RE: [Philmont]: Trek 16 Help

We did 16 in 2002 and we enjoyed it tremendously. I am including our diary
from Trek 16 below. To answer your questons
1. We didn't do the Urraca campfire because of the late evening shower that
we had. That was also the last rain we saw the entire trek. The first day
out was enough with a downpour all the way from Jastrow Turnaround to
Olympia. Remember you still have your Ranger with you that day. They
depart the next morning when you depart for Miner's Park.
2. The circuitous route you refer to is to allow you to do fly fishing at
Fishing Lodge. It was a great day. Use Webster Pass. Downhill to Fishing
Lodge. Somewhat flat along a river until you get to a hill with a series of
switchbacks leading up to the Mesa upon which Apache Springs sets. We spent
several hours at Fishing Lodge and enjoyed the fly-making, the fishing, and
the tour of the cabin.
3. It's a long day, but after you climb the hill over Comanche Pass out of
Red Hills first thing it's pretty much downhill all the way to Hunting
Lodge. Wasn't that impressed with Hunting Lodge - maybe it was the sulfur
smell from the water hole they were digging there. Then it's slightly
uphill to Clark's Fork. Recommend you get in early to Clark's Fork and
enjoy the activities there. That camp is large and packs a lot of units
nightly. Getting there early allows you to get a nearby campsite.
If you want to discuss other questions on Trek 16 offline contact me at
wrascati@cox.net.
Wayne Rascati
Crew 105, Los Padres Council - Santa Barbara, CA
2002 Trek 805-Q
2005 Trek 725-I and still waiting to find out what trek we got.

CREW 105 PHILMONT DIARY
2002 - Trek 805-Q
By Wayne M. Rascati
Associate Advisor - Contingent Advisor

Friday -
We assemble at the Church and leave about 1:15 pm. Two cars - the Bauer van
and my car. We are going to meet Michael and Roberto at the train station
McDonalds in Barstow. We have dinner in Barstow and continue on to Needles
where we stay on the Colorado River at Moabi. The temperature is over 100
degrees at midnight. No need for tents. Sleep on the ground, the tables,
etc.

Saturday -
We leave early and head to Kingman. Bauer's need to have the van checked
out at gas station. We have breakfast at Taco Bell in Kingman and hit up
Walmart for some in-route munchies, etc. We continue on. Some of us stop
at the Meteor Crater Site; others stop at the Volcano site. Nice afternoon
site-seeing and traveling. We head to Albuquerque Airport to pick up Kirk,
Evan, and Bryan. We head out to the Bauer property to pitch tents for the
night. Have dinner at TGI Fridays.

Sunday -
Wake up; some neighbor dogs get the boys out of bed. Trevor takes Roberto's
golf clubs and hits a few into the field. Head to Mass and then have
breakfast at IHOP. After that we head over to REI for some last minute
items. Next stop is Taos. Road is nice and scenic. Wanted to do some
sightseeing, but the town was too crowded and parking not to be found. We
head out to the Vietnam Memorial in Angel Fire. Spent a nice hour there;
youth seem impressed.
We then went to Philmont to do an advance scouting party. Since I was the
only one who had been there previously, I pointed out the different sites
that they would experience tomorrow. As we get ready to leave, we get one
of Cimarron's patented late afternoon rain showers. Went on to Raton and
took our hotel room. Some did laundry. Walked to dinner.

Monday -
After breakfast, we checked out and headed for Philmont.
Made Base Camp at 9:30.
Get checked in met Ranger Joe Schaedler.
Went through entire arrival day process.
We couldn't believe the quantity and bulk of the food. It was agreed that
we had less bulk for our last two week backpack trip in the Sierras than
they gave us for the first five days of our trek.
Trevor locks my keys in the trunk of the car. Major effort to retrieve
them. Wished I had that plastic key from Auto Club. Security able to get
us into the car itself by 'jimmying' the lock, but couldn't help with trunk.
Roberto and I remove back seat and then speakers to retrieve keys.
Evening Campfire.

