Denis Longo's 1998 Philmont Journal

Prologue

 Each of my Philmont experiences has been unique in its own right. This expedition was no exception. As with each of the previous contingents that I participated in, I learned something new. I also had the opportunity to work with yet another great group of individuals who came together to make this a memorable and rewarding trek. I am especially indebted to my co-adviser, Larry Goldsmith, for his untiring help. Also, as in the past, my experience was greatly enhanced by the assistance of my good backpacking friend (and our Contingent Leader), Walt Tanner. And then there was the camaraderie of the rest of the Backpackiní Goodfellas: Rich Goldman, Chris Hughes, Harvey Noschese, and Rich Edwards (who didnít go to Philmont with us, but was there in spirit nonetheless)

This was a new type of crew for me to work with, i.e., one composed of Scouts from just two troops. For the most part, Larry and I were able to overcome the teamwork challenge posed by this natural dichotomy. In fact, this crew seemed to grow into the Philmont spirit better than any previous crew that I had worked with ñ but more on that later. The crew also recovered well from the withdrawal of one of the original members late in the training cycle.