PhilSearch
2025 
116 Locations: 38 Staffed Camps; 62 Trail Camps; 6 Other; 9 Trailheads.
61 Programs and Activities.
0 Trek themes: .
| PhilSearch | |
FAQ | |
| Did you know that PhilSearch offers a rich set of trek comparison tools? Click on Compare on the menubar. | |
2024 is History, Prep for 2025 has started | |
| October is the annual database reorg and expansion in anticipation of the new year. You shouldn't notice the work behind the scenes, unless I start getting ambitious in terms of new features ... time will tell. | |
Passing of Doug Palmer | |
| From PSR: It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved colleague and friend, Doug Palmer. Doug served Philmont Scout Ranch as an Associate Director of Program for over 23 years. During this time, he made an indelible impact on the lives of over 5,000 seasonal staff members and more than 400,000 Scouts and Scouters who experienced the magic of Philmonts backcountry. Doug was a visionary, constantly innovating Philmonts backcountry programs, and a mentor to countless Philmont staff members. He believed that working at Philmont was the best job you will ever have. He always had time to share a story and offer encouragement. Doug was an avid fisherman, keeping a fly rod handy. He gave leadership to the annual Philmont Fly Fishing Seminar and was instrumental in supporting the Casting for Recovery program that is conducted on many occasions at Philmont. In 2016, he was honored with the prestigious Silver Sage Award by the Philmont Staff Association, a testament to his unwavering commitment and leadership. His legacy will live on throughout Philmonts backcountry and in the memories of those who had an opportunity to share the journey with Doug. A Remembrance of Life service was be held on Saturday, September 14th in the Philmont Training Center Assembly Hall. From PhilSearch: Doug will be missed. Doug was a true visionary an example being a supporter of the Peaks project in the mid 2000s where volunteers converted historical treks and peaks guides to pdfs and created a web based searchable treks tool (PhilSearch) long before trek selection went online. I enjoyed working with him to advance and promote HOmE. | |
New Mexico Fires ... Again | |
General National IncidentsInciWEBPhilmont related Fire InformationPhilmont Scout Ranch Fire Updates Iinteragency all-risk incident information management system Description of Incident Team Types New Mexico Fire Info Philmont Wildfire Impact Photos Philmont Fire History2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire2018 Ute Park Fire 2002 Ponil Complex Fire Burn Scar is a call to action for Philmont Fire Ecology and Forestery at PSR | |
2024 --- And so it begins | |
| 2024 12 Day Treks are loaded Lots of changes ... new treks, 25 campsite changes, and reopening of parts of the 2018 burn scar. Use the Compare menu to correlate 2023 treks with the 2024 offerings. 9 Day treks are next, followed by 7 day and the Cavalcades. 2024 is now the default program year, change it by clicking on the treks book cover, 'program year' in the menu bar or use the arrowheads. | |
2023 Treks loaded | |
| Loading of all 2023 itineraries is completed. This includes 34 Traditional 12 day, 16 seven day, 12 nine day and 22 Cavalcade itineraries. 2023 is the default guidebook to itineraries use by PhilSearch. 2022 and earlier guidebooks can be searched by selecting them here Notes are included in the trek details suggesting corrections to the supplied itinerary data when there is a seemingly obvious omission or error ... For example the missing Conservation Project in trek 12-20 or the Ponil food pickup in 12-24. As always comments always welcome. Happy Holidays - Jim | |
Sharing Searches | |
| A feature has been added to allow sharing of trek search criteria with others. to do so: 1. Save your search. A Free PhilSearch ID is still needed, I'm looking at ways to relax that in the future. 2. Either use the next to the saved search to create an email with a link or cut and paste the key provided into message yourself. The recipient can either click on the provided link, or, paste the provided key into the form provided by the "search using a shared key" choice under the Itineraries menu choice. A PhilSearch ID is not required to use key based searches | |
New Mexico Wildfire T-shirt Fundraiser | |
| Head on over to New Mexico Wildfire T-Shirt Fundraiser and support Philmonts neighbors in what will be a long road back from New Mexico's Largest Wildfire. | |
Fire Modified Treks | |
| Support for "fire modified" treks has been added. Fire Modified treks are treks that have been modified since the Itinerary Guidebook was published due to either direct fire impacts or closure of public/private lands due to fire risk. The standard treks report shows the original camps and activities Due to current limitations activities may not be accurately reported on the day after a fire day, as always the trek itinerary supplied by the ranch is the "one truth". Treks 12-21 12-24 12-27 and 12-28 have fire modifications loaded. All I need now is more re-route data. | |
Rolling Rendezvous | |
| One of the great experiences at the ranch is meeting people from other parts of the country and the world. Philmont provides the Rendezvous Locations table for each trek type using a common starting day for each. While this works well for council contingents it does not for units arriving on different days or taking different trek types (7, 9 or 12 day treks). The Rolling Rendezvous feature allows you to construct a Rendevous grid based on specific treks and start dates, Register treks here and see the grid here. Is anybody not ready?! | |
New Mexico Fires | |
General National Incidents including Cooks Peak, Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires:InciWEBPhilmont related Fire InformationPhilmont Scout Ranch Fire Updates Iinteragency all-risk incident information management system Description of Incident Team Types New Mexico Fire Info Philmont has contacted Treks Potentially Impacted Wildfire Impact Photos Cooks Peak Fire FB Page Philmont Fire History2002 Ponil Complex Fire2018 Ute Park Fire Burn Scar is a call to action for Philmont Fire Ecology and Forestery at PSR | |
April Activities for 2022 treks | |
| Share accident and sickness insurance information, risk advisory statement, expedition number, Philmont address, and emergency telephone number with parents. Continue physical fitness training. | |
March Activities for 2022 treks | |
| Transmit the final fee payment to Philmont by March 1. Receive Advisors Kit (mid-March), including Itinerary Guide, Guidebook to Adventure, and map from Philmont. Continue physical fitness training. | |
2022 Trek Planning Tools | |
