Two adults and three Scouts with Park Rapids Troop 58 answered the challenge Aug. 4-13 at Philmont Scout Ranch High Adventure, near Cimarron, N.M.
Scoutmaster PeeWee Zinniel, adult leader Sara Tate, and Scouts Ethan Tate, Jacob Zinniel and Jacob Lof made the trip together with Scouts Alex Cariveau and Elijah Schrage and adult leader Aeisso Schrage of East Grand Forks.
PeeWee said they arranged to combine the groups a year in advance to ensure they had enough older Scouts to fill out the trek.
“We couldn’t have picked anybody better than those three,” he said. “Aiesso had already been there three times, once as a Scout and twice as an adult. So, that was helpful for us, too.”
In a recent interview, PeeWee, Lof and both Tates described their experiences, starting with a 50-mile hike carrying 50-pound packs at a literally breathtaking, high elevation.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
The day was “about 95 degrees,” said Lof, “and we had to climb about 2,500 up.”
“Straight up,” said Sara.
“It was four miles of switchbacks, at least,” said Lof.
“And we started in the afternoon,” said Ethan.
“Yeah, and our packs were as heavy as they were going to get, the whole trip,” said Lof. “None of us knew how our packs were supposed to fit because it was our first hike. And we had a timeline. So, taking breaks was not something that we could really do. It was a little bit more rushed than some of our later hikes.”
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
“It probably didn’t have to be,” PeeWee said. “We just didn’t know that. But then, the next day was better.”
The high point of the trip, literally, was making it to the top of Baldy Mountain, at 12,441 feet the highest peak in northern New Mexico’s Cimarron range.
“The climb took us five days to get up there and two days to get down,” said PeeWee.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
“And the scenery was beautiful the whole way around,” said Sara.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
“It was challenging,” said Ethan, “and the fact that we all made it to the top and back in one piece was an accomplishment.”
On the last day of the climb, Sara said, they all got up early so they could watch the sunrise as they hiked up the ridge.
“We got up at 3:30 a.m. and we left at 4 a.m.,” said PeeWee.
“We were on the ridge at 5:50,” said Lof.
“Super windy up there,” said Ethan.
“Windy and cold,” Sara said.
“Jacob (Zinniel) said it was a lot colder than we anticipated in August,” said PeeWee. “Coldest we’ve ever been in August, for sure.”
They estimated the wind gusted up to 40 mph. As a result, PeeWee said, “If you lost your focus, you took steps that way without a stop.”
They spent 45 minutes at the peak, taking advantage of the cellular reception to make a few calls.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
The group also panned for gold, did some shooting, toured a mine shaft, and did some logging activities such as spar pole climbing and crosscut sawing. They carved railroad ties with an ax, and went horseback riding – a first for some of them.
“For me, it was easier to look around at your surroundings” from horseback, said Sara. “When you’re hiking, you’re kind of watching the person in front of you’s feet, so you don’t trip on a rock or twist your ankle. So, a lot of times, you didn’t stop and look around until you took a break. But when you ride horseback, you get to sit there and watch.
“That part I enjoyed. We went up a trail into the hills a little bit.”
They also kept a census of the animals they spotted – mostly chipmunks, according to Lof, but also turkey, deer and cinnamon-colored bear.
PeeWee laughed, recalling Lof’s struggle to get the word “bear” out of his mouth.
“The staff informed us what to sing if we saw a bear,” he said.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
“We were supposed to sing ‘Happy birthday,’” said Ethan.
“And we all sang it as loud as we could,” said PeeWee.
“We had our conservation project, which was to make gumdrops,” Ethan said, meaning piles of branches to be burned later.
“We were clearing forest,” Lof explained. “Basically, thinning it out.”
The Scouts also camped in a tent city, learned to play cribbage and toured a museum in Cimarron called Villa Philmonte, devoted to the landowner who willed his 140,000-acre ranch to the Scouts.
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
En route to Philmont, the group spent three days in the Denver area to acclimate to the higher elevation, visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Rocks Park, attending a Colorado Rockies game and checking out Garden of the Gods national monument in Colorado Springs.
“We went to In & Out,” said Lof. “That was a highlight for me.”
According to PeeWee, Jacob Zinniel’s favorite parts of the trip were the sunrises and mountaintop views. “He didn’t like the heat,” he said. “The higher up we got, the better off it was.”
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
The trip wasn’t about earning badges. PeeWee said the objective was “high adventure, to have fun.”
“Persevering,” Sara added.
One of the younger Scouts from East Grand Forks “was ready to go back and be a ranger when we got done,” said PeeWee, recalling that he felt the same way when he visited Philmont as a teenager. “Now I’m 57 years old and I’ve had enough. It’s a lot harder now than it was then.”
But it was just as enjoyable, he said. That’s Scouting for you: “If you stick with it, you get to do more and more things that are more fun.”
Contributed / PeeWee Zinniel
