Twelve Boy Scouts from Harvard Troop 1, accompanied by six adults, spent two weeks at the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimmeron, N.M.in July. Philmont, the Scouting high-adventure Mecca with its neighboring ranches and national forests, covers more than 300 square miles of Sangre de Cristo Mountain wilderness. At Philmont, two crews spent 11 days carrying 35- to 45-pound loads and covered 100 miles at altitudes from about 7,000 feet to the summit of Mt. Baldy which is 12,441 feet high. During their trek, they watched black bears, mule deer, wild turkeys, and eagles, and experienced dust devils, golf ball-sized hail, a lightning strike 200 feet from their camp, and a flash flood a dozen feet from where they were huddled—all on different days.

Harvard Boy Scout Troop 1 is prepared with the Harvard Press on Mount Baldy in New Mexico. Front row, from left: Lowell Barrett, Erik Johnson, Matt Zimmer, Matt Colony, Pat Ware, Jack Landry, Dan Colony, Josh Zimmer, Ian Harrington, Brian Harrington. Back row, from left: Zeke Flaton, Tucker Barrett, Jim Colony, Ken Flaton, Ryan Williams, Max Flaton, John Zimmer. (Courtesy photo)