Re: Standing Indian Day 2 Update

Wow, what a hike. My kudos to everyone in the group. I would say you have met the necessary requirements to be prepared for Philmont. I have not seen your trek but even during my 90+ mile Philmont trek, the most we ever did was maybe 12 miles. Hikes such as you just finished are steeper and more technical than you would see at Philmont. The only difference is the sheer elevation. If you keep the cardio up, you will have a great & less stressful time at Philmont.

Sincerely,

John McFarland

On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 11:26 AM, <rodroeser@gmail.com> wrote:

‎We knew that Sunday was going to be a long day, but it turned out to be even longer than anticipated. Following a morning devotion by our crew chaplain, Sean Larsen, we started hiking around 8:30 on Sunday morning. The plan was to hike about 10 miles on the AT to just past Albert Mountain. When we arrived at that campsite, it had been closed for rejuvenation and was relocated another 2 miles down the trail. This particular section was fairly steep with very little room to move left or right off of the trail so nowhere to create our own campsite. We were also in the middle of a pretty good rain storm. 

We arrived at the relocated campsite about an hour or so later and found that there wasn't any room for our tents. There was a new AT shelter there that already had occupants.   ‎We discussed our options with the crew and decided to hike the remaining 3 miles that afternoon and come off the trail early. 

The final 3 miles proved to be quite a challenge. Everyone was pretty tired after the first 12 miles and with the rain the hiking became technical in nature. We arrived at the end of our trip at about 5:30 and made it back to Chestnut Ridge Christian Church about 9:30 pm. 

The highlight of the day was climbing to the summit of Albert Mountain. If you have a chance do a google search for Albert Mountain Fire Tower and read about the history which is really interesting.   All of the scouts and adults said that the climb up to the summit was possibly the most difficult climb they had done with a fully loaded backpack.   Basically, the climb was very steep with portions done scaling the rock face. Getting to the summit though was well worth the effort. Our visit at the summit was cut short though due to the thunder and lightning that started to roll in when we were at about the half way mark up to the top. 

In summary, we hiked 9 + miles on Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday for a total of 24 +. We had some sore feet, knees, and a couple blisters, but all in all everyone did very well. The training hikes we've been doing since January have made a substantial difference in our preparedness for Philmont. 

I've attached a couple more pictures taken with my phone. Both Mr Newton and Mr Beaullieu have pictures as well and we will consolidate and get them out to everyone. You will notice that the pictures on Albert Mtn look dark and this is because of the thunderstorm cloud that had rolled in while we were there. 

Great job everyone. 

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.

5/25/14 - Standing Indian Day 2 Update

Bradley and Mr. Newton - Albert Mtn Fire Tower

Bradley - Albert Mtn Fire Tower

Ben and Mr Roeser - Albert Mtn Fire Tower

Mr Beaullieu - Hanging Bear Bag

Bradley

‎We knew that Sunday was going to be a long day, but it turned out to be even longer than anticipated. Following a morning devotion by our crew chaplain, Sean Larsen, we started hiking around 8:30 on Sunday morning. The plan was to hike about 10 miles on the AT to just past Albert Mountain. When we arrived at that campsite, it had been closed for rejuvenation and was relocated another 2 miles down the trail. This particular section was fairly steep with very little room to move left or right off of the trail so nowhere to create our own campsite. We were also in the middle of a pretty good rain storm. 

We arrived at the relocated campsite about an hour or so later and found that there wasn't any room for our tents. There was a new AT shelter there that already had occupants.   ‎We discussed our options with the crew and decided to hike the remaining 3 miles that afternoon and come off the trail early. 

The final 3 miles proved to be quite a challenge. Everyone was pretty tired after the first 12 miles and with the rain the hiking became technical in nature. We arrived at the end of our trip at about 5:30 and made it back to Chestnut Ridge Christian Church about 9:30 pm. 

The highlight of the day was climbing to the summit of Albert Mountain. If you have a chance do a google search for Albert Mountain Fire Tower and read about the history which is really interesting.   All of the scouts and adults said that the climb up to the summit was possibly the most difficult climb they had done with a fully loaded backpack.   Basically, the climb was very steep with portions done scaling the rock face. Getting to the summit though was well worth the effort. Our visit at the summit was cut short though due to the thunder and lightning that started to roll in when we were at about the half way mark up to the top. 

