Simsbury Troop 175

Chess Merit Badge To Be Available in September

The BSA’s newest merit badge, Chess, will be launched in September with some exciting events designed to raise interest and awareness. The kickoff event will take place at the grand opening of the new Chess Hall of Fame on Sept. 8-10.

We'll post the requirements on September 7th, when they are released.

 

Our Philmont Experience - Version 2

Here is the second of two accounts of Troop 175's 2011 Philmont Adventure as told through the eyes of Drew Veltrop.

 

 7/2/11 12:43 PM:

I am sitting in the plane, we are approximately 38,000 ft. above sea level. Oh boy!

12:48 PM:

Still in the plane.

1:59 PM:

We just got back from eating at the country buffet. Luckily, it was all you can eat. That means you can eat all that you possibly can. That one took me a while to figure out. Anywho, at the country buffet I entertained myself by placing certain items of food on other peoples plates. My most famous instance of this was when I deposited a steaming pile of spinach on the plate of scout from a different troop. I believe he was upset with me.

3:46 PM:

After a good feeding session at the country buffet, we took a walk in the Garden of the Gods. What started out as a jolly stroll soon turned into a massacre by hail. Although there were no casualties on our side, it still felt as if we had been through a war. Luckily, we found shelter under the roof of a forlorn building right next to a parking lot, where we stayed until the hail subsided. It was fun watching fellow tourists have their hopes of a scenic hike ruined by balls of icy death flung from the sky.

7:05 PM:

We arrived at the university where we’d be staying the next few nights not very tired, because it was only 7. So, like any reasonable boy scout would do, we went to the rec center. It was awesome! They had a water-volleyball net, a hot tub that could seat over 40 people, a big pool, and a righteous waterslide! But, of course they had a not-so-fun lifeguard. The lifeguard wasn’t a happy camper and she also took her job a little bit too seriously. If I saw the pool, and began to walk at a slightly advanced pace, I would suddenly hear “NOOOOO RUNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIINNNGGGGGGGG!!!! GET OUT OF THE POOL AND TRY AGAIN.” It was fun to mess with her by breaking silly rules, such as: you must be on your back, facing forward whilst you go down the slide. After a night of shenanigans at the pool, we retired to our dorms and went to sleep, thus ending our first day of Blue Sky Adventures.

 7/3/11  5:00 AM:

This is how early Blue Sky made us get up. This was because we needed to get an early start towards the mythical cogwheel ride. After a breakfast that was in the form of a buffet, we set out towards the famed cogwheel.

 8:39 AM:

We arrived at Pikes Peak just in time for our ride up the mountain. Let me tell you that I was very surprised not to find any seatbelts on the train, as the type of speeds that we reached were pushing 7 mph. That’s right, 7 mph and they didn’t even have seatbelts. What a hoot. The view made it all worth it, and there were even donuts that can only be made at a certain elevation, which were delicious. Eventually, it was time to get back on the cogwheel, this time going even slower, and wind our way back down to the base of Pikes Peak. Next was rafting!

 I forget what time this happened at:

            After our exhilarating ride up Pikes Peak, rafting was a nice change of scenery. Before we could get on the river, we had to wait for our guide to get here. To pass the time, we played volleyball, which, needless to say, was fun. Once our guide/bus arrived, we suffered through a safety seminar, and then finally got out on the river. The water was very fast cause it had just rained, so that was bodacious. My codename aboard the raft was Dragon. I could breathe fire. After rafting, we enjoyed some steaks and classic music by Tom Munch. We went to bed that night knowing that tomorrow we’d leave for Philmont, thus ending our final day with Blue Sky Adventures.

 7/4/11   6:43 AM:

We are finally leaving for Philmont! Unfortunately it is a 4-hour bus ride there. Luckily, there were TVs on the bus, so we popped in The Matrix and watched it on the ride there. However, our bus driver refused to turn up the volume, so it was at the point where even a person who was good at hearing would have a difficult time understanding what Neo and his less cool friends were saying. Long story (not really) short, we watched the Matrix but never listened to it. When we pulled into base camp, we had to take care of “logistics” first, afterwards we were introduced to our tents for the night and did some first aid stuff to make sure that we were healthy enough for the trail. Then it was time for lunch. The counselors at base camp have a tradition where they tell some outlandish story and then scream “I wanna go back to Philmont.”

While I agree that Philmont is awesome, their way of selling it failed to inspire camp spirit, which made getting into the cafeteria all the better. After lunch and dinner (doing stuff in between, of course), we attended our respective church services. Needless to say, we sang songs. After church, we went to the trail-bound campfire, which, predictably, was the best part of the trip. After the campfire, we retired to our tents, thus ending our first day at base camp.

First day on the trail:

After a tasty breakfast of cold eggs and damp bread, we waited for the bus to arrive that would take us to the trail. Once it did, we hopped onto to it, much like a goat about to be milked hops up onto its wooden pedestal. When we arrived at the trail Matt gave us some useful information, such as what red roof inn is (two person porta potty) what mini-bears are (rabid chipmunks that try to steal your food) and other not as useful tips. After this seminar, we finally embarked on our actual Philmont journey. To start the journey off, we had to hike a terrifying TWO miles. I did not sign up for something so physically and mentally challenging.

            Well, after the colossal hike was conquered, we set up our tents/bear bags and went swimming in a cool spot we had seen whilst hiking. Needless to say, we got wet. After swimming we enjoyed some root beers at the cantina, milked some goats (which made my hands smell like feces) and finally did our first round of “Thorns, Roses and Buds,” which is where you say something good and bad about the day, and something you’re looking forward to. After this activity which would be repeated every night afterwards, we all went to our tents and slept, thus ending our first day on the trail.

