OK Philmont scouts,

We had a good hike this weekend on Mount Monadnock. It was difficult, but we all did it, and that’s really important.

Several of you lagged way behind the main group, and that’s a serious problem. You know who you are, and you know that you have to step up your training to build endurance.

The good thing is: Mount Monadnock IS NOT LIKE PHILMONT !!! Thank goodness! We will not have to climb “hand over hand” or climb those awful rocky “stairs” that we find over and over on the Red Spot trail. So why did we do it? Because the level of EFFORT is very similar to a hard day at Philmont.

Now, Mount Greylock hike is this coming Saturday and Sunday. This hike is much different than Monadnock, it is more like Philmont because the trails are not those tough “stairways” and hand-over-hand climbing. But we will be training our Philmont camping skills. We spend the night on the mountain with only the gear we take in our backpacks. There is no faucet water, just water from streams that we have to boil. 

I would like to meet at the church at 6AM Saturday morning. With luck we’ll pack up and leave by 6:30 AM. We have a member to pick up out in Orange along Route 2 at about 7:45, we can stop for coffee and a donut. Please bring money Scouts!!! Anytime you go on a Scout outing, please bring some money. $10 would be good. Please don’t lean on your fellow Scouts or the adults to loan you money. Bring your own.

I expect us to return around 1PM to 2PM Sunday back at the church. We can call parents from cell phones once we are back in the Gardner Fitchburg area, we’ll be about 45 minutes away from Bolton at that time.

Think about your backpack CONTENTS now, this will be the first hike where it now becomes important to think about WHAT you will carry. You will need everything required to put up a tent, perhaps a rain cover for everyone to make dinner, all the things needed to make dinner, washing up after dinner, keeping food away from animals, and probably dealing with rain and staying dry for the night.

Make a list of everything you will need, and bring it to the Tuesday meeting.

Here’s what I recommend for your pack:

Sleeping bag, wrapping in a plastic bag

Sleeping pad or foam roll, wrapped in a plastic bag

Wear your hiking boots

Extra pair of pants

Extra T shirt

Extra long sleeve shirt

Jacket of some kind, or sweatshirt, hoodie, or fleece

Poncho, or rain suit, or rain coat to wear while hiking

Extra underwear

Extra socks, 2 pair

Pull over hat, it may get cold

Gloves, it may get cold

Mess kit: plastic bowl or 2, spoons, coffee cup or mug

Clean rag to wipe out wet or dirty mess kit items

Flashlight, maybe 2, extra batteries

Lighter or matches for camping stoves

Extra plastic bag(s) for wet clothes to store in backpack

2 water bottles with clean water for the hikes

Camera or binoculars

Optional pair of old sneakers to wear in camping area

Frisbee, paperback book, hackysack etc.

Bandaid, ointment, personal medicine, aspirin, Tylenol, etc etc.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, soap if you like.

PLEASE LEAVE ELECTRONIC ITEMS LIKE RADIOS, IPOD, MP3 PLAYERS IN THE CAR OR AT HOME, DO NOT BRING ON THE HIKE

Why: this hike is a chance to talk and listen, as we do at Philmont. Radios and MP3 players shut you off from the rest of the group, and that’s not what Philmont or this hike is about.

It is an opportunity to talk to your other crew members.

REMEMBER TOO: we are going to add tents, tarps, rope, food, Peak1 Stoves, Fuel bottles, and ground cloths for tents to everything ELSE that we are carrying, so the load will get split up between all of us. That’s why you were told to purchase large backpacks. Make sure you have lots of room left to add these “crew gear” items to your pack.

Packing: think about what you will need and when. It makes sense that you need quick access to rain gear, so it should be on the top of your pack. Snacks, trail food, lunch, and your camera would also be items you need quick access to on the trail. Once in camp, it doesn’t matter too much what’s next in your pack.

See you Saturday!

Ed Sterling