Sisters scouts trek in New Mexico

Sisters Boy Scout Troop 139 recently completed a 12-day trek at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Philmont is a backpacking camp that Waite Phillips (founder of Phillips Petroleum) donated to the Boy Scouts of America in 1938. Mr. Phillips' personal motto was "The only things we keep permanently are those we give away." The high-adventure ranch is comprised of over 137,000 acres near Cimarron, New Mexico, in the rugged mountain wilderness of the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies. Elevation for the camp ranges from 6,500 to 12,441 feet.

Steve Hunt, one of the Troop advisers, attended Philmont when he was in Boy Scouts and had been looking forward to taking his boys someday. He was the main organizer of the trip. A crew of 12 members was chosen out of the troop, with the requirement that they had to be 14 or older. The crew members were: Seth Roy, Gus Gyorgyfalvy, Christian Hunt, Daniel Hunt, Taylor Lucas, Garrett Trahern, Andrew Stengel and Ethan Stengel with advisors Steve Hunt, Gene Trahern, Cory Stengel, and Ryan Roy.

The Philmont crew started practice hikes a year in advance to prepare. The crew chose Itinerary 28, which would cover over 83 miles in 11 days. Scouts flew to Albuquerque on July 8, and checked in at Philmont base camp a day early.

On the first hiking day, the crew caught a bus a few miles to the trailhead at the very southern end of the ranch. The first day was only a few miles, so the crew had time to go to a nearby camp to do some activities. They learned how to milk a goat and make adobe bricks. The following night, the scouts camped in the haunted Urracca mesa. On the third day, the crew got up for a beautiful sunrise coming over the "Tooth of Time," a major geological monolith rising several thousand feet above the valley floor.

Day 4 was when the hard work and real fun began. The trekkers dropped packs at Schaefer's Pass to hike and climb to the top of the Tooth of Time (9,003 ft.).

The crew summited close to noon.

When the scouts got back to their packs they saw they had been rummaged through by a bear. Several water bottles and a stove gas container had tooth holes in them. The bear also bit through a sleeping pad and took a meal kit. The crew was very lucky that the packs were not heavily damaged, and continued to the camp where they would be spending the night.

The next three days went as planned, heading into the north country of Philmont. On the eighth day of the trek the crew arose at 4 a.m. and set out to hike Mt. Baldy (12,441 ft.). They summitted in only two hours, which is faster than usual, and celebrated with a group photo, and some called home to tell loved ones of the accomplishment.

The last three days of the trek were literally downhill from there, to the end at Six Mile Gate. The scouts climbed a smaller mountain called Hart Peak on day 10 and saw the only confirmed T-Rex track in the world on day 11.

Most of the crew couldn't really believe the trek was over, as it had gone so quickly. Overall, they ended up hiking around 100 miles. After returning to base camp and getting cleaned up, the crew attended the closing Philmont camp fire and received a plaque for their achievements. The next day they received Philmont Arrowhead patches, which can only be earned by doing a trek and a conservation project. The scouts returned to Albuquerque and tried to get used to civilization again. They flew back to Oregon on July 24.