Enjoy The Moment-Philmont 2017

Only a month after returning home from my mission, I returned to HOmE. As hard as it was leaving my family again, the decision wasn't hard. The place is always calling to me. Philmont Scout Ranch is so much more than just hiking and Boy Scouts. It is a place that is made to change lives and not just the participants but also the people who are there to serve the participants. This is my story of how the second summer working at Philmont helped to change me for the better.

"Why do you complain so much?" 

A friend who I became close with this summer asked me this question quite a bit. At first I just shrugged it off. But after a few times of her asking me this question, as well as other people pointing it out, I started to be aware that it really was true. I had never noticed how bad and ingrained that this habit of complaining was. I thank my friend (you know who you are) for being blunt with me because it is now at my full attention and I am on a quest to improve my attitude. I also had a better summer because of it. I became aware of the small, seemingly insignificant, moments that shaped my happiness. 

Let me share with you some moments, experiences, and the people that became anchors to my happiness. 

They say you come back to Philmont for the people and it's so true. Unfortunately, all my friends from 3 years ago either didn't work there any more or had moved up in leadership which made it hard to do much with them with such difference schedules. My summer began with my training crew (TC) as we hiked and camped together for a week. As a ranger, it's hard to find a constant friend group because everyone is always moving around. Thankfully, after spending a week with your TC at the beginning of the summer you get a good start on making friends.

At the end of training, all the rangers get together and each TC presents a skit. Because is this really a summer camp without dumb skits? Of course not. Our skit was finally decided on when we wanted to involve both a classic scout skit about a baby deer calling out for it's mother and the creepy sound that we heard all night at our last camp on training trek, which we fondly named The Lovers Leap Mystery Animal. Final product: Sounds of Philmont at Night.

Our TC spent two days off together. One right after training trek where we went to Toas to eat good food, go thrift shopping, and bridge jumping. I didn't jump tho...

Then later in the summer, we spend the night camping in the Valle Vidal (a national forest that Philmont has a land use agreement with) and the next morning we climbed Little Costilla, the tallest mountain that Philmont participants climb. There isn't an actual trail so you have to shwack all the way to the summit with the fence line to be your guide. It was a long two hours of going straight up. And the hike down was more of sliding down the mountain for an hour and a half. It was a long, hard hike after which I was not mentally or physically all there. 

Some of the guys brought pound cakes. 3 to be exact. And they opened them all. So that's what we had for lunch that day: pound cake with pie filling.

As the summer began and training was finished up, there was the whole of the ranger department in which I was able to find other people that became my go-to adventure buddies on days off. And boy did we have adventures. I ended up hanging out with Cassie and Austin most of the time so that's why there are so many pictures of them.

One evening Cassie was craving pizza about an hour before dinner opened. So, we decided to go buy the over priced kind at the snack shop. Did we regret it? We should have. But, we didn't.

When someone is craving Chinese food, Trinidad, CO is the go-to place. 

And while you're at it, wear Hawaiian shirts.

Other night's included going to back country camps for their evening programs and/or Philphiestas. Yep, night hiking is fun and so worth it. Even when you all know for a fact that mountain lions are watching you.

But the adventure to top all adventures of the summer was the epic 24 hours spent on Black Mountain. We hiked for hours both ways, much of it in the rain. By the time we got to the camp, we were soaked and freezing on our way to hypothermia. We spent the whole evening drying out our socks and boots by the fire while walking around with plastic bags on our feet. Oh but the food and entertainment was worth all of the discomfort. It was their Philphiesta so they were extra hyped. The theme was Black Mountain Fitness Club and they did a very good job pulling it off with the minimal materials that they had. 

We were planning on hiking back that night but the rain and lightning didn't calm down. We hadn't packed any sleeping gear so we awkwardly asked if we could sleep somewhere. The staff were nice and gave us plenty of blankets and the tiny kitchen to sleep in. Kitchen benches never felt more comfortable. 

The next morning we got up before the sun and started packing quietly and left. We had planned on hiking Black Mountain the day before but didn't feel like that was a good idea with the lightning so we had gone around the mountain. At 6am the skies were finally clear so we decided to climb it this time. It wasn't quite as bad as people made it out to be. It was easier than climbing Little Costilla. But not much more so. We hiked straight up for probably only an hour and I was feeling pretty good. We got to the top and celebrated but the next trick was to find our way down the right side of the mountain. When we started recognizing the trail, we realized that we had somehow ended up going back down the side that we had just come up.