 Second day on the trail:

            After a bland breakfast of cereal bars, we hit the trail, still tired from yesterday’s overwhelming distance traveled. Our first stop was Carson Meadows, where we were introduced to our good friend Tom. Tom made a lasting impact on all of us through his witty puns, hilarious jokes, interesting conversation, and his uncanny wookie impression. Tom led us in the search and rescue program, in which we had to find our ranger Matt, who was about 100 feet deep into the woods. As you can imagine, finding him was no challenge whatsoever, and it only took a few seconds. After search and rescue we continued on the path to Crags, which would be our campsite for the night. Along the way, there was a place called the notch, which had incredible views of the surrounding mountains. Once we fully soaked in the view, we continued to Crags, where we played some Frisbee, washed our clothes in the nearby stream, and had a good time altogether. After another session of Roses, Thorns and Buds, we went to our tents, thus ending our second day on the trail.

Third day on the trail:

            Next up on our epic hajj was Fish Camp. After an incredibly short hike, we reached fish camp and enjoyed a complimentary tour of the old cabin there. The thing that surprised me most was how some one from the 1800’s could still be alive. Once the tour was finished, we continued on to make our own flies for fly-fishing. Sadly, no one caught any fish, which was probably because about 50 scouts/

scout-masters fish there everyday. Other than fishing, we occupied ourselves by climbing, playing cards, or sitting in our tents alone writing all this down. When I finished scribing this vital information, I emerged into the sunlight and did stuff. Thus ended our third day on the trail.

Fourth day on the trail:

            On the way to Apache Springs (our next campsite) we spotted a dead elk, which was cool to see because the fur still clung to the rotting carcass. After a heart-warming picture of us surrounding the dead elk, pretending we were the ones that slew the beast, we continued on to our next landmark; the seven switchbacks of death. To start off with, there were 8 switchbacks, and they were also some of the easiest switchbacks on the ranch. Apache Springs was right up the hill from the switchbacks, so we enjoyed another casual hike. The first thing we did at Apache Springs was our conservation project. I thought we would be doing something along the lines of planting baby trees or flowers, but instead we hacked away at existing trees with a bunch of dull axes like a group of bloodthirsty Vikings. It gives me a warm feeling to know that I played my part in conserving the forest. Needless to say, the last sentence had hints of sarcasm. Our next activity was the sunset hike, in which we walked up a short but steep path to get an amazing view of the sunset. What was once a dense force was now a wide open plain, which made it perfect for viewing the set of the sun. Another thing about the meadow we were in was that it bordered another ranch, so we all had fun by peeing over the barbed wire fence onto the opposing ranch. We then ate our now maddeningly boring freeze-dried dinners and went to our tents, thus ending our fourth day on the trail.

 Fifth day on the trail:

            Today we did not need to hike, as it was our layover day. We passed the time until the teepee tour at 11 by playing stick ball. To my surprise, we never lost a ball, even though some of them were launched into the field where it was nearly impossible to find the balls. Before we knew it, it was time for the teepee tour! It took surprisingly long to tour a place with one room. The guide gave us some history on the Indian tribe, passed around some pelts and arrowheads and even a ceremonial bow. After the teepee tour was archery. We had to move the time slot for archery back by an hour because of rain/lightning. Luckily the bad weather passed, and we were able to get our shots in. It was fun because the targets were not conventional targets, but some kind of rubbery replica of different forest animals, which made shooting at them all the better. Nothing happened after archery because it was to cloudy to enjoy the sunset, so we all went to bed, thus ending our fifth day on the trail.

 Sixth day on the trail:

            Today we faced our first hike that was actually challenging. The camp that we would be staying at wasn’t that far away, but we had just run out of food, so we needed to go out of our way for a new food supply. This made our total miles traveled for the day about 10. Along the way, we stopped at Crooked Creek, where we got another tour of the beaver-trapping lodge, caught chickens that were running (some of them were actually hard to catch because they were so small) and chopping wood. The best part of Crooked Creek was when Mr. Rice shattered the axe he was using whilst chopping wood. Needless to say, the axe was not usable afterwards. Once we had spent a large amount of time at the creek, we continued to hike the remaining miles up to Wild Horse. The only noteworthy part of Wild Horse was John Cahill’s sermon, where we sang songs and such. After this, some of us went to bed while others did the nightly workout, thus ending our sixth day on the trail.

Seventh day on the trail:

            Needless to say, we woke up in the morning. Our first mission of the day was to climb down the mountain we had just climbed up the previous day. As a result, it was all down hill to Clear Creek, where we would be staying a short while, but not the night.

            We reached Clear Creek at around 7:30 AM, and only one of the counselors there was awake. He was from Shelton, CT so we had a good talk about how Connecticut was superior to all other states. At one point, another counselor named Will emerged from their cabin with a roll of toilet paper, and went straight to one of “Red Roof Inns.” Five minutes later, he went back to the cabin and reemerged with another roll of toilet paper and went back to the Red Roof Inn. Will had lots of personality. The main event at clear creek was shooting, so after a supply drop of ammo we went to the shooting range, where we fired black powder muskets. Instead of firing at set up targets, we had to make our own targets by placing a personal object, such as a shirt or bandana out on the field for us to shoot at. I shot my Philmont shirt right in the heart, if the heart were on the right side of the chest.

            After shooting we started the rest of our hike, the part that was actually difficult: the climb up Mt. Phillips. It started off at an average incline but eventually it got so steep that if you lay down on the trail you would most definitely start rolling. It took us an hour and a half to reach the top of Phillips, and we were all sufficiently tired by that time. To make matters worse, it looked as if it was about to rain, so we set up camp and ate our dinners at 1 when it was still light out under the dining fly. After dinner, we all went to our tents, although only a few people went to sleep. After some time, the people that had gone to sleep woke up, and thought it was the next day already, so they started screaming and spazzing out. Since we were all awake, we took a picture resembling Iwo Jima at the top of Mt. Phillips. After that, those of us that hadn’t slept were tired enough to go to sleep, while the people who had already slept were no longer tired, so started doing stuff that made it impossible for us normal people to fall asleep. Eventually, however, I did fall asleep, thus ending our seventh day on the trail.

