Philmont — A Journey of Hiking Through Mountains
Published: February 8, 2026 — Medium (originally written ~2019) Type: Travel journal / personal narrative Rating: 2 Stars Source: Read on Medium
Overview
Jack’s account of Philmont Scout Ranch — a 12-day, 65-mile backpacking trek through the Cimarron Mountains of New Mexico with his Boy Scout crew. Written in 2019, published to Medium in February 2026.
He calls it his greatest achievement at the time of writing.
“Ahhhh, Philmont, a place where you heal using Sriracha Peanut Butter, also another place to climb 45 degree mountains and lighting position.” — Jack Luo
The Trek
Stats: - 12 days, 65 miles - 40+ pound packs - 11,000 feet elevation change - Mount Phillips summit (11,000 ft, 63% oxygen of sea level) - Tooth of Time ascent on final day
Crew: Boy Scouts, Cupertino area, ~2019. Ages roughly 14–16.
Departed: San Jose Airport, July 26 (year ~2019), flew to Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico.
Day-by-Day Highlights
| Day | Notable Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate rainstorm at trailhead — first navigation challenge, lost an extra mile |
| 2 | Safety training: bears, flooding, lightning. Last real meal before trail food. |
| 3 | Rootbeer at the New Mexican homestead — $1 a cup, homemade |
| 4 | 6-mile hike through full sun, arrived at Fish Camp, fishing attempt |
| 5 | Extensive river crossings, met crews from across the US and Canada |
| 6 | Conservation work: cut down trees, built log circles. Beef stroganoff — best dinner. |
| 7 | Jack navigated using only compass through a 2-mile open field — “hella fun” |
| 7 | Mount Phillips ascent — slowest pace (0.3 mph), altitude sickness in crew, views described as “absolutely gorgeous.” Someone peed off the top. |
| 8 | Sawmill camp: made and fired real bullets. First full short day. |
| 9 | Gold panning at Cyphers Mine — crew found actual gold. Chicken fried rice: second best meal. Sriracha peanut butter finally consumed. |
| 10 | Horse riding (Jack’s horse: Rocket, described as “a smart horse”). Rappelling at Cimarroncito — “best thing in the world.” Lightning forced everyone into lightning positions in the rain for 30 minutes. |
| 11 | 3.7-mile descent to Clarks Fork. Tooth of Time base. |
| 12 | 4am wake. Final climb: Tooth of Time ascent using hands. Crew member injured on descent. Arrived back at base camp. Branded wood, bought souvenirs, won a pudding cup that “stays in Philmont forever.” |
Skills Learned
- Navigation: triangulation, stick shadow compass, ute post reading, open-field compass navigation
- Wilderness survival: bear bagging, rain shelters, leave no trace, sump setup
- First aid: 5-finger rules, calming injured people, radio phonetic alphabet
- Leadership: crew dynamics, pacing, the cost of going too fast
Lessons
“I can’t change what others think of me, I can only make myself better.”
“Teamwork is so important to complete challenging tasks like Philmont.”
“Playing games while hiking makes the journey a lot easier.”
The journal was destroyed by rain on Day 10 — leaving Jack to reconstruct from memory. The blog exists because of that reconstruction.
Why Philmont
Philmont is the world’s largest youth camp, operated by the Boy Scouts of America in the Cimarron Mountains of New Mexico. It covers 140,177 acres. The Tooth of Time is its most iconic landmark — a distinctive rocky spire visible for miles. Crews of 6–12 scouts hike self-supported routes over 10–14 days.
For Jack, this was a pre-tech-era formative experience: physical endurance, navigation, wilderness, leadership in adverse conditions. The contrast to his later life — servers, TypeScript, AI agents — is complete.