Well the Philmont crew was scheduled to arrive home yesterday but so far I have not seen nor heard from any of them. Hopefully we will be able to confirm their safe return some time soon and maybe get a few pictures to post here on the site of their adventure. Also if any one who went wants to e-mail me a report on the trip I will post it. I would say there is a good chance that some of them are still sleeping off the effects of this trip and it may take a couple days….
Dan
Update: I have received word that the Philmont crew did indeed return home running only 7 minutes late. Hopefully more new to follow.
Dan
I have added some more pictures that Jeff submitted. They include Saturday’s setup, Sunday’s check-in and the Scouts at different activity areas. Also Jeff caught me working on my “afternoon nap” one of the many requirement for the much sought after and hard to earn “Scoutmasters Merit Badge”… It takes a lot of practice to get your nap perfected and meet this requirement.
Summer Camp week one 2008 pictures
I have started posting pictures from Summer camp. Here is the link:
Summer Camp week one 2008 pictures
More pictures will be posted as they are sent to me so stop back. This first batch shows the emergency drill, Friendship Circle, the dinning hall, teaching our Scout Master how to dress. afternoon hail, camp site flag ceremony, becoming a grasshopper, the cleanest tent contest, camp flag raising honoring the fallen Scouts in Iowa and family night.
Asst. Scoutmaster Dan
At about 1:30 local time today (11:30 Philmont time I think) adult leader Mike Bowman reported in via cell phone from the top of Baldy Mt. He said that Baldy had some snow on it still. Mike also said he was very proud of the way every one was doing. I found this video taken from the top of Baldy that Travis from South Carolina posted on his MySpace page. This will give every one an idea of what our boys are experiencing.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=31035210
And here is a Picture of Baldy Mountain from Copper Park camp in 2007 that I found.
Standing in for Mike until he gets a better signal, Asst. Scoutmaster Dan………
Last night was family night and boy did our families pull through for us. We had all kinds of great foods and desserts. Every one ate their fill after which Charlie reminded us, and I have forgot to mention it earlier,
that there had been a county water line break and the camp was under a boil advisory until at least Thursday morning. On Tuesday the camp showers were shut down to conserve water for the dining hall and drinking. By Wednesday morning the level in the camp’s water tank had gained a sufficient level to allow the showers to be re-opened and I observed the 11th point of the Scout law “A Scout is Clean” and took a much needed shower. Several others also took this opportunity during the day to get ready for our friends and family.
After supper several of our guest took time to visit Yuma, our campsite for this week and also to inspect the new dining hall and make use of the modern rest room facilities. I had to head back to town so I do not know how many stayed for Chapel and the campfire that followed.
The staff have done an excellent job of getting every thing ready and putting together a program that is among the best in the land.
It is about time for me to get back to work and catch up on things around the house so there will be no more post from camp this week. The plans are for JayCee to report on week six so I need to get him set up for that and keep watching for news from the Philmont crew. On Saturday I hope to start posting pictures from camp that I took along with pictures from Charlie, Jeff and Roger at a later date. So check back often.
Asst. Scoutmaster Dan…………
Yesterday afternoon Troop 48 Eagle Scout Nathen Kimble and a co-worker, who was in Troop 73 in Beaver growing up (I am terrible with names) stopped by and decided to stay for supper. After supper they visited the program areas and later stated being back in camp made them feel like they were 15 all over again. There really is a magic in this valley where “Friends are Friends Forever” that has to be experienced, words can’t really explain it.
Last night was pizza night and the troop placed our order early, the pizzas arrived about 8:30. After eating, the boys and the visiting staff also played cards, corn hole and generally had a great time before every one crashed and I mean out like a lite, they were tired and slept very well!!!
During the night we had another visitor, a brown fury creature with a mask attacked our trash cans at least three times during the night with loud bangs. But one look at Brian and his walking stick and the raccoon turned chicken and headed back into the brush each time. The Scouts now have a better understanding of why they should not keep or eat food in their tent. We had 50 degrees this morning here in Yuma campsite, but once the sun came out we are having another perfect day.
