Col. Flagg

Sorry, but PDA of any kind -- married or unmarried -- should be kept out of Scouting. If we are asked to abstain from drink and smoking and other such vices, one can keep their PDA switch in the off position until they get home. I don't care who you are or how long you've been married. It does not belong in Scouting. Scouts are asked to refrain from such things, Scouter should be able to set that example.

I suspect he meant to say "Philmont even" and not "Philmont seven", and you pointed it out. Maybe the thought you were mocking him given how it was quoted and the lack of smiley faces makes it tough to know if it was meant jokingly or otherwise. I'd just let it go. That not withstanding, Philmont was pretty clear with us that 4 liters of water was considered a per person minimum.Our ranger hammered it home over and over.

They have to be more organized now. You have 20,000+ people each year there. Each crew is maxed at 12. With all the trash and stuff, you have to make sure everyone is well-trained. If everyone were as well-trained and considerate as they SHOULD BE, they wouldn't have to spend so much time on training crews. As it was they put down three bears (I even heard a fourth was killed) last year, all due to bad crews. One, near Cimmaroncito, had to be put down because a crew (late for their program) simply left their packs and food in their camp site (not secure or in bear bags). That bear paid with its life. The crew was banned for a long time from Philmont.

Right. Then read the BSA annual reports to see that giving was not impacted too greatly nationally. Locally, it hurt some councils but nationally it was not that big of a deal. They just amped up FOS.

It has changed a great deal since then. More rules, more process, more time-wasting.

This was an interesting read. As was this.

Joe these are almost the same selections we made. I don't have time right now to take a look and give you ALL the detail we looked at, but here are my off hand recollections: 7-5: Fairly easy trekking. The last day was a bit hard. Going with full packs over the Tooth will be rough. When we went last summer the spring at Schaefer's Pass was dry, so you had to pack your water. Trust me when I say that you will need AT LEAST 4 liters of water per person for that last day. If it's hot you will need more. Take your time. 7-4: That should be fairly easy too. Cathedral Rock you will want to stop and never leave. Events this day might be an issue. Getting from Cathedral Rock to Clarke's Fork is not that much a problem. However, you'll need to watch the time of you horseback riding and dinner. If riding is the FOLLOWING morning, you are okay. If it is the day you leave Cathedral, you will need to get up early. Also, it appears they have you dinning at Clark's Fork but camping at Ponderosa. That's still a mile or so in the dark after dinner. Not optimal. Make sure you check the timing of these events. The hike to Crater Lake is a bit more up hill than it looks. You flatten out when you hit Crater Lake...a bit. This will likely be the longest day. Crater Lake to Urraca is nice but make sure you read the map. The last day is literally all down hill. 7-6: Great trek option. Miner's Park is nice. The hike up Black Mountain is a loooong way up. That will be a long day. I would start early and get on the trail by 7am. Check your map for optional routes. Sometimes the route they suggest is a bit more difficult than other options. For example, our destination was Ute Gulch but instead of taking the Hidden Valley Trail we went over Cimmaroncito. More scenic and easier. 7-7: Cannot comment on logistics or difficulty other than the obvious. I have heard great things about the railroading from other crews. Your guys should enjoy that. 7-8: Probably the easiest of the treks terrain-wise. You do have the one climb but it is slow and easy. Wake up early for that. Not 5am but on trail by 6:30am would be advised. 7-10: Same issue going over the Tooth. Water up fully at Poderosa and ration until you know if Schaefer's has water. The spring is about .5 mile past the trail head to the tooth. Drop packs and send a team to water up EVERYONE. Trust me, you will need the water. I found this video a troop did that covers some of the area your trek selections cover. It covers the exact trek we did last year. Using Google Earth with your crew and showing them the terrain and map ahead of time is very helpful. Lastly, practice setting up bear bags Philmont style. That and cooking/clean up takes the most time. If you can really master getting the bags up it will save you time. Cooking: Philmont wants you boiling water and adding the food to the pot, eating, then cleaning, etc. You can cut your cleaning in half by adding water to the packets INSTEAD of the cooking pots. When the food is ready dish out half to your partner's bowl and have the other eat out of the bag. Sorry for the diatribe.

No, on the contrary, that does not sound arrogant at all. That's what you are supposed to do when articulating your vision for a unit. What will been seen as arrogance, perhaps, is that it is coming from someone as young as you. Normally, folks take far longer to develop that skill set. Some never do. Don't lose that trait. I remember being like you -- well-spoken, knowledgeable, able to influence people (now *I* am being arrogant ) -- and everyone older than me thinking I was either too young or too arrogant. Knowing when to chuck in the towel and not beat your head against the wall is a HUGE lesson and you've learned it early. Go find a troop or crew that need your energy and will appreciate your efforts. A small, new troop perhaps? Don't let those who *think* they know better, or more, dissuade you from doing what you want.

