Hiking early, free advice…

[David Y]

Just some friendly advice to first time Philmonters. It’s free so you decide if it’s for you.

Waking after sun-up, drying your tent in the sunshine and eating a leisure breakfast lounging around camp may be what you’re used.

But then hiking under the sun during the hottest part of the day  is not ideal. You hike slower, sweat more, consume more water and suffer more including blisters. You may not realize what challenges are before you, have a breakdown or stop to do Program Features along the way so you may still be hiking late into the afternoon heat. Some crews don’t reach camp until after dark. Exhausted, they set-up, cook and eat in the dark, etc.

It’s better to start very early in the morning before dawn while it is still cool (cold). You can hike faster, farther with less exertion and water consumption. Often getting to your next camp before lunch to be first in line for Program, have time for side hikes and take showers and afternoon siestas.

“Philmont should be enjoyed, not endured.” David Young

[TAG in AZ]

Strongly agree.  Last year, our crew leader did a great job of getting everyone up and moving in the morning. Most mornings, we were on the trail less than an hour after our crew leader woke us up.  It was a point of pride for our crew to walk past tents filled with sleeping Scouts.

During our training hikes, we focused on quickly breaking camp and getting on the trail.  As adult leaders we took up the challenge and made sure the crew was never waiting on us when they were ready to go.

[David Y]

With practice crews should be able to get on the trail within 30 minutes.

Assign every Scout a specific crew gear item and duty to be responsible for the entire trek (except Duty Roster). The Crew Leader wakes everyone an hour before dawn. Everyone dresses for the trail before exiting their tent. Then retrieves gear and performs duties they’re responsible for. Everyone packs-up and eats a cold breakfast while policing the campsite.

Get this down pat before going to Philmont. All your troop backpacking trips should be with an eye toward Philmont and the techniques used there. Start them the right way when they are young.

“Philmont should be enjoyed, not endured.” David Young

[Jay L]

Yep – what they said.

My first trek we missed a program because, by the time we got there all of the spots were full for the rest of the day.  There was some pretty good storming around campfire that evening but mornings got a lot quicker afterwards.

[Brad P]

Assign every Scout a specific crew gear item and duty to be responsible for the entire trek (except Duty Roster). The Crew Leader wakes everyone an hour before dawn. Everyone dresses for the trail before exiting their tent. Then retrieves gear and performs duties they’re responsible for. Everyone packs-up and eats a cold breakfast while policing the campsite.

What items are allowed in the tent at night? Are trail clothes, which could have food spills on them, allowed in the tent? This seems to imply they are allowed.

[David Y]

Philmont Guidebook to Adventure 2018, page 44, “Any clothing on which food has been spilled must be placed away from the sleeping area at night.” And they strongly encourage changing into clean(er) clothes to sleep in so you won’t have any food ODOR on them and to keep your sleeping bag cleaner. Other than that I’ve never heard a Rangers nor read it in any of their literature suggesting you not having all your clothes in your tent. You could put your trail clothes in a stuff sack for the night, even use it as a pillow.

[David Y]

“What items are allowed in the tent at night?” I can tell you what items are NOT allowed in the tent ever, open flame and food. I would suggest no packs or boots either, packs may have food odors and boots are dirty and stink.

 

[Roger Caffin]

what items are NOT allowed in the tent ever
I have to assume this is a uniquely Philmont thing.
We store everything inside our tent overnight, having done our cooking inside the tent as well. But that is in Oz or Europe.

Cheers

[James Marco]

Roger, those are good rules for most Grizzly country. Grizzly Bears/brown bears are aggressive and just plain ornery. You are better off with a few inconvenient rules than meeting up with one.

In black bear country, I agree, it is probably a bit much. I typically do not sleep with food in my tent, and, I often have a cold supper of jerky, peperoni, salami, cheese and wraps rather than risk making a food spill while cooking, when I see bear sign: tree scrapes/rubs, scat, tracks, or spotting one. Boiled water for cocoa is fine, too. But, if the trails are unmarked (bears like trails, too,) I don’t have any problems cooking under my tarp, hell, I often have a small fire going under one corner when it is raining to chase the damp out.

Mornings, I have no such qualms. A good hot breakfast (often from the night before with leftovers placed in a ziplock for lunch) is fine. Yes, it takes about an hour or so to cook and eat breakfast, but this also coincides with packing. My tent slips into my 1L pot, in the top of my pack, soo, it is literally the last thing down & packed in wet weather. The pot (it protects gear from water and the tent from abrasion) works better than a stuff sack, actually.

I volunteered with the scouts at Cedarlands Adventure Camp(Long Lake, NY) before they closed it. Fortunately, black bears are almost never a problem, but, to do my bit, I am never casual with technique, either.

[Brad P]

The Bearmuda Triangle has the packs away from the tents. My question is, what from the packs is allowed in the tent.

It makes sense to allow rain gear in the tent. If you wake up to rain, you can’t be running to your pack getting your sleep clothes soaking wet.

On our weekend outings, I suggest to our scouts that they bring a plastic grocery bag for their shoes/boots and bring them inside the tent. That keeps them dry and the tent clean. Cheap and light.  Good for a weekend, but wouldn’t last 11 days at Philmont. The tent vestibule should be fine, but I’ve seen too many scouts somehow manage to have their boots roll out of the vestibule.

All of this does relate to getting out early and having an efficient morning. Crew members need to have what they need in the tent and be organized.

[David Y]

We typically set-up our tent and put in it: sleeping bag & pad, change-of-clothes in stuff sack, fleece top in stuff sack, rain parka & pants, camp shoes, red bandana, camera and head lamp. None of these items have food or its odor. If I spill food on my clothes I am adverse to wearing clothes with food on them so I wash the food out and hang it to dry, not in my tent.

My sleep clothes are the same as my hiking clothes. I change into them at night. When I decide it is time to change into fresh hiking clothes I launder the dirty set and continue wearing the ones I slept in. And change again into the laundered set at night, and so on.

Under tent vestibule: boots with gaiters and water bottles (never had flavored drink mix in them).

My pack is away from tent with fitted waterproof nylon cover: has dromedary bladder, Micropur tablets, camp chair, trail seat, compass and pocketknife. If I have trekking poles they are used for the dining fly.

Everything else is a smellable and in my Ditty Bag up in the Oops Bag: toothbrush & paste, personal first aid kit with meds, ibuprofen, lip balm, Moleskin, tape and BodyGlide. Plastic laundry bag with Campsuds, blue bandana for cooking & eating, tent repair pole sleeve wrapped in duct tape.

KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid “Philmont should be enjoyed, not endured.”

[Brad P]

Thanks David.  All of that was essentially what I assumed, but assumptions can be wrong.

[Kevin Sweere]

+1 David, another great write-up.

[David Y]

Roger, “I have to assume this is a uniquely Philmont thing.”

James, “In black bear country, I agree, it is probably a bit much.”

I’m just speaking about Philmont’s bear safety practices. The black bears there are not aggressive or particularly dangerous, just opportunist. Most camps have crews in them every night so bears stay close to and frequently check some camps for possible food left un-attended by errant Scouts. So crews have to be vigilant in every campsite.

Don’t resist or be defiant to Philmont’s bear safety rules, they were not made arbitrarily or just to make your experience difficult. They are in response to incidents or attacks that have happened in the past that they do not publicize for PR reasons. They are for yours and those that follow safety. Philmont is not lenient in their enforcement.

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