March 2024 saw us hit the trail with an “introduction to backpacking” trek to New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest as part of our upcoming return to Philmont. It’s our traditional starter trek, which is meant to introduce new scouts and leaders to backpacking. It also gives more experienced scouters an opportunity to get out their … Read more
After a year away from backpacking, I hit the trail again with a two-day hike in Wharton State Forest in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Wharton’s become the go-to destination for introductory backpacking hikes in NeutronLad’s troop – it’s flat and well-screened by the ubiquitous pines. Throw in some cedar ponds, a meandering brook, … Read more
April and May are a blur. To recap, in January and February, four members of our crew decide not to go to Philmont. In March, we teamed up with another crew in New Jersey, giving us a total of 13 members. We didn’t join up with a crew though; we joined up with a Patriot’s … Read more
The Trail to Philmont started moving a lot faster – and got a lot more real – in March 2021. As I mentioned in the February update, during the winter we lost four members of our crew to COVID concerns. That left us with six participants, and two below the minimum crew size of eight. … Read more
After one false start and two 5-mile primer day hikes, our Philmont crew finally went on an extended backpacking trip. We did a two-day hike in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in New Jersey. Friday night we stayed at campsites next to the Millbroad Road Trailhead. On Saturday, we hiked from the Millbrook … Read more
In January 2020, my son and I started on the trail to Philmont – a six-month training project aimed at developing the strength, endurance, and skills needed for a 12-day, 60-mile backpacking trek at Philmont Scout Rank in Cimarron, New Mexico. We were supposed to go in late-June/early July 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced … Read more
The long, winding trail to Philmont continued in June as I launched into training for a 10K race. I don’t have a particular race in mind, and given the state of the COVID-19 world, it’s likely any race I do will be virtual. That said, this is very much a journey-before-destination sort of thing, so … Read more