In late June I was a crew leader for a boy scout crew on a 12 day 100 mile trek at Philmont, one of the BSA's three high adventure bases. I finished going through the nearly 8,500 pictures I shot which included 165 panoramas and 14 time lapse sequences yesterday, so here are a few of the shots I got. But first in terms of gear I brought a D3200, Nikon 18-140 f/3.5-5.6, Irix 15mm f/2.4, Mefoto backpacker tripod, 1 intervalometer, 1 standard cable release, 6 Nikon batteries, 6 Wasabi batteries, 252gb of SD storage in a Pelican SD card case, 2 dry bags in case of rain, and a Peak Design Capture Pro Clip. This all weighed in at most of 9 pounds which bumped my pack weight from 36 to 45ibs with full food and water, but I think it was worth it.
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We flew into Denver and stopped in Colorado Springs the night before going into Cimmaron NM, where Philmont is located the next day. This is the three crews our troop brought doing a quick hike in Garden of the Gods.
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The reason I brought the Irix 15mm f/2.4- the stars were amazing!
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Our crew with Mt. baldy in the background, the highest peak on Philmont property.
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A personal favorite of the guys panning for gold. I love landscapes so I had to remember to take pictures of people but this was one of my favorites.
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we climbed Baldy in the early morning and the sunrise lit up the mountain with this beautiful orange/red light, it was spectacular. This hike was amzing and the rest of my shots from that day are here if youre interested. 6-24, Copper Park> Upper Greenwood - Ross Thomas
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Our crew on top of baldy, I'm holding the stripe side of the flag and my dad is behind me.
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The whole next day was slightly downhill in a meadow along a stream, it was beautiful much like this the whole way with intermittent wildflowers and wildlife.
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We ate lunch on top of a mesa at this lake the next day, this is a nearly 160mb(before downsizing to upload) 20+ frame panorama that doesn't come close to doing the view justice.
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A milky way shot from the next night, our camp is in the center of frame, you can watch the timelapse here, 6-27, Elkhorn> Dean Cow - Ross Thomas
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Another milky way shot, we hiked into base camp over the prominent ridge in the background. The foreground is moonlit by the crescent moon that night.
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A spectacular sunrise the next morning.
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Our crew taking in a view during a packs off break at Window rock.
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we turned the last switchback coming off of tooth ridge and were back in base.
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Everyone showered, fed, slept, and dressed up for the ride home the next morning. (I'm far right with the hat and my dad is behind me again)
Who else has been to Philmont? If you have please feel free to share images or stories. We had a fantastic trip with great weather as you could tell and no crew problems or injuries which was also great. I have another couple hundred if not thousand pictures on my smugmug, here Philmont, if anyone is interested. I have all of the timelapses and astro stuff I shot there that i didn't want to post to avoid being too lengthy. Comments are welcome and thanks for looking!
1. View attachment 1582327
We flew into Denver and stopped in Colorado Springs the night before going into Cimmaron NM, where Philmont is located the next day. This is the three crews our troop brought doing a quick hike in Garden of the Gods.
2. View attachment 1582314
The reason I brought the Irix 15mm f/2.4- the stars were amazing!
3. View attachment 1582315
Our crew with Mt. baldy in the background, the highest peak on Philmont property.
4. View attachment 1582316
A personal favorite of the guys panning for gold. I love landscapes so I had to remember to take pictures of people but this was one of my favorites.
5. View attachment 1582317
we climbed Baldy in the early morning and the sunrise lit up the mountain with this beautiful orange/red light, it was spectacular. This hike was amzing and the rest of my shots from that day are here if youre interested. 6-24, Copper Park> Upper Greenwood - Ross Thomas
6. View attachment 1582318
Our crew on top of baldy, I'm holding the stripe side of the flag and my dad is behind me.
7. View attachment 1582319
The whole next day was slightly downhill in a meadow along a stream, it was beautiful much like this the whole way with intermittent wildflowers and wildlife.
8. View attachment 1582320
We ate lunch on top of a mesa at this lake the next day, this is a nearly 160mb(before downsizing to upload) 20+ frame panorama that doesn't come close to doing the view justice.
9. View attachment 1582321
A milky way shot from the next night, our camp is in the center of frame, you can watch the timelapse here, 6-27, Elkhorn> Dean Cow - Ross Thomas
10. View attachment 1582322
Another milky way shot, we hiked into base camp over the prominent ridge in the background. The foreground is moonlit by the crescent moon that night.
11. View attachment 1582323
A spectacular sunrise the next morning.
12. View attachment 1582324
Our crew taking in a view during a packs off break at Window rock.
13. View attachment 1582325
we turned the last switchback coming off of tooth ridge and were back in base.
14. View attachment 1582326
Everyone showered, fed, slept, and dressed up for the ride home the next morning. (I'm far right with the hat and my dad is behind me again)
Who else has been to Philmont? If you have please feel free to share images or stories. We had a fantastic trip with great weather as you could tell and no crew problems or injuries which was also great. I have another couple hundred if not thousand pictures on my smugmug, here Philmont, if anyone is interested. I have all of the timelapses and astro stuff I shot there that i didn't want to post to avoid being too lengthy. Comments are welcome and thanks for looking!
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