Eventually we found the way down. And it just kept going down and down and down. And then the countless false peaks over which the trial went. Not around but over. The end never seemed like it would show up. I just sat down and gave up a few times.

We finally got to Shaefers pass. More down hill but at least I knew where we were. And then the rain started again. It was on and off until we got to Clarks Fork. And then it poured buckets with lightning and thunder on top. We were a good 20 minutes to the truck and it just got harder. We finally got to the truck and had to make it back to base down a, now flooded, dirt road.

We made it back to camp in one piece but we were, again, soaked thoroughly. Cassie and Austin had missed work because of this fiasco and went to apologize (thankfully I had the day off). I think they got off easy because of our pathetic appearance. Definitely won't be risking our job like that again tho. It was a type 2 fun experience for sure.

The bad thing about making such good friends is saying goodbye. I spent a good portion of the end of my summer on the ground mourning the loss of these amazing newly found people. 

Beyond the ranger department, there is everyone else. And they are pretty great. I loved the time that I spent with people in other departments.

Some of my other favorite people were the ones who made up my crews. 

I had the privilege to have a few international crews. They were probably some of the more prepared and enthusiastic crews.

As a tradition while on the trail with crews, at the end of the day we would sit together and do Roses, Buds and Thorns. It's a group bonding experience where each person shares their favorite part of the day, least favorite part and something that they were looking forward to. As I started to focus on the good things throughout the day, I began to notice that I usually couldn't think of a thorn. Rather, I went on and on about all my favorite parts of the day. These crews made my day all the time.

The crew that was the crowning jewel of all crews was Mountain Trek. A group of 10 LDS girls, most with little to no experience with hiking and backpacking experience. I loved every moment of that week with them and my partner, Sara.

Sara and I hadn't really met before we were put together as partners which is interesting because she was only two tents down from me and there aren't many girl rangers. Nevertheless, we became instant friends and got along with each other really well. The girls said that we felt like big sisters to them.

Our group had so much fun. They hiked fast and loved every activity. Even better, they all got along with each other and never gave us any problems.

The girls loved singing and sang pretty much everywhere. Even during log toss.

Even though it was such an amazing week, I did find something to complain about. The sun. In fact, it was probably the most complained about thing of the summer. I do appreciate the sun. It's just way too hot most days and sucked the energy out of me. One of the girls in my crew dedicated a poem that she wrote to me because I complained about the sun all the time. It's actually quite a masterpiece if I do say so myself.

"I hate the sun
I thought one day
As I woke to see it's glare
For we'd met before,
The sun and I
And I thought it wasn't fair 
that I'd played beneath his golden rays
Content and unaware
While slowly he was dying me
As I sat and lingered there 
I HATE THE SUN
Out loud I said
Vehement and strong
My voice rang out grudgefully
Echoing it's song
But the sun still rose and burned 
Ignoring my angry tones
Trudging it's path up in the sky
As I hid down here below."

But despite these grand, story filled adventures, sometimes I learned the most from the small details, woven into my every day.

 On the slow and easy days when I had all the time in the world to slow my feet and look around, I made several observations that would help me love life even more. 

Stop.

Enjoy this moment.

 Enjoy it while it lasts.

Then let the next moment come and embrace it.

Enjoy this moment for what it is.

Hold on to it's memory to remember in hard times. 

Stop to smell the flowers. Look at the stars. 

Listen to the river. Watch the critters scamper around. 

I put this thought process into use as I hiked with my TC up Little Costilla. Which, by the way, did not feel little to say the least. An hour into the hike I was starting to struggle. The mountain just continued to go straight up. As my body began to tire, my mind wearied even more. At one point, I looked down to find a small pine branch, shaped like an airplane. I grinned as I picked it up. I felt like a child with a new toy. I flew that little plane to the top of the mountain and back down again. I lost track of it shortly after, likely because I was so exhausted that my mind had mostly stopped working and only cared about food and sleep at the point. But that little, seemingly insignificant, piece of nature brought me the joy that I needed in that moment. 

