Their backpacks are packed and inside bags to protect them, and are sitting near the door ready to go last night. I had to take them to the airport at 3 a.m. for an early morning flight to Denver. From there they head south on a charter bus to Philmont Boy Scout Ranch (between Cimarron and Taos, NM) for 10 days of hiking through the mountains. Hard to imagine, but they have clothes, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, tents, jackets, hat, gloves, camp shoes, toiletry items, pots and pans, mess kit (bowl, spork and cup), water bottles, Camelbak, and a first aid kit in each backpack. The green backpack weighs 19 pounds. They will fill up water and food, which will be replenished every couple of days along their trek, so their packs will weigh up to 40 pounds at their heaviest.
