Boy Scouts attend New Mexico event

Monday, July 26, 1999 | 9:33 a.m.

After a year's preparation 58 Boy Scouts and leaders from the Boulder Dam Area Council have headed to Philmont National High Adventure Base in northeastern New Mexico.

Perched on the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies, the 137,000-acre Philmont offers 325 miles of wilderness trails surrounded surrounded by deer, elk, coyote, antelope, mountain lion, buffalo, beaver, wild turkey and bear.

Eighty-one camps are tucked away in Philmont. Some camps offer special programs such as backpacking, Western-style blacksmithing, burro packing, logging and mountain biking.

Some of the scouts are attending Philmont for the first time. Others, such as adult adviser Dan McKenzie, are making return trips. McKenzie, who went to Philmont more than 30 years ago as a scout, remembers camp at Philmont as a "growth experience that teaches leadership in a spectacular setting."

During the 12-day trek most of the scouts will participate in a side trip to Colorado Springs, stopping at the Olympic Training Center, Garden of the Gods State Park and Pike's Peak.

"Philmont is the Boy Scout's premier high adventure camp," Richard Harden, trip coordinator, said. "A week at Philmont can change a young man's perspective on life. Boys learn a greater respect for nature as well as personal relationships." Harden is returning to Philmont for a third time.

The scouts and leaders came from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, Logandale, Overton and Kingman, Ariz.

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