Wheeler Peak Wilderness, Taos, NM – July 2025

On July 17, 2025, Trailmen of Troop TX-0022 stood on top of Wheeler Peak, New Mexico’s highest summit at 13,160 feet. But their story began long before the final summit. It began with a bold idea: a backpacking trip to conquer five rugged peaks above 11,000 feet in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness. What followed was not just a physical journey, but a test of faith, perseverance, and brotherhood.

The following letter sent earlier this summer to the Trail Life Home Office is being shared here with Ginny's permission. This letter is to every member of the Trail Life family that, by God's grace, makes stories like these possible. Keep Walking Worthy! It's making an impact every day. 

A boy doesn’t usually say it out loud. But he’s always asking:

Who’s in charge?
Who’s with me?
What’s the mission?

It started with thunder.

Ear-splitting, chest-rattling thunder. Black clouds rolled in and rain poured down as lightning lit up the Texas sky. And in the middle of it all, a small group of boys in uniform, rehearsing their Color Guard ceremony with a mixture of nerves, pride, and fierce determination.

What if the thing that drives you crazy about your son… is actually one of his greatest God-given strengths?

Op-ed by Trail Life CEO, Mark Hancock, published by TownHall.com on May 18, 2025

On April 29, Meta launched a suite of AI tools designed to seamlessly blend into daily life. Ask a question in WhatsApp — Meta AI answers. Search on Instagram — it suggests. Use your Ray-Ban smart glasses — they see and respond, describing the world in real time.

There’s something about the frontier spirit that stirs a man’s soul. The call of the wild, the test of character, the proving ground of adventure—this is where boys become men. And few names loom larger on the American frontier than Davy Crockett.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”
—Laurence Binyon

"Don’t Invite Me to Church"

Brandon didn’t mince words. He was here for Trail Life—for his son, for the boys—but church? No thanks. He’d seen too much.

Pastor Darrell Cooper didn’t flinch. He didn’t argue. He didn’t push. He just smiled and said, “Okay.”

“When my husband left our family, my prayer for my sons was simple: ‘God, please send godly men into their lives.’”

Let Boys Be Boys

There was a time when boyhood was an untamed, unhurried thing. When creek beds turned into racetracks for hand-carved boats, the tops of hay bales became mountain peaks to be conquered, and backyard disputes ended in a wrestling match and a handshake.

There's No Offseason for Adventure

When the world falls asleep beneath a blanket of snow, when bears slumber in their dens and squirrels hunker down, waiting for warmer days—boys see something different. To them, winter is a blank canvas for adventure.