Following breakfast this morning it was troop 48’s turn for the flag raising and as I said yesterday we have chosen to do something special. With what has become a tradition we presented our collection of US historical flags but then we dedicated the flag ceremony to the memory of the 4 Scouts who passed away when a tornado struck their camp in Iowa one week ago today. The camps flag will fly at half mast today until noon in their memory.
Tonight is family night and every one is looking forward to seeing friends and family and especially what they will bring for supper. Thursday is the camp inspection day so in addition to their regular duties the staff is busy putting finishing touches on things and getting ready for that.
Day 3 and now that I have the network connections worked out I will try and do a better job of describing camp. FYI the WIFI system is still not operational do to some wiring issues but possibly later this week. Which mean I must go to the new dinning hall and plug into the wall jack.
Anyway enough of the technology stuff. Yesterday afternoon the last thunderstorm went through and along with it some small hail fell. The Scouts were very fascinated to inspect the small pellets and see the layer upon layer of ice that makes up the hail. Afterwords the sky cleared off for the night and we had 55 degrees this morning which meant it was cool for sleeping. The boys all said that they slept warm even the two that were out on a survival hike and had to build their own shelter. I was a little cool so I am not sure why they were not? Maybe they were better prepared. Today the weather is picture perfect although it still is a little on the cool side.
We started the day with flag raising in our own camp site before waiters call. This is something we normally do, we will also lower our flag before supper tonight. Not all troops have a campsite flag ceremony but for us we like to start the day this way. It seems to get every body off on the right foot.
The Scouts are back at it this morning working hard on advancement. Some were headed to Handy Craft, some to the waterfront with the first year Scouts setting their own schedule for the day.
This evening is pizza night and we have our order placed. Tomorrow morning Troop 48 will have the camp flag raising and at that time we will present our historical flag collection. This special flag raising will be with the assistance of the staff and will be in memory of our Brother Scouts that passed away at the Scout camp in Iowa last week. Tomorrow evening is Family night and the Scouts are looking forward to the covered dish dinner. Speaking of eating the dinning hall is doing great with good food and lots of it. If any one goes away hungry it is their own fault.
I have gained access to the camps high speed connection and we hope to have the wireless working in the next couple days. Any way here are a couple pictures.
Troop 48 reports for the emergency drill
Friendship Circle…
Greetings it is day two here at Chief Logan Reservation and we had a few small showers this morning. Now the sun is out and it looks like the rest of the week will be great. I am using a dial up connection so I will not be posting any pictures until I get home on Thursday. Several of our boys in camp this week are first year campers and are busy working on the Foothills program that will get them through first class. The older Scouts are working on Merit Badges.
We had our camp wide emergency drill this morning and the entire camp was accounted for in a little over 6 minutes. That is not bad as some had a good distance to come from the activity areas such as archery. We also reviewed weather and other emergency situations and the proper response to each type of emergency.
The new dinning hall is great and the few minor issues with seating arrangements that have come up have been taken care of. The food is good and the portions are big. Life is good!!!!!
I am not sure when I will be able to make another post but I will when the opportunity is there.
It is the end of day 4 and we have all made it to Philmont. Yesterday evenings stay provided no access to the internet. We stopped to see Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas river.
From there we went to see the Kosharee Indian dancers. What a show that was. These dancers are all Boy Scouts and they are impressive.
We arived at Philmont today. There was alot to do to get ready for the trail. There were no issues with the medical rechecks. The itenerary for the trail was not changed from the information provided on the troop callendar. We learned there is snow on Baldy and Mt. Philips. Currently the camp on Philips is closed due to snow. Logistics still has us planning to use the campsite in hope it will be open when we get there. Time will tell.
Tomorrow we will leave basecamp for the trail. I do not expect service in the backcountry to allow much use of the internet. I will try but I am not hopeful. The trail should provide alot of material when we get back to basecamp. There have been sightings of elk, bear and mini bears coming in from the trail. I can’t wait.
