From: Earl Lawrence (egl@po.cwru.edu)
Date: Thu Aug 08 2002 - 15:19:45 CDT
This report may or may not be of any use to those later this summer. We
originally were to hike Trek #30, but were assigned this trek instead.
Day 1: Zastrow Turnaround to Zastrow. Too short a hike for the first day,
but the guys in our crew had a good time mountain biking. A guy on our
sister crew took a trip over his handlebars and ended up with a broken
collarbone. He was sent home after 1/2 mile on the trail. Saw a flock of
turkeys (2 hens with many chicks).
Day 2: Zastrow to Lookout Meadow. Tough day 2! Only 6-7 miles but a 2500+
foot ascent over the last 3 miles. Saw lots of bear scat between Abreu and
Old Abreu. 6am departure, ate breakfast at Bonita Creek-Rayado Creek
junction. Refilled all water bottles (4 each) before final climb to
Lookout Meadow which is dry for all practical purposes. Arrived at 11am.
Relaxing afternoon. Great stars from the meadow!
Day 3: Lookout Meadow to Apache Springs. Short climb (400 feet) to
Lookout Mountain for breakfast on the peak. Descent to Fish Camp for
fly-tying and fishing. Hike up Agua Fria and arrived at Apache Springs by
1pm. Lots of fun with 3-D archery in the afternoon. Introduction to the
"Trash Nazi", terror of the non-compactors! Sunset at the Philmont-UUbar
Ranch boundary near Apache Peak. A hen grouse and chicks walked through
camp.
Day 4: Apache Springs to Beaubien with CONS project at Phillips Junction.
6:15 am departure. Our sister crew got out a little ahead of us and saw
three elk on the way to Bear Springs. New trail over the ridge between
Buck Creek and PJ. Our crew worked at the far end restoring the hillside
with stone and brush to resist erosion. Resupply and lunch at PJ. Arrived
at Beaubien by 2pm. Very full camp, no chance to ride at all. Deer
walking right through the middle of campsite. Had a good dinner at the
chuckwagon! Bo, the camp director and veteran ranger (former Head Ranger)
was full of valuable information about trails and thus helping the crew to
decide how they wanted to proceed with the next leg of the trek.
Day 5: Beaubien to Red Hills. 7am departure. Steady climb up and over
Bonita Peak. We were fooled by several false summits.....reached the
junction to the peak of Big Red by 11, dropped packs to climb it.
Descended to Red Hills camp for lunch. The daily 1pm thunderstorm hit
about 2pm as we departed for Mt. Phillips.........Climbed in on-again
off-again showers.......pretty much steady rain by the time we neared the
peak. Lots of thunder, no ground strikes within 4-5 miles. Waited for 30
minutes. Eventually only rain, and we reached the summit by 4:30. Arrived
back in camp by 6pm pretty wet and cold. Plenty of water in Commanche
Creek which we filtered.
Day 6: Red Hills to Sawmill. 6:15 departure. Short climb out of Red
Hills to the 4-wheel drive road that goes all the way to Sawmill Camp. The
guys voted to stick with the road the whole way......a long trip down. The
trail would probably have been easier on the feet than the road. Several
of the crew including advisors suffered from blisters this day. Great
staff and program at Sawmill with 30.06 reloading and shooting.
Award-winning view down the valley to the East. Dried out all our wet
gear.
Day 7: Sawmill to Deer Lake Mesa. Woke up early to catch the sunrise from
the front of the cabin. Wow! Packed up and departed by 7am. Descent
through Sawmill and later Grouse Canyons provided much easier walking than
the road the day before. Resupply at Ute Gulch comm. Very hot and dry
climb up the side of the Mesa with great views of Bear, Black Mts. and
Tooth Ridge. Lots of evidence of previous fires.....could not determine
how long ago though. Arrived at Deer Lake Mesa camp by 12:30 for lunch.
Climbed the mesa for views of the North country. We could hear the shotgun
range at Harlan from here. Lots of sandstone here as opposed to mostly
granite that we'd seen previous to this. Much more open woods and very
different from the South country! Again a dry camp for all practical
purposes. The meadow here looks like something straight out of the
"Bonanza" TV series. Nighthawks were abundant here as were the deer
browsing through the middle of the campsite.
Day 8: Deer Lake Mesa to Harlan. Woke up early again to catch the sunrise
from the top of the mesa. The rest of the guys sleep in until 8am as we
only had a short trip into Harlan that was mostly downhill. Departed by
9:15 and arrived at Harlan by 11:30 for lunch. Shotshell reloading and
shotgun shooting were another favorite program with the guys. Were warned
about rattlesnakes and mountain lions there-abouts and what to do if we
came across them. Burro-Racing was a hoot! The guys did single-lap races
and finished with a 6-lap endurance (more for them, than the burro) race!
Great Staff here also, the guys acquired some interesting new nicknames on
the shotgun range...........
Day 9: Harlan to Clark's Fork. One of the guys became sick just as we
were ready to leave at 6:15am. We walked him down to the staff cabin and
after about 3 hours, something for breakfast, plenty of gatoraide and
several consults with the medics at base-camp he was feeling well enough to
proceed with us. Another hot and dry trail around the base of the mesa and
South towards Cathedral Rock camp. Along the way our guy fainted. Treated
for heat-stroke and got ahold of the medics again who decided that he
needed to come off the trail and rest. The emergency system worked
remarkably well. We rolled into a very crowded Clark's Fork by 4:15pm and
setup on a postage stamp size site. Another good chuckwagon dinner and a
great "hootinanny" program that evening.
Day 10: Clark's Fork to Tooth Ridge Camp. Another early departure by 6:15
and a tough climb up Shaffer's Pass. Skirted the peak itself, but
proceeded down the ridge with fantastic views on either side of us. Lots
of boulder-hopping......not so good for the knees. Arrived at the camp by
12:30 for lunch. T-Storms rolled in by 2pm. Saw several storms down
across the plains to the east moving SE to NW. Plenty of rock climbing
opportunities for the guys but warnings about consequences (from advisors)
were plentiful also. A "pilot/bombadier" that faces base camp. Someone
has a sense of humor! Saw a black bear headed away from camp up the hill
in back of us about 3:30pm. We're not out of the woods yet guys! Advisors
climbed the Tooth after dinner. More T-storms but skirted us fortunately.
Day 11: Tooth Ridge Camp to Base Camp. Arose early again with the whole
crew this time to catch sunrise from the top of the Tooth. What a way to
end the trek! The best sunrise yet! Returned to the campsite to pack and
eat breakfast. We departed by 7:30am. Loooooