Regaled with Tales of Philmont

Ben returned from Philmont last week and regaled his mother and me with tales from the trail. He said it had been the best thing he had ever done, which is saying a lot considering all he's accomplished in his 18 years.

There's something about Scouting trips and rain that has a tendency to create memorable impressions. From what Ben said, it sounds like the highlight of his trek was hiking up to a saddle near the top of Mt. Phillips in the rain. The trail turned to mud as rivulets of rainwater washed down, making it tough slogging for the Scouts.

Once they reached their campsite, the crew quickly set up tents and flies, then crawled into their sleeping bags to warm up and dry out. The Scoutmaster, who's always looking out for the boys, may have been on the verge of becoming hypothermic himself, complaining how cold he was. The Scouts had him get into his sleeping bag and dry clothes too, which improved his lot.

Late in the afternoon, the weather broke and the crew members decided to go the short distance to the summit of Mt. Phillips, where they enjoyed their dinner--with a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside.

Being in the high country gave the Scouts a new perspective on clouds. At one point on the trek, they were coming off a peak and looked down on soft white clouds as far as the eye could see. For most of them, it was the only time in their lives they had looked down on clouds other than from the window seat of a jetliner.