Hi Joe, can you say what trek number you are taking? Sounds pretty close to what we took last year. We did Trek 7-4 in the 2016 guide. We started in Rayado then hiked to Backache Spring for the first night. Then we hiked to Crater Lake for night #2. Schaefer Pass was night #3. Day hike to the Tooth and back, then to Clarke's Fork for night #4. Night #5 was Devil's Washbasin, then hiked to Ute Turnaround the next morning. Altogether that was over 50 miles, including side hikes and such. We had strong hikers with good outdoor skills. We refined the Philmont cooking method a bit to make clean up easier. During planning we made sure we got the start/stop times of all activities, confirmed distances, routes and times. This helped the boys in planning wake/sleep times. If you can post your trek number, we can help you help your crew address your concerns.

And that is exactly what would happen at first. See, being an SM is more than just being totally trained and experienced in Scout stuff. There's a bit of visioning that needs to go on...something they don't teach in BSA really. You need to put forward your vision for the unit AND make sure that is communicated to the parents. Oh, and you need their buy in, as well as that of the TC, TC Chair and all the ASMs. Otherwise, you will be subverted at every turn. Even with all of this, during the first year there will be challenges. However, if you have this buy in of which I speak, you will eventually reach a point where you are operating much smoother.

Well, if revenue to UW was down 11% from 2015, but they exceeded their fund raising goal for 2016 (meaning that they intentionally lowered their fund raising goal from 2015), one could presume that targeted giving (giving directly to charities and not to a distributor like UW) was up. The article even said, "more donors were designating specific charities rather than letting United Way decide how to spend their money."

The cost of living in the UK will kill you...and make you old fast.

Our troop voted to 86 the socks and garters thank the Lord!!! We went with green hiking socks instead. Loved our SM for that. I would have gotten beaten up on my to Scouts every Monday were I forced to wear those.

Yeah, that does tend to raise a few eyebrows. To put a humorous spin to that idea.... I was driving back home having dropped kid #2 off at school. I am going through a middle school zone before school. Two boys are trying to call a dog about 30 yards away to come to them. The dog is all mangy, malnourished and very aggressive. Why they were calling it was beyond me. Then I see why the "dog" is not going over to them, so I stop, roll down the window and tell them. "Hey boys, you know that's a coyote...and he's probably rabid." They respond, "Thanks, Mister." Then I say, "You probably want to head to class and leave him alone." At that moment I became EXTREMELY aware I was a middle-aged male, driving through a school zone, stopped with my window down talking to two boys. Sad how society can make one feel so horrible doing something as simple as trying to keep someone else's kids safe.

In my area we tend to get adults signing up to be ASMs so they can get on high adventure crews. These types show up a few times a year, don't do much the rest of the year, but want to be considered for the coveted HA spots when the become available. So we had to insist on ASMs taking "roles" within the unit, either helping to over see the first year program, merit badges, rank advancement, youth leader training, OA, camping, high adventure, program planning, service projects, Eagle coaching, etc. No role, no ASM patch. We do have a few that remain on the roster who are solely Eagle coaches. They never do anything other than that. Of course, we always talk with folks to let them know the reasoning for the units position. It's simply not fair for someone who never does anything to take a place of someone who puts in more time.

I don't think any of our answers will be as helpful as they could be until we hear back from him. The "right answer" will be affected by distance, elevation, weather, program schedule, crew size, age/ability, pack weight, health of crew (e.g., blisters, etc.). The trek guide has the elevation profile, distance and event info. Knowing these factors can help gauge your rate between way points. One can assume a baseline (say 2 miles an hour) and then adjust based on other factors. Until he responds, really anything we offer up will be useless.

80 Scouts at a 1:10 ratio requires at least 8 ASMs. Need redundancy for some things, so that's another 8. Several retiring so that number will drop to 14 most likely. That's our usual equilibrium.

Wow...just, wow. Not sure I would want that guy in my troop if the light bulb was just then going off. Someone snoozed during Leader-specific training and YPT.

Knots for money? What will they think of next?

One in the same.

Wow, that REALLY depends on your trek distance and events. You need to be realistic about your crew's ability to cover ground, navigate well and be in shape. I suspect you guys are trying to do 10 miles/day, right? You may have bitten off more than you can chew. What's your total trek distance? What are your daily distances? What's your elevation profile?

Odd, because I have flushed cache and reloaded and it comes up for me.

LOL...for some reason your response didn't show on my screen until after I had typed my question. Refresh is your friend.

You've just described how most associations are run. Well-run companies don't run as you describe.