One Sunday morning, after I had left my crew, I hiked up to Dean Skyline-a breathtaking view of many parts of the ranch. As I hiked over the ridge, everything became still and quiet. A clear sense of peace flooded over me. The sun was starting to cover its light across the ridges and valleys. The wildflowers, as wild as they were, looked to me as if they had been planted and cared for by a gardener. I sat on a log and took it all in. That's when words, thoughts, and ideas began to flow into my mind. As I got up and continued my hike, those words still came and tumbled around in my mind. They sat there until I felt something internally stop me and tell me to write those words down. These thoughts were about why I'm here at Philmont and why it has remained important to me. Many people have written about similar thoughts and feelings but I would like to share what I wrote, just as I wrote with no editing afterwords. Maybe it'll give you a glimpse of why I'm here. 

A Plea and a Promise
I wish I could share with you the beauty of the wildflowers 
And the majesty of the mountains 
But no camera can capture it fully. 
It's not just what I see,
Its what I feel.
So come join me.
Come expereince it for yourself.
The world would know more peace if it came outside more.
Why?
Because this is where our Creators wildest creatures are
And we have a lot to learn from them.
Living in the wild teaches you to go back to the basics.
Most things that we worry about from day to day are trivial.
But if you come experience the wild,
Observe how everything works together peacefully in its own way,
You'll see how to have more peace in your life and connection to you Creator.
No,
The wild is not safe.
But the world that we live in from day to day is much less safe.
So I promise you,
The blisters on your feet,
The bruises on your hips from your pack,
The cold nights and blistering hot days,
The sweat stains on your shirt,
It's all worth it.

I promise.

I made yet another observation on a quiet day that changed the way I looked at this magical place called Philmont. The magic of childhood died when I was pretty young. The intrigue of day to day work and play just became routine. Nothing special. Deep inside I long for that magic to return. And I think I finally found a piece of it. I realized Philmont holds a sliver of that magic. Just enough to satisfy me. That's why I, and I'm sure many other people, are drawn to this place. It takes you to a place that is magical.

Maybe it's the music.

Maybe it's the shenanigans.

Maybe it's the activities.

Maybe it's watching unique things go on around you.

Maybe it's the views and fresh air.

But if I had to guess, it's all of it. Your worries are put away and you can, more or less, play without a care in the world. 

One day I got a text from my mom saying that she and my dad were considering coming out to visit me. Something like that can't really be planned too far ahead of time because of my dads work schedule so I hoped and prayed that it would actually work out. And by some miracle it did. It wasn't a very long stay but I was able to show them around and give them more of a taste of what I was doing.

And what's a happy life without good food? I dunno how people do without it but it's certainly necessary for me. Despite gaining an obvious 35 pounds on my mission, I didn't slow down on the food intake. I ate good food whenever I could this summer and all the hiking I did balanced it out as well as my mission gain. It was a good deal.

My rangering days finally came to a close. A very sad day indeed. But it wasn't over yet. For better or for worse, I have yet to decide.

I had agreed to tent crew for some reason. It was two weeks of taking down and folding alllll of the platform tents in base camp. It was grueling work and it seemed as tho it might never end. Despite the unforgiving work, the group of us found little things to keep us entertained.

The long awaited for solar eclipse happened while I was folding tents. I was too far from the full eclipse path to see it get very dark but I did notice it getting darker. On the way to lunch, a guy with a welding mask let me use it. The eclipse was almost over but it was still neat.

And thankfully I had one friend left that I had made earlier in the summer. He was into yoga and invited me to join him one evening after dinner. That day, all the animal pelts from accross the ranch were set in the open air pavilion behind the staff activities center to air out. So, we took liberties to use them as yoga mats. No regrets.

After dinner each night, I didn't usually have much to do. So, sometimes I would go on walks around base camp. It was very peaceful and still without hundreds of people mulling around. Sometimes I would walk for quite awhile before I would see someone else. One evening, I got my phone out and took a bunch of videos. This is the result.

This summer I learned a lot about myself. I think this year was all about spiritually testing me. After being in a spirit-filled environment for a year and a half, how would I hold up? And how would I apply the things that I learned on my mission to my life now? I learned about my strengths and weaknesses. About who and what I really care about. About what is important in life. I saw life from a fresh, new perspective. I have a renewed love for life and the little things. 

As always, I made a video of my experiences which helps add emotion that writing and pictures just don't quite capture. 

Til next year (or whenever I go back), good night, good luck, and good scouting.