Members of Boy Scout Troop 168, based in Plainsboro, flew out to New Mexico for a high adventure hiking experience at Philmont. Scouts Sharang Phadke, Matt Foster, Brad Paskewitz Jr., Alex Foo, Jason Chin, Aric Ng, and Brent Henry were accompanied by two adults, Jerry Foster and Brad Paskewitz Sr. The group’s seven-day hike was led by a guide.##M:[more]##
While the 137,”493 acre ranch in New Mexico has been host to scouting adventures since 1938, Philmont Double H is a new ranch without trails featuring a high adventure hiking experience. The ranch is located southwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico, surrounded by the Cibola National Forest.
The crew went through some physical fitness to prepare for this hike. The scouts all play sports at least twice a week, including basketball, tennis, or hockey, or participate on the track team at school. They also trained by hiking and running.
The following are notes about the trip from Sharang Phadke.
“The day after we arrived, we decided to spend the day in the “Old Town” part of Albuquerque. We saw many souvenir shops, Indian pottery shops, and restaurants. The next day, we arrived at the Double H High Adventure Base at about 8 a.m.
After arriving at the ranch we spent a few hours unpacking and packing our packs, and loading gear like pots, utensils, and food into them. Then we filled up on over four liters of water each, and we knew we would be filling up everyday. There is no source of surface water and all the water has to be pumped from underground wells or reservoirs by solar or wind powered pumps.
Each day we hiked an average of six miles, with some days about 10 miles, and a few about three. Over the course of the trip, we had two encounters with rattle snakes, one where Jason Chin almost stepped on a poisonous diamondback. Other than rattlesnakes, we saw numerous jackrabbits, with long ears used to disperse heat.
The weather was extremely hot during the day, reaching 110 degrees in the afternoon. However, it cooled off at night, falling to the mid 50s at times. Surprisingly for the arid conditions, it rained three times while we were there.
In terms of activities, we did a low ropes course on day two, and archery and black powder shooting on day four, which was the day we went to an established camp, Martin Camp, to restock on food.
In addition to the difficult hiking we had on day two, some of us decided to climb Persistence Peak, a few thousand feet higher than where we already were. The view from the top was amazing. We could see for many miles around, and it was worth the climb up the face of the mountain made entirely of loose shale.
Then, on day four, when we reached Martin Camp, we decided to climb Martin Hill, which was another steep mountain. But again, the view was worth the hard climb.”
