I hope you are enjoying the great weather getting in some exercise and miles. We had a great meeting on Friday and below are some of the highlights and to-dos.
Other Reminders: always start with the most important things.
- Med Forms
- A, B, Ins Card – Due 2/23; three copies to Mrs. McCarthy, one copy to Mr. Caffarelli
- Part C (Physical) – by June 1, one copy to Mr. Caffarelli
- COVID Conduct Forms – This will be distributed and collected in late June.
- Personal training – be sure you are getting out walking, hiking, biking.
- WFA/CPR (ADULTS) – I will need a copy of your CPR/AED & WFA training certificates as soon as you get them following your training.
Assigned Trek: Last Thursday, Philmont’s awesome itinerary selection supercomputer gave us our #1 choice trek, 12-3. Baldy Mountain here we come!
In the coming months, we’ll get together and develop a detailed route based upon the 2023 Philmont maps, GPS data, and Mr. Miller’s encyclopedic knowledge of the north country.
Crew shirts:
Submit your shirt design ideas to Mr. Vanden Heuvel.
Design must have: Troop 81, crew number (710-S), and year (2023); other than that, be creative.
Troop 81 has had some great shirt designs, let’s continue the tradition.
Training Campouts:
March 17-19: Camp Lowden. We’ll hike at Lowden State Park.
April 21-23: Hennepin Canal State Trail. Camp at Lock 21 and hike the canal trail.
June 8-12: Kettle Moraine State Forest, WI, Hike the Ice Age trail.
Gear Preparation: On Friday, we inspected and prepared almost all the tents we will take with us. Mr. Vanden Heuvel and Mr. Hume are working out some details for their tents. Everyone set up and packed their tents. Some practice is needed packing the tents. “Slow is smooth. Smooth is Fast.” We prepared the dinning fly and demonstrated how to set it up. My thanks to our human stakes.
Assigned Crew Gear: We assigned out the crew gear, see attached. You will each carry your assigned item(s) on each of our training hikes and campouts. We’ll add two or three of the 2L dromedaries as well.
Stove and Cooking Videos: Watch the videos below to review how to light our stoves (DragonFly model) and cook and clean the Philmont way. We will have other videos along the way to watch in preparation.
- MSR: How to light our DragonFly stoves: DragonFly® Multi-Liquid Fuel Backpacking Stove | MSR® (msrgear.com)
- PSR: Cooking and Cleaning the Philmont way: https://youtu.be/N7cIW54USkY
Personal Gear Shakedowns: For those that have scheduled your shakedown, you will receive a reminder email about 5 days before your appointment.
- We will meet at Mr. Caffarelli’s house: 604 Waterview Ct. Naperville, 60563
- Review the gear lists in your binder to determine the gear you will bring
- Talk to your tent partner about gear that could be shared
- Think of bringing small fun items: Hacky Sack, deck of cards, small Frisbee, Caden’s shoe, paperback book
- Start putting your name/initials and crew # on EVERYTHING once you know you are taking it.
Gear Ideas:
Headlamps:
- Black Diamond Cosmo – 300 Lumens; $16.00; Black Diamond Equipment Cosmo LED Headlamp - 300 Lumens - Save 36% (sierra.com)
Clearance Item; Dimming, strobe, Red LED, 3 AAA batteries. - Black Diamond Spot Lite – 200 Lumens; $19.99; Black Diamond Equipment Spot Lite Headlamp - 200 Lumens - Save 20% (sierra.com)
Dimming, strobe, Red LED, 2 AAA batteries.
Sitting Pad:
- Use a gardening kneel pad as a seat. Your butt will be off the hard ground or rough log, keeping you dry, clearer, and more comfortable.
The pad can slip into your pack or strap onto the outside. Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WNHD28Q