SHARING HIS SNAPSHOTS is Luke Mager, (bottom row, second from left) who hiked the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico with fellow Scouts from Troop 400. They are, top row from left, Scott McBride, Braeden Croop, Tommy Beresnyak, Ed Noe, Chuck Hickenboth, Shane Messina; and bottom row from left, Lan Zimmerman, Mager, Hunter McBride, Ranger Gordon, Ian Messina, Cal Hickenboth and Henry Noe.

Learning to cope with desert heat followed by overnight temperatures dropping to the 30s was one thing.

Learning the best way to navigate the “bear-muda triangle” was a whole different problem to solve.

But Luke Mager, 17, of Cranberry Township, said that's what made his trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mager, the son of Chris and Jennifer Mager, spent June 15 to 29 with fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 400 — sponsored by Mars United Presbyterian Church — and four adults taking treks across the 40,177 acres of rugged mountain wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.

More than 1 million Scouts have experienced the adventure of Philmont since its first camping season in 1939.

But Mager said before Troop 400 could experience the ranch, the members had to get used to the higher elevation.

The group flew from Pittsburgh to Denver and then drove to Colorado Springs on the first day.

“The day we got to Colorado Springs, we did a one-mile hike to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre so we could get acclimated to the elevation,” said Mager.

“We did some activities and then for 12 days we did Philmont. After a few days we got used to it and didn't feel the effects because we were all used to it by that point,” he said.

Philmont Scout Ranch operates 35 staffed camps and 55 trail camps across the rugged terrain that ranges in elevation from 6,500 to 12,441 feet.

“How it works is there is a main base camp with buildings, and it also has tents,” he said. “We stayed at base camp the first night, checked in, told them we were going on trek and stayed the night.”

The next morning, Mager's group rode a bus and got dropped at the trailhead.

“And so you just hike to the camp site, camp there and then keep doing that until the trek is over,” he said.

Each person had a partner. The two partners had to split carrying a two-man tent and camping gear during the treks.Mager's pack weighed between 40 and 50 pounds.“It was pretty hard to carry. A lot of the weight was on your shoulders,” he said.The Pennsylvanians would usually hike from four and a half to six miles a day, with the longest one-day hike covering 10 miles.“The terrain is very unique,” Mager said. “We all thought it was going to be straight-up desert, but once we got on the trail we came into grassland and meadows and later a more mountainous area, more mountains than anything else,” he said.He said the weather was changeable as well. The first few days hiking temperatures were in the 90s.“The last three nights, it was in the 30s, 40s and 50s and it was freezing rain,” he said.“Everyone thought it was going to be deserty, not going to need all this cold weather gear,” he said, adding he wouldn't have made it to the end of the stay without a rain jacket and rain pants.The group would stop at trail camps equipped with cabins where they could rest and resupply for the next hike.During a typical day, the group would get up early around 5 a.m. after having turned in the night before around 8 or 9.They would wake up and take their food down from bag lines. The food bags were hoisted 10 to 25 feet in the air to protect them from bears.

The group would pack up their gear and hit the trail eating breakfast and lunch on the move in the form of protein bars.When it was time to make camp, the group would set up a rain shelter to keep their packs dry, set up their tents, cook dinner and rest.Mager explained the Scouts learned about the “bear-muda triangle.”Within the triangle of the campsite, the campers set up three corners: one for cooking, another for the bear cable that would hold the food bag, and the final one for the sump where the hikers could dump waste water.Food and backpacks also stayed within the triangle, and tents would be clustered together at least 50 feet away from the triangle to prevent sleepers being awakened by bears investigating the tantalizing smells of the hikers' food cache.

That food consisted of meals such as beef stroganoff and jambalaya created out of powders and water.“We each were given three days of food, and extra trail mixes,” Mager said. “We were each required to have three liters of water that you carried on the trail at all times.”Sometimes his group would draw water from creeks and streams and treat it with water purification tablets. Other times they would fill up at a spigot or from a hose at a staff camp.It is not all hiking though.When the troop members reached one of the camps, they got to participate in several activities such as rock climbing and shooting muzzle-loaded rifles. “I thought it was an incredible experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said. “It's something you must do sometime in your Scouting career.“We all really enjoyed it,”he said.

Luke Mager said he was surprised by the diversity of landscapes at the New Mexico ranch. Desert gave way to grasslands, meadows and mountains.

The Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico opened for its first camping season in 1939. At right, members of Troop 400 set up camp at the end of a day's hiking, being aware of the “bear-muda triangle.” At a campsite, the Scouts set up three corners: one for cooking, another for the bear cable to hold the food bag above the ground, and the final one for the area where the hikers could dump waste water.

At the end of a day’s hiking, Troop 400 members set up camp, being aware of the “bear-muda triangle.”