked unconcious, had a deep gash across her forehead that was bleeding badly. She wasn't breathing. I swept her mouth with my finger and jutted her jaw out and she started breathing again. THen I found her pulse. ABC. I sent my daughter down the hill to get help. I then called to every skier passing by to call 911. I kept talking to her, feeling her breath with my face and checking her pulse. About 5 minutes later, a skier came up announcing he was an EMT. I relayed my findings to him and reliquinshed care to him. I then played traffic cop until ski patrol showed up and took over the scene. I never messed with the head wound, although pretty gross, it wasn't life threatening. Sometimes saving a life is just knowing what not to do. Ski patrol put her on a backboard and choppered her out. Never even got her name. The other guy was concious but with a badly broken leg. The impact was so severe, that their bindings were ripped from the skis.

Last weekend, I was able to save a life (at least I think so) using the skills I learned in scouting. Very rewarding.

Thanks Calico, My son is coming up on having his EBOR. Just a few more merit badge requirements. Already completed his project and PORs. I too fear "the question" at his EBOR. We are not Christians. We are Deists. We don't go to a physical church, because there is no church for us to go to, and even if there was, we probably wouldn't go. Our church is the wilds, the woods, the world. I've been coaching my son on how to handle "the question". How to explain his Duty to God. How to explain how he is reverent. I hope it is enough. If not, I'm prepared to take the appeals process to its end and making as much noise as I can while doing it.

I don't care what you marinade it in, bear should not be used in cooking, whether at a scout camp or in your cabin. Too grizzly and gamey. Black or brown, its just smokie to me. Some might have a polar opinion, but I'm not about to panda to them.

Your a pistol GW.

Not yet. But give it a few more years of conservative rule and numbscull energy policy and all these alternative ideas will suddenly make financial sense. Just need incentive. Americans are very imaginative. GW, go rent "Who Killed the Electric Car". Don't worry, I don't think Al Gore even makes a cameo in it.

Shocked? My daily commuter is the Audi when the weather doesn't allow me ride the Interceptor. The truck is for scout outings, plowing and special needs. Rarely leaves the corral, and when she does, every seat belt is used quadrupling my effective mileage. I think my Audi gets better average mileage than most. Not as good I could get in say a Prius, but still much better than all the SUVs I pass. Got my eye on taking a Beetle, Spitfire or Toy pickup and converting to electric. Would be a cool father/son project but early research indicates about $14k for the conversion kit, not including the donor car. BTW, if you get 26MPG in a Detroit Iron family truckster, you could teach those high mileage guys some of your tricks.

My 99 Audi A4 at 3384 lbs curb weight, gets according to the onboard computer 26.1 MPG when traveling at 75MPH. My 04 Dodge Ram at 5658 lbs curb weight, gets according to the onboard computer 13.6 MPG when traveling at 75 MPH. My 02 Honda VFR800 Interceptor at 483 lbs curb weight, gets between 45 and 60 MPG depending on my riding style at 75MPH. Much less at 130MPH. But I get to the next gas station much faster, thus saving money before the gas prices rise again!

I don't dispute that a well run, well trained unit will attract interested youth and flourish. My unit is doing well and growing. We draw from a large area where there were once 5 troops, now there are 2. Was it a lack of program or untrained leaders? Perhaps. Was it a lack of kids who were interested? Perhaps. But the net result is that those kids who were interested in scouting consolidated to the two remaining units when the other ones shut down. The market just wouldn't support more units. GW is right. Demand for scouting is down and in my opinion, isn't because of untrained leaders or poorly run programs. Kids just aren't interested like they used to be.

OGE, You do realize that ANWAR contains only enough oil reserves to satiate the American energy addiction for just 6 months. And that's after a 10 year development cycle. Its not a solution, its a band aid, and a rather small one when facing a massive lesion. I'm not sure when it will become apparent to the majority of Americans that we need to develop new energy sources to retain our dominance in the world. Exploiting the remaining reserves we have won't do it. Overthrowing nations sitting on massive reserves won't do it. Becoming energy independant will. And ANWAR can't provide that.

I didn't say it was safe, just obsessive.

Planning GW, Planning.

Bob, are you insinuating that the national decline in BSA ranks is attributed to unit level delivery of the program? What is different in the delivery of the program now than it was in the 60s? Were they better trained?

I 100% agree with GW here. Ed, you got any extra thread to repair that tear in the space/time continuum? I'm fresh out of dental floss.

Our troop was in a similar situation when my son crossed over. We have turned it around, and did it by actively getting involved in three cub packs, not only at the web2 dens but with the web1 and younger scouts. Letting them know we exist, providing den chiefs, inviting them to camporees. Last year we got every cross over (24 scouts) and this year all but 2 (14 scouts). I think the key is being in their face, not assuming they know you exist and have a program for their boys.

Saw an article (sorry, forgot the reference) about these guys who make high mileage an obsession. They alter their driving style to really push the top limit of how far they can get on one gallon. Over inflating tires gives 10% better economy, rarely using your brakes adds some, extremely slow starts, stopping on top of hills instead of at the bottom. Shutting off the engine at stop lights or while costing down hills. All these things add up and create much road rage from other drivers. But these guys claim to be able to get upwards of twice the mileage vs. standard driving practices. In the article, the guy took out a new Hybrid Chevy Tahoe and was able to get an average 35MPG vs the rated 20MPG.

As an environmentalist, I am delighted at the high energy costs we Americans are facing now. Nothing will get the selfish, narcissistic public to consider alternative energy than a hit to their own wallets. All of our foriegn policy problems can be tied to energy. Yet, instead of spending 500 Billion on domestic solutions, we use it prop up another nation sitting on a big pool of hydrocarbons. America will not realistically explore renewable resources until the nonrenewable ones are exhausted or no longer cost efficient. Rise on oil prices. Rise on. As for Earth Hour, every journey starts with a small step. I'm in.

Yeah, we all weigh the risks with the rewards. Some ride slow, bejeweled, over sized, two wheeled VWs; others ride sport bikes. But talk to any accomplished rock climber/mountaineer and rappelling is not one of things they do for fun. You will never hear, "Gosh, I just want to get to the top so we can do that awesome rappel back down."

As an old climber, we rappelled when necessary, but only go get down off stuff we couldn't safely downclimb. Yeah, it can be fun, but when you place all your life and safety on a few mechanical points, you will understand that it just isn't worth the risk when avoidable. To note, the most fantastic rappel I've done is off Devil's Tower in a thunderstorm. Three pitches of wet double ropes. Very exhilarating.

The land east of Denver (flat praire) could be leased out from the farmers for the Jambo years (cover their crop loss), in fact, I think most of their crops is winter wheat anyways. Lots of giant 10K acre tracts out there. The farmers could just plow and replant during the off years. Close to a major airport and Amtrak station, support from a major metro area. Side trips to the Rocky mountains. Central to the US. Win win?

We talked about it, but the boys want to qualify for the Triple Crown award. When we did Rogert and Quetico, we crossed paths with a few troops/crews on the water that worked through other outfitters. Seems the outfitters have newer, more updated gear and none of the NTiers rules and regs.

Time to schedule our 2009 canoeing adventure. Last time the scouts did Quetico Provincial park out of Atikokan base. This time they voted to try Bissett, MB. Anyone have any insight on the two bases? compare and contrast? BTW, there was no interest in staying in the good ol' US at Ely. Go figure.

You could check out NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) http://www.nols.edu/courses/