This is a follow-up to my earlier post, which looked at the AWA accident database. One distinction is that AWA database includes all whitewater accidents from Class I to Class V – and may not be representative of a typical scout trip. By “scout trip” I mean a river trip in canoes or kayaks, on… Read more

For information on Philmont “how to,” check out my prior posts: Philmont Overview, Registration and Itinerary, Fitness Prep, Skills Prep, Gear Prep, Youth Leadership, and Top Tips. This post is simply a trip report for Crew 714-9B-1. Day 0 (travel day): We flew from Austin on an early morning flight to Colorado Springs, where we… Read more

From the first step off the bus upon arrival to the step back on the bus to leave, the youth Crew Leader, not the adult lead advisor, is responsible for leadership. The three “official” Philmont leadership positions are Crew Leader, Chaplain’s Aid, and Wilderness Pledge Guia. Of these, Crew Leader is, by far, the most… Read more

This is going to be a short post. While some backpacking experience helps, one does not need to know any Philmont-specific skills or procedures before arrival. A Philmont Ranger accompanies every crew for the first few days of the hike and will teach these skills—even if the crew already knows them. A physically fit crew… Read more

The two most important things for a successful Philmont trek are: Everything else – gear and backcountry skills – can be bought or learned after you arrive at base camp. But showing up at Philmont out of shape or with an a-hole in your crew cannot be remedied.  On Fitness: Philmont does not allow crews… Read more

For Thanksgiving the six of us plus Michelle’s parents drove up from Austin to the YMCA of the Rockies Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colorado, where we met my parents.  For extra room, we rented a Ford Transit 15-person van in Austin.  As we were going over Berthound Pass and taking in the winter wonderland… Read more

I first saw a Western States 100 buckle on a phone while drinking beer at a bar with John at a law firm happy hour back in 2015.  Of course I wanted one and thought it a simple as signing up and running the race.  Thus began my dabbling in the world of ultramarathons.  As… Read more

While watching my nephew’s YouTube report of his family’s vacation to a resort in the Bahamas my wife Michelle asked me “why don’t we do vacations like that?”  I had to tell her it was because we only do Type II fun. I did not come up with the fun classification system, but I love… Read more

Most of us have been admonished at one time or another to focus on that which we can control.  A year into the pandemic, we seem to have lost sight of this lesson. The narrative has focused almost exclusively on one element of risk control: limiting exposure to the virus through social distancing, masks, etc. … Read more

For the past two years I have been using the Gaia GPS app on my iPhone for navigation and to record hikes and ultramarathons.  I am neither a gadget nor app guy, but the utility of Gaia GPS is such that I felt compelled to write a review.  Gaia GPS is the single most useful… Read more

A couple of weeks ago I had a disaster workout.  I took a hard fall on the rocks a few miles into a long run, then just muddled through.  To describe it as an uninspiring performance would be charitable.  As we walked to the car after, I told John that the last three hours had… Read more

Like everything else these days, reopening schools has become just another issue for political cultists to fight about.   The lack of nuanced leadership based on an objective view of what we know and what we don’t is, and I say this with extreme understatement, disappointing.  My family is re-engaging with most of the pre-COVID activities… Read more

For something that is supposedly good for us, running can do a lot of damage.  Our injuries rarely announce themselves with the “pop” of a tendon rupturing or the sight of a bone sticking out of the skin.  Instead, running injuries are sneaky bastards.  One day we are fine, the next a little stiff. Then… Read more