From: Mike Malerich (mikem@eosinc.com)
Date: Wed Apr 10 2002 - 22:47:56 CDT
I am from a Troop in Springfield, IL (not Oregan) and we were lucky enough to have Trek
5 two years ago. (We have #6 this year) As you know, this is a typical trek, but no
doubt challenging. Since there are two lay overs (which is nice), on some days you have
long hikes.
>From base camp the bus drops you off for you to start your hike to Lovers Leap. This is
a relatively short hike, but if you are a first timer at Philmont (which I was then), it
gives you a taste of what uphill climbing will be like. The view from Lovers Leap is
great, but do be careful as there are cliffs. The year we went, a Scout from an earily
crew fell from a cliff and was injured fairly bad.
Crater Lake - This was one of my favorite camps. I don't know if Philmont have the same
people stationed at each camp every year, but the fire bowl was a riot. Guitar and
banjo playing, foot stomping music with comedy and story telling. These guys had
talent. Everyone who saw this "show" talked about. All other fire bowls are a let
down, but fun none the less. Did some pole climbing. Next day we said good bye to our
ranger. We were on our own !!
Black Mountain - If you are a gluten for punishment, there is a great side hike UP Black
Mountain. I didn't hike UP Black Mountain because I had to stay at camp with some
Scouts who didn't want to hike UP Black Mountain (that's my story). Those who did hike
UP Black Mountain said it was great. I was told that there were spots very steep.
However, you do not have a backpack. If you climp UP Black Mountain do take water. I'm
not a blacksmithing person, so the program at the camp wasn't that exciting. You do
have the opportunity to actually do some blacksmithing if you wish.
Beaubien - 1st lay over. Nice camp. Time to relax. You can shower (BURR), wash some
clothes. Brand your boots, horseback ride, rumage though a box of food that others
discard. Chuck Wagon Dinner is nice, but when we had ours, it was in a pasture full of
cow paddies. Not very sanitary. We had a doctor on our crew and he was not very happy
about that. We had our conservation project here working on a trail. I believe it was
Trails Peak. After our project we continued up the trail to the plane crash and had
lunch up there.
Wild Horse - Up hill hike. We were all by ourselves at Wild Horse. Our sister crew
decided not to make the up hill climb (which compaired to Phillips or the Tooth really
wasn't that bad) and camped somewhere else. Dry camp, but if you do some searching, you
will find a steam with water. We needed water and used our PUR water filters and filled
up.
Mt. Phillips - Yes, you do climb up hill ! The caterpillar really came in real handy.
We use the caterpillar many times at Philmont. It is a great feeling once you make it
to Mt. Phillips. Great view. The year we went, there was a bear attack earlier that
year and they had not caught the bear yet. They were not allowing anyone to camp at Mt.
Phillips. We had to hike back down the other hide to Red Hills. Nice camp - big stream
for water. The next morning when we were hiking out, they had a fake camp site set up
with a bear trap. THAT made us feel real good.
Cimarroncito - second lay over. Rock climbing was a lot of fun. Several of us did a
side hike to Devils Wash Basin. Saw some rattle snakes on the way.
Tooth Ridge - Be ready for a long day. Best view of the entire trek! You can see the
Tooth as you are hiking to it. It is deceptive because it looks a lot closer than you
really are. When we got to Tooth Ridge, we set up camp, ate, and then climbed up the
Tooth. This is a must !!! Got to do it. But tell your Scouts to be careful.
Base Camp - It seems you hike twice as far as the crow flies since there are a lot of
switch backs. Neat view of base camp as you are climbing down.
Hope this helps. Not a lot of detail, but just doing this from memory. Lot of
programs. Our crew decided to get up fairly early, break camp and start hiking. On our
first "packs off", we ate breakfest. That way, we had time to take side hikes if we
wanted to, or get to the next camp sooner to set up camp and start the programs.
Mike Malerich
Troop 3
Abraham Lincoln Council
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