Recently, a group of Boy Scouts and their adult leaders from Troop 945 in Covington participated in the pinnacle of Scouting: Philmont Scout Ranch.

Philmont is Boy Scouts of America’s oldest national, adventure-based program that tests your mental, physical and spiritual endurance. Philmont has over 200 square miles of land in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains in northern New Mexico.

Over 820,000 Scouts, Venturers and their leaders have participated in this backpacking program since 1939. With 34 staffed camps and 55 trail camps, Philmont is sure to entertain even the shrewdest of Scouts.

After a year of training, our group of eight Scouts and four adult Scoutmasters left for New Mexico for the two-week adventure. Our daily hikes ranged from two to eight miles. Philmont, however, is much more than hiking. We also did rifle shooting, rock climbing and horseback riding.

In addition, every Scout must do a service project. We did a conservation project that included clearing brush and moving it to a burn pile.

Even though we had sore feet and had missed real food, we had no one regrets on our decision to go. We all realized it was an experience of a lifetime.

Matt Eaton is one of the Scouts from Covington who went to Philmont Scout Ranch.