Greenwich Scouts Trek 144 Miles Through New Mexico

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Scouts and leaders in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico (Tooth of Time Mountain (9003ft) in the background). Will Freder, Elias Boyer, James Gordon, Jamie Heavey, Luke Kaiser, Carlos Maldonado Jr., TJ Peck, Nico Matejak and Eric Parker.  Police Chief Jim Heavey and Carlos Maldonado Sr. served as adult advisors.  Jane Wiessmann (center front) served as a Ranger for the first few days of the trek.
Scouts and leaders in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico (Tooth of Time Mountain (9003ft) in the background). Will Freder, Elias Boyer, James Gordon, Jamie Heavey, Luke Kaiser, Carlos Maldonado Jr., TJ Peck, Nico Matejak and Eric Parker. Police Chief Jim Heavey and Carlos Maldonado Sr. served as adult advisors. Jane Wiessmann (center front) served as a Ranger for the first few days of the trek.

Over the first two weeks of July, nine Boy Scouts from three Greenwich troops (Troop 35 in Glenville, Troop 10 in Cos Cob and Troop 5 in Old Greenwich) trekked through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at Philmont Scout Ranch, located on 214 square miles in Cimarron, New Mexico.

The camp’s terrain climbs from elevations of 6,500 to 12,441 feet at its highest point.

Philmont is the Boy Scouts of America’s premier high adventure camp, and the largest youth camp in the world, serving nearly one million since its inception in 1938.

The Scouts hiked a total of 144 miles over the course of 12 days, while carrying on their backs everything they needed to survive for two weeks. They trekked through bear and mountain lion territory, scaled steep climbs, and withstood inclement weather that was common in the area.

Accompanying the members of the three Troops, and helping ensure they arrived home safely, were supervisors Chief of Police Jim Heavey and Carlos Maldonado Sr. Both are longtime scoutmasters with years of valuable experience.

Jane Wiessman, a US Naval Academy Senior Midshipman, also accompanied the group in the beginning of their journey as a ranger. Will Freder, a rising senior at Greenwich High School was chosen as the group’s leader.

He was raised to the rank of Eagle Scout in April of this year. The other eight scouts are currently Life Scouts and hope to attain the coveted rank of Eagle. These members included Elias Boyer, James Gordon, Jamie Heavey, Luke Kaiser, TJ Peck, Nico Matejak and Eric Parker. All eight attend Greenwich High School.

Due to an unusually rainy June in this region, many of the rivers which normally would be easy to cross required careful fording by the heavily laden hikers, according to Chief Heavey.  Freder noted in a phone interview with the Sentinel that “it rained every day we were out there. One day it opened up on us just as we stopped to set up camp. We didn’t think we would ever get our packs and sleeping bags dry.”  

Completing this trek left all participants changed for the better. On the final day of the trek the scouts summited “Tooth of Time” Mountain with an elevation of 9,003 ft. The steepness of the grade required traversing numerous switchbacks. “Totally worth the effort” noted Freder.

According to Chief Heavy the Greenwich Council hopes to send another group on this outing in 2017. To learn more about Boy Scouts of Greenwich and many more summer activities in the area, visit Greenwichscouting.org.

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