 Eight day on the trail:

            Our destination was Cypher’s Mine, and luckily for us, it was all downhill. After climbing down Mt. Phillips and some other hills, we reached the camp and found out that we would not need to set up our tents, as there were shelters for us to sleep in. Next up was the mine tour, which was awesome because it was completely dark, other than the occasional shine of a flashlight. When we reached the end of the mine, we had to make our way back without any light, only by groping and feeling the wall. The light hurt my eyes when we finally got out. After the mine tour was the forge. This might have been cool if we could’ve gotten a fire, but we apparently lacked the skills to create one. The final activity of the day was the stomp, which basically was a music party. We all danced and had a good time, enjoying the classic songs sung by the counselors. The stomp ended late at night, so we made our way back to the shelter and went to bed.

Ninth day on the trail:

            We got up in the morning feeling well rested from sleeping in a nice shelter. When we headed out on the trail, we soon realized that it was imperative for the path to criss-cross around the stream at every possible moment. Before we reached Cimmaron-cito we made a stop at hunting lodge for water and what not. The remainder of the trail to Cimmaron-cito took about 40 minutes and was all uphill. It was soon revealed to us that the water here actually did taste like sulfur, which wasn’t very fun. The first thing we did was go rock climbing, which 90% of the scouts enjoyed. The belayers at rock climbing had a tradition of asking what your favorite Disney character name was, and then assigning your name as the counterpart of that character. So when I asked to be Scar, my name was soon changed to Nalla. I forget what other people’s nicknames were because I wasn’t paying attention. When we were finished with climbing, we ate lunch and then went to the climbing gym, where they had a rock-climbing wall covering every inch of the room (besides the floor) so you could climb on the ceiling and do flips off of it. We stayed in the gym until it was closing time, and then went back to camp.

Tenth day on the trail:

            Today was a relatively easy hike, short and downhill. We got there in time for horseback riding, which was why we left early in the morning. My horse was named Apples, and did not like John’s horse who was next to me, because he kept biting and nosing him. It was a very scenic route and we even saw some dead animal skeletons, such as a cow’s head. The counselors who were riding in the woods parallel to us claimed to have seen a mountain lion. Sadly, we never got to go any faster than a slow walk. When we returned from horseback riding, we went to the branding station to get our stuff branded. I got a lightning bolt on my boots and a dragon on my nalgene. After branding some of us went lassoing, in which we tried to get a rope around the head of a metal bull. The guy next to us failed to understand that the bull was not actually a real bull, but a fake bull, so he thought that when its wooden legs were swiveling back and forth; he thought it was trying to escape and proceeded to yell, “It’s running away!” and then attempt to lasso its legs. This went on for a while. When I had had enough of the guy’s ranting, I went to hang out at the campsite, until the chuck wagon.

When it was time for the chuck wagon we all walked down the hill, hungry with anticipation of real food. We arrived in time to see the food being cooked in delicious aluminum bags in pots of boiling water. But all was well and the beef stew was great, probably because we had been eating freeze-dried food for the past 9 days. I made friends with Kid with Mohawk at the chuck wagon. We went to bed early because tomorrow morning we would be waking up at 2:30 AM.

The Last Day:

As stated before, we woke up at 2:30 in the morning. Luckily, it was a full moon that night so it was far from pitch black. Even though it was so early in the morning, we packed up camp in a record 30 (usually takes at least an hour and a half) minutes and were hiking by 3 o’clock. It was awesome to see the mountains bathed in serene moonlight. One of the reasons we got up so early was to watch the sunrise from atop Schaeffer’s Peak. When we reached the summit the clouds were just starting to turn pink, so we got to enjoy the full sunrise. By the time the sun had risen, we were hiking towards the Tooth of Time, which took about an hour.          

When we reached Tooth of Time, we had to put all our smellables in a bear bag, which a this point was getting bothersome to do, so once we did we began to climb up the rocky mountainside. Before we started we passed another troop and asked them how long it took to get to the top. They said 20 minutes, but we did it in 9. That just goes to show you that 175 is the best. At the top, an adult was trying to get us to laugh by talking about photos or something. Obviously he did not succeed. When we were satisfied with the Tooth of Time, we scrambled back down and continued to hike towards base camp. The last stretch of the trail was switchbacks. But not ordinary switchbacks, no these were hell-spawned switchbacks. Normal switchbacks try to reduce the amount of distance you travel by constantly switching back, hence the name switchback. But these ones were determined to make you travel an extra mile per turn, so that you would travel 15 meters down the hill after 30 minutes of hiking. When we finally got down the hill, we looked back and realized that what took us 2 ½ hours could have easily taken 10 minutes if we had disregarded the switchbacks and rolled down the hill like any sensible person. So after 10 + days on the trail we had survived monster switchbacks, mini-bears, invasive Tom and much more.

            To sum up Philmont, it was an experience not to be forgotten and one that has changed all of our lives through its awesome nature.

(Submitted by Philmont Scripe Drew Veltrop)

Simsbury Troop 175 At Summer Camp 2011

How to Cook With a Dutch Oven When Camping

A Dutch Oven is a great way to make a meal for many people at the same time when camping. Here is a short article from Trails.com with simple directions on how to do it.

How to Cook With a Dutch Oven When Camping

Our Philmont Experience From Eric's Eyes

Our crew to Philmont boasts not one but two scripes to record our adventures. Here is Eric’s Philmont Journal. You can see photos from the trip in the Troop 175 Photo Library.

 

July 2^nd

Today was a very eventful first day. We got off the plane and met Rob Pardue, our tour guide. He took us on to a bus. The bus driver’s name was Abraham, but we called him “Abe.” First, we went to lunch at the Country Buffet. There we enjoyed fantastic food and many naïve and helpless victims of the Pooter, a farting toy that Joey and Karl brought. Kevin is really bad at the Pooter.

After we were finished eating, we got back on the bus and watched a video about the Air Force Academy. By the end of the video, everyone had fallen asleep, even Abe. We got to the Air Force Academy and saw the chapel, which was really beautiful. The landscape was inspiring, and I think a lot of us are now considering applying, meaning only John.

