69RoadRunner

Well, we'll see if those folks continue but as the population grows, it's not a surprise there are more people on the trails. The AT is never too far from some town. I'm backpacking in Yosemite next month, as long as the fires stay away (no with scouts). I hope the AT never becomes a permit thing like it is out west.

I'm fortunate to live about an hour from the AT in Virginia and a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. One of the best stories about the AT is Grandma Gatewood hiking it and in a way, pioneering the ultralight backpacking movement. At 67, she was the first woman to hike the entire AT. Many scouters who think they need a 75 pound pack should read up on how she hiked from Georgia to Maine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Gatewood

They made no age exception for us a couple of years ago. You're right about the weight limits. We saw several adults who were clearly way overweight. A couple of them were behind the rest of their crew hiking up to Baldy and looked like they might not make it. I always say it's their place and we'll follow their rules, even the ones I think are dumb, outdated or don't teach the best backpacking skills. Now if you ask and they make an exception, you're still following their rules.

Very little. Check the guidebook on their web site. That's it. They provide most things.

I assume you've read this thread I wrote?

Swim test is the usual, but a tad shorter at the environmental center. The biggest issue some scouts have is swimming in a natural body of water vs. at a pool. At Sea Base, you're swimming near docks in ocean water. Take a hammock and a tarp. That's what I did. It was really hot and while you can take the fly off of the tents, you can have storms every night. A hammock means you have better airflow and you don't have to tent with another person. That's a big reason why I took a tent to Northern Tier and Sea Base. I hate tenting with someone else. It's very hard to sleep. Sea Base actually likes you to have a van. The reason is if they have to evacuate due to a hurricane, you can get in your van and boogey. Sea Base provided flippers, but we had to have our own snorkels due to Covid. Not sure what will be the case next year. Prepare? Hmmm. That might have been something to consider. Some good cardio is needed for the paddle out and back and you have to be able to swim. Test out your snorkel gear before you go so you're familiar. Otherwise, maybe get a base tan? (kidding, mostly) They provide all the food and coffee. In fact, figuring out how to turn the supplied food into daily meals is part of the crew's responsibility. Let them do this. I just told the crew leader to set things aside on day one to figure it out. Our crew did great. Take a coffee mug.

They have a percolator, coffee, creamer and sugar. You can bring a mug or use a bowl from the chuck box. I took a mug. The percolator is pretty simple and the scouts clean up. 😉

Man, that's old school. Today, it would be Essential Oils. Gotta stay current with the kids.

My motion sickness issue has gotten worse as I've gotten older, unfortunately. I really can't enjoy boat rides.

Photo dump: https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/a2j8RWwvSieTQV4LSUNkDQ.9Oe9MUTqGg6wWy9BodD2UX

Some more random thoughts/advice. Adults, consider bringing a book. You should be leaving your crew to run dinner. You'll have down time. Tell your crew leader to mentally plan out meals with the food out. Set aside the items for each of the meals. Don't do this with them. I wish they'd noticed the gravy packet for the potatoes, but let them do it. If any crew members take a hammock, make sure they have practice setting up and accept that there might not be adequate spots for everyone. The tents are 4 person tents. Even if you have a full crew, you won't have 4 in a tent. You don't want 4 in a tent. All those bodies would make the tent even hotter. If you get your water bottle branded, make sure it's not cheapo Wal Mart brand. It will develop a hole. Leukotape is good for blisters/wounds. It sticks pretty well. If Dramamine is your motion sickness med of choice, take 2 the night before and 1 the morning of the motion. You'll be less drowsy. Or try Bonine. They have Gatorade canisters in the chuck box, but you might want to take your own flavors if you don't like lemon lime or orange. Having something to add to the water not only gives electrolytes, having something with flavor is a morale booster. I suggest Brawndo. Paddling gloves are not just good for preventing blisters from paddling, the prevent sunburn on the backs of your hands, which are one of the most common place to get sunburn.

Same. I scratched my legs so much yesterday they started to bleed.

Oh, and take a coffee mug or use one of the provided bowls.