| Sid Covington has updated his trek selection tools for 2022, you can get them here. Two documents are available to assist you in the itinerary selection process. There are 7-Day, 9-Day, and 12-Day versions of each. The first document is a Program Interest survey form. Copies of this should be printed for each crew member (usually including the adults) and they should rank the programs they are interested in. The second document is an Excel spreadsheet. The results of the survey's are entered into it to help select your itinerary. The spreadsheet uses some preference information about what your crew's capability and overall interests and the results of the program surveys. It creates several outputs including: a chart (and list) showing the programs that your crew prefers a list of the itineraries that most closely match these programs and the crew preferences a chart (and list) showing the calculated values for each itinerary based on crew preferences and crew member scores entered summary descriptions of itineraries including a campsite elevation graph. NOTE: These documents work with Microsoft Office (Word & Excel). They may not work with the "online" versions of Office 365. Download the documents to your computer and use the desktop versions of Office 365. | |
January/February Activites for 2022 treks | |
| Complete online itinerary selection in late January. Each participant schedule medical exam; review completed medical forms prior to shakedown activities. Begin physical fitness training plan. Each crew conducts a series of training experiences prior to arrival at Philmont (two or three are recommended); start easy and increase the difficulty, with several days of camping and hiking with full packs. Send a reminder for the final fee payment due to Philmont by March 1. | |
2022 Treks | |
| 2022 treks are loaded. Thankfully there are comparitively few changes with the number of treks unchanged and no replacements. Some treks have significant changes, consult the compare reports for details …. Is anyone not ready? | |
Old Itinerary Search Depricated | |
| Itinerary Search UI has been updated with a better select control that takes less space, looks cleaner and works with more browser types. The most notable change is the elimination of the double click to move right behavior that's been part of the itinerary search from the beginning. Please report problems with the new UI, Ive deployed the new control pretty much everywhere there is a select control in PS. As always feedback is desired at either Facebook or to support@philsearch.org | |
Ute Park Pass Alternate Plans | |
| In 2021 Philmont introduced the concept of alternate plans for four Treks (9-12, 9-13, 12-17 and 12-30) that traverse the area affected by the 2018 Ute Park Fire Zone via the Ute Park Pass Route. The Ute Park Pass Route may or may not be open to hiking when your crew arrives at the northern (Sawmill) or southern (Cimarroncita) terminus. As a result several alternate plans were developed (Plans B,C and D ..see the Treks book for details) that allow for two attempts at the traverse or an alternate ending. PhilSearch displays 'Plan A' by default and all trek searches and reports assume Plan A. The Trek Detail report can be generated either with just plan A or with Plans A-D at your option. When Plans A-D are selected, tables are included with possible program options for each of the alternate plans. | |
Data Consistency | |
| The annual Treks Book load is a manual process that takes several hours to complete depending on the degree of change in a given year. Once loaded PhilSearch reports and tools are used to verify against the Treks book. This is followed by a more comprehensive review to ensure correctness consistancy and address any anomilies. For 2021 this last step wasn't completed until earlier this month. There are always inconsistancies in the Treks book, usually appearing as the same program with multiple names, or programs being omitted at a location where a Trek is either camping or taking program, while some of these are intentional often they are simply errors. All of this has to be normalized into the database model that is PhilSearch. As always I rely on the helpof friends in identifying anomolies and errors. Thanks for your patience. | |
Program Grid | |
| The program grid report has been re-introduced with links to program descriptions and location details. | |
2022 Treks | |
| Database expansion/reorg for 2022 trek data complete. Just waiting on the Treks book now for the fun to begin! | |
Passing of Gene Schnell | |
| Gene Schnell, Philmont�s beloved Unit 41, passed away June 9, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 84 years old. Growing up in Scouting, Gene visited Philmont as a teenager as part of a council contingent and volunteered as a Scoutmaster for the National Junior Leader Instructor Camp. As a youth and adult, Gene participated in 11 Philmont treks. Gene was a main contributor in the creation and implementation of the Order of the Arrow Trail Crew (OATC) Trek and served many years as trek advisor. Gene�s dedicated work with the OATC Trek program earned him the Order of the Arrow�s Distinguished Service Award. Gene spent 36 summers working across the ranch serving in a variety of critical and impactful positions including Program Director at the Philmont Training Center, outfitting services manager — giving his famous Crew Leader Speech to thousands of Scouts getting ready to go on the trail — and backcountry manager. He then took on the role of backcountry distribution and support manager. For 29 summers Gene was Unit 41. He changed the lives of thousands upon thousands of visitors and staff. In a 2015 PhilNews article, Gene stated, �as backcountry distribution and support manager, I coordinate the movement of vehicles, staff and supplies throughout all areas of Philmont in the most efficient manner possible while maintaining the highest degree of customer service. It�s sort of like playing chess with people and vehicles and supplies. Once I get up in the morning, everything just goes. My schedule changes all the time. Like George S. Patton said, ‘Accept the challenge so that you may experience the exhilaration of victory.�� And according to Gene, the victory came when he was able to see young people grow and develop. �I can help them realize that they have the capacity to turn dreams into reality,� he said. Gene was a giant not just in stature but in his legendary status as Unit 41. The staff truly idolized him, and he cared for each one of them. Everybody was important to Gene in his most unique way. Gene�s love for Philmont showed through his dedicated work ethic and inspiring interaction with staff and participants across the ranch. He stated, �I contribute to Philmont my commitment to excellence by personal example. I like to keep the bar high, so I�m a big believer in the saying ‘excellence will be tolerated but perfection is our goal. Philmont gives me the privilege of exercising servant leadership to the higher degree.� In 2013, the Philmont Staff Association recognized Gene�s service to Philmont and the staff with its Silver Sage Award, presented to recognize �distinguished and exceptional personal service or contributions of an important and lasting nature by any individual or organization for the benefit of Philmont Scout Ranch.� He was life member of the PSA and a great supporter of the association. Gene�s voice is loud and clear, �Unit 41, 10-8 Philmont to heaven. Unit 41, Clear.� | |
2021 Treks | |
