Wilderness Goods came to be from the chaos in my garage. The garage is a man cave that calls out Ralph's history of life in the Wilderness due largely to my Dad and the Boy Scout Troop 282. Our Scoutmaster Norm Hunter was a man's-Man of the 60's. An aerospace engineer, single, with a green Toyota Landcruiser had a love for scouting and the wilderness. Fortunately the National Park and Wilderness Conservationist movements started by John Muir and made a beautiful reality by Teddy Roosevelt had a deep impression on Norm. He in turn put that passion into his Boy Scout troop. about 30 of us boys from 11-18 met at Holy Ghost Catholic church in Albuquerque, NM every week and hit the trail almost every weekend. My parents were beside themselves with joy…a kid gone almost every weekend?? They had finally caught a break after raising 2 way-older daughters and still raising an 8 year old boy that had lost his right eye a year earlier.

The Pecos Wilderness in norther New Mexico, Truchas Peaks, Beatty's Cabin, the Pecos River all demanded that an 11 year old boy become part of the Mountain Madness that inundated late-baby boomer, post-Woodstock kids. Norm would come by Friday nights pick up me and my bag with 3 or four other kids and backpacks in the Landcruiser and off we'd go headed North through Santa Fe to our trailhead in the Pecos Wilderness. Campout after Campout, rain, snow or heat we'd backpack 3-5 miles to one of the many lakes or a streamside camp to pitch our plastic sheet and build a fire to cook. Simple days simple gear simple food. Hamburger in aluminum foil with carrots and celery cooked all in one package not much cleanup. Kool-Aid for a beverage and a few cookies for dessert. Not bad for a few hungry scouts. Nigh time entertainment only took a flashlight because we did Night-Hikes sometimes to the car and back. No one had sleep issues then!