Islanders Bob and Robert Koehler Attend ‘Holy Grail’ of Boy Scouting

When Bob Koehler and his family return to their summer home on Mackinac Island, they will have one more story to tell neighbors and friends. Mr. Koehler and his son, Robert, spent two weeks at Philmont Boy Scout Camp in New Mexico.

The camp involves a brief orientation at a base camp, followed by a 12- or 14-day trek through the surrounding New Mexico wilderness. According to Mr. Koehler, however, this is not the trip for those mildly interested in nature.

“This isn’t just a fun walk,” he said. “There are bears and mountain lions. You need to hang your food up in the trees to keep animals from coming through, and you can’t have anything with an odor in your pockets.”

Despite some of the dangers in the trip, Mr. Koehler was ecstatic when heard he would have the opportunity to attend. He called the camp the “holy grail” of Boy Scouting.

Philmont, a 100,000-acre ranch, was donated to the Boy Scouts by Morton Phillips on the condition that it remain a working ranch. The ranch is operated year-around, with scouts lending a hand with farm work during the summers.

Mr. Koehler and Robert arrived June 14 with Troop 2001 of Naples, Florida and remained in Philmont for two weeks. The camp begins with an orientation program for the scouts, during which they work on logistics and teach the kids safety. Then the trek begins.

Along the way are scattered staff camps, each of which has a theme. One of the camps which Mr. Koehler’s troop attended was on the remains of a mining camp, and all staff members were dressed like 18th century miners.

Only 20,000 scouts a year attend the camp, where they develop skills of working together, solving problems, facilitating group discussion, and putting plans into action. The biggest theme of the camp is teamwork.

Troop 2001 stopped at many of the camps along the way. In addition to the mining camp, they visited a logging camp and they milked cows and helped round up ducks and chickens at another. They tried their hands at rock climbing, donkey racing, and learned to load their own rifle cartridges. They learned branding at another camp, and many of the boys branded their boots or their belts as a handmade souvenir.

Each troop also works on a conservation project and Troop 2001 chose to do theirs at Indian Ridings, a site where an Indian tribe had disappeared. Along the trail that the scouts were cleaning up was a footprint of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was only verified 10 years ago.

But the highlight of the trip for the scouts was climbing Mount Baldy. The mountain rises 12,600 feet above the tree line. While the troop was climbing, a thunderstorm came through and the boys had to lie flat against the rocks until it passed.

“We were doing all sorts of weird and different stuff, so it was very high adventure,” said Mr. Koehler of the trek. “But it was also educational. In some of the places, you just fell back in time.”

The troops are usually chosen to attend the camp based on a lottery system. Troop 2001, however, had the opportunity after one of the other troops dropped out, and according to Mr. Koehler, “we jumped on it right away.”

The Koehlers live in Naples, Florida, but spend much of their summer on Mackinac Island.