| I've completed the process of loading 2021 Trek data into PhilSearch. I've desk checked the data but will continue to do so. Of the 35 twelve day itineraries 33 are unchanged;Only two, 12-17 and 12-30, are new for 2021. Among the seventeen seven day treks, 10 are identical to 2020, 4 have minor changes and 2 are new for 2021. For the thirteen nine day treks 6 are identical, 5 modified and 2 new. Watch this space for developments. YiS Jim | |
Rendevouz | |
| Clearly with 2020 being cancelled the rendevouz feature is less useful. As such I've changed the display options so that it is no longer the default home page. That said, wouldn't it be nice to register the trek you were planning on and connecting with those you might have been with. Further, you could use the tour feature for a virtual 2020 trek .. Day by Day exploring wht might have been and what might be. | |
Photos | |
| I always need photos. You can see what I'm looking for here or you can look up your specific trek and year and click the camera icon and get a list like this As always thanks for you support. YiS Jim | |
Composite Features updated in Intinerary Search | |
| Shooting sports adds Cowboy Action Shooting; New feature 'Rocks' includes Rock Climbing, Bouldering, traverse walls and related activities. | |
2020 Data | |
| 2020 trek data is loaded and first pass verification & correction has been completed. There is work to be done regarding trek tear over year mapping for both 7 and 12 day treks … help is welcome here. I trully appreciate another set of eyes or two on this data and welcome all comments regarding errors, and there are still some left I'm sure, to the PhilSearch Facebook page. Thanks for your patience as I pounded in more data than ever … | |
Register for the 2021 season | |
| Registration for summer crews begins in late October 18 months before a given summer. In December, the lottery determines trek date assignments Philmont strongly recommends that units register for the lottery to have the best chance of receiving their desired trek date, and to have adequate time to prepare for their trek. For more information click here | |
Its that time of year | |
| With the 2019 season over, Fall is the season when PS gets updated, overhauled and primed for the coming season. 2020 promises to stress me a little more than normal in that the addition of 9 day treks introduce a wrinkle. While the model invented for 7 day treks will work, the implementation did not anticipate yet another option, so, some cleanup and generalization is in order to make things work as expected. Be patient with me, you will see the odd error now and then when Im likely working on it … Ill try to be done before the Holidays. YiS Jim | |
New in 2020: 9-Day Treks | |
| Philmont Scout Ranch is excited to announce 9-day treks as an additional program option available to those who want to participate in a Philmont trek. 9-day treks are an excellent option for those who want to spend more than a week in Philmont’s backcountry, but may not be able to make it out for a full 12-day trek due to travel or other factors. | |
Google Earth Support Added | |
| As a replacement to the routes capability depricated several seasons ago I'm addiing Google Earth support to PhilSearch. Phase I, rolling out now, includes itinerary support from the detailed treks page (strating with 2019 treks). Phase II will add details from the Campsite details pages. Future phases will include discreet routes between intinerary stops, route placement for Fantasy Treks (Autumn Adventure) as well as custom .KMZ file creation for download into GPS' or other GIS software. Usage of this feature requires that Google Earth Pro be configured on your PC. Google Earth Pro is free and available here I hope this feature is useful to you all. - Jim | |
Ute Park Fire | |
| On May 31st, 2018 the Ute Park Fire broke out and quickly spread to Philmonts central country. Ultimately, the fire consumed 36,740 acres of Philmont and surrounding neighboring lands. Support the recovery efforts here | |
Browser choices | |
| As much as I hate to say it, IE and Edge just arent consistantly rendering pages correctly … I haven't tried chrome but I can tell you FireFox consistantly gets it right … | |
2018 & 2019 updates | |
| 2019 data is loaded and first pass verification & correction has been completed. I've declared vistory regarding year over year trek mapping. I trully appreciate another set of eyes or two on this data and welcome all comments regarding errors, and there are still some left I'm sure, to the PhilSearch Facebook page please | |
2017 7 Day Treks | |
| Sorry for the delay, seven day treks are loaded …. PhilSearch declares 4 new treks 705.708,709 & 713. If you don't like PhilSearchs year over year mapping, check out the "compare one trek to all treks" report on the tools page for a complete analysis. Happy Treking in '17 … Jim | |
2017 / 2016 Compares | |
| I made some corrections (fixed a bug) in the comparision tooling to provide more accurate trek compares. There is as slight change in my philosophy this year due to the scope of change, when PhilSearch's trekmap says 2017 trek 5 *is* 2016 trek 7 it is really saying 2017 trek 5 is most similar to 2016 trek 7 … I believe that most of the 2017 treks are new creations, that said, those that have used 2016's treks book to shape their thinking for 2017 really want to know which 2017 treks are most like the ones I like in 2016, the compare tools are al about that … | |
2017 long treks | |
| 2016 12 day trek information has been loaded into PhilSearch …. And is being verified …. Please report any anomolies to webmaster@philsearch.org. 7 day treks will be loaded when available. This is one of those years with lots of changes, PhilSearches scoring system was able to find close similarity between 32 of the 35 long treks. I encourage you to score the treks you are interested in yourself using the "compare 1 trek to all treks' tool on the tools page. | |
2017 | |
| The annual infrastructure update in anticipation of arrival of the 2017 Treks data is complete. All we need now is the data. Progress on a modern replacement for the PS UI remains slow, as does progress on re-encorporating meaningful routes. All are on "the list" but are a bit much for the one-man show that is PS. Patience friends, I'll get there. YiS Jim. | |
Error Registering for site or requesting password | |
| A problem related to creation of an account or a request to retrieve an account password has been corrected. Those of you that have tried to create accounts but received an error likely succeeded. To retrieve a password for an existing account, use your email address as the userid and check the 'forgot password' box, it will be emailed to you. Or, you can simply create a new account. | |
2016 Trek Data | |
| 2016 12 day and 7 day trek information has been loaded into PhilSearch …. And is being verified …. Please report any anomolies to webmaster@philsearch.org | |
Retooling | |
