Philmont Scout Ranch - Cimarron, New Mexico - Part 2

This is part two of my blogs about the high adventure trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico.  If you want to see the previous post, just click here.

When we last left you, we had made our way into the back country of Philmont, and settled camp.  As I indicated previously, I was responsible for leading the devotionals each day.  In keeping with the theme, Wednesday's devotional was dedicated to the "might" portion of the scripture about "embarking" in the service of God.  This is a snapshot of me leading the discussion:

I would then break all the young men into patrols, and give them topics to discuss on their own.  They would then return and share what they had learned with the group:

The "Boho" Patrol

The "Liger" Patrol

The "East Wind" Patrol

We then embarked on a decent hike up to a peak called Lover's Leap.  The trail still had snow covering portions of the path, which allowed plenty of snowball fights along the way:

As we rose higher, the weather actually warmed up - usually the opposite of what you find.  It turned into a gorgeous sunny day, especially when we hit Lover's Leap:

The view from this rock outcropping was stunning...you could see into the valley below, and it really made the young men stop and appreciate the grandeur of God's creation around them.

We stopped for lunch, and enjoyed the view as we munched on our processed-food options ; )

I actually had a cel phone signal at the peak, so I ended up posting pictures of the boys on social media, where I knew that many of the mothers would be able to see them.  I know that as a parent, it's nice to see that your boy is a) still alive, and b) have a blast!  We took a lot of pictures there.  This is one that I love - it's all of the adult leaders together.  I can't tell you how much I love and respect these good men.  Three of these gentlemen are current or former Bishops of our Ward.  I was in great company:

We also tried to get all of the boys into a picture - since this spot in the mountains is now very special to us:

There was also a little time to goof around ; )  Without much explanation, here's a short video of some of the fun that the boys had up on Lover's Leap

After a lot of fun, we decided to switch modes a little.  We asked that each of the young men bring their scriptures on this hike, and we decided to sit down and have a short devotional with the Book of Mormon as the basis of the discussion on faith:

The boys made themselves comfortable on the rocks, and in the trees...

The discussion was led by our current Bishop, and it was an emotional talk on recognizing the proof of our Heavenly Father's existence all around us - particularly when you're in an amazing setting like this:

It was a powerful moment, and not one that I'll ever forget.  I hope it made as much of an impression on the boys.

We took one last picture, as our Philmont guides were preparing to take us to an even higher peak.  One of the boys really loved climbing rocks and trees - even when there didn't seem to be a way to get up there:

The hike took us through more snow-covered trails...

We finally reached the top of another peak, so we decided to take a little break.  When in colder temperatures, I was amazed at how much energy my body used to keep me warm.  As normal Boy Scouts are always hungry, this meant that they actually had a reason to be snacking...all of the time.

One of the boys turned a small knitted pot holder into a frisbee...which meant more competition, as they played "Three Flies Up" for a while:

After our break, we began our descent from the mountain, back towards our base camp.  The hike down always seems to be easier - even if it requires more energy to keep from tumbling down the hill...

While back at camp, a few of us went back over to the snow cave, to finish off our quinzee, by removing a ton of snow from the interior.  If you're claustrophobic at all, you'll never climb inside this tiny hole and push snow out of it, sometimes blocking your only exit from the cave ; )  We finally finished it, and it was really fun to stay inside for awhile.  Had the temperatures fallen even more, it would have made a great place to spend the night:

We arose the next morning, and started the day with another devotional - this one was dedicated to the "mind" part of embarking in the service of God:

Today was spent on a hike - about 7 miles - to another beautiful destination called Crater Lake.  When reaching this mountain-top body of water, there was a blanket of fog that make the scene there quite surreal:

During the day, it started to rain pretty good, making the hike back a little bit of a challenge.  One by-product, was that we came upon deer that couldn't hear us in the rain...if we were actually quiet.  Most of the young men couldn't stay quiet, so I managed to snap a few pictures before the animals were scared off:

With the temperature dropping, the rain soaked everyone, and it was hard to stay warm.  Your clothes and gear just never dried off, due to the cold.  The camp fire was about the only place that people wanted to be.  This again allowed the young men to understand why we required some of the gear on their packing list - so everyone had clothes that they could change into.  Not everyone followed our counsel ; )

That evening, as the sun went down, the temperatures dropped into the high teens - making for a very cold night.  All of the boys turned in early...and as if to challenge the young men even more..it started to snow.

That's it for now - join me for the final blog in this series as we finish the high adventure in the snow!