After the Air Force Academy, we journeyed to the Garden of the Gods, which had spectacular views of red rock pillars. On our hike it started pouring. As we sprinted through the rain pretending to be under enemy artillery fire, we were all wondering if this was going to be what the weather was like every day. Then it started hailing. None of us had brought our rain gear except Isaac, who was entertaining himself by standing in a mud puddle while we all huddled under the overhang on a bathroom.

When we got back to the Visitor’s Center, we witnessed an enchanting Native American dance ceremony. The dancers were named Bob and Debbie, which were not the names that I was expecting. Bob did many dances including the hoop dance and the eagle dance. After that was over we watched a movie about the creation and donation of the Garden of the Gods. Finally it was dinnertime, and we exited the theater to go devour hot dogs, burgers, salad, chips, soda, and a cookie! We had fun having animated conversations with the other crews and admiring the views of the beautiful landscape.

Our last activity of the day, although not mandatory, was to swim at the recreation center of the university we were staying at (UCCS). The pool was complete with a hot tub, volleyball net, water slide, and a friendly lifeguard. She was really cool, and we were good friends by the end of the swim session. Anyways after a bunch of sliding and a few rounds of volleyball later we headed up to our dorm rooms and either went to sleep or wrestled and yelled and ate candy while we were supposed to be asleep.

 

July 3^rd

Today was our last day before Philmont. We spent this riding a cog railway to the top of Pike’s Peak. The ride was made humorous by the guides jokes, which, surprisingly, were actually funny. The one reward is that we can all now say that we have been on to of Pike’s Peak.

After our new tour guide, Josh, finished explaining how a cog railway works, we were driven to lunch at this Italian Buffet (Blue Sky Adventures likes Buffets), and then to the river rafting place. After a quick game of beach volleyball we were outfitted in wet suits, helmets, and PFDs. These made us look very distinguished. After taking a bus up the river, we got into our rafts. My guide was Melissa. We went down many 3.99 rapids, but no one fell out. Actually, Drew fell out, but that was on purpose. On the river we played a game called “Get the Stick out of the Water,” the rules of which are self-explanatory. When we got out of the raging Arkansas River we enjoyed a scrumptious steak dinner and performance by Tom Munch, a singer/songwriter who was a ranger at Philmont when he was younger. I thought that he was very good. When our stomachs were full, we went back to the university and enjoyed the pool and hot tub.

 

July 4^th

Yet another fun day in the untamed lands of the wild southwest! We were outside of the university at 5:30 am MST and had finished breakfast at precisely 6:15 am MST. What was the payoff for this early activity you ask? Why a 4 hour bus ride of course! At least we had the Matrix to entertain us. Except Abe refused to turn up the volume, so we spent 3 hours trying to figure out what the characters were saying by reading lips. It made for a fun game.

At long last, we arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch! We were put through orientation, lunch, and then logistics. We had our bags checked by our ranger, Matt, who is this awesome guy from the Air Force Academy. Jack will be mad at me for calling him awesome just because he’s Air Force not Navy, but he was the man.

Once all of our logistical issues had been taken care of, it was off to church for most of us. After a trek (we didn’t know the meaning of the word trek yet) down the hill, most of our crew broke off to go to the Catholic chapel, but Isaac and I kept walking and came to the Protestant chapel. It was a beautiful amphitheater with a giant cross behind the pulpit. The low angle of the evening sun made everything glow orange. It was a truly awesome sight. The Chaplain was brilliant and truly gave us the sense that God was with us. As the sun set behind the mountainous backdrop and deer grazed behind the chaplain, we got our first taste of Philmont beauty and what it had in store for us.

The service ended and it was time for us to go to the campfire where world-class actors collaborated to create a theatrical masterpiece that told the story of Philmont. I would give the campfire a whopping 6 out of 2 stars! I actually did think that the history of Philmont was intriguing, and found it amazing that Waite Phillips gave up all this land for no other reason than to do a good turn. We finished the day up with the Philmont hymn, which, although it didn’t rhyme, still captivated the essence of the ranch. We chanted USA in honor of Independence Day (started by our crew, of course) and then went to our tents, where Drew and I scribed about the day. Tomorrow’s our first day on the trail!

 

July 5^th

We got up today and ate breakfast, which consisted of this egg thing that nobody ate and then delicious bacon and a salubrious hash brown. We boarded a bus that took us to Zastrow Turnaround, our trailhead. Out we came through the bus doors, ready to embark on our journey of epic proportions. After going through one last orientation, the topic being how to poop in the backcountry (Drew was the first one to use an outhouse, more commonly referred to as a Deuce Plane), we got hiking. I was the first navi-guesser, the person appointed to lead the crew on the trail by reading the map.

So once we had finished our two-mile hike under the brilliant guide of our navi-guesser, we had arrived at Abreu campsite. This was a homesteading camp that I thought was pretty cool. They had chickens and goats and houses made out of adobe. John’s favorite feature was a cantina that served ROOT BEER!!! We headed up to our campsite, Old Abreu, to set up camp, where Matt taught us how to set up a bear bag and all the basics of Philmont camping. Then we donned our bathing suits and sprinted down to a water hole we had seen on the way up. Here we enjoyed sliding down a natural water slide (with no lifeguard to yell at us) and sneaking up on each other under water. When we were all tuckered out from swimming we headed back down to Abreu where we learned how to milk goats, which was pretty weird. We almost managed to cover the bottom of the bucket. We weren’t very good. Night had come upon us so after a round of root beer we went back to Old Abreu where we did thorns, roses, and buds. This was a tradition at Philmont where a crew goes around a circle saying what they didn’t like about the day, what they did like, and what they were looking forward to. Our Chaplain’s Aide, John, led it. With that peaceful ending to our night, we all went to bed, finally realizing that we were in for one of the greatest experiences of our lives.

