| Travel Group Considerations
The type of trip you take should be based primarily around
your travel group’s make-up. Are the youth in the group all approximately
the same age or is there a mix of older (more experienced) and younger
participants. What about the adults? Are they in roughly the same physical
condition? If your party is made up of one travel group only (6 to 9 total
people) your party make-up is pretty well etched in stone. If, on the other
hand, your party is made up of several travel groups of 6 to 9 people each,
they can be mixed or matched as your desires dictate.
For instance, younger boys can be grouped
together for an easier route, base camping for instance. They can then
strike out each day to a new set of lakes for fishing or advancement. They
will travel easier and faster than if they had to take down camp, carry
everything with them, and be at the next site early enough to set up and
start dinner. At the same time, a group of more experienced boys can get
earlier starts, carry more on portages, and have the maturity to “get the
task done” when it comes to a fast camp set-up at the end of a long travel
day.
Another way to design your travel groups
is to make each one relatively the same ability-wise, in other words, older
and younger boys together in each group. The advantage here is that the
older boys can teach the younger boys … utilizing their leadership skills.
Travel will be slower than that of an all “older guy” group, but faster than
an all “younger guy” group.
The same thoughts hold true for adult
leaders. They may be matched by a mutual desire for the same “pace” trip: an
aggressive 50-miler, a laid-back fishing vacation, a moderate
travel-every-other-day sojourn. They can compliment each other with a
younger or stronger adult paired with one of less physical stamina. Or they
can reflect each other’s ability level and strength. One combination you
want to be very careful to avoid is having a group of boys who are “too
strong” for the leader(s) they are with. The adult may try to “keep-up” with
the boys and drive himself right into an injury by doing too much. |
