Philmont 727-E1-1994 – Pre-Departure
Philmont Expedition 727-E1-1994 – Pre-Departure: Background / Preparation
Background
Discussions about a possible trip to Philmont began not long after I joined Troop 118. Ron was eager to find an opportunity to put a trip together, but the troop was still fairly young and had more pressing issues as membership swelled from about 20 Scouts in 1988 to more than 50 by 1992. With too many younger Scouts and not enough leaders, it was all the adult leadership could do to just keep the peace. Opportunities for more advanced Scouts fell by the wayside, further eroding the ranks of junior leadership.
Our troop was also a bit of an outcast in the council. Rather than attend summer camp at Camp Ranachqua like the rest of the Hudson-Delaware Council, we went to Camp Aquehonga with the Greater New York Councils due to our Scoutmaster’s connections and his history with New York City. We also had minimal participation in the Order of the Arrow lodge or other youth-oriented council activities. All of this earned us a reputation of thinking ourselves to be above going to the same camp as everyone else even though we really had no choice in the matter.
This started to turn around in 1992 when the council was desperate to fill out the staff for that year’s Junior Leader Training. Even though we had never sent anyone to take the training, they still took five of our Scouts as staff. This also marked the beginning of our troop’s continued presence in the OA lodge; previously, nobody ever came back again after being inducted. This point was best illustrated in 1993 when Ron and Ronnie came to the June ordeal weekend to see several of our troop’s Scouts become either Ordeal or Brotherhood members. Ronnie was quite upset when asked for a password to enter the ceremony and he not only didn’t remember the password but had no recollection that a password even existed.
And so, if you thought that this is leading us to the troop’s improved relationship with the rest of the council opening a door to Philmont in 1994, you would be wrong. In fact, this had been leading to members from our troop serving as councilors at Camp Ranachqua instead of Aquehonga, possibly for the first time. Billy, John, and Lee would be among those choosing to work at a camp they had never attended. Philmont would require more than mending bridges within our own council, it would require a bridge spanning the Hudson.
The Dutchess County Council (one of the two councils that would eventually merge with the Hudson-Delaware Council to become the Hudson Valley Council) was sending a contingent to Philmont in 1994. There was a chance that they might have room for us in their contingent. If it happened, the price would be about $900 per person. We jumped at the chance and began making preparations and looking for fundraising opportunities. But, as of late 1993, they weren’t expected to have any space. Plan B was to try to get a spot in 1996. One way or another, we were determined to get to Philmont before the decade was out. The only question was who would still be around when the time came.
From the December 1993 Troop 118 Newsletter
With Philmont seemingly off, I turned my attention to the 1994 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC), the first (and technically last) attended by our lodge (the council merger was taking place in 1996, resulting in a NOAC 1996 contingent comprised of three former lodges representing an as yet unnamed new lodge). Then the announcement came at the 1994 Freeze-O-Ree at Winding Hills – Philmont in 1994 was a go. We would need a crew of 8-12 people, including at least two adults. I was onboard immediately, NOAC be damned. This was my one shot at Philmont, I wasn’t going to miss it.
Preparation
As with any long-distance hike, Philmont is a grueling endurance challenge that requires careful preparation. It all starts with having the right equipment. Wrong or missing equipment can be harmful on the trail, as can having extra gear that adds weight without being useful. And so we went to an information session at a local Knights of Columbus hall where someone who had just been there gave us his thoughts on what it was like and what we would need to bring. This gave us a shopping list to work from, which I then filled in a trip to Paramus, NJ.
Once the individual prep was complete, we needed to get our crew in shape. The troop had purchased new backpacking stoves for the trip, so we needed to practice using them. And then we needed to select a crew leader, one of the youth participants who would be in charge of the crew, responsible for assigning tasks and keeping us on track. It called for someone we could all trust and respect, a leader who could be counted on to act in our best interests and keep us safe while making the experience enjoyable. We just didn’t have an obvious choice.
I didn’t necessarily want the job, but I didn’t not want the job. But when it came time to vote, I had to figure out who I would want to have the job. Dan was largely a mystery to me. Travis I just couldn’t see in the role. Keith was out after I saw how frustrated he seemed as Senior Patrol Leader, offering me the position once, though probably not entirely seriously. Billy would probably do a decent job, but I never really knew if he would approach something seriously. Sean I knew I could work with, but I didn’t know if he would be able to keep the others in line.
In the end, I voted pure self-interest and went with Sean. The final tally was one vote for Sean, one for Billy, one for Keith, one for Travis… And two votes for Dan, making him our crew leader. My lack of votes went unmentioned, which is probably for the best. Our fates were now in the hands of someone I barely knew.