EVALUATION SUBMITTED BY LEADER HEBER SLUSSER

MEETINGS

Miler preparation meetings were held at Paul's house about every other Tuesday for two months prior to the outing.  They were well attended and quite business like.  Each of the scouts participated and shared their opinions and knowledge.  Paul provided valuable input and direction at the meetings that was well received by all.

LEADERS

The three leaders were well matched and quite compatible.  The scouts always get along well with Paul and they warmed up to Laura and me early in the trip.  Each of the leaders seemed competent and capable.

EQUIPMENT

This year's equipment, though nearly the same list as previous year's, weighed in lighter than other year's, however I think that there may have been more "illegal" stuff put into the scout's packs after the inspection.  All of the equipment was in good shape and little, if anything, was lost on the trip.

ROUTE FOOD

The menu, selected by the scouts, was appreciated by the scouts more than I have experienced in the past.  The quantity was very close to right and should be used as a model for the future.

PREP HIKES

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any of the prep hikes that were not on Prasek's ridge.  The Prasek's ridge hikes were acceptable and should be continued.

SPL

Our SPL, Ann, this year did an excellent job.  She may have done more than required by her job description.  The scouts responded to her requests and direction without question.  She is wonderful to work with.

PATROLS

Due to some nearly last minute drop-outs, we reconstructed the troop into 2 patrols rather than three.  This worked very well.  Each patrol was self contained and had at least one adult.  Since the number of participants on the outing was reasonably small, the division into patrols was hardly noticeable.  The scouts did most everything together as one group.  For the leaders, this is a wonderful sight to see.

PACK INSPECTION

This year's pack inspection went smoother than most.  Fewer scouts and more consensus among them along with more experience contributed to this.  We were scheduled to start the inspection at 6:30 PM and actually started at 7:00 PM.  Two hours later we had completed the whole thing.
Paul started the process with a last minute briefing that reminded the scouts about safety, personal hygiene, "cat holes", bears and bear bagging, and water purification.
The packs were weighed as they were brought in to establish a reference weight.  This was done with the water bottles full.
Heber inspected each of the packs, straps, frame, buckles, webbing, etc.  for wear and missing items.  Everything was in good shape.
As Paul read the pack list, items were removed from the scouts packs and checked by the leaders.  The contraband was weighed (6 oz.  limit) and shortage lists distributed (not very long lists this time).
The patrol food was inventoried (we arranged the food in meal order - Sunday breakfast, Sunday lunch, Sunday dinner, Monday breakfast, ...) The food was distributed in the order it was inventoried (scout A - Sunday breakfast, scout B - Sunday lunch, scout C - Sunday dinner, ...).
The patrol equipment was also inventoried and organized.  The "billy kit" was packed with everything required for cooking (pots, stove, dish soap, clothespins, serving spoon, etc.) and given to one scout so that all of the cooking stuff would be in one place at meal time.  The shelter, stakes, and poles were given to another scout, and the bucket and shampoo were put together for a third scout.  The fuel cans and other equipment were distributed to balance the pack weights.
The leaders carried some of the patrol equipment along with the troop equipment ( first aid, GPS, ropes, etc.)
After the packs were filled and closed, they were again weighted with full water bottles (different from years past when some packs had water and some didn't).  The chart below has last year's weights for some of the scouts for comparison to this year's weights.
 
Name 
1996 (for reference)
1997 (incoming)
1997
(final)
Heber 
52
42
54
Paul 
57 
52
62
Laura 
45 
37
46
Molly 
34
26
36
Ann 
35
25
40
Harmony  
35
25
36 
Shannon 
 
31
41
Nicole   
 
23 
36
Suzanne   
 
28 
40
 A few notes: Since there were very few things forgotten, the average scout pack weight without food
or equipment is 26.25 pounds (near the target of 27) and the average weight of the food and equipment
per scout is 11.9 pounds.  Both numbers are lighter in some of the past years.  At the completion of the
adventure, the left over food weighed in at 29 pounds (remember that the trip was cut short by one day
and we always like at least a days food in reserve).

HIKE

I doubt that it could have been better.  Refer to my journal for details.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation was provided by Paul and me.  We had no problems.  In the future, I would like to see some of the scout's parents provide the transportation as it had been done in the past, but I have no complaints about this year's arrangements.

HIGHLIGHTS

There were so many, but the highest of the highlights was listening to the "girls" around the campfire while Paul and I fished.  They were laughing and interacting in a way that I have only experienced on Milers.  The individual scouts had become ONE entity and I hope that they will remain that way for a long time.