Standing at 12,441 feet in Cimarron, New Mexico is Mount Baldy. From this height, MHS students in local Boy Scout Troop 75 looked out at the mecca of scouting: backpacking through the 214 square mile Philmont scout ranch.

Seniors Patrick Taylor and Nicholas N. Clark came to this for their second trek since they started in Boy Scouts and both took in what was a substantial change compared to their first in the summer of 2012.

“By the end of our trek, we had gone about 96 to 100 miles in 10 days,” Taylor said. “It was definitely harder than last time. Last time we went, we did 70 miles.”

Each crew had an itinerary to follow that entailed the length of their trek, the destinations and activities they were expected to encounter on certain days and designated days of rest as well as side hiking different mountains. The older crew that included Taylor and Clark traversed one of the hardest of the 36 itineraries: itinerary 33 across 92 miles and the three main mountains; Baldy, Phillips and the Tooth of Time.

“Every day we woke up about five, packed up camp and started hiking around six. We would eat breakfast as we hiked since it was all snack stuff, then navigate our way to camp and eat lunch once we got to camp,” Clark said. “After camp was set up, we would go do programs, if we were at a staff camp, and would do that for several hours.”

The activities for their specific itinerary consisted of .30-06 rifle shooting and reloading, muzzleloading, shotgun shooting and reloading, blacksmithing and numerous side-hikes up along their routes of the trip. A week into the trek was designated for a trail conservation project. Early on, the group had a burro to carry their gear a couple days into the trek.

“We were dropping it off the next day and at that time, we were cliffside basically yelling at it to move,” Taylor said.

While Taylor and Clark were enjoying their return to the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, scouts like junior James Bunting took in the scenery for the first time as something entirely new.

“Seeing Philmont for the first time was breathtaking. It was a beautiful scene,” Bunting said. “I took that Philmont is like personal life: You have your ups, downs, plateaus and hard climbs.”

The biggest change for the returning Scouts was largely in the crew that they went with both years and how they were able to work together with them.

“Last time we had people from different troops join us, so the group dynamic wasn’t there,” Clark said. “As a crew leader, I felt like I had to do what I had to do. The better I did, the more the guys would have fun, so I had to focus on keeping things under control.”

Finishing the trek 12 days and 96 miles later, the Scouts returned home bearing their gear and new memories of the New Mexico ranges and wilderness.

“One day it was raining, we were crossing a stream several times along our route,” Taylor said. “Sometimes there was a bridge; and then there wasn’t. There were rocks sometimes to cross. But in all that, my boots ended up getting soaked. I turned 18 that day.”

By the end of it all, they would all take home a bit of wisdom from spending all those days high up with each other.

“It’ll seem like you can’t make it, you do,” Bunting said. “If you can climb three mountains, you can do anything.”