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Trekking through New Mexican mountains saddled with 50 pound backpacks may not be a typical summer vacation, but the Crowley boys who completed the journey weren’t seeking relaxing beaches.
Eight Crowley Boy Scouts from Troop 554 and four adult volunteers recently spent nearly two weeks hiking the 55 mile Philmont Scout Ranch Trek, an adventure shaped by bear encounters, dehydrated food and teamwork, said Boy Scout Ty Entrekin, 17.
His mom, adult volunteer Rhonda Entrekin, said Troop 554 is the only Boy Scout Troop in South Crowley, and the group’s New Mexican trek was a unique opportunity and growing experience.
“It’s a lot of work when you are camping in bear country,” she said. “You can’t have anything that smells in the tent.”
Items that emit even the faintest odor, including food and deodorant, must be secured inside “bear bags” and hoisted by ropes about 25 feet into the air, Rhonda Entrekin said. Keeping the bags out of the animals’ reach helps prevent bears from rummaging through campsites at night.
“We also camped with our tents very close together,” she said. “Still, my husband saw four bears during the trip.”
One sighting pitted her husband, Richard Entrekin, and his son Alex Entrekin, 14, against a mother bear protecting a pair of cubs.
“Alex and Richard saw two cubs, and the mother bear went straight for them,” she said. “Alex looked up at Richard and said, ‘We’re dead.’ But when you see a bear, you are supposed to make noise, so Richard started clapping and saying, ‘Go away, bear,’ and the bear finally just went away.”
Wild animal encounters come with the territory, said Ty Entrekin, who spotted a hefty bear he estimated to weigh nearly 300 pounds.
“It wasn’t the first bear I ever saw,” said the longtime Boy Scout. “But when you see such a big animal moving peacefully through the woods, your adrenaline starts going.”
Mountain lions were among the troop’s other concerns, but they didn’t see any during the trek, Ty Entrekin and his mother said.
Other challenges included spending so much time with the same people, eating dehydrated food and learning to work as a team.
“I began to miss soda, hamburgers, my cell phone,” Ty Entrekin said. “But it was great getting away from the hustle and bustle.”
He said that when he returns to school and shares tales of his summer adventures, it will be difficult to convey how rewarding the trek was.
“It’s hard to put everything into words,” he said. For people who didn’t have to carry those 50 pound bags for 12 days, it’s hard to put it into perspective. They say, ‘You did that for fun?’”
Trek leader Jack Yarborough, 17, said he agrees that facing the wilderness was a tough experience but one he is grateful for.
“It’s hard being out there, and some tension did start building,” he said. “But we did pretty good. I’d go back if I could; I didn’t want to come back.”
Yarborough said he had his own first-hand experience with wild animals when a chipmunk, or “mini bear” according to scout lingo, tucked into his bag, polishing off select rations, including his chocolate milk.
“It really is a life-changing experience,” he said. “Everyone should hike a mountain sometime in their life.”
Ty Entrekin said the virtue he best learned from the experience is patience.
“You go out, and you are dealing with the same people for 12 days, but a couple of days in, you kind of find your groove,” he said. “You also learn you can push yourself harder than you thought you could.”
His mom said she watched all the scouts face struggles and work together to find their way.
“The thing I took out of it was teamwork, just watching the boys grow,” said Rhonda Entrekin, the sole female on the journey.
“Boy Scouts just helps prepare you for the stuff you need to know in life,” Ty Entrekin said.
The scouts who completed the trek are Jack Yarborough, Alex Entrekin, Ty Entrekin, Adam Conrow, Josh Lanier, Cody Nelson, Mason Roberts and Colt Stevenson. The adult volunteers are Richard Entrekin, Ray Conrow, Rhonda Entrekin and Mark Lanier.
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