| PhilSearch is ten years old and so is the underlying technology which is based on MS FrontPage, asp, jet and hand coded HTML. It is too old to be simply called 'out of date' or 'deprecated'. The first step in modernizing PS was made last spring when server side FP extenstions were disabled, the second step, removing FP dependencies in authoring has been made … so the cord has been cut. While a new site and tooling is being designed, copious amounts of duct-tape and baleing wire are being employed to keep PS working. As the new site comes on line there will be a significant 'back to basics' approach taken … not quite back to the Dan Yoder inspired 2006 first edition, but certainly a renewed focus on trek selection and modeling features. Your feedback this year as to the things of value will help guide us through this rewrite. Happy New Year | |
R.I.P Chope Phillips | |
| Elliott Waite �Chope� Phillips, age 97, peacefully left this world Sunday, April 26, 2015 in his home surrounded by loved ones. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, April 28, 2015, 3:00 pm in St. Andrew�s Episcopal Church with the Reverend Jo Roberts Craig officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Boxwell Brothers. Elliott Waite �Chope� Phillips, was born January 11, 1918, in Okmulgee Oklahoma, to Waite and Genevieve Phillips. He graduated from Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana, in 1935. During his youth he loved being in the mountains of New Mexico riding horses and working cattle with the cowboys at Philmont, his family�s ranch just outside of Cimarron, New Mexico. He continued his education by attending Menlo College and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. While in California, Chope and his friends enjoyed going to local county fairs, frequently returning with a lamb or a goat to be cooked for a meal. Each summer he drove with his friends down Route 66 to Cimarron where they would spend the summer working with the ranch hands at Philmont. They especially enjoyed leading the packhorses to the family�s favorite spot, �Fish Camp.� In 1940, following college, Chope moved to Winfield, Kansas and began working for the Hawkeye Oil Company. In 1941 he moved to Philmont, and assumed full charge of the acreage north of Cimarron. Upon, his father�s, Waite Phillips� donation of Philmont to the Boy Scouts of America, Chope relocated to the Bough House in the town of Cimarron. In late 1942, Chope enlisted and was inducted into the army at Fort Bliss, a United States Army post serving New Mexico and Texas located in El Paso, Texas. He was later stationed at Sheppard Air Force base in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Amarillo Army Air Field in Amarillo, Texas. He received his officer training in the Officer Candidate School at the Miami Beach Training Center in Miami, Florida, graduating April 1, 1944. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and returned to Amarillo to lead training at the Bivouac Camp north of the town. He received Winter Training at Ft. Carson near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Aviation Corps training in San Antonio, Texas. Weekends off during his time in the army were often spent at Philmont. He loved riding his favorite horses in the mountains he had grown to love as a young boy. In late 1945, he purchased his first ranch (Old Ranch) located near Maes, New Mexico. He loved showing family and friends �his� first ranch. His girlfriend, soon to be his wife, Virginia, C. C. Boyd, as well as other family and friends, frequently visited the ranch. They helped with ranch chores and enjoyed spending the day swimming, and fishing in the �old fishing hole�. April 19, 1947, he married his soul mate, Virginia Lee, with whom he shared a mutual love of New Mexico, the outdoors and ranching. Together in 1958, they purchased their ranch located in San Miguel and Mora counties in New Mexico. Chope enjoyed raising horses, maintaining a herd of mother cows, and pasturing steers each summer. He loved being horseback. Buck Ray was his prized stallion while Blackbird, Miss Crow Creek and Taffy were favorite mares and mothers of colts he enjoyed raising. Chope and Virginia loved sharing the ranch with family and friends throughout the years. Many times guests rode around the ranch, even helping with cattle work on several occasions. His older grandsons, Bill, John and David enjoyed spending time on the ranch with Chope and driving �Old Blue.� His younger grandchildren, Lela and Hunter, both share fond memories of driving and riding around the ranch with their beloved Granddad. The ranch was Chope and Virginia�s permanent residence until their retirement and sale in 2002. Following the sale of their ranch, Virginia and Chope moved to Amarillo, Texas. They anxiously awaited the arrival of their first granddaughter in February of 1994. They enjoyed being back in Amarillo, reconnecting with friends and memories. Trips overseas and visiting friends and relatives became a larger part of their lives during retirement. Chope�s love of ranching continued after retirement, as he rode horses and helped Amarillo ranching friends with their cattle work, mostly branding, into his early 90�s. He was a mentor and friend to many ranchers. During his lifetime, Chope was a member of the New Mexico Cattle Grower�s Association and the Cimarron Maverick Club. He was a lifetime member of the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was a member of the Philmont Scout Ranch Committee. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and was recognized as a Rancher, Philanthropist and Scout Benefactor when he was awarded their highest honor the Silver Buffalo in May of 1998. In 2005, Chope was one of five ranchers from New Mexico and Texas selected to receive the Foy Proctor Memorial Cowman Award presented by the Nita Stewart Haley Memorial Library in Midland, Texas. The appellation �true cowmen� is applied to both men and women who have literally �grown up� with cattle on a ranch somewhere in the southwest and who through a long lifetime have lived and worked with cattle horseback, particularly mother cows, in addition to making their living, at least to a considerable extent, from the �cow business.� All awardees are also �horsemen.� That moniker does not imply that they raise and sell horses, though some do. It means that they are experienced at riding and developing, or training young horses, to become �finished� cow horses.� It also means that these cowmen have worked their herds of cattle horseback for a lifetime and still avoid doing anything with cattle �a foot� that can be done smoother, easier and with fewer injuries to the stock while in the saddle. Chope was preceded in death by his parents Waite and Genevieve Phillips, his sister Helen Jane Breckinridge, and his beloved wife of 64 years, Virginia Lee Phillips. He is survived by his children, Julie Phillips Puckett, Amarillo, John Elliott Phillips and wife Tami of Amarillo, and Wendy Lee Drewry and husband William Wallace Drewry III of Bainbridge Island, Washington. He was affectionately known as �Granddad� to his grandchildren Lela Phillips Puckett and Marshall �Hunter� Puckett II, and known as �Chope� by his grandsons William Wallace Drewry IV, John S. Drewry, and David R. Drewry, and seven great grandchildren. The family wishes to express gratitude to his caregivers, Wanda Johnson, Guillermo and Simona Cabello, and Nettie Tucker who cared for him these past few years. Special thanks are also expressed for the loving care he received from Goodcare Home Health Services and Hospice Care of the Southwest, especially his loving nurse, B. J. Smith. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be to Philmont Scout Ranch, 17 Deer Run Road, Cimarron, NM 87714. Attn: Steve Nelson. Please include: Memorial Gift for Elliott W. �Chope� Phillips. Sign the online guestbook at www.boxwellbrothers.com. | |
