Ohio_Scouter

We took 2 crews of 11 folks each to Philmont during the summer of 2007. Each crew (612-O1 and 612-O2) did a 75-mile trek. Our preparation basically consisted of individual training and completing 4 of 6 scheduled preparation hikes prior to our treks. We're located in southwestern Ohio, so our prep hikes were conducted from October, 2006 through May, 2007 at Hocking Hills State Park, OH, Red River Gorge, KY, East Fork State Park, OH, Shawnee State Park, OH, Zaleski State Park, OH, and the Mischa Mokwa Trail located in Cumberland Gap National Park, KY. These hikes ranged in distance

If you don't fall into the river, nothing will happen if you don't wear a wetsuit. If, however, you do fall into 50 degree F. water without a wetsuit for more than about 60 seconds, you may drown because you will be so cold that you may not be able to swim to safety. When you fall in the river, the reason you are supposed to go down river feet first is so that you can navigate the river and avoid hitting your head on the rocks or other debris and become unconscious--not good when you are trying to save yourself. Better to have a dislocated knee than be rendered unconscious while trying

"Okay, in fairness, men will continue to wear clothes that are two sizes too small rather than admit that they've gained weight (just look around at roundtable). "Yep, I still fit a size large" as the buttons threaten to explode and the seat of the pants stretches to the point that it is nearly transparent." Yeah, but never shoes. Philmont is serious business .

Scoutingagain is absolutely correct. Most reputable outfitters will rent you a wetsuit which will protect you should you fall into 50 degree water for about 1 hour. Have fun. We did a 23-mile whitewater run down the Gallatin River in Montana a few years ago on some Class IV and V rapids. Temperature was about 50 - 55 degrees F. It was a most excellent trip, and the scenery was to die for. For shoes, just wear anything with non-slippery soles that will dry out quickly.

Be safe, and have fun. Make sure to wear a wetsuit for protection against the cold water during the run. If you'll be on the Chattahoochee, water temperature will be around 50 degrees Farenheit in April.

wadahoot, I've never heard of a bad Philmont experience yet, but I'm sure they exist. I believe that 99% of all Philmont treks are excellent, including my trek last summer with my Eagle Scout son and all his buddies from our troop. It was the best activity of our scouting careers. There's just something awe-inspiring about standing atop of Mt. Phillips at 11,751 feet at sunrise on Father's Day with all our scouts. Feel free to read our trip journals from prior Philmont treks in 1998, 1993, and 1988 if you like at: http://www.troop325bsa.com/highad/index.html Good luck to

Good job, Gern. Airway, Brathing, Circulation...Your training paid off well! I'll bet the girl's brother wishes he could locate you and your daughter to say thanks for saving his sister's life.

Welcome back, newken. Like wingnut says, you can quit, but you can never leave Scouting .

Way to go, Gern! I'm proud of you, man. More details, please. Just last weekend, we awarded a certificate of recognition to one of our Eagle Scouts for saving a life. Seems he performed the Heimlich maneuver on a classmate and was able to clear the airway and keep him from choking. A few years ago, a former scout performed CPR on my daughter who had collapsed at work due to coronary long Q-T syndrome (ventricular fibrilation) until the EMS squad arrived and revived her. If he hadn't responded so quickly, my daughter would have certainly died. Since he had been trained through th

Frenchman0092, I'm not sure about those EBOR statistics, but if you have finished all the requirements and have been living the Scout Oath and Scout Law, I'm sure you'll do fine. Good luck to you, and let us know how it goes.

WildernesStudent, Pretty awesome, eh? This is why Boy Scouts stress safety, being prepared, and first-aid so much. Every time I hear about a scout saving a life, I couldn't be prouder .

Happy Easter to AnnieinMpls and all my friends on Scouter.com .

Hops, I think rappelling is fun, too, and I'm way over the hill. Our guys go to Red River Gorge, KY, every year. We do a 217 foot rappell down Indian Staircase (check out the pics here): http://www.troop325bsa.com/photos/rrg2005/index.html We think the really tough part is trying to climb back up using our rope ascenders and prusick cords. On Belay; Belay On; Ready to Rappel; Rappel Away! .

