http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HighAdventure/Philmont/Camping/ExpeditionsandTrekItineraries.aspx
To get to experience Philmont means that a scouting troop has put in an application and your "lottery" gets drawn. Our troops last opportunity to go was in 2004 so when the opportunity presented itself, we jumped on it. I am sure that you are wondering WHY I am going on a boy scout backpacking trip instead of Bob, the dad, the male, the teenage boy's compadre? Well, 2 reasons, Bob cannot take that much time off work and plain and simple, I personally wanted to go! Bob and I have been on 2 10-day backpacking trips to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming (both prior to our 2 additional children) and I wanted to treat myself to an early 40th birthday present that says that life "begins at 40", it doesn't end and I am still capable of such treks! Besides, Xander and I do so much outdoors stuff together that he is excited I am going and I love being around all the other scouts, they are quite funny and like to have a good time. There is one other mom going on our 12 person crew so I won't be the lone female :)!
What is Philmont? Philmont Ranch used to belong to the oil tycoon Waite Phillips (of Phillips Petroleum), here is a link to another scout troop that has great information on where we are going and how the boy scouts actually got the land. http://www.troop6bsa.org/philmont_info.htm
Our trek starts out right at 7k ft and tops out at almost 12k ft before descending again. Check out the map if you want to see where we will be: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/Itinerary4Map.pdf Every day either along the trek or once we get to our next camp, we will be treated to fun activities. Some of the activities we will experience are: Archery, Black Powder Rifle, Blacksmithing, Campfires, Cantina (unfortunately not stocked with margaritas I am sure), Chuck Wagon Dinner, Fly Fishing, Gold Mining and Panning, Homesteading, Horse Rides, Jicarilla Apache Life, Rock Climbing, Search and rescue, Waite Phillips Lodge Tours, Tooth of Time and more. So you can see, in addition to backpacking, we also have events at every stop along the way. Should be fun if I am not too tired by the time we get to our destinations to fully appreciate it, lol!
So, I am sure some of you are wondering if we have to carry all our own stuff and YES, we have to carry EVERYTHING, tents, sleeping bags, pads, clothing, food, first aid, toiletries, etc. No, there are no bathrooms, we are in the backcountry folks and you gotta use what God put out there for you. No, we don't have to carry our poop out, thank goodness, but we do have to carry everything else out so here's to hoping that I scheduled mother nature appropriately to arrive outside of this trip otherwise I'll be having more fun than a human being should be allowed, yippee skippy! We have to filter and carry our own water and they drop food to use every 3-4 days. I am quite positive that I'll lose more than a few lbs on the backpacking diet of oatmeal, bagged chicken and tuna (yuk - call me a food snob :) but when you are hungry you'll eat anything), crackers and whatever other delightful morsels they send our way. They do cook for us one night so all won't be lost and I hear that the dutch oven peach cobbler they make is the absolute best, I can't wait!
All in all, we are very excited. I won't have any contact with the outside world for about 12-13 days. Bob will be getting GPS coordinate updates that will be sent out from our SPOT (google it - every avid backpacker and outdoor enthusiast should carry one) we will be carrying, I will have him post them here so you can at least look up in the Google maps where we are in the world.
I'll be posting many photos upon our return (and my recovery :)). Stay tuned....
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