Lincoln Boy Scouts enjoy trip of a lifetime to Philmont Scout Ranch

 

[September 03, 2022] 

On Saturday, July 30th, just before the beginning of the Logan County Fair, nine members of the Lincoln Boy Scout Troop 102 embarked on a journey that several of the young men would find to be the trip of a lifetime, thus far in their young lives.

The group consisted of scouts Aidan Alaniz, Soren Aukamp, Jackson Mathon, David Morrow, Riley Simpson, and Caleb Zirkelbach with leaders Bret Aukamp, Mark Mathon and Kyle Simpson. The trip would be to the Philmont Ranch in New Mexico, where they would spend a week putting into practice the hiking, camping, and work ethic lessons they have learned over their scouting careers.

Philmont Scout Ranch opened in 1939 and was originally called the Philburn Rocky Mount Scout Camp. It is located in northern New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo (Spanish for Blood of Christ) Mountains. Located on 215 square miles of mountain terrain, elevations throughout the hike will range from 7,400 feet to 11,650 feet.

The ranch offers an exclusive adventure where each year thousands of scouts have the opportunity to experience a truly “wild west” where there is a lack of modern amenities and the success of group depends on the abilities of each individual and their moving forward as a team.

The last time a group from Lincoln went to Philmont was in 2016.

Since that time, Philmont was impacted by wildfires, but certainly not destroyed. The Lincoln troop had planned to take the trip sooner, but Philmont was also impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and was shut down completely for a period of time. Because of this, it was with even greater excitement that the seven young men and their leaders prepared to leave Lincoln. They had waited more than a year to finally complete the planned adventure.

On Saturday, July 30th, the scouts and their families gathered in the parking lot at the St. John United Church of Christ.

They brought all the gear they would need and miscellaneous supplies and loaded up into the St. John church bus for the trip to Galesburg.

Before leaving the leaders and the scouts offered up some comments about the upcoming trip. For the leaders, this was a fresh experience for Aukamp and Simpson, and the first time Mathon had gone as a leader.

He recalled that he was able to make the trip as a scout when he was 14 and he knew that the guys were in for a great adventure that they would never forget.

Of the scouts, three would be accompanied by their father/leaders. Asked if they thought that was a good thing or bad, the boys hedged the question, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with their dads. One commented that he thought it would be okay, but he might have to help his older counterpart from time to time. Another said he didn’t feel like being there with his dad would have any real impact on the experience.

Mathon had shared that he recently had shoulder surgery and there was a general cry throughout the family that he was to be very careful. His son Jackson said he would be looking out for his dad maybe more than the others, but he knew they would be fine.

Asked what they had done to prepare for the trip, all the boys talked about their hiking and wilderness experiences on a much smaller scale but still rigorous, and about being prepared for what lay ahead physically and mentally.

Asked what their expectations were, they agreed that they wanted the trip to go well with good weather on their side, and they wanted to see the views and the wildlife. One scout said he was anxious and hopeful that they would see a bear or two, while another hoped not.

Asked what they were going to miss while they were gone, they didn’t have much of a list. One mentioned that he would miss showers as there would be none on the trip. Another said that he would miss family a little bit, but to get to go on a trip such as this was worth the time away from family.

With the bus loaded and the questions answered, the nine members of the travel team posed of a group picture then were sent off with a prayer from St. John Pastor Laurie Hill. Hill recited the Philmont prayer and added a few personal words at the end of the prayer.

The scouts and leaders then piled into the bus and they were off for their first stop in Galesburg. From Galesburg they would travel by Amtrak to New Mexico.

The group would then spend seven days at Philmont. The first day would be at the main headquarters where they had to pass their physicals, which included weight checks. There are weight restrictions according to age and height and if the boys were overweight or underweight they would not be permitted to go on the 35 mile, six day hike.

In the evening of that first day they would enjoy the opening campfire meet and greet with other scouts. On day two they would hike two miles to the Ranger Training Camp and then they were on their own. Daily hikes would average about six miles, with two long hikes exceeding seven miles on the third day and the seventh day.