In summary, we hiked 9 + miles on Saturday and 15 miles on Sunday for a total of 24 +. We had some sore feet, knees, and a couple blisters, but all in all everyone did very well. The training hikes we've been doing since January have made a substantial difference in our preparedness for Philmont. 

I've attached a couple more pictures taken with my phone. Both Mr Newton and Mr Beaullieu have pictures as well and we will consolidate and get them out to everyone. You will notice that the pictures on Albert Mtn look dark and this is because of the thunderstorm cloud that had rolled in while we were there. 

Great job everyone. 

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.

5/24/14 - Standing Indian - Sat Night

Mr B hanging bear bag

Mr B still hanging bear bag

Raymond C

Brockton D

Will O and Brockton D

Ben R…Boy this is tasty.

Sean L

Raymond C

Brockton D on water trip

Carter D water trip

Will O water trip

Sean, Ben, Raymond 

Sean, Ben, Raymond

‎We arrived at Beech Gap this afternoon without any issues. Our hike this morning was uphill for about 4 hours followed by mostly downhill this afternoon.   We hiked about 9 miles.  Elevation change today was from 3,880 at Standing Indian campground to 5,498 at the top of Standing Indian Mtn then back down to 4,431 at Beech Gap campsite.

The pictures above are of the scouts setting up camp and cooking their dinner.  Mr Beaullieu is hanging his bear bag.  We walked over several piles of bear scat on the trail so we knew that bears were active in the area.

Tomorrow is a 10 mile day and we are headed toward the summit of Albert Mountain. We've got some sore feet and knees but everyone is doing well.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.

5/24/14 - Standing Indian Loop Trail - Starting Update

Pictured L to R: Brockton D, Will O, Ben R, Bradley N, Carter D, Raymond C, Sean L
Back Row: Bob B.  Not pictured Rod R, Brad N.

The T955 Philmont Crew got on the Kimsey Creek trail at about 10:45 this morning.  This picture is taken at the Backcountry Kiosk trailhead.  From this point we hiked down through the Standing Indian campground and found the start of the Kimsey Creek Trail.  The Kimsey Creek trail is a 3.7 mile trail that leaves the campground and connects to the Appalachian Trail at Deep Gap.

We are on our lunch break now at the Standing Indian Shelter on the AT. We've got about 4 more hours on the trail to our campsite tonight at Beech Gap. So far it has been a tough hike.....atleast for me.

The elevation at Standing Indian campground is 3,880 ft and it is 5,498 at Standing Indian Mountain.  So about 1,600 ft of elevation change today, which is quite a lot. 

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.

2/18/14 - Training Hike This Morning - Kennesaw Mtn

We have been conducting our training hikes for many weeks now.  Today seemed to be our strongest hike yet.  Both scouts and adults alike moved up and down the hills with more confidence and stamina, only stopping for breaks at the pre-determined locations.

We met at the McDonald's at 8am and started hiking at approximately 8:30am.  We hiked our usual route from the visitor center to the top of Kennesaw Mtn, down the backside, up Little Kennesaw and down the backside to just short of Pigeon Hill.  Although we haven't gone all the way to Burnt Hickory Rd yet, we are getting closer to that area.  Our estimate of distance today was 5 miles.  In the past we've had to park at the overflow parking lot which adds almost 1 miles to the total trip.

We had a crew meeting last Monday night and reviewed the training calendar which takes us up to our departure to Philmont on July 16, 2014.  We are conducting day hikes of 5 - 7 miles most weekends with increasing weight in our backpacks and have also planned 3 long trips of 3 days / 2 nights.  We also reviewed equipment and remaining financial requirements.

The scouts also elected their leadership for the trip:  crew leader - Ben Roeser, crew chaplain - Sean Larsen, and crew guide - Brockton Davis.

Next weekend is our first extended hike and we plan to do a 23-mile trip at Pine Mtn on Sat, Sun, and Mon.  This will give us a chance to see where we are at from a conditioning standpoint, equipment needs, and overall ability to work together for a longer period of time.