Tuesday -
Pack weighs 54 pounds.
They take crew picture; I have seen better appearances on driver's license
and Post Office walls.
Depart by bus at 10 am for Jastro Turnaround with Troop 666 from New York
City. Hike to Olympia Campgrounds in the rain; some hale in transit.
Trevor unsure of himself; kept looking to Ranger and adults for assurance
that we were going the right way. He nearly lost it when we came to the
gate in the trail. But you should have seen the smile when we did arrive at
Olympia and he saw the sign. Best building of self-esteem I have seen in a
long time.
Clears up just when we get to camp. Joe B. mentioned that we qualified for
the "Puddle Duck"; the boys had to explain to the girls and the Ranger what
this Council Award was.
Water is definitely muddy from the rains. We go into a water conservation
mode just in case it doesn't clear up. Weren't able to pump anything for
the rest of the day.
Set-up. More training.

Wednesday -
Getting out of bed, I stepped on a tent peg. Penetrated my shoe (not my
boots). Roberto had to clean and bandage. River flowing nicely. Spent
time pumping water; we should have done this last night. We get a late
start, and the sun is up. Hike back to Jastro; then on to Toothache
Springs. I get dehydrated on the way up; didn't drink my normal water
allotment because we went into conservation mode with the rain. Finally
make it with help from Roberto, Joe S. and Zea. More training. I get some
salt and rest. Some evening rain. Some hike up to Urraca Mesa.

Thursday -
Joe S leaves us and we are on our own; we're his last crew; he gets to
return to Annapolis for school. I'm feeling great today; my normal first
two day experience on the trail occurred as expected. We are ready to hike
at this point.
Leave at 7:20. We were descending one mountain when we passed a crew
heading up; they were new on the trail as they still had their ranger. The
crew looked fine, but I did worry about the ranger. He looked like I did
the day before.
Arrive at Miners Park at 11:25. First crew in. Staff says that is one of
the faster times from Toothache. Enjoyed staff hospitality. Saw some horse
cavalcades going through camp.
Group goes to Rock Climbing. Must have over a 100 pictures of this
activity. The kids really enjoyed it and the camp staff was great. Zea and
I take slight detour hike on way; we managed to get another five miles
hiking and sightseeing. It was different with only a 5 pound day pack.
Could have kept that up all day.
Do some laundry. No day rain. Very slight rain at dinner. Boys fall in
love with swap box. I couldn't believe that some of them had never eaten
instant potatoes before. Anyway they emptied this box and a number of
others of instant potatoes. Scouts begin mumbling about Club crackers and
squeezables.
After dinner, we go to Conservation Class and then Advisor's Cracker Barrel.

Friday -
At 6:25 I see a beautiful stag pass about 25 feet in front of my tent. What
a way to wake up!
We stayed late to play volleyball with the Rock Jocks. We won! Left camp
about 10 am. This had to be the BEST camp staff we experienced.
Went to Crater Lake Camp (easy trail) where Crew did spar pole climbing
right after lunch. Had a good 90 minute wait from arrival to the activity
began. Some of the kids are trading clothes so they can do spar climbing as
they enforce clothing requirements here.
Went over Fowler Pass past trail to Trail Peak where we by-passed the
wreckage of the WWII bomber. At top of pass we saw six cows -- an omen of
things to come.
We proceeded to the Trail Camp at Lower Bonita where we were greeted by the
camp staff of permanent Philmont residents -- some 150 cattle. Some of whom
objected to our un-human (or is that inhuman) odor and tried to stop us from
camping there. We had the place to ourselves.
The restroom left a lot to be desired -- not enclosed and partially in view
of camp. Girls went off into the hills as they didn't want to use facility
in the open.