 

July 6^th

Today was our second day on the trail. We quickly learned that the worst thing about being on the trail is waking up at 5:30 am MST. Our schedule today was relatively empty, but we did have one thing to do in terms of program: learn Search and Rescue at beautiful Carson Meadows. As we ascended the stairs up to the cabin at the camp we got our first glimpse of Tom. He had black hair and a big grin on his face. As we were doing pull-up contests, he decided to show off how he could do 5 pull-ups. When he saw that we were not impressed he said “fingertips,” as if he had done them on his fingertips. Surprisingly, no one from our crew was able to beat the standing record for pull-ups at Carson Meadows. Tom then took us over to a lesson about Search and Rescue. This was both informative and very engaging. A number of events ensued at Carson Meadows that included us searching and rescuing our ranger Matt, and Keegan and Jack arguing over whether Keegan could send a love letter to Jack’s sister. One of the rangers at the camp ended up writing the letter with Keegan’s name signed at the end, which was a good compromise.

After we said goodbye to the rangers there, we hit the trail, heading for our trail camp, Crags. After a switchback-filled scenic trail, we arrived at the campsite. It was complete with some shallow swimming holes, a bridge, and tons of flies and red ants. Isaac, John, and Kevin built a dam and created a pool that was waist deep. After they had had their fun, they had to destroy it due to the effect it would have on countless ecosystems. Everyone went back to the camp, and the clouds opened up just as we were finishing our dinners. As a result of this, we all went to bed at 7:30 pm.

 

July 7^th

Today’s morning marked a sad parting of ways. Because it was the third day on the trail, it was time for Matt to go back to base camp and let us spread our metaphorical wings. So we left, both going down paths in opposite directions after having a final early morning workout session led by Jack and Matt (but mainly Jack). On our way from Crags we saw a deer cross the path in front of us. We also saw many scenic vistas along the switchbacks. The natural beauty out in the preserved wilderness of Philmont is truly indescribable. Everything is awe-inspiringly huge. Not even pictures can show its full grandeur.

Eventually, after what felt like a short time but was really 4 hours, we arrived at Fish Camp. Here we were given a tour of Waite Phillips’ fishing cabin on the river. It was a gorgeous log cabin maintained and kept in its original form, save the solar panels about 50 feet away. What I found really cool was that the children of Waite Phillips had a trap door in their room to escape in case of emergency. Of course, this was an awful idea because bears kept coming in, threatening the children’s lives. Also, the lady there kept trying to convince us that she was Waite Phillips’ daughter and that we were in the year 1927. She couldn’t fool me though, because I looked at John’s watch and it said 2011. Nice try, lady.

We finished touring the beautiful log cabin and were ushered into the old banquet hall and some fluorescent light bulbs were flicked on. I thought it was 1927? It was a lesson on how to tie flies, and all of us who didn’t know before were amazed at how easy it was to do! Basically, all you have to do is wrap items around a hook and secure them with a thread. A lot of people made more than one, and some people made up to four!

We trickled out of the room as we completed our flies at different times. Some of us went to fish and others went to our campsite. Jack, Keegan, and I climbed up a “mountain” while a war on the mini-bears raged below. Mini-bears are the names that Philmont has given the pest (chipmunks) that try to steal food. They act like bears, but they’re small, hence the name mini-bears. After Jack, Keegan and I had finished admiring the beautiful views from the side of the mountain, we came down to find that the war was lost.

We didn’t actually try to kill the mini-bears, it was just fun chasing them and plotting to catch them. I even made a snare with Jack and Joey, but I took it down for fear of actually catching one. Anyways, a competition started up to see who could hit a target about 50 feet away with a rock they threw. Drew won; we found out that he had a great arm. He smashed the target to pieces, violently obliterating it and giving it no chance to exist. He treated it as if it had no feelings. Then, our whole crew burst into song, singing Amazing Grace for no reason whatsoever. We were tired, so after a freeze-dried dinner (chicken and rice), we slipped into our sleeping bags and fell asleep.

 

July 8^th

We arose at Fish Camp at a late 6:35 am MST. We ate a hasty breakfast and got on the trail again. We eventually got to Apache Springs, where we would be doing our conservation project. For this we all needed to wear pants, which stunk because all of our clothes were buried in the bottom of our packs (at that point none of us had changed our clothes). The breeze was blowing on that hot day, and it was one of those days where the moon was bright.

After Mr. Burke had found a place to change into his pants, we hiked up a trail to our conservation site. We learned that conserving meant ripping trees out of the ground to make trails so there was concentrated impact on the forest. So our mission was to spend 3 ½ hours digging up stumps. By the end of our conservation session, we had annihilated three out of six stumps. A nice 50% success rate. Still we were not happy that some of the roots had beaten us and asked if we could stay until we were done, but we were denied. Oh well.

We went back to camp, where some of us tossed the Frisbee around and Justin and Karl taught Drew and I how to play Presidents, a card game. I got first and Drew got second. Not bad for some beginners.

As evening approached from the East, we began our hike up to what the staffers had named “Sunset Hill.” We hiked up a half-mile long path, where we started get glimpses of the spectacle that we were about to behold. As we crested the hill silhouetted against the sun, we all gasped or said “Wow” in genuine amazement. We were at the western edge of Philmont, and the view was spectacular. The sun cast its orange glow on all of the golden pastureland, and it looked like something right off a postcard. We all then felt a strong relationship with a higher power, I think. Keegan and Jack even looked up a Psalm to read and John, as Chaplain’s Aide, did a quick reading of the Bible. The sun dipped below the horizon, so, while singing America the Beautiful, we turned away. We got back to camp and did all the work to earn Backpacking merit badge.

 

July 9^th

Today was our layover day at Apache Springs. This means that we get to sleep in! As we all eventually got out of our tents, the early birds were greeted with the nice surprise of getting to eat Breakfast Skillet, by far the yummiest trail breakfast. There were also many other highlights of the day. While we were waiting to start our teepee tour, we started up a game of stickball with a ball that Joey had. Mr. Rice even joined in, but he used a giant log he found on the ground as a bat.

