So You're Planning a Philmont Trek?

After Troop 104 finished our trek to Philmont in 1994, I wrote these words of advice for another leader in the Midwest who was preparing for a Philmont adventure. They are, I think, still valuable. Thanks, also, for some additions that were suggested by Steve Harmony. If you have any comments on this, please send them to me at .

Presented for your consideration...

Don't Take Too Much

There is a tendency to carry too much stuff. Remember, anything you take you are going to have to carry on your back for 11 days and at least 50 miles (depending on your trek). Philmont sends out an excellent booklet that lists the equipment you should take. Follow it.

Train, Train, Train

Those of us who live in flat country at low altitudes, especially, have to train. This is important for everyone! Training needs to be of two types, individual (for conditioning) and crew (mostly for group dynamics and equipment, but also conditioning).

There is nothing you can do in the midwest that will really prepare you for the altitude at Philmont, but being in reasonable physical shape can make the difference between being uncomfortable and being really sick. At our highest altitude (Mt. Phillips, 11,711 ft), most of us felt some effects; headaches, lightheadedness mostly. There was one boy in our crew who had slacked off a lot on the conditioning activities before we left, and he was pretty miserable until we got back down to the lower areas.

Your crew may vary, but it was very hard for our crew to get together often enough to make a big dent in the necessary conditioning activities. There were just too many conflicts. So, most of the conditioning had to be done individually. Some of this can be any old kind of aerobic activity. Some ran. Others swam. Some used bicycles and/or stair steppers. Those are all good, but a big chunk of your conditioning, at least for the last six weeks or so, needs to involve strapping on the old backpack and putting in some miles. If at all possible, this should include climbing and descending. It would be a good idea to use a pack that's heavier than you expect to carry at Philmont. I, for example, would spend an hour early each morning with 50-55 lb in my pack, walking up and down the ramps and stairs at a parking garage on campus.

You should have some crew hikes, too. Our crew was mostly older guys who had been to Philmont before, so we did less of this than I thought we should. We got away with it, but if your crew is not so used to hiking together, this will be important. Try to build up to some longish hikes (5-10 miles) every couple of weeks over rough terrain. If you can find someplace with inclines (tough in Central Illinois), that's good.

One thing that's important to learn on the crew hikes: Staying together. The crew must not travel faster than the slowest member. If someone is falling behind, you need to learn now to deal with it in constructive ways:

  1. Encourage, don't ridicule.
  2. Have the slow person lead.
  3. If necessary, shift some weight among packs (not everyone can carry the same amount).

Do Checkouts

You need to do at least a couple of backpacking overnighters before you leave. I would recommend a short one (hiking in a mile or so) early on (say in the fall), just to sensitize the guys to what they're in for. Then, try a couple of longer ones (2-3 miles in?) in April or May. A couple of nights out would be a good idea. This gets you used to setting up camp, dealing with your stoves, etc.

(I'll confess that our crew checkouts were much less than this, only one overnighter that involved some backpacking, plus a longish day hike with loaded packs. That was partly due to scheduling difficulties. But as I said, most of our guys had done this before.)

Tents could be a problem on your checkouts if you don't have backpackable ones available. Philmont provides decent tents and cookware. You must supply stoves (don't plan to build fires) and all personal equipment.

Try to Spend A Little Extra Time at Altitude Before Your Trek

The more time you can spend at as high an altitude as possible before actually starting on the trail, the better. We spent a night in Denver (5000+ feet) on the way, and then the obligatory night in base camp. Travel arrangements will probably limit what you can do, but the extra time can give you just that little bit more chance to acclimate.

Make Sure You Get Your Youth Leadership Involved

At Philmont, they stress that the adult leaders are "on vacation" once you reach the camp. The adults have to keep an eye on things and be ready to step in if things get really out of hand, but they have to be willing to let the youths make their own mistakes.

To help further this, let the youth leaders take charge as much as possible.

On Equipment...

Stoves

Most crews bring some kind of stove that burns white gas. (I won't get into a discussion of relative merits of brands.) You can buy white gas at any of the backcountry commissaries at Philmont, so you don't have to carry two weeks' supply with you. Whatever your stove, however, it would be a very good idea to bring along a funnel with a filter. Ask the backcountry staff to run the fuel through your filter when they fill your bottles. I'm sure that the staff tries hard to keep impurities out of the gas, but every little bit helps.

I probably don't have to tell you this, but don't even think about bringing any fuel along on public transportation. Pack your bottles empty and dry in your checked baggage.

Tents

Philmont supplies backpacking tents, one per two people. They are decent tents, but a rather old design. They're not free standing, so setting them up can be a problem when the ground is really hard, as it often is. They have very little head room, so you can't sit up.

You don't have to use the tents supplied by Philmont. You can take your own, if you want. If you have decent backpacking tents available, you might consider bringing them along, even though it would mean transporting that much more stuff to the ranch.

Cookware

As with tents, Philmont supplies you with serviceable cookware, but it isn't state-of-the-art. You'll get a bunch of aluminum pots that might look like they survived WW II. They'll do fine, but as with tents, if you have a decent set of nesting stainless steel backpacking pots, you might consider bringing them.

Hiking Helps

Steve Harmony sent me the following useful suggestion. I'm including it verbatim:
Your log mentioned how hard downhill is on advisors knees. My 44-year old knees have certainly felt a lot of wear from my years of Philmont and Grand Canyon backpacking. This summer for the Philmont Staff Association trek, I brought along a pair of trekking poles. Mine were the adjustable, spring-loaded (for shock absorption) Super Makalu poles by Leki. I got mine for about $100 at REI. They made a real difference for me. I didn't get to carry both for the whole trek, one of my fellow old-timers was having real knee problems, so I let him use one of my poles for about the second half of our trek. Certainly the youth don't need that kind of supplemental support, but advisors should really consider it. A walking stick is, quite frankly, almost as good as the Lekis, and can be had for a lot less.

Read the Documentation

Read the PEAKS booklet cover-to-cover. Several times. There's a lot of information in there you need to know. For example, did you realize that you have to have someone in your crew with a current certification in First Aid and CPR?

Plan to Have a Good Time

You will.