Saturday -
Went up to Webster's Pass and then had a great downhill experience to Fish
Camp. On the downhill, I was in front. I had a request from some of the
kids (particularly Michael) to slow down. That made me feel good. I'm told
I'm not allowed to lead the downhill trails again.
Nice cabin tour at Fish Camp. Made fly fishing lures and did some casting.
Left Fish Camp and went upstream to Agua Fria (steady, but easy climb) and
then up hill via switchbacks to Apache Springs. Nice walk across the meadow
into campgrounds. Set-up tents. This and Clark's Fork are the biggest
campsites we stay at. Did food pick-up for two days - basically our stay
here. Attended Advisors' Coffee.

Sunday -
We have a second day at Apache Springs. Did 3-D Archery at 9 am. This was
a great activity!
At 10 we toured a Jicarilla Apache village. Ground some corn. Saw inside of
teepee, etc. Mini-bears really like the ground corn. Bryan tries on a real
scalp.
In afternoon Zea and I walked back about 1.5 miles to do laundry for selves
and some of crew at Lost Cabin. Although laundry billed as an activity for
Apache Springs, water restrictions are in place.
Rest of crew enjoyed did archery at thrown targets and another round of 3-D
archery. Some went up pass to Sunset Hike if they didn't go night before.
Disappointed that the Indian sweat tent not working because of water
shortage. I was looking forward to that.
At evening Advisor's Coffee two Scouts from Liverpool/Syracuse NY came
looking for their leader who was on Sunset Hike. It seems that his son
Anthony was throwing up all over. Staff became very concerned when they
heard he already had two 'epi's'; he eventually had five before the
ambulance arrived
Zea and I went with the camp director to render assistance. At one point I
took the unit's other boys and we held a prayer service; unit was basically
Catholic. Thought we nearly lost Anthony two or three times during the
two-plus hours it took ambulance to arrive. As a Deacon my private prayer
was that the Vatican would some day restore the Anointing Rite to Deacons.
If I had the oils I would have done it right then and there that night.
Ambulance left after 10. Catholic Chaplain [Seminarian Scott] arrived about
10:40. I introduced myself and briefed him on what I had done. He went
back and introduced himself to the boys and leadership of unit. I told them
I was available just in case. Scott and I got that crew to disinfect as
Anthony had thrown up all over them.
I was in bed just before midnight.

Monday -
Broke camp early in the morning.
Went to Phillip's Junction to get our food replenishment for reminder of
trip. At this point the crew is looking at the heaviest meal in weight
rather than the suggested order for eating. They have caught wise to the
swap boxes and realize that they can always make trades. Had to purchase
some more fuel just in case.
Met the Syracuse crew at PJ. No news on Anthony's status other than
ambulance had a flat tire on two-hour return trip.
Went from PJ up to our conservation project near Crooked Creek. Did three
hours doing the finishing work of a new trail to Crooked Creek. We got to
enjoy the results of our work as we were one of the first unit's allowed to
use it.
At Crooked Creek we toured the Homesteading Cabin. There were burros,
chicken chasing contest, cow milking, and singing. Michael and Patty both
caught a chicken. And the pictures of the guys milking the cow were worth
it. Bunch of city kids. I'm surprised they knew where to look.

Tuesday -
Went to Clear Creek Camp. On the way we run into two other California
contingents; have a mini-convention on the trail. Even had interesting
exchange with a Virginia crew in which one of the advisors had friends in
Santa Barbara. The question to ask when passing a crew on the trail is
"Where's home?" It's no longer "What's the trail like ahead?" Arrived at
noon hour. Staff was busy with a photo shoot. Set up camp, but we had to
cross a creek to get to Red Roof Inn.
Crew did black-powder shooting and tomahawk throwing. We took a tour of the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company Cabin.
We run across a group of former staffers headed by Gene Holdt, his dad, and
his son - the three of whom are from our Council. Strange meeting them out
here.
At Advisor's Coffee, we received good news about Anthony's status and heard
that the concurrent crisis at Crooked Creek on Sunday evening with a Scout
who was severely constipated (over a week) had been resolved with a
wilderness-administered enema. Camp Director was Hugh from Simi Valley.