After a fun game with no clear winner, it was time for our teepee tour. This was not so much a tour, but a talk about how the Hickoria Indians lived while sitting inside a teepee. I guess there isn’t much to tour inside a ten-foot wide teepee. Nonetheless, it was very interesting to learn about the artifacts that had been found on the Scout Ranch and how the Native Americans lived before we came along.

After Paul, our tour guide, concluded his tour, we thanked him and left. Jack, Joey, Isaac, and John took this opportunity to play some kickball, using found objects for elements of the game. Jack drilled a killer home run, knocking it out… of the park.

Later, we went on a 3D archery course (because everything these days is 3D). This was really fun. The course consisted of a bunch of realistic-looking foamy animals that we had to shoot at. Our favorite was the bear, because it was standing up.

Out in Philmont, its weird how our lives are governed more by weather and natural things rather than time. There have been a lot of times when I don’t know what day of the week it is just because it doesn’t matter. Being out here makes you realize how weird society is run. The peace is nice, because it gives us time to think. So because it was raining, after our archery course we just went back to our camp, played some cards, and ate lunch. Then it hailed. While the rain may have put a little damper on our layover day at Apache Springs, the extra day definitely gave us time to think, relax, and enjoy ourselves.

 

July 10^th

Well today was the longest day we’ve had so far on our trek. And of course I mean it felt the longest, because they’re all the same length this one just felt longer. 10-23. We got up at 5:30 am MST, and immediately began rushing to see how fast we could break camp and get on the trail. Others told me that this was awful. I wouldn’t really know because I was basically asleep while I was packing my stuff up. Getting up in New Mexico at 5:30 am MST is miserable because there is no humidity to hold the previous day’s heat, so it is very cold (Karl explained this phenomenon to me). However, since we are all cheerful, enthusiastic Scouts, we all jumped out of our tents with joy. We got on the trail in 80 minutes (an hour and twenty minutes for those who don’t feel like doing the math) and ate breakfast while hiking.

After about 3 hours of solid walking we came to the Phillips Junction Commissary, where we restocked on food. After a couple bathroom runs, we got hiking again, which was pretty steep and rocky. After plodding uphill for a little while, we came to Crooked Creek, where we would be doing our program for the day. First, we got a tour of the homesteading cabin, where we learned that the term “Sleep tight” came from when homesteaders slept on beds of rope and you had to tighten up your ropes to be comfortable. After this, we went outside to chase their free-range chickens. We caught a couple, and then decided to break out lunch. As we were eating, Keegan realized he had left his hat and mug at Phillips Junction; 3 miles back down the trail we had just come up. I got elected as the young scouter to be his buddy on his run back down to the commissary. It turned out to be a very fun run. So we just ran a 10K in addition to what we had to hike that day. No big deal. For those interested, we did recover the hat and mug he had left. Once we re-arrived at Crooked Creek, the crew learned how to split wood, how to make a fence (also known as piling sticks against a post), and then we were back on the trail.

We muscled through another uphill hike, and then arrived at Wild Horse campsite, which was a really pretty grass campsite set on a hill. The climax of the day was John’s service. Because it was Sunday and because John is the Chaplain’s Aide, he organized a church service that everyone attended. Its theme was being grateful for what God has given us, and it was very heartwarming. It was so good that it brought one of our crewmembers to tears. After John’s sermon, we played some cards, talked a little, did thorns, roses, and buds, and went to sleep, ready to climb Mount Phillips the next day.

 

July 11^th

It seems that everyone for some reason wants to keep getting up earlier and earlier. We had to wake up at 5:00 am MST, because we wanted to beat the heat on our tough climb up Phillips. After a quick hike down hill where there were several conversations revolving around Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, we came to Clear Creek staff camp, where we quickly learned that the staff was crazy and everything was broken.

For example, the first thing that the ranger at Clear Creek did when he saw Isaac’s itinerary was bite the corner off of it. One ranger named Will left holding a roll of toilet paper to presumably ride a deuce plane. He came back about 15 minutes later empty handed, then left again with another roll of toilet paper in his hand. We were scheduled to shoot black powder, but one of the rifles blew up yesterday, so the range was closed. We wanted to do tomahawk throwing, but they didn’t have any tomahawk handles that weren’t broken. So after an extensive tour of the one room cabin, we decided that we could use our extra time to go and filter water from Clear Creek. It turns out that Clear Creek is not clear at all, so instead of using filters that clog, we just dropped in some purification tablets. Once we had filtered water, the strange staffers at Clear Creek decided that it was safe to open the rifle range!

Karl was very pleased, as black powder was what he had been looking forward to the whole time. There was a huge boom, not too much recoil, and a huge explosion down range. The staff there made us shout something American every time we fired. Such things included “America,” “I only eat red steak,” and “For Russia.” Isaac managed to blow a hole straight through the Ace of Spades.

Anyways, we finished shooting, so we went down to the river, ate lunch, and began the steep ascent to the summit of Mount Phillips. The hike was brutal, but we finally summited the mountain. Then we realized that we had only reached a false summit. Then we summited the mountain for real. After a couple of photos, we went down to our campsite. While scoping out the campsite and trying to figure out which was the best one, we spotted a blonde bear, which was cool and kind of intimidating at the same time. We didn’t think that the bears would come up this high, but they did. We were extra careful about eating crumbs as we had lunch. Then since it was cold and rainy, we all flopped into our tents. After a while, for no other reason than because we wanted to have a story to tell, me and Drew ran out of our tents back to the summit, took a bunch of pictures of us posing on top, went to the bathroom, then hopped back into our sleeping bags. All that wearing only shorts.

Keegan and Jack woke up 2 hours later freaking out because they thought that they had slept through the night and it was the next day. John woke up hallucinating, asking Isaac were he had hid the stranger who had been in their tent a second earlier. Sleep does weird things to people. We all got up a little later and hiked to the summit to see the sunset. All of us were very sleepy then so we got in our comfy warm sleeping bags and dozed off.

