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1998 Philmont Contingent 803-B (That's us, Troop 6!)
What follows is information put together for planning our trek to Philmont as a Troop 6 contingent of 3 crews for August of 1998 and also a bunch of pictures from our trek. Enjoy.
Close your eyes. Imagine yourself strong in body and spirit standing on a narrow rocky ridge line above tree level in the high mountain country out west, surrounded by a few of your best friends.
You can see no evidence of civilization, no houses, no roads. All you see is ridge after ridge of rocky precipices, most of which are above the tree line.
You spot an eagle floating on the air currents looking for a mouse to eat. You notice a storm brewing over the highest mountain in the area, Old Baldy, at 12,404 feet above sea level.
Imagine arriving in a campsite at 1 PM after covering about 6-8 miles on the trail with your crew, setting up your tents and the crew's tarp, filling up your water bottles, then just relaxing a while by the gurgling creek flowing through the wildflower strewn meadow.
Then you head over to the activity area, which today is panning for gold, then exploring the old Aztec Gold Mine. Tonight there will be a campfire with lots of stories about the gold miners of 100 years ago. Tomorrow you know you have to wake up early so you can climb over Old Baldy and get down from the top of the big mountain before the storm strikes predictably at 1 PM. You know it can even snow on top of the mountain in August.
Imagine after 12 days of backpacking at the Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico, you arrive back at the base camp, turn in your gear, take a shower, then eat till you can eat no more, then go to the closing campfire with the Tooth of Time as the backdrop.
This and more will be yours if you are one of the 26 scouts and scouters going on our troop's trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch. Our first day on the trail will be August 3, 1998. We have reservations for three crews. Below is a list of who is going in 1998.
Crew assignments are as below:
| Crew 803B-1 | Crew 803B-2 | Crew 803B-3 |
| Kevin Browning - CC | Anthony Cissell - CC | David Mustard - CC |
| Gerald Baumgartner | Chris Davis - Asst CC | Trent Kugler - ACC |
| Tyler Boeing | Andy Antle | Eric Edwards |
| Tom Boeing - ADVISOR | Esly Caldwell - ADVISOR | Taylor Edwards - ADVISOR |
| Martin Cissell | Robert Caldwell - Asst Adv | Ryan Klayman |
| Corey Gargano | Joe Cissell - Asst Adv | Clark Kugler - ADVISOR |
| Eaon Latimore | David Collins | Ryan Moulton |
| Greg McCabe - ADVISOR | Aaron Gossett | |
| Kyle McCabe | David Harris | |
| Stephen Raath | Rick Harris - ADVISOR | |
| Matt Koch - RANGER | Mark Stevenson - RANGER | Becky Holcomb - RANGER |
| Itineray 10 | Itinerary 25 | Itinerary 10 |
Our plans are as follows: We will leave Cincinnati on July 29 (Wednesday) at 8 AM and
arrive at Philmont on August 3 (Monday) at about 10 AM. We will hit the trail on the
morning of August 4 (Tuesday) and come off the trail on August 14 (Friday). We will leave
Philmont on August 15 (Saturday) and return to Cincinnati on August 19 (Wednesday). Thus
the total length of the trip will be 22 days. On the way out and back we will camp at
various Boy Scout Camps, state parks, and national recreation areas. We will camp close to
lakes so we can swim each afternoon.
Our itinerary out is as follows:
July 29 - Leave 8 AM and drive to BSA Camp Manchester at Land Between the Lakes NRA in western Kentucky.
July 30 - Camp in the Ozarks in western Arkansas at Devil's Den State Park.
July 31 - Drive to Amarillo, Texas, and camp at Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
August 1-2 - Drive through Santa Fe, visiting the old town district, then to the Rio Grande canyon near Taos at the Orilla Verde BLM Campground right on the river. Spend two nights there. Catch fish in river, swim, goof around. Climb shear rock walls. Fall off, break neck.
August 3 - Drive to Philmont, arriving by about 10 AM at Tent City to check in.
Our route back is set as follows:
Aug 15 - leave Philmont about 8 AM right after breakfast, arrive at the Air Force Academy before 12 noon. Spend two nights at the AFA (Aug 15 and 16), eating several meals on base. We will explore the base and the surrounding region.
Aug 17 - leave the AFA and head to Dodge City. Spend the night at a local Boy Scout Camp and explore Dodge City.
Aug 18 - leave Dodge City and drive to St Louis. Spend the night at a Boy Scout Camp southwest of St Louis (Camp Beaumont).
Aug 19 - see the arch in the morning and drive on into Cincinnati by supper time.
I as your scoutmaster have done many Eagle Scoutmaster conferences over the past few years and one of my stock questions is what that Scout considered the highlight of his Scouting experience. Often the answer has been "Philmont, no question about it". The parents who have gone on the trip have also found this to be a highlight of their life, spending 3 weeks in the wilderness with their son.
We will be on the trail as three crews - maximum of 12 per crew. Each crew will plan its own itinerary and each crew will elect a crew chief. Each crew chief will appoint his assistant crew chief. Each crew has or will receive a booklet with the available routes.
If you or your family have any questions, contact Rick Harris at 932-4755 (home) or 636-8610 (work), or HarrisRi@aol.com. His fax number at work is 636-3549.
Start thinking ahead now about the adventure of your lifetime. Anything that your Scoutmaster likes so much to have done now six times and preparing for a seventh has got to be great. It is. Lots of literature, pictures, slides and videos are available to look over. Just ask your Scoutmaster, Rick Harris. Happy trail
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"I wanna go back to Philmont." |
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