Wednesday -
>From Clear Creek we went up Mount Phillip's. Beautiful climb. It was worth
the view that we experienced at the top. We stayed on top of this high
point of our trek about three hours. We ate lunch and played cards making
good use of the rock furniture other crews had left for our enjoyment. Kirk
added a seventh chair to the card pit.
On top of Mount Phillip's we had a great view of Angel Fire, the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial, and Mount Baldy. Many great photo opportunities!
Finally, about 1:30 we began our descent to Red Hills (non-staff camp). At
this time I began having some difficulty keeping up. At first I thought it
was the rocky descent path. Joe hung back with Zea and I; we arrived at
camp later than the crew.
The camp was much more compact than any other we had seen. Our site
actually had the trail going right through it. We shared restroom
facilities with a Kansas crew [mostly female] across a creek. The facility
was very open to people nearby.
The crew made friends with some from Erie, PA. Ben and Chris stayed and
played cards late.
In hanging the bear bags late, the Crew missed the garbage in the pit. Some
camp staff from Cypress Mines who were walking through our camp late in the
night left us a note about the danger we had created for ourselves and
others.

Thursday -
Left Red Hills early in the morning. We're going to do 11 miles today.
Climbed up to Comanche Pass. Then we had a steep drop to Lambert's Mine.
Along the way we stop for an emergency equipment repair. We had to put two
more holes in my Philmont belt after my pants fell down. We note that a
number of trees blocked the trail. We're all traveling at a good pace.
At one point just before a switchback, the trail gave out from under me. I
fell hard on my left knee. This aggravated that leg, but I really didn't
feel any pain for 24 hours.
We came into Hunting Lodge about 1:30. We had a nice walk for about three
miles along the river into Hunting Lodge. We took a short tour of the Lodge
and then ate lunch. They're drilling for water here and the sulfur stench
is pretty rank.
We then began a gradual two-mile ascent up to Clark's Fork. This camp had
branding of personal items and a ready-made Chuck Wagon dinner complete with
a No. 10 can of peaches for each crew. We cleaned out any leftover food and
items in the swap box lighten our packs and carry more water for the final
day.

Friday -
We left camp right after 6 am and arrived at Shaffer's Pass at 8 am. Nice
climb; took a number of pictures on the way up. We left pass at 8:25 and
arrives at Shaffer's Peak at 9:00. We're looking to a 9 to 10 mile hike
today and arriving back in base camp early as we know a good portion of the
route is downhill. Boy we were fooled.
We then began the 'march of hell' across Tooth of Time. The Tooth is a
virtual roller coaster, but it does descend. The Tooth ridge path is mostly
rock from Shaffer's Pass - never my best surface for walking. It took Joe,
who had blisters by then, and I forever to make it to the point where one
can walk out to the Tooth itself. Zea made it into the camp barely in front
of us. Michael and Vincent came out to help us in.
After about an hour's rest, we began our final descent into Base Camp. It
was a downhill trail that I normally like, but I had developed two major
blisters on the balls of my feet. I had been favoring this foot too much
since yesterday's fall.
Michael had distributed some of the contents of my pack to the others (nice
kid; always taking care of his Godfather). We formed three groups for the
final walk. Roberto walked with me. Joe and Zea walked together behind us
most of the time. The youth walked together and rested near the base of the
Tooth. Some of the kids are asking for water; good thing the adults packed
plenty.
We kept playing leap frog with the group of former staffers led by Gene
Holdt. It was a series of switchbacks - very frustrating as you passed by
Base Camp over and over again on the switchbacks. I now know what they
meant by the notes.
We arrived at the back gate into Camp where we took time for a group and
family photo ops under the 'Welcome Back' sign before proceeding to the
Welcome Center to check in. We couldn't get final clearance as all
departments were already closed.
We went to dinner in our finest dirt and smelliest clothes. We were a sight
to behold! The dinner wasn't worth the rush - mystery meat, over-done
veggies, and a cake dessert that stood up like my socks. The raspberry ice
tea was worth it.
Then we went and split apart our backpacks at the Welcome Center and left
what we could in the car. We took what we needed back to our tents. We
were the last crew to return that day, but not by much.
After dinner, we rushed to Tooth of Time Traders to buy the patches and some
souvenirs. Everyone wished that they had bought some souvenirs and shirts
on the first day as the selection is very limited and not available in all
sizes in these closing days.
I took a shower. The dirt literally rolled off me. I felt good but I still
had plenty of dirt. After changing to fresh clothes, we went to the Closing
Campfire. It was humorous, but welcoming. Trevor and I went up to
represent the Crew. Trevor was re-presented with the American flag. The
Crew received the "We All Made it" plaque. I give thanks to all the members
of the Crew who came to my aid to ensure this Award.
Afterwards, we all went over to the Cantina for the traditional float. The
boys played cards and chatted on the patio with other crew members they had
met late into the night. It was a restful sleep on the cot for me until
5:30 am when that dreadful rooster who had plagued us the entire trip woke
us one last time. I learned later that some of the boys never did get any
sleep; they stayed up the whole night talking and playing cards..

