In August of 1984, I went as an Assistant Scoutmaster to Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico for 2 weeks. Jim M. was an Assistant Scoutmaster of a troop, and they needed another adult for the trip. Even though I had been working for less than a year, my boss let me have 2 weeks off for the trip, and that was one of my best vacations ever. Four adult leaders took 8-9 Scouts for 2 weeks of wilderness hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Philmont Scout Ranch is a High Adventure Base for the Scouts, and the mountain hiking was a challenge for Scouts and adults. We spent a few days in a base camp acclimating to the altitude, but when you live in Dallas at 500 feet above sea level, carrying a heavy pack at 7,000 – 10,000 feet is a strain.
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I think that we took these photos at Bottomless Lakes State Park in NM on our way to Philmont. I think that we took a 2 day drive: Dallas >> Bottomless Lakes State Park >> Taos >> Eagle Nest and then on to Philmont.W
Philmont is located near Taos, between Eagle Nest and Cimarron, NM. I believe we went over to Taos to see the Pueblos and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. On our way to Philmont, we stopped in Eagle Nest or Angel Fire to get out of the car for a while. Half the team went riding on dirt bikes and one of the kids hurt his leg while he was riding on the ski trails. We all went to the very small local hospital and doctors said he had to walk on crutches for a week. This was not a good start when you are about to begin a 2-week hike in the mountains carrying a heavy pack. We ended up splitting his pack up among the other twelve of us so he could continue with his hike – we would have had a very mad dad.
I was young and in good shape for that trip, I was running every day back then, but I still lost almost 10 pounds during our trip. We ate a lot of trail food, saw plenty of deer and bears, got rained on at the same time every day, avoided lightning hits and climbed to the top of several peaks. We had to hang our food and bags high up in trees every night so we would not attract any bears. Maybe I should go back again this year and lose 10 more pounds.
