By Alex Fung, Special Writer
In mid-July, Boy Scouts from Hillsborough Troop 489 ventured into the wilderness on an 11-day, 97-mile trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in northeastern New Mexico.
Philmont is a high adventure camp where Scouts challenge themselves physically and mentally. Hikers have access to more than 200 square miles of land and some of the surrounding properties. The terrain goes from towering mountains to flat grassy plains.
The Hillsborough crew was made of eight Scouts and four adults. To prepare for this trip, the boys would go on local hikes with packs that weighed up to 45 pounds.
After flying to Denver and staying the night at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the crew visited Pikes Peak and rode the cog railway to the summit at 14,114 feet, and went whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River.
After a three-hour bus ride, they arrived in at the Philmont ranch in New Mexico.
They picked up gear, food, a minimum of a gallon of water per person, reviewed the itinerary for the trek and met the ranger who would accompany them for two days on the trail.
“We had to learn to work as a team,” Alex Fung of Troop 489 said. “This is a vital part of a backpacking trip because everyone needs to help set up camp and to carry gear or the crew cannot function.”
The next morning, they visited Villa Philmonte, the former home of Waite Phillips, who donated most of the land for the ranch in 1938.
The first destination was Lovers Leap Camp, a 2-mile hike from the drop-off. Hiking in the late afternoon, the boys were caught in a rainstorm.
After about an hour of hiking, they arrived at the camp and began using practiced skills to set up dining fly, bags to keep food and trash from bears and tents. The first trail meal was dehydrated chicken, peas and rice. The food at Philmont is mostly dry, like beef jerky or granola, except for dinner.
When they woke up in the morning, they found the dining fly was down and was soaked in rainwater.
The next day, the group headed to Crater Lake Camp where Scouts had the opportunity to climb 50-foot-tall trees called spar poles. They were stripped of all the bark and limbs and able to be climbed with spikes that were attached to boots.
A few days later, they arrived at another staffed camp named Miranda, established on the site where Native Americans and the settlers of the area would have various competitions. The boys threw tomahawks at old logs and shot black powder rifles. They were allowed to shoot hats and other possessions and take them home as souvenirs.
The highlight of the trip was climbing Mount Baldy at 12,441 feet tall. The crew had to wake up early to be finished before afternoon lightning storms.
The climb took about two hours and was around 6 miles to the summit. Mount Baldy has no vegetation close to the summit and is made mostly of loose shale, a hiking challenge on the steep mountain face.
At the top, the boys could see miles into the clear expanse; even Pike’s Peak was visible about 200 miles away.
“This view showed us how far we had gone and gave us the sense of this great achievement,” Alex said.
At the end of the journey, the boys had the opportunity to help construct a railroad at a camp called Metcalf Station, recently converted to a staffed camp because the ranch is reconstructing a railroad that once ran through the valley. The boys drove in a few spikes.