7 Day Trek Data Loaded (Unverified) | |
| 7 Day Trek Data is available … Help with verification appreciated …comments / updates / questions to Jim@PhilSearch.org | |
12 Day Tek Data Verified | |
| 12 Day Trek Data is available and verified … comments / updates / questions to Jim@PhilSearch.org | |
What a harrowing 24 hours | |
| Well, long story short, with in minutes of completing the data load for 2015 on Sunday the 8th the whole site came tumbling down. There were a couple of issues, most resolved, involving the hosting service, but I came very close to "losing the recipe" for PhilSearch. Its mostly all back today, and I'd love feedback on the 2015 data quality to Jim@PhilSearch.org | |
Preliminary 2015 12 day trek data available | |
| 12 Day Trek Data is available … comments / updates / questions to Jim@PhilSearch.org | |
2014 Trek Verification | |
| Due mainly to a comment received on the FB page from Scott Walker who pointed out errors in the 2014 trek data I've begun a top to bottom quality review of that data in advance of 2015's data load. I've got treks 1-10 verified, but I'd like a few volunteers, besides Scott who has offered to help with the 2015 exercise, to verify both my 2014 updates as well as the 2015 data soon after I load that. Emal to Jim@philsearch.org please if you want to help | |
Does Anyone Care | |
| Does PhilSearch provide a useful service or is it just hobby for me? … its important to know … It takes a fair amount of effort over a very short period of time to load the annual trek data into PS each year. If no one uses it then I can save myself a lot of effort. So let me know. A faceBook like of the PhilSearch Page is as good a way as any to do so … or an email to jim@philsearch.org along with a few pictures from a recent trek … perhaps from the photos needed section. This will be PhilSearch's 10th season, it’s a labor of love, a one man show, with no help from Philmont or the BSA. And so I'd like to know that it makes a difference for someone. | |
Web Site Changes | |
| I'm doing a few things in preparation for a major facelift that will take months to accomplish: First, frames are out, meaning that the menu is now at ribbon at the top of each page, not along the side. As a result you might have to scroll up to navigate … Second, the picture on the homepage is full size now, in 2005 it was about bandwidth, in 2014 not so much. Third, I'm deprecating features that are largely unused … the WFA registry for instance that was created during the 2010 WFA rollout at the PTC. No one used it … so its gone … or at least hidden away. More things will go too … | |
Short Treks (7 Day) support added | |
| Support for the so called 'short treks' has been added. These treks, numbered 701-715, will appear in search results. Ways to filter / limit searches to 11 day or 7 day treks will be added in the future. Please report any anomolies in the system as previously PhilSearch was limited to 35 definitions. There are quirks in the system, but it generally is holding itself together. | |
Survey | |
| A short and hopefully not too annoying survey (one question) has been added to the home page that is required before PhilSearch features are available. The site does not store cookies, but does use your IP address to remember you participated, so as a result you will see the question again if you change network connections … sorry … its but one question and an important one at that, so please do the two clicks for the greater good. Thanks Jim | |
| 2014 Treks Data has been loaded but verification has not been completed. The 2014 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. Thankfully 2014's changes are minimal, with only one new trek, 34. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. As always I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omissions or other issues. | |
| 2013 Treks Data has (finally) been loaded but verification has not been completed. The 2013 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. Like 2012, 2013's changes are significant … its better to think of it as 35 new treks than the typical 1 or 2 new treks, half a dozen tweaks and some minor changes. Even so, an attempt has been made to map this year's to similar prior years treks, but I would recommend the find similar treks report as your guide. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. As always I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omissions or other issues. | |
Treks Data being loaded | |
| 2013 Trek Data is incorrect …. It is being updated and will be in place in advance of the 2014 trek data load on March 15th. | |
Trek Selection Tools Updated for 2013 | |
| The trek selection tools (ballots, process and activities backgrounder) have been updated in support of 2013 Trek selection. Look for 2013 itinerary data to be available in mid-March. | |
Mobile App | |
| I'm seriously considering building a mobile version of PhilSearch. If I were to do so what would be your platform of choice? iOS or Android. Let me know by emailing your response to the webmaster | |
Apologies | |
| The Web Idiot let his day job get in the way and didn't renew PhilSearch's domain name on-time. He's a little poorer for it but managed to retrieve it before it was sold to some Nigerian Prince's investment company. | |
2012 Trek Selection Advice | |
| For all intents and purposes the 2012 treks are completely new. There are some similarities but they are really coincidental. Several new camps and activities have been added so the 'Treks Book' deserves a careful look. This all represents a significant revamp on the ranches part. With the help of the usual suspects, Julian Love & Al Thomson, I've done the best I can to provide some mapping. My best advice is this … take a deep breath and If you have trek selection criteria (desired,required program or campsites) used with PhilSearch and the 2011 dataset, simply re-run it using the 2012 dataset. In addition there are several useful comparison reports available on the Tools & Reports Page … 'Intineraries at a glance' highlights campsite changes in an easy to read format. 'Summary of Differences' will detail differences based on year to year mapping, but this year is of limited value. 'Compare one trek to all treks' will do detailed comparison of any one trek from any year to all others from another year … so you could take each of your top 5 based on 2011 and get a ranked report of those considered similar for 2012. While I am working on some advanced tooling to try take your top 5 based on 2011 and find the best 5 matches from 2012, every change I make risks breaking the whole site so don't wait for the Map Treks report to appear quickly … it will take several days as I limit the times when I make the site unstable. YiS Jim | |
