HA Bases and Transportation delays

[John-in-KC 311]

It seems to me this year has not been great for the US transportation grid. We've had a couple of IT network meltdowns in airline internal traffic management systems. Amtrak has two delays in the past 3 weeks that put the SW Chief 12 hours +late into Raton.

 

Praise the Good Lord we've not had another attack of 9/11 proportions, and that even that attack came after the summer vacation season.

 

How do the HA bases deal with delay not of the Treks' own making? Just bump them back a day? Too bad, so sad? When I look at Philmont, it sure seems to me there's not exactly a lot of slack capacity in their Trek allocation...

[Ohio_Scouter 10]

Hi John,

 

Here''s a story from our recent personal experience.

 

We had two of four BSA crews that went to Philmont this summer aboard the West-bound SW Chief when 2 engines and 1 baggage car derailed about 1 mile west of Fort Madison, IA, on the evening of June 11, 2007. AMTRAK got a BNSF engine to pull the passenger cars back to the Fort Madison station after the EMT squads had determined that all the passengers were OK.

 

From there, they bussed us to Kansas City where they put us up at the Westin Hotel until we caught the noon SW Chief out of Union Station headed for Raton, NM. Way to go, AMTRAK, and thank you Kansas City! My scouts aren''t used to staying in $300/night hotel rooms and eating breakfast in 5-star restaurants for free. Best spinach omelette I ever had.

 

I called ahead to notify Philmont that we would be a bit late due to our train derailment enroute. Camping HQ said not to worry, but to keep them informed of our progress, and that the Philmont bus would meet us at the Raton station, and the staff would accommodate us whenever we arrived.

 

When we finally arrived at Philmont, we were about 14+ hours behind schedule. I don''t know how they did it, but the Philmont Rangers and staff were pretty resourceful about expediting our registration process. Seems like we were ushered to the head of every waiting line at Camping HQ. In the end, all we missed was the opening campfire and the religious service in the evening of Day 1. We were on the trail the next morning without missing any hikes or programs. Our guys had a blast thanks to Mark Anderson and his most excellent Philmont staff. We all wanna go back to Philmont.

[eagle90 125]

We have traveled throughout the country on High Adventure trips. Whenever possible, we try to arrive at the venue, or at least the immediate area, the day before our trek is to start. Even if we have to sleep in a hotel overnight, we then get to the base on time or early, and quite refreshed. The first day is usually so hectic it helps to be there early. Many HA bases will accomodate you early, but you may be responsible for your own meals until the trek officially starts.

[eisely 13]

The two times I went to Philmont we arrived a day early by design and simply paid a small extra per diem by prior arrangement. On one of those expeditions we encountered a group that had been delayed a full 24 hours by Amtrak and Philmont accommodated them. I don''t know if they got the original trek itinerary they requested, but they certainly were not turned away.