PTC in August

[gcnphkr]

Things I would have taken if I had only known:

 

A phone card. Unless Verizon has added a tower, diving to the top of the hill to get a weak signal gets old.

 

A fan. That tent can sure get hot.

 

A bit of carpet for the floor.

 

More field uniforms. I was clueless and only had one

 

An extra book. After spending all day talking scouting it was nice to read something that had nothing to do with scouts. Unfortunately I finished, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on Tuesday and I ended up driving to Taos on Wednesday afternoon to get another book to read. But then my family didn't come with me, so it was a bit lonely.

 

Plenty of DEET.

[GNX Guy]

Verizone worked perfectly this year from Tent City. Last year----nothing.

 

 

No bugs the times I've been there

[Bob White]

WARNING Sprint/Nextel DOES NOT WORK at PTC...not even from Cell Phone Hill according to the Sprint users in our group.

 

My recommendation is you get one of those limeted uses disposable cell phones. If you dial your own sprint# and press the * button you can enter your code and retrieve your messages.

 

No other cell phone customer had a problem last week except for the Sprint customers.

 

 

 

[GNX Guy]

yup, confirming what Bob White stated. Sprint no worky.

 

 

[Narraticong]

So we have now been back for two days. What a great place PTC is!

 

All of the tips everyone passed along were very helpful. Drink lots of water. Lots of critters- including coyote serenades.

 

I did find the food to be better than tolerable, and often very good. Menu seemed to be geared toward adults, but just about always were ok by my 12 year old son. Cobbler night at the tent city was outstanding!

 

Conference on Lutheran Scouting was very informative and a great chance to pick brains with other Scouters. It was nice to meet John-in-KC in real life and now be able to place a face and personality with a name. It was a pleasure.

 

Program for kids was outstanding. Drew will surely be on a full trek in the upcoming years. Hikes and overnights into the mountains were really a great selling point.

 

If you go, bring extra bags for conference materials and souvenirs! There are tons of both.

 

I would heartily recommend attending PTC to any Scouter and family. It is a well run, beautiful facilty and certainly rights high among my Scouting experiences.

[John-in-KC]

Two things I did not take: A laptop and a cell phone. I saw a classmate of narritcong's and I be fully distracted one evening by things of the day job. We had access to the Course Director's laptop to build a particular product. That was sufficient unto the day.

 

Was wrong about the poncho liner. It quickly went back in the car. I had my tent on the roadhead row of South City, under the trees. By sundown, temp in the tent was down to 70. Usually by 2AM (don't ask), it was below 60. By dawn, it was below 55. My down bag became a nice light comforter

 

Kudos to Brian Gray and the entire PTC operation. The academic facilities match or exceed most college classrooms. The recreation facilities... well, it IS Philmont!