Ever since I joined the Boy Scouts, I wanted to go to the Philmont Scout Ranch to experience its many high adventure activities, such as hiking, camping, and other outdoor training along its many miles of rugged trails in New Mexico.
I was finally able to make the trip with some guys in another troop, Troop 652, in the summer of 2014. I knew quite a few of the other scouts from my high school and had played with them on various sport teams.
The months leading up to the trip were full of preparation. I went to many meetings where the other scouts and I made a lot of decisions about our 12 days at Philmont, such as the route we wanted to take; how we would get there; and how we would get acclimated to the thin air in the Rocky Mountains.
To prepare for our trip to Philmont, the other scouts and I went on a couple of practice backpacking trips. One of them was to Kepler Overlook in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. We also took a hike for 14 miles on the Appalachian Trail with our backpacks filled to get ready for what was awaiting us at Philmont. Luckily, I had also just completed the hiking merit badge, so was in pretty good hiking shape. But it was still a challenging experience.
We flew out of Dulles into Denver, where we attended a baseball game and stayed in a hotel that night. The next morning, we drove to Colorado Springs where we met the tour group. We went to the Air Force Academy and also up to the top of Pike’s Peak. This helped us get acclimated to the different air conditions in Colorado. We also went on a small 3-mile hike to get in another practice for Philmont.
After spending one night in the dorms at the University of Colorado, we started our drive the next morning to Phlimont's base camp, where we met our guide who would be joining us on the first three nights at the ranch. He taught us many very useful lessons about what to expect and how to handled the challenges that Philmont poses for just about any Boy Scout.
He warned us about the presence of “mountain kitties” (Mountain Lions, of course), which will not hesitate to take a bite out of you. So his simple advice was to run at the first site of any mountain kitty!
Our guide also gave us a lesson about the “mini-bears” that roamed around Philmont. They actually were not bears: He was referring to the abundant number of squirrels and chipmunks that would steal your food if you left it outside of your tent.
Finally, the final and most important thing he taught us was about the “poo scale.” Now, the poo scale, we all learned, is an important way to ensure that scouts stay healthy and strong because it measures the consistency of a scout’s poo on a scale from 1-10.
If your poo ranks on the low end of one, the folks at Philmont refer to as “butt pee,: or the “Hershey squirts.” I trust you know what health condition that indicates. If your poo ranks as a 10, that’s known as a “rock.” I trust you also know what that indicates!
So, according to our guide, the ideal poo is about a seven or an eight on the scale. And the food that is served at Philmont is designed to keep each scout’s poo at just that level—so that things are more comfortable when you are on a hike or doing some other activity. Although it sounds pretty funny, it’s actually a very serious issue—an upset stomach out on the trail is hard to deal with. (This was just one of the many things we learned during our time at Philmont.)
Once our preparations were behind us, the great adventure that is Philmont Scout Ranch began. During the trip, we did the same thing every day: 1) hiked about eight miles; 2) did something fun (like learning how to be experts at tossing an axe; 3) took some shooting practice with rifles (always under the careful supervision of the great people at Philmont); and 4) then camped at a new campsite at the end of the day.
Once we were at the campsite, we had to set up the “bear-muda" triangle, which is an imaginary triangle that contains three points; the campfire itself, the bear bags, and your sump. You’re not allowed to camp inside of the bear-muda for safety reasons.
My 12 days at Philmont were full of experiences I’ll never forget. But, I have to say that my favorite part came at the end of our trip. We hauled up to the top of the “Tooth of Time,” which allowed us to see everywhere that we had been on our adventure and Philmont’s basecamp, which was only a couple of miles away.
Philmont was first established in 1938. Since then, more than one million scouts, venturers, and leaders have made the pilgrimage to Philmont to experience the great adventures that it offers. And today, it’s the Boy Scouts of America’s largest High Adventure Base.
I hope every that Boy Scout will have the chance to make the trip to Philmont. I’ll remember that trip for forever, and so will you.
Will S. - Life Scout, Troop 1916