Wish I could help, Gern, but our guys did Norther Tier out of Atikokan, too, in 2005. I'm sure someone else here has been to both bases and will be able to she some light.

I suggest the greater Kansas City area, the geographic center of the U.S. I can get there by car in under 12 hours, and all major airlines and Amtrak run right through there, plus it will give me a chance to meet all those wonderful Missouri scouts and scouters and have a great steak dinner, too . I'm sure John or Gunny could recommend a good location to National.

Welcome back, Lieut106. Thanks for returning to Scouting to help our youth. This is an excellent forum to get back up to speed on what's been happening in the world of scouting lately, including the various attacks on scouting.

I've never been on the Chattahoochee River, but here's what the National Park Service says about boating on the river. Be safe, and have fun: The 48 miles of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is available for raft, canoe, kayak, motor boat and other small boat use year round. Jet skis are not permitted at any time. The river remains a cool temperature year-round, rarely getting warmer than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The river within the park is open for boating from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset. Night boating is not permitted in the park. The ri

Like I told you about Backpacking and Canoeing, find your local scout shop and purchase a copy of the Swimming merit badge pamphlet. It has lots of great tips on swimming. It is one of the oldest scout merit badges (created in 1911) and is required to attain the rank of Eagle Scout. Ask your Eagle Scout friend about it. IMO, every scout should earn it. The pamphlet only costs about $3.00, and it's well worth the investment. Here is a website that will detail the requirements for this merit badge: http://www.meritbadge.org/?title=Swimming Also, like we've said before, don't

Like I told you about backpacking, go to your local scout shop and purchase the canoeing merit badge pamphlet and read it. It has a lot of great tips on canoeing, and it's well worth the $3.00 investment. Also, if you think you'll be falling into the water in wintertime, make sure you understand hypothermia and associated first aid--also in the merit badge pamphlet. Also, read the Guide to Safe Scouting on Aquatics Safety/Canoeing. Have fun and be safe.

You are correct, Barry. I was referring especially to the adults, but I believe that an out-of-shape scout may also fail to complete a trek, though much less likely.

Greg, I agree! If they have just begun their training program, I'll lay odds that some of them won't be in good enough shape to finish the trek.

Oak Tree, Bring your boys to most any part of Ohio between December and March and we should be able to accommodate you. The closer you get to the eastern suburbs of Cleveland, the better your chances of camping in an over-abundance of snow. If you find that it isn't snowing at the time, just wait about 30 minutes.

We avoided the disappointment problem in our Troop by using a first-come-first-served process. Early on, we informed all members of the Troop that whoever paid the Treasurer their trek deposit got their names on the crew lists. It worked well for us. Too bad the Troop didn't form 2 crews of seven scouts and scouters. That way, everone could have gone. Oftentimes, scouts and scouters will have to cancel, too. This happened in our case last summer. Originally, we had 2 fully staffed crews of 12, but by time the trek rolled around, 2 people had to cancel for one reason or another (e.g.

Hi Bill, Sounds like we all did the right thing this weekend. They closed my work place on Friday afternoon because of the storm, so we went home for the day. Dayton got hit with between 15" and 24" of snow this weekend, so we decided to stay home and make the trip up to Cleveland next weekend, weather permitting. Glad to hear everyone survived the weekend to camp another day .

In my opinion, if you can find a troop or crew in your area that is in training for a backpacking trek at Philmont Scout Ranch, that would be ideal. Philmont is a Scout Ranch located in northern New Mexico where scouts from all over the country come to hike and backpack for about 2-weeks at a time. The treks average in length between 50 and 100 miles. Most of the scouts who attend range in age from 14-18 years old. They are also accompanied by adult leaders who train with them. I think a group of 20-year olds would fit right in. Also, as Lisabob said, pick up a copy of the backpackin