Scouting has long served as an opportunity for fathers and their Scouts to grow closer while challenged in the outdoors. That bond is all the more strengthened here at Philmont as they hike through meadows, in the rain, and up mountains together. Throughout Philmont’s history Scouts have grown up to teach their children the same leadership and outdoor skills their fathers taught them. 

My own father, who trekked at Philmont with me in 2021, trekked with his father in 1984. When we reached the top of Mt. Phillips, my dad and I had seen each other at our worst. The rain had not stopped for days, and our whole crew was growing irritable, but as the clouds cleared and we summited the rocky peak of Phillips everything came into perspective. We had made it, and seeing my dad get to the top of that mountain showed me where I got my resilience from. I can imagine my father seeing that same resilience in his father as they trekked together in 1984.  

Philmont will continue to be a place where teenagers and their dads grow closer through exhausting hikes and backcountry programs. Scouts will keep conquering mountains and exploring alongside the people closest to them: their families. Philmont will keep giving people what it gave to me, time learning from my greatest mentor as I overcame the terrain, looking up to the man I will always try to be. Happy Father’s Day.