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comment by curious_neophyte
curious_neophyte  ·  3426 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: December Photo Challenge, Day 8: "Framed"

This is a map of Cimarron, New Mexico, specifically the Philmont Scout Ranch. I'm an Eagle Scout and Philmont was one of the most important things I've done in my life.

Basically, BSA (Boy Scouts of America) owns this enormous plot of land in the mountains of New Mexico. Your scout troop enters a raffle to be able to go to with a crew over the summer about a year in advance. Once you find out if you get to go, you and your crew (we had 12 people, 10 scouts and 2 adults) start doing practice treks for the year leading up to it. Our trek was 85 miles in 10 days. It was backpacking, so we carried all of our food, tents, sleeping bags, etc. with us. You learn a lot about yourself when you spend time in wilderness. You learn a lot about yourself when you have a job that crew relies on you to do. It was a transformative experience for my teenage self, and I look back at it all the time.





user-inactivated  ·  3426 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Neat. Ever go to Northern Tier? We carried all of the above, plus canoes. ;)

curious_neophyte  ·  3426 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Haha, never got the chance. A friend went, though, sounded amazing. He also said the mosquitos were hell.