In the front row, left to right are leader Brett Aukamp, Scouts Jackson Mathon, Riley Simpson and leader Kyle Simpson.  In the back row are Caleb Zirkelbach, Aidan Alaniz, Soren Aukamp, David Morrow and leader Mark Mathon.

During the event, the scouts would stay at campsites that were manned by staff and experience adventures such as rock climbing and rappelling, and gold mining and panning. They would visit the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, practice throwing tomahawks, and they would do community service, helping with the construction of a new hiking trail. They would also spend nights at camps with no Philmont staff, so they were completely on their own for food and survival. They would hike to a top elevation of 11,632 feet above sea level.

Happily, all nine members of the group made the trip and returned home approximately 10 days later.

On August 22nd, four of the scouts - Aidan Alaniz, David Morrow, Riley Simpson and Caleb Zirkelbach spent time with LDN talking about their adventure.

They reported that for three of the four, it was the first time they had been on a train. One said he had been, but only on short trips, so it was somewhat of a new experience for him as well. The train trip was supposed to be 18 hours, but they had one two-hour delay, so all in all they spent 20 hours with Amtrak. From Galesburg they traveled through several states in route to New Mexico. The boys said that the time spent on the train was okay, but nothing nearly as impressive as their final destination. Of the sights they saw while on the train, for David Morrow, perhaps the most impressive was the huge cattle ranches they could see while passing through Kansas. He said that number of animals was indeed impressive to him. They also caught views of the mountains and saw some wildlife while on the train.

Once they reached New Mexico, they had one day to spend on their own before the actual beginning of their adventure. They visited the National Scouting Museum and toured the home of the founder of Phillips 66, Frank Phillips.

Once the hike began, the guys said that they had relatively good weather. Skies were overcast in the evenings, so they didn’t get a lot of experience of seeing the night skies at the elevated heights. They noted one day that it did rain, but they managed to dodge the most of it. Their “sister-group” got drenched though so they knew they had just barely dodged the same fate. The boys explained that while they hike and camp on their own, there are other troops that are traveling the same route. They don’t exactly interact, but they are aware of each other on the trails.

They said they did get the chance to meet scouts from other parts of the country from Massachusetts to Alaska.

They said that the hardest part of the hike was crossing rivers which they handled, but it was difficult. Though they knew to expect it, the hiking at higher elevations was also a big challenge.

The work they did to build the camp trails for future hikers was also hard, but worth it. They said that they had cleared and moved large rocks and added that was also their longest day. They had hiked up from camp to do their work, then hiked back to camp, then moved forward on the trail.

The four were adamant in saying that the trip met and exceeded their expectations. The sad news is that they did not get to see the bear. But they saw a lot of other wildlife.

All four scouts enjoyed the views at the higher elevations. They said they did have cell phones with them, and several of the group took photos along the way. David Morrow shared some of his photos including an amazing sunset and pictures of the guys at a couple of different stopping points including Comanche Peak that was the highest elevation of the trip.

One thing that set them back a little bit was the strangeness of looking down and seeing birds flying below them. They said it was an awesome sight to be above the things they are typically below and be looking at those things from an entirely different perspective.

The scouts who went on this trip were friends and scouts for years prior to the journey. Asked if they learned anything new about their companions, the boys laughed and said not a lot, except that some of them had slightly weird sleeping habits. They also found out that one of them has a bit of a hot temper once in a while. Not truly offensive, but it was something new they saw.

In all, the four felt like the group had bonded well on the trail, had worked together to achieve their goals, and had left Philmont perhaps a little more mature and with a better understanding of the benefits of team work.

Asked if they would recommend the trip to some of their younger counterparts, all four answered with a resounding yes. They noted that it is not a journey for the very young ones by any means, but when scouts reach the right age and the right level of maturity, it is a trip they should hope and strive to get to make.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Philmont Ranch can visit the website Home - Philmont Scout Ranch High Adventure- Cimarron NM

[Nila Smith]