To the Philmont Training Center

The Philmont Training Center (PTC) provides week-long summer conferences on Scouting topics. The conferences are led by some of the most capable and knowledgable Scouters in the country. Most of the conferences focus on the learning needs of district and council volunteers, but there are also conferences for unit scouters. Our first "Philmont Experience" was in 1992 when Barb and I participated in the Cub Scout Roundtable Conference. Son Bill enjoyed the Boy Scout program in the PTC.

Here Chef Karina Martin (Texas) expounds on the recipe for a good Roundtable program.

In '94 Barb and I returned for other conferences, and Bill and daughter Samantha and one of Bill's scouting buddies, Dave, took on the Mountain Man and Mountain Woman programs. (Don't stand downwind when they return! Wave and point them toward the showers.)

Getting to Philmont is usually part of the fun. There are lots of ways to get to PTC. For some its a plane to Colorado Springs or Denver or Albuquerque and a bus or rented car, for others, its a train to Raton. For us, its an Aerostar on I-55, I-70, and I-25. with a brief run on US-24 between Limon and Colorado Springs (another part of an old highway that passes within 5 miles of our home in Illinois.) Usually the drive is uneventful, provided that we have made motel reservations and that the Aerostar holds on to all of its parts.

On the pilgrimage to Philmont, near I-70 in Brewster, Kansas... Will the Aerostar make its 7th and 8th runs through the Raton Pass? (Yes, but not with the old alternator.)

Facilities at PTC are comfortable, if not "5-Star." Floored tents with cots and lots of blankets provide a warm, secure place for the night. We each do something to make our tent a "home" for the week. You may see flower pots, mail boxes, and all sorts of other homey things around the "tent cities."
Latest update: 1/12/97
Copyright 1997 © by Stan Pope. All rights reserved.