By Jacob Young, Troop 73/GHS Student

This upcoming summer, 12 members of Troop 73 will be traveling to the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico. This high-adventure base, owned and operated by Scouting America, is where the scouts will be taking a nine-day backpacking trek.

Philmont is a working ranch that also houses the largest youth camp in the world. It offers a variety of options for backpacking adventures across miles of beautiful and rugged terrain, where the scouts will have an itinerary full of Old West activities, modern physical challenges, and the ultimate backcountry experience.

The journey will be mentally and physically taxing, and the troop has already begun to prepare themselves individually and as a group.
The team has completed two shakedown hikes this past fall, with more to follow beginning in the springtime. These shakedown hikes were short backpacking trips where the scouts tested out their gear, their bodies, and their teamwork for this upcoming event.

In September, the group did a beautiful hike at Sawyer Pond in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located off of the Kancamagus Scenic Byway. They traveled 12 miles in distance and covered 967 feet of elevation gain.

Later, in October, they completed another hike at the Bigelow Range in Maine that totaled 18 miles in distance and around 4,600 feet of elevation gain. The troop members backpacked up to the Safford Notch campsite, where they left their gear and continued up to Avery Peak, which sits at 4,088 feet of elevation.