In August 30 scouts and leaders took part in the 13-day trip to the mountains of northeast New Mexico. Traveling via troop bus, the participants took a northern route through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, spending the night at Scott and McConnell Air Force Bases en route.

The Troop reached New Mexico late in the evening and pitched camp at Cimarron Canyon State Park. In the morning the scouts awoke to the beauty of the sun on the rugged cliffs adjacent to the camp site.

While in New Mexico, the Troop divided into three groups: Two spent the next seven days on a backpacking experience in the back country of Philmont Scout Ranch while the third group of younger scouts spent the week camping, hiking and touring the surrounding area.

The two Philmont crews consisted of: Crew GI -- Scouts Mark Bunton, crew leader, Tracy Foster, Jason Allison, Danny Manning and Spencer Stricklin with adults Larry Blair, Alan Rutenberg, Boyd Domm and Joe Parks; Crew G2 -- Scouts Chris Goff, crew leader, Nathan Evans, Scott Moore and Patrick Snyder with adults Richard Evans, Terry Domm, Jonathan Frazier, Mark Osucha and Daryl Sims.

Philmont Scout Ranch is a national camping area operated by the Boy Scouts of America. It consists of approximately 215 square miles of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Christo range of the Rockies, ranging in elevation from 6,500 to 12,441 feet.

The two crews backpacked separately, but spent the night at the same locations. They carried all their food and supplies for five days with pack weights ranging from about 40 pounds for the smaller boys to well over 50 pounds for some of the adults.

The itinerary took the backpackers to camps with names such as Crater Lake, Miner's Park, North Fork Uraca, Black Mountain and Cypher's Mine. Most of the camps were staffed and had a theme relating to the history of the region. Activities at the staffed camps included spar pole climbing, log rolling, black powder rifle shooting, blacksmithing, panning for gold and touring a gold mine. Locating one nonstaffed campsite in the darkness proved to be a memorable experience.

Conservation projects consisting of trail building were performed by the crews as part of the requirement to earn the coveted Philmont arrowhead patch. Wildlife was abundant, including two rattlesnakes spotted during the conservation project.

Few who participated will forget the natural beauty of the back country, the fellowship or the sense of achievement.

While the older scouts were backpacking at Philmont, the group of the eight younger scouts made a camping tour of North Central New Mexico. Scouts Tim Bowers, Chad Calvert, Kevin Goff, Noah James, Ben Jones, Aaron Joslin, David Lucius and Joe Minarick, along with adult leaders Jerry Brooks and Fred Chattin, made up the tour group.

The tour consisted of a day at Philmont Scout Ranch, two days in the Rio Grande Gorge Natural Recreational Area, two days at the Bandelier National Monument, one night in the Rio Grande Gorge State Park and two nights in the Cimarron Canyon State Park,. Scout Philip Reichle and adult leader Phil Reichle joined the tour for the final two days.

The stay at the Rio Grande Gorge was highlighted by the day's hike into the Gorge, a swim in the Rio Grande River, a cactus experience for Aaron and locating and drinking from Little Arsenic and Big Arsenic Springs (good water despite the names).

The scouts enjoyed watching a prairie dog town, watching meteors in an amazingly clear sky and being awakened by a coyote near the campsite.

Bandelier National Monument contains ancient ruins of the Anasazi Indians. Remains of cliff dwellings, caves, walled villages, kivas (meeting places) and petroglyphs (prehistoric art) were seen on the waling tours. The scouts became familiar with the Indian lifestyle by climbing into the natural cave dwellings in the cliffs and entering rebuilt kivas (large rooms built below ground and entered by a vertical ladder.) A favorite was a kiva in a cliff cave about 200 feet above the canyon floor.

Additional tour points of interest included the Western Vietnam Memorial at Angel Fire, the Kit Carson State Park at Taos (burial site of Kit Carson) Taos Plaza and the museums and plaza at Santa Fe.

The Scientific Museum at Los Alamos was an exceptional attraction to most of the scouts. Some developed an appreciation for the sister city relationship between Oak Ridge and Los Alamos.

The tour concluded with a six-hour river rafting experience on the Rio Grande River. While the river was lower than normal, there was enough white water to get everyone wet. Maneuvering an eight-person raft down the rock strewn river with paddles is an experience that the scouts will not soon forget.

Troop 129 scouts are already making plans for next year's summer trip that will include a visit to the National Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. The troop members meet every Monday night at 7 at First Baptist Church.

Tom Moore is Scoutmaster for Troop 129.