Date: July 4, 2008
Subject: Philmont Council Contingent Departs

A dozen Scouts and Scouters from south Alabama have loaded up in a rented van and headed for the adventure of New Mexico’s Philmont Scout Ranch.
 
The boys and their leaders from Andalusia, Dothan and Troy form the Alabama Florida Council’s 2008 contingent to the 215 square-mile Scouting mecca, donated to the Boy Scouts by Waite Phillips, a Chicago-based oil and commodities giant and noted naturalist.
 
“For many boys, this trip is a once-in-a-lifetime trek,” said Stanley P., the Council’s contingent leader on his fourth voyage to Philmont. “It’s hard to believe it, but when these kids get back, they’ll be different – more prepared and much more confident in their own abilities.”
 
The boys, which range in Scout rank from Star to Eagle, represent the more experienced Scouts in the national program. In the south Alabama counties that the Alabama Florida Council covers, there are more than 6,000 youth registered in Scouting through either Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturing or Learning for Life. Four adult Scouters are joining the eight youth for the trek, which will cover an 80-mile itinerary.
 
Members of the crew are Stanley P., of Troy; from Andalusia, Scouters Chris J., Toby A. and Clayton O., and Scouts Josh A., Stephen C., Jayme D., Will J., Evan B. and Alan R.; Jonathon G., of Dothan; and Clifton L., of Troy and the crew leader for the trek.
 
As the Boy Scout’s national high adventure base, Philmont covers 137,493 acres in the wilderness of the Sangre de Christo range of the Rockies. The trek the crew will cover ranges in elevation from 6,500 feet above sea level to 12,441 feet – the highest at Philmont atop Baldy Mountain.
 
The country, located near Cimarron, N.M., was one home to such mountain men as kit Carson and Lucien Maxwell. Much of the property is comprised of lands in the Maxwell Land Grant and lies along the fabled Sante Fe Trail.
 
While at the Ranch, the Alabama Scouts will visit Kit Carson’s home and will climb the Urraca Mesa, climb through Shafers Pass, cross the Cimarron River, explore the Tooth of Time, climb through Bear Canyon, and make an ascent on Mount Baldy. Along the way, they will participate in activities of the Old West like burro racing, panning for gold, chuck wagon dining, participating in a Mountain Man Rendezvous and a variety of other team-building and confidence-building activities.
 
The Scouts return to council on July 20.