2012 Trek Data Loaded | |
| 2012 Treks Data has been loaded but verification has not been completed. The 2012 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. This years changes are significant … its better to think of it as 35 new treks than the typical 1 or 2 new treks, half a dozen tweaks and some minor changes. Even so, an attempt has been made to map this year's to similar prior years treks, but I would recommend the find similar treks report as your guide. Or, given that you have time, re-run your preferences using 2012 data. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omissions or other issues. | |
PhilSearch primed for 2012 Trek Selection | |
| Skeleton tables for 2012 have been created and loaded into the database and activated. All that is needed is the 2012 data to populate them with which is expected this week. | |
Did you know? | |
| PhilSearch has a Trek Rendevous feature … register your trek and see who you will meet on the trail and where. For council contingents it makes simple work of determining rendevous points. It handles multiple departure dates and allows filtering by council, crew numbers or departure day. Try it by clicking here or by choosing tools and reports from the menu on the left. | |
Trek Selection Delayed | |
| From www.philmontscoutranch.org: "We are experiencing network problems, please be patient with us as we work to resolve this issue. No crews have been able to enter their selections and confirm an itinerary. In order to be fair to all crews we are shutting the system down for today. A new date will be determined once the problem has been resolved. An email will be sent to all crews alerting them of the new itinerary selection date. This new date will also be posted on this webpage. Philmont apologizes for this inconvenience. We know how important this is to you and your crew. We thank you for your patience." We recommend monitoring www.scouting.org/philmont for further information | |
2011 Data Loaded | |
| 2011 Treks Data has been loaded but verification has not been completed. The 2011 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omissions or other issues. | |
PhilSearch updated for 2011 - PRELIMINARY | |
| Thanks to Al Thomson, My friend at Patriot's Path Council, I've updated PhilSearch using his analysis. I have one modification, Al indicated Trek 31 was new for 2011, I see it as heavily changed. Trek Descriptions have not been updated yet, so ignore the prose for the moment. I'll continue a detailed verification over the next few days and with your help and feedback have a verfied database by the end of the weekend. There are new activities and campsites for 2011, see the comparison tabs in the activities and camps pages for more on these. | |
PhilSearch pass 1 verification complete | |
| The 2011 intineraries have been verified and updated based on the Treks information posted on the Philmont site. Nearly every trek has some change, most very minor in nature. There seems to have been a concerted effort to add Conservation opportunities to each intinerary, to add the complete offering for a camp where in the past a subset was offered and in cases where you have multiple opportunities for an activity like Black Powder, it is indicated where it was not in previous years. Finally, I may have made transcription errors in 2010 and omitted items. I'll reverify all these things in the next few days. One other item of note, Trek 22 shows a visit to the Kit Carson Museum on the Day two hike from the Zastro TA to Rayado River camp … this is likely an error .. I've sent a note off to the Ranch indicating my suspicions. | |
Registered Rendevous Implemented | |
| A customized rendevous report is available via the Tools & Reports Page | |
Philmont On-Line Trek Selection is Open | |
| The on-line Trek Selection Process is open and available at http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HighAdventure/Philmont.aspx | |
Philmont On-Line Trek Selection Status | |
| Problems with the the on-line trek selection website have delayed "T Day" from 3/29 to 3/31 … Current status is available http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HighAdventure/Philmont.aspx. Do not call the ranch for status, rather use national's website (above). | |
2010 Trek Data Loaded | |
| 2010 Treks Data has been loaded but verification has not been completed. The 2010 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omissions or other issues. | |
"January" updates completed. | |
| Skeleton tables for 2010 have been created and loaded into the database and activated. All that is needed is the 2010 data to populate them with. …. It will be here sooner than you think. | |
Fall 2009 Updates completed | |
| I've completed a few bug fixes to both the 2009 data set as well as some logic in prep for the 2010 season. There will be another set of updates in early January to prep for the addition of th 2010 treks data in support of 2010 Trek planning. As has been the case in recent years we expect the data to be available mid-March and have come to expect fairly disruptive changes as trek renumbering has occurred in two of the last four years. I'm also still looking for some specific photos to fill the last few gaps in the photo album. I was hoping that returning crews from 2007 (then 2008, then 2009) would get this task behind us, but unfortunately this just hasn't happened yet …. Please click here for a list of current needs and contribute; | |
Julian Love's Trek Comparison Grid | |
| Julian has graciously allowed me to post the current version of his year over year trek comparision grid in the files section for your use.its hiding in the "Crew trek selection tools" section below. | |
2009 Treks | |
| 2009 Treks Data has been loaded and verification has been completed. The 2009 data set is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. I welcome any feedback as to anomolies, omittions or other issues as the process of loading the data into PhilSearch is manual and error prone. | |
Bandwidth | |
| Its difficult to predict the impact on the site with the release of 2009 Treks information. I'll be monitoring the site and will make adjustments as required to meet bandwidth demands. Please remember that this site is provided to you without charge but has very real costs and so excess bandwidth, while available, is not pre-provisioned but rather purchased as needed. Please be patient. | |
Trek Selection Tools Updated | |
| The Trek Selection tools (Crew Trek Selection Tools below) have been updated with 2008 information to support 2009 Trek Planning. | |
2008 Treks | |
| 2008 Treks Data has been loaded and verified and is now the default data set used by PhilSearch. A summary of trek changes is available in the tools & reports section of the site. The 'intineraries at a glance' and 'summary of differences' reports provide the best insight with specific details avaliable in the later. Previous years datasets can still be loaded through the tools and reports page as you desire. | |
2008 Treks | |
