Philmont

June 28, 2009 I left to depart on my trip to Philmont, New Mexico. My boy scout troop and 4 others from other troops formed a crew to go on a trek in Philmont. I was voted as our crew leader, this was a huge honor to me. This meant that I had the respect and trust of the others to lead them on our trek through back-country. I was even in charge of our adult advisors who were there just to supervise, but I was the one to run the show.

The trek lasted 10 days. Our plane landed, we were in Colorado and we did some sight seeing and activities. My favorite event in Colorado was when we went white water rafting! Anyways, when we arrived at the Philmont base camp me and our lead advisor checked us in. The next day we loaded up and headed to our drop off point. During the day temperatures could exceed 100 degrees and at night it could drop below freezing. Our top priority was to stay hydrated which meant drinking enough water, but also conserving it especially when we would stay at a dry camp. There were so many spectacular sights out there and amazing wildlife. Also the mountains were immense, which is really the reason we went on this trip, to hike the mountains and enjoy an experience. Our highest point that we reached was 11,711 feet high, Mt. Philips.

This trek was an amazing chance to exploit my leadership skills and build teamwork within my troop. I was in charge of everything, but part of being a good leader is knowing that you can’t do everything on your own and giving responsibilities to others and get them working as a team. There were those who didn’t want to be responsible for anything and those were the ones I had to get and keep motivated. More importantly were those who wanted to take the leadership position among themselves, and that was the a real challenge, keeping everybody in line. I made sure that we were where we needed to be and made sure that everyone stayed safe. But also I had to make sure that we all had fun and had a successful trip.

We traveled over 75 miles through back-country with 70+ pound packs on our backs. We had to carry our clothes, food, water, tents, sleeping bags, and other necessities along with us and try to limit every ounce to keep our packs as light as possible. The trek was never easy and at times it would push you to your physical and mental limits. That’s when your really learned what people were made of and it taught everyone a lot about themselves.

This trek taught me a lot about myself. I learned how to push my body to its limits and still endure what the environments had to throw at me. It tested my mental strength as well, in many different ways. I had to think of ways to overcome certain obstacles, and how to work with people under harsh conditions. It also gave me a chance to push myself and get things taken care of under stress.

Everyone who came back had changed dramatically and matured in many ways from the time they left. It definitely revealed a lot about myself and had a huge impact on me! Friends were made along the way and a sense of unity rolled over that crew. It was an amazing experience, and will never be forgotten by those of us who were lucky enough to be a part of it!