Saturday -
Had to check out - post office, logistics, security, registration, etc. Had
a note from the Bear Management Officer that we had to meet with him.
Explained to the staff member on duty what had happened at Red Hills and
that we had done some serious discussion that morning about the garbage left
out. He let us slide.
Headed for Tooth of Time Traders for one last pass at souvenirs.
Headed out of camp just after 9:00. Zea and the two girls were heading for
Denver. The interstate is boring - you seen one mile - you've seen all 200
I'm thinking. The kids are listening to music. Evan has given up his
modern rock and listening to the Beach Boys - will wonders never cease? He
tells us he never heard them before.
Roberto and I and our riders arrived at Albuquerque Airport just after noon
where we dropped off Evan, Bryan, and Kirk for their flight home. Roberto
and Michael picked up Agnes and Eric at the Airport and they headed off on
their vacation.
Joe, Vincent, Trevor, and I got lunch and then headed out for Flagstaff -
our stopping point for the night. We got in there about 5:30. I did some
laundry and then we walked over to Denny's for dinner - what a mistake! Not
the walk - Denny's!

Sunday -
We had planned on going to 8 am Mass in Flagstaff, but at about 4:45 am
after the fifth or sixth train went through town, I asked Joe if we wanted
to just leave and catch Mass at home. About five minutes later another
train went by, and we said let's go. We woke up Vincent and Trevor in their
room and left at 6:00. We had a great breakfast in Kingman. We arrived
home just after 4 pm. We had traveled 1,105 miles from Philmont to Goleta.
By this time, my legs (and knees) have tightened up. I won't say I was in
pain, but I was definitely walking funny.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [ <mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com>
mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of Julian Love
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 8:03 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: Trek 16 Help

A sister crew in my council contingent got 16. While I'm familiar with
many itineraries, 16 isn't one of them. There's nothing recent on Selden's
list. Info anyone can share on 16 would appreciated. Here are some
specific questions:
1. Is the campfire at Uracca a reasonable possibility (and worth it) while
camping at Toothache on Day 3?
2. The route from Lower Bonita to Apache Springs on Day 6 shown on the map
(page 54) appears to show a rather circuitous route north and west. What
it the usual recommended trail between these two camps?
3. What is the recommended trail route from Red Hills to Clarks Fork on
Day 11?
Any other tips, advice, stories on this trek would be appreciated. YIS,
Julian Love Mecklenburg County Council, Charlotte, NC

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Sat Apr 2 00:18:52 2005