 

July 12^th

Today’s morning was awesome because we got to sleep in until 7:30 am MST! After we had gotten everything packed away, we took a short hike to the top of Mount Phillips to admire how beautiful the sunrise was. Then, like so many mornings before, we started hiking. Another reason why today was awesome was because the whole hike was virtually downhill.

After an easy trek, we arrived at Cypher’s Mine. This campsite had the most interesting program by far. First, we actually got to go on a tour inside the mine. The tour was awesome, and it was amazing to think that we were essentially walking through a mountain. The tour guide left us on our own, so we had to find our way out by holding the shoulder of the person in front of us and feeling the wall on our right. Isaac led the way.

Once we were out it was time to go visit the forge. This really demonstrated how useful Scouts are. We had about 15 Scouts trying to get the fire started, and we weren’t able to do it. Nonetheless we still learned the parts of an anvil and learned the function of a forge at a mine.

The next big event of the day was the strong man competition, where members of different crews brag about things that they’ve done that show they’re the strongest man in Philmont. Drew was our candidate, and he was hilarious. He should’ve won, but this guy with a beard walked up said “I’m 16” and won. I don’t understand how having a beard shows you are strong, but it wasn’t up to us.

After the strongman competition we went up into a small cabin to witness the Stomp, which was basically a late-1800’s concert. It was really awesome, and the rangers there were really good at the instruments they played and entertaining in general. They even played songs that we recognized from when Tom Munch played for us when we were with Blue Sky. After the Stomp was over we stayed for a while and listened to the rangers play songs on request like “Hotel California.” The music made the evening a night to remember.

 

July 13^th

Today was my birthday, so we woke up at 5:30 and everyone sang the birthday song to me. Then, they gave me the best present I could ever ask for: a bag of food that I actually like. Inside were Rice Krispies, Corn Nuts, Gatorade mix, and more. Keegan also gave me a bag of chewy Starbursts. I was so grateful to everyone that they had given up these treats so that I could have them. Thanks guys!

We packed up all our stuff, which was made easy by the fact that we didn’t have any tents to put away, and then started walking downhill. After an easy hike, we arrived at Cimarroncito staff camp, and there were mini-bears everywhere. There were so many chipmunks that when the ranger brought us up on to the porch to give us the welcome-to-out-camp talk, we had to leave to guys behind to fend off the mini-bears.

We learned that Cimarroncito had HEATED SHOWERS, a welcome luxury after days of being filthy on the trail. We also learned that Cimarroncito’s program was rock climbing, which was awesome because so many kids in our crew love rock climbing. We brought our packs up to our campsite, set up camp, and ate lunch. By now, everyone was saving food and eating it when they felt like it, so everyone had something that was a little different. When it was 12:45, we headed down to the porch, where they brought us up to the rock-climbing wall.

We suited up in harnesses and helmets, and then listened to the necessary safety talk before we started climbing. Climbing was more challenging than it looked, but not too challenging. It was really fun because the staff gave us climbing names that were based on Disney movies. For example, mine was Sully from Monsters, Inc. They probably named me that because I’m so big and muscular. Drew wanted to be Scar, but they called him Nala instead.

After we climbed up the face, we got to rappel down it further down the wall. We clipped into the figure 8 and the belay and then walked down the wall while holding on to the rope. It was really fun and I felt like Rambo. When I got to the bottom and unclipped, the guy gave me a snack pack pudding cup because it was my birthday! He was really nice.

So, as we finished we left the rock climbing area and went back to the main camp. Here we enjoyed trying to beat the bouldering wall challenge, which was to get all the way around the bouldering wall. Some of us got 7/8^ths of the way there, but none of us made it. Then Isaac informed us that it was time for us to go down and get our food from the commissary. This entailed 4 of us walking 5 miles round trip to load up our packs with our food for the rest of the trek and bring it back to distribute among our crew. Isaac, Karl, John, and I went, and it was really fun. The scenery along the way was really pretty, and because we are all somewhat weird we got into a deep discussion about the pros and cons of building your own sustainable house. Along the way we took some trick photography of us scaling impossibly high cliffs and found a lizard with a blue belly.

When we got to the commissary we got free donuts! They were the most delicious thing I had tasted in a long while. We filled our packs up to the brim with food and then hiked back to Cimarroncito. We got back, dumped the food in a pile in the middle of the campsite then ran off to take hot showers, which were HEAVENLY. After that, we spent some time in the rock gym they had there then went to bed, realizing that our trip was soon coming to an end and feeling mixed emotions about whether we wanted to leave or not.

 

July 14^th

We started today just like every other day by waking up at early, packing up, and leaving. After an easy hike we arrived at Clark’s Fork camp. Today we were all looking forward to program because it was horse riding! This was really awesome.

First, we all got assigned horses (mine was named Snip), and then learned how to mount them. Once we were all on top of our steeds, we were led out of the corral and on to the trail. Drew’s horse (Apples) ended up being a total bully who bit other horses. Drew seemed pleased by this. Once we were on the trail, we started to enjoy the fact that we could get around without actually walking for once. It was really fun trotting down washouts and just looking at the Philmont landscape. The sight of an almost endless supply of open land was a weird and great sight. Before we knew it, we had been led back to the corral, and after a group photo of us mounted on our horses, we ran back to the main camp and made for the branding pavilion.

Here we branded everything that we were allowed to, including boots, hats, and even water bottles with the Philmont symbol and other symbols. After this, we kind of did whatever we wanted for the rest of the day. Whether it was napping, roping fake cattle, playing chess on the porch, or tossing the Frisbee around, it was very peaceful.

Then, at 6:00 pm MST, it was time for CHUCK WAGON DINNER. We were all expecting delicious hot, steaming food, so imagine the looks on our faces when we peeked into the boiling pots and saw a bunch of plastic bags sitting there. But to our delightful surprise, when the food was dumped into our bowls, it was salubrious beef stew! After we wolfed this down and had had our share with seconds, we were also each treated to one slice of pound cake! That night was a great night, just because of the food.

