Miler preparation meetings were held at our church meeting place about
every other Tuesday for two months prior to the outing. They were well
attended and quite business like. Each of the scouts participated and shared
their opinions and knowledge. The scouts lead the meeting with a little
direction from the leaders.
LEADERS
The four leaders were well matched and quite compatible. The scouts always
get along well with Paul and they warmed up to Laura and me early in the
trip. Harmony was closer to the scout's age and was immediately integrated
into the group. Each of the leaders seemed competent and capable.
EQUIPMENT
This year's equipment, though nearly the same list as previous year's,
weighed in lighter than other year's. It seemed that there was no "Illegal"
stuff put into the scout's packs after the inspection and the scouts didn't
exceed their limit of 6 oz of "contraband. All of the equipment was in
good shape and little, if anything, was lost on the trip.
ROUTE FOOD
The menu, selected by the scouts, was appreciated by the scouts more than
I have experienced in the past. Due to the last minute adjustments to accommodate
the change in the numbers of scouts hiking, we carried too much food.
PREP HIKES
All of the prep hikes, including the Wednesday's Prasek's ridge hikes,
were acceptable and should be continued.
SPL
Our SPL, Suzanne, this year did an excellent job. She may have done more
than required by her job description. The scouts responded to her requests
and direction without question. She is wonderful to work with.
PATROLS
Due to some last minute drop-outs, we reconstructed the troop into 2 patrols
rather than three. This worked very well. Each patrol was self contained
and had two adults. Since the number of participants on the outing was
reasonably small, the division into patrols was hardly noticeable. The
scouts did most everything together as one group. For the leaders, this
is a wonderful sight to see.
PACK INSPECTION
This year's pack inspection went smoother than most. Fewer scouts and more
consensuses among them along with more experience contributed to this.
We were scheduled to start the inspection at 6:30 PM and actually started
at 7:00 PM. Two hours later we had completed the whole thing.
The packs were weighed as they were brought in to establish a reference
weight. This was done with the water bottles full.
Heber inspected each of the packs, straps, frame, buckles, webbing,
etc. for wear and missing items. Everything was in good shape.
As I read the pack list, items were removed from the scout's packs and
checked by the leaders. The contraband was weighed (6 oz. limit)
and shortage lists distributed (not very long lists this time)
The patrol food was inventoried and distributed. An adjustment was made
to account for the scouts that had to drop at the last minute.
The patrol equipment was also inventoried and organized. The "billy
kit" was packed with everything required for cooking (pots, stove, dish
soap, clothespins, serving spoon, etc.) and given to one scout so that
all of the cooking stuff would be in one place at meal time. The shelter,
stakes, and poles were given to another scout, and the bucket and shampoo
were put together for a third scout. The fuel cans and other equipment
were distributed to balance the pack weights.
The leaders carried some of the patrol equipment along with the troop
equipment (1st aid, ropes, etc.)
After the packs were filled and closed, they were again weighed with
full water. The chart below has last year's weights for some of the scouts
for comparison to this year's weights.
Name
1996 (for reference)
1997 (for reference)
1998 incoming wet
1998 final
Heber
52
54
35
59
Paul
57
62
-
-
Laura
45
46
38
54.5
Harmony
35
36
26
43.5
Jenny
-
-
25
41
Sharmini
-
-
25
41.5
Karen
-
-
25
39
Carrie
-
41
23.5
41
Suzanne
-
40
28
43.5
A few notes: Since there were very few things forgotten, the average
scout pack weight without food or equipment is 25.3 pounds (near the target
of 27 and down from last year's 26 pounds) and the average weight of the
food and equipment per scout is 15.9 (up from 11.9 last year) pounds. Both
numbers are lighter in some of the past years. At the completion
of the adventure, the leftover food weighed in at 35.23 pounds (up from
last year's 29 pounds).
HIKE
I doubt that it could have been better. Refer to the journals for details.
TRANSPORTATION
Transportation to the trailhead was provided by Laura (in Paul's van) and
me. Suzie's parents met us at the trail end and provided car shuttle and
return transportation. We had no problems. In the future, I would like
to see some of the scout's parents provide the transportation as it had
been done in the past, but I have no complaints about this year's arrangements.
HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights are abundant however, topping the list, the camaraderie among
the scouts and leaders was the best ever. There was always a helping hand
provided by a scout to another or leader. They were laughing and interacting
in a way that I have only experienced on Milers. The individual scouts
had become ONE entity and I hope that they will remain that way for a long
time.