<record scratch> You're probably wondering how I could possibly almost get hypothermia in the keys in summer. We'll come back to that. Some random thoughts on out Out Island Adventure. I was smart booking out vans well in advance because the cost of rentals went up. I was dumb booking at Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale, which has more and cheaper flights. Every high adventure is a long wait at the rental counter for our van(s). Two hours this time. I hate rental car companies. While you might not need much insulation on the island, you do at the Environmental Center for the first and last night or you'll be sleeping cold. Take long pants to the island. The no-see-ums can be awful in the evening. The paddle out to Big Munson Island is no joke. If you think you're just coming on a vacation and don't need to be in shape. Think again. I wish I'd known we'd snorkel just before going to the island. I would have had my GoPro ready. Make sure your footwear straps tight to your feet. The "lovely" sargasm and muck near the beach will pull your shoes right off otherwise. The smell. Well eventually you'll become mostly nose blind to it. I was grateful to have a good hammock spot at our campsite. My tarp allowed for more airflow during storms than the provided tents. Also it meant I didn't have to tent with someone, which I really don't like. It was really hot the first night. I had to partially open the bug net of my hammock to get better airflow. One night, the rain and wind made it a little chilly in my hammock, so I got out my sleeping bag liner. I initially set up my tarp in "porch mode". Don't do this. Set up in storm mode. There will be storms. On fishing day, we got to a great spot, dropped our lines and a storm came in. Nobody, including the large captain, could pull up the anchor. He tried using the boat to break it loose, but no luck. We cut the anchor and booked it back to the Environmental Center to get a new anchor. The storm hit us and the rain and wind was cold. I started shivering like crazy. Much longer and hypothermia was possible. The mate had the scouts singing Taylor Swift songs which I considered to be a crime against humanity. We went back out and both of our crews got enough fish to cook that night. We had a competition and the mates said both did an awesome job. It was a tie. Snorkel day was supposed to be at Looe Key, one of the most dived spots in the world. Weather moved us closer to Munson, unfortunately. We still had a great time. Our mates were very proud of our crews. I told the crews the adults are on vacation and this is their adventure. They took charge and did a great job. Our mate was surprised to find out I was the scoutmaster. She said I wasn't like any of the other scoutmasters. I took it as a compliment. She said that's how she meant it. Don't be overbearing. Let them make (safe) mistakes. When necessary, tell your crew leader things to tell the crews. A stomach bug was going through the staff. It hit our 2 crews. One in our crew was vomiting quite a bit. Then one in the other crew. That kid has Diabetes and it triggered some complications. His dad was there and knows more about Diabetes than many medical professionals. It reached a point where they went back to base. Fortunately, he got much better overnight. His dad came back to the island to help paddle back. He enjoys that. On our way to the airport, that dad's other son on the trip started throwing up. Then my son did. Then I started feeling not right. The four of us decided to get a hotel and skip the flight. There were still 2 adults to go with the remaining kids. Two other kids stayed in FL for family vacation. I was going to be coming back down to FL with my family on the Auto Train, so we just stayed and rented a car to Orlando. I got sick, but didn't get the nausea. I just had a bad fever and no appetite. Other than the illnesses that each lasted about 24 hours, it was a great trip (other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?).

Well said. I think the current YPT measures are very good. They do rely on people following them. A conspiracy of 2 registered adults could result in a failure. Let's all do our part to provide a safe program for the youth in our charge. I know the victims will forever be affected by what happened to them. I hope they are able to find some peace in their lives. And last, I hope Avis has our 2 vans at the Miami airport so we can get to Sea Base on Monday.

I now see they specifically say no mess kits, so I don't think they want personal stuff. Could be Covid related or maybe standard policy.

Yep. I bought some Bonine. I get motion sickness.

I have an Eagle scoutmaster conference and wondering if you do anything different? I'm thinking of asking more about his future plans and what he's gained in scouting. I always keep Scoutmaster conferences positive, low stress. It's a good conversation.

Ah, gotcha. Last time we went we did the big sailboat, something I won't do again. Seasickness is the primary reason.

We're not doing the sailing adventure. We're doing the out island adventure, so we'll be on the island all week. I found a document that showed they have percolators and coffee. I've often said that the most important safety item in scouting is a properly caffeinated scoutmaster.

Can we take mugs and instant coffee for the out island adventure? Mugs aren't on the packing list

We use charcoal chimneys. If we have a fire going, we put hot coals under the chimney. You can also tear the top of the charcoal bag off and light that under the chimney. We've also found that for dutch oven cooking, the Matchlight type charcoal with lighter fluid in it doesn't burn as hot/long as charcoal without it, so more is needed. Don't be Eddie Murphy's Uncle Gus with the lighter fluid.

I have no experience with these companies, but I'd rather rent a Zoleo or Garmin Inreach Mini than a big satellite phone. https://www.skycallsatellite.com/zoleo-satellite-communicator/ https://www.outdoorsgeek.com/product/inreach-mini-rental/ They're more appropriate for backpacking and you can set them to send your location every X hours by text to someone. https://andrewskurka.com/review-zoleo-satellite-communicator-seamless-messaging/ https://andrewskurka.com/preview-garmin-inreach-mini/

If everyone was wearing masks, then the protection was the Covid positive people not transmitting to the others. The people wearing the masks did not receive protection from their masks but from the others wearing masks. Only N95 masks protect the wearer.

I disagree about vaccine mandates not sitting well with Americans. For most of my life, people were very supportive and there was very little resistance. That changed with the discredited anti-vaxxer movement that claimed vaccines caused Autism. This is completely debunked, but there is still a movement that believes this and any other crazy thing they hear about vaccines. The vaccines work amazingly well. Get vaccinated and go back to normal life. For most of the pandemic, Covid was much deadlier than the Flu for adults. For children 12 and under, it was a little less deadly than the flu, thankfully. Now with many getting vaccinated, it will be far lower. People who don't get vaccinated have chosen their level of risk. That's on them. If you're vaccinated, you don't need to be concerned about them. Remember, unless you have an N95 mask, the mask provides no protection to the wearer. It provides a little protection to others from the wearer. Outside, there is no need for a mask for anyone. A very small percentage of fully vaccinated people will test positive for Covid. The percentage of fully vaccinated people who have a serious reaction to Covid is microscopic.