When we got back to camp, we organized all our packs and rid ourselves of all extra weight, so that we would be ready for our 2:30 am wake-up. Our hike tomorrow is 11 miles, and we would like to come in before noon, hence the early wake-up. So anticipating the grand finale of our adventure the next day, we all fell asleep.

 

July 15^th

We woke up in the dead of night, and were immediately awake. Contrary to what some crewmembers had thought, the early wake up was invigorating rather than exhausting. We broke camp faster than ever in a record-smashing half hour. Everyone could feel the excitement in the air; we were on a mission.Under the moonlight and the brilliance of a full sky of stars, Isaac snuck up to the porch and signed us out, leaving the time of departure blank. He was startled to turn around and see a man sleeping on the porch. What a sketch. And then, our hike began.

We hiked through the twilight. The most beautiful parts were when we were hiking along ridgelines and we could see the landscape stretched out beside us. It was turned kind of blue from the lack of night, and the silence was complete. Everything was asleep. Just as dawn started to break we came to Shaffer’s Peak. Where we ate breakfast and watched the sunrise. We took tons of pictures to preserve the beautiful memory.

After the sun had risen substantially and everyone’s stomachs were full we got back to hiking. It was a weird transition to be adjusted to hiking at night under the full moon (without headlamps) to hiking in the bright orange of the morning. We came up on top of a ridgeline where we had 360-degree views of the ranch and our first glimpse of the prize: Base Camp. All along the ridge we caught glimpses of the Tooth of Time, our next destination, as well as smoke that had drifted from some forest fire.

We eventually got to the Tooth of Time, and essentially ran up it. The view was spectacular. It was pristine untouched land for miles around, except for Base Camp in the distance. After sitting around for a while and eating lunch on top of the Tooth, that sight of Base Camp spurred us to keep on moving. After a short time, we came to the Tom Trail, a series of switchbacks that cut back and forth pointlessly across a hill with a very low grade. Our dear friend Tom cut the trail. Eventually we did make it down the endless switchbacks, and our bitter moods were soon changed ecstatic when we saw a sign in the distance. We all started speed hiking towards it, thinking about our great times on the trail but also thinking about pizza and cots. We finally reached the sign, led by our fearless leader Isaac.

After a final picture on the trail under the sign that read “Welcome Back- You Made It!” We came into Base Camp walking tall with pride. After dumping our packs in our tents and picking up our other gear out of the lockers, we caught a bus to Cimarron where we had the most heavenly pizza ever. It probably wasn’t even that good, but compared to what we had been eating it was divine. We also went to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, where we, needless to say, had ice cream. We also had fun playing awful songs that we had never heard of on the jukebox.

We went back to camp, and our last planned activity at Philmont would be to watch the closing campfire, which was actually held under a pavilion due to the weather. The acting was about as good as the opening campfire, but we enjoyed just sitting there laughing at it together. The dull parts were made exciting by Isaac’s brother, Jake, who entertained us with stories that he had about all sorts of topics. We sang the Philmont hymn, and then were off to sleep in tents one last time.

 

July 16^th

Today was our last day at Philmont Scout Ranch. We boarded the bus and started driving. After a couple of hours we stopped at the Country Buffet again to get some lunch. The food was marvelous. Once we got to the airport and through security, we entertained ourselves by playing on the escalators and/or treadmills. It would have been awesome to have escalators on some of those hills at Philmont. When it was time to board, we all got on the plane. As we soared home, we were all thinking about the great times we had had at Philmont, and how our lives would never be the same because of it. We landed and came to a cheering group of parents, where we were happily reunited with them. While we are all very glad to be home with our families and electricity, there will still always be part of u

10 Frivolous Items to Bring Backpacking that are Worth the Weight

Backpacking is a great way to get outside to do some exploring and camping. Backpacking gives you the opportunity to get to places that are a little less used so your camping experience can be enhanced. There is a fine art to taking what you need and what you want and balancing the amount of weight you will carry. Some items are worth packing along because they can add that little bit of extra pleasure you were looking for.

Read more at Trails.com: 10 Frivolous Items to Bring Backpacking that are Worth the Weight.

Summer Camp

  Summer camp this year was tons of fun for myself and everyone around me. At camp this year I was the senior patrol leader with Zack Zichovich, and we worked well together to make sure everything at camp went great.  Some of the activities we did at camp were shooting sports consisting of archery and rifle shoot.  Some of us event made it into the camp competitions on the last day. 

Another activity that we did was coal burning, which is when you take a piece of wood then you put a hot coal on it, then you blow the coal it heats up and burns the wood away creating a crevice.  After your crevice is to the right depth you carve the rest of the wood to shape it like a spoon and you have make yourself a handy tool. 

Also as you might already know we every year compete in a water polo game against 76.  This year we dominated wining 6-2 and taking the championship paddle for the 3^rd year in a row, even though 76 put up a great fight and played a great game.

You can see photos from camp in the Troop Photo Library by clicking on this link and this link.

(Submitted by Nicholas Carabillo)

Top Merit Badges of 2010

Did you ever wonder what was  the most popular merit badges in Boy Scouting? It did, so I asked the BSA and here is what I learned about the badges earned in 2010:

Ther were 2,056,870 merit badges earned by boy scouts in 2010.

The top 12 badges were all Eagle required.

Merit Badge	2010 Number
First Aid	89,694
Swimming	78,825
Environmental Science	74,836
Citizenship in the world	67,483
Citizenship in the Nation	64,683
Camping	62,174
Communications	59,462
Personal Fitness	58,988
Citizenship in the Community	58,891
Family Life	58,767
Personal Management	56,793

The top non-Eagle required merit badge was Rifle Shooting followed by Leatherwork, Fingerprinting, Wood Carving and Archery.

The most popular of the new merit badges was Geocaching with 4,533 badge earned. This was followed by Scouting Heritage (3,814), Scuba Diving (2,962) and Inventing (616).

The least popular merit badge was Fly Fishing with only 475 badges earned in 2010. This beat out the new Inventing (616), American Business (677), American Labor (739) and the canceled and then uncanceled badge Bugling (844) for bottom honors.