| 2008 Treks Data has been formatted and verified and will be uploaded and released on 3/15/2008 per our agreement with Ranch management. 2008 represents a fairly light year change wise (as opposed to 2007) with very few material trek changes along with a number of very minor changes to a small number of treks. | |
Bandwidth | |
| Its difficult to predict the impact on the site with the release of 2008 Treks information on 3/15. I'll be monitoring the site and will make adjustments as required to meet bandwidth demands. Please remember that this site is provided to you without charge but has very real costs and so excess bandwidth, while available, is not pre-provisioned but rather purchased as needed. Please be patient. | |
Trek Selection Tools Updated | |
| The Trek Selection tools (Crew Trek Selection Tools below) have been updated with 2007 information to support 2008 Trek Planning. | |
Winter, 2007/2008 News | |
| PhilSearch has achieved a level of steady state in the last 6 months or so. As a contrast their have been four updates of the logic in 2007 as opposed to 25 in 2006. This is largedly a result of most outstanding feature requests being addressed (those that remain are just hard to implement). Another way of stating this is that I am out of ideas on how to improve the site. I'm always looking for new ideas, so please let me know if there is a capability you require or desire.by submitting a feature request, below I'm also still looking for some specific photos to fill the last few gaps in the photo album. I was hoping that returning crews from 2007 would get this task behind us, but unfortunately this just hasn't happened yet …. Please click here for a list of current needs and contribute; | |
Fall, 2007 News | |
| Support for Autumn Adventure Added vB04 introduces a trek editor that allows you to create your own trek. While intended primarily for those planning Autumn Adventures, this capability will be expanded to support short treks (end of season) and fantasy treks (if I were in charge, this is what trek 35 would be). You must register to use this capability. Registration allows you to store as many treks as you would like. In the near future a capability will be released that will allow you to share your treks either with a circle of your choosing, or the general public. Photos needed … still I'm still looking for some specific photos to fill the last few gaps in the photo album. I was hoping that returning crews from 2007 would get this task behind us, but is just hasn't happened yet …. Please click here for a list of current needs; | |
PhilSearch is Moving | |
| Congratulations, You've found PhilSearch's new home. Everything should work, but please report any odd behavior to the webmaster. Details of the B04 release will be forthcoming, the short story reveals two primary areas of attention: Support for Autumn Adventure / Dynamic Treks and infrastructure changes to support a move in hosting services and a domain name change. | |
Happy Birthday | |
| PhilSearch is one year this week. What a difference a year makes. PhilSearch enjoys a fairly constant hit rate and usage analysis indicates that on the order of 500 crews +/- used PhilSearch in planning their 2007 treks. In the past twelve months PhilSearch has evolved from a small and simple application that allowed trek searching to a rather sophisticated tool that provides complex search criteria; has a rich library of over 1200 photos, provides a contextual virtual tour, and has a rich set of tools to allow trek analysis. PhilSearch's future remains bright. In the next twelve months PhilSearch will provide support for group coolaboration in trek selection, improved mapping, support for Ranch Hands, Cavalcades and Autumn Adventure. | |
August, 2007 News | |
| It’s hard to believe that PhilSearch is a year old this month … it has come a long way in the past year. Its been a couple of months since I’ve made any significant changes for a variety of reasons, perhaps chief among them the fact that I’m running out of ideas and those that remain on the are difficult. The first of the tough ones is finally complete: Saved & Stored Searches. I had indicated in June that this long standing request was nearing completion. I’m finally ready to release that capability generally as I believe I’ve vanquished the last issue. This feature allows you to refine searches without having to re-enter all the parameters and also allows you to save one or more searches for use during a subsequent session. Enhancements in the future will focus on group collaboration in support of trek selection. There are several components to the capability: • Revising a search: Buttons are on the bottom of the search results page that allow you to either start a new search or revise the current search. • Invoking a saved search: A list of saved searches is included on the base trek search page, selecting a saved search will populate the selections on the page which you can then either modify or submit. • Saving a search: An additional button is present on the search results page that will allow you to save search criteria. This capability requires that you create a PhilSearch account. At this time there is no limit to the number of searches you can store, although abuse could cause me to re-think this. Your searches don’t expire and can be retrieved in later sessions. Future capabilities will allow a crew to share searches, results and ultimately collaborate on trek selection. The registration process is automatic and instantaneous and, of course, free | |
March, 2007 News | |
| PhilSearch update for 2007 - Read Me First! As a result of extraordinary help & cooperation with Philmont, and specifically Doug Palmer, PhilSearch was provided with the opportunity for an early look at the 2007 Treks Book and as a result has been able to update PhilSearch's database for 2007 in advance of the general release date. As I previously reported there have been significant changes in trek numbering, and a re-assessment of trek difficulty has caused many treks to have their difficulty rating changed. To help you digest these changes several new tools and reports have been added to PhilSearch for 2007, specifically: A report that shows year to year trek number mapping A report that provides a summary of differences for 2006/2007. A tool that allows detailed 1:1 comparison between any two treks from any year(s). A tool that allows any single trek to be compared to all treks for a given year. In addition some tables and reports that were in previous treks books have been eliminated. As a result I've created facsimiles or enhanced versions of these reports: An enhanced form of the ‘Itineraries at a glance’ report with changes highlighted. A tool that shows rendezvous opportunities for up to 16 itineraries on the same or different starting dates. All of these tools and reports are available via the 'Tools & Reports' button on the tool bar. While most of you have probably figured out the bulk of the changes, I'm hopeful that those of you with the task ahead of you find these efforts helpful. Even if you've completed trek selection, I hope these changes help you in the coming months to fine tune your trek. Jim | |
March, 2007 News | |
| February, like January was intentionally a quiet month in anticipation of Trek Selection in mid March. That said a number of changes are required for PhilSearch to support 2007 Trek Selection. First the pedestrian stuff:
•About 40 new photos were added to the database – thanks and keep them coming, there are still a number of camps & activities with no photo coverage •The Trek Report now includes a listing of program opportunities that are not listed on the official itinerary but that are offered at locations the trek will visit. In some cases these are intentional omissions; Philmont will schedule you once for an activity but you might visit multiple camps that offer it; others are errors. This feature is in early form and so it isn’t perfect. For one thing it doesn’t handle layovers yet. Work this month centered on features in support of 2007 Trek selection. A collection of tools and reports have been added in anticipation of significant trek renumbering: •A table that maps itineraries year to year including difficulty. •A tool that allows detailed 1:1 comparison between any two itineraries from any year(s). •A tool that allows any single itinerary to be compared to all itineraries for a given year – intended as a way of finding similar itineraries or possible replacements for deleted itineraries. •An enhanced form of the ‘Itineraries at a glance’ report with changes highlighted. •A tool that shows rendezvous opportunities for up to 16 (if you need more let me know…) itineraries on the same or different starting dates. Even with all the photos that have been added more are needed. The list of needs is maintained in the Photo Album. A pass through the Virtual Tour also provides some clues as to some of these needs. As always your comments, good or bad, and suggestions are welcome. YIS Jim March, 2007 | |
Happy Birthday! | |
| PhilSearch is 6 months old. January was a very quiet month in terms of user visible features as the focus was on stability and laying the groundwork for the 2007 treks. See related article, 'Trek Renumbering'. | |
Trek Renumbering | |
| I have confirmed with Philmont that nearly all treks will receive new trek numbers for the 2007 season. This is a result of improved mapping and profiling which allowed a reaccessment of overall trek difficulty. So in addition to renumbering you should expect that a number of treks are reclassified in terms of diffculty (challenging, rugged .. etc). I'm told that the number of intineraries that will have material changes will be small as has been the general case in recent years. This means that the trek number(s) you have zeroed in on are almost certainly going to change for 2007. Philmont's official web site (Scouting.Org/Philmont) as well as PhilSearch carry warnings that the data supplied is based on the prior year's Treks Book and that you need to check the current Treks book before submitting your final selections, this is more true than ever in 2007. Philmont has indicated that their web site will be updated on 3/15/2007 with 2007 data. I'm working with Philmont to provide the same results in PhilSearch, that is to have 2007 data loaded, verified and available on 3/15 as well. The Compare Treks Feature is provided so that you can see changes in intineraries year over year. It will include trek number mapping for 2006-2007 when it is available. Compare Treks has also been enhanced to provide two other trek comparision features in to aid in comparing treks: 1. You can compare a specific trek from one year to all treks from another year … this feature is designed to address the situation where your favorite trek has been dramatically changed (15 or 27 for '05 to '06 for instance) and you want to find the next best choice. 2. You can compare any two treks to one another. | |
Looking for Photographer | |
I have a large number of photos which were supplied to me in late August (I believe) that slipped through the cracks and were not posted. I have the zip files but no record of who provided them. If you submitted photos and they weren't posted, please look at this photo: 12/26 - Mystery solved - Thanks to Allen Jones of Oklahoma City, OK for this collection of photos - Click on Allen's name in the contributors list to see his photos. | |
Autumn Adventure | |
| Thanks to Calvin Gray I have some beautiful photos of the Casa Del Galvian, a B&B within Philmont's borders and of Beaubien under snow. Until I figure out how, and if, Autumn Adventure & Kanik will be part of PhilSearch I've included Autumn Adventure as one of the photo sets on the Photo Album page. | |
Trek Summaries Verified | |
| Thanks to the hard work and patience of Doug Latimer of Plano, TX for verifying the output of PhilSearch with the 2006 Itinerary summaries from the Ranch …. (and creating a slew of database changes for me!). These are in process, once complete this positions us with an accurate modeling tool until the 2007 data becomes available and will expedite the process of loading the 2007 data into PhilSearch. | |
Curiosities | |
| Thanks to Craig Maes of Plymouth, MI for contributing the photos of a long abandoned fire ring and totem poles at Cimmaroncito. These artifacts apparently date from the earliest days of the ranch when treks were run between several base camps, Cito among them. These photos can be seen by selecting Camps and then Cimmaroncito. | |
100% of Staffed Camps have Photos! | |
| Thanks to Craig Maes of Plymouth, MI for providing photos of the last few staffed camps to put us at 100%. We still need photos of some activities and trail camps .. Click here for a list of current needs, and email me here if you are able to contribute.. | |
Advanced Trek Search | |
| A beta version of the advance trek search feature is available test test | |
Dedication | |
| This web site is dedicated to the literally thousands of Scouters who share their love of Philmont with youth and adults alike each season. It is also dedicated to the scouting community at large without whom it would neither be possible or necessary. I'd like to recognize Dan Yoder for his ground breaking work in the area of web based trek modeling; Ben Salinas for his vision in attempting to construct a virtual tour of the ranch; Selden Ball for providing us with one stop shopping for information on the Ranch. Also I'd like to acknowledge Al Thomson, Tom Wills, Julian Love and Dr. Bob for their numerous contributions to the Philmont community and specifically to the "Peaks" project. Finally I'd like to thank the countless others who have provided, and continue to provide, encouragement, ideas, support and feedback. | |
Assistance Requested | |
| I need your help. I'm attempting to get a photo or two for every camp and every activity at each venue so that the virtual trek feature can take you everywhere. Click here for a list of current needs, and email me here if you are able to contribute. Thanks!! - Jim 8/12/2006 | |
Current Articles | |
PhilSearch Version 20.2 - 10/1/2024 using 2025 data set. This web site is not officially sanctioned by Philmont or the Boy Scouts of America The information on this site is provided as is and should be verified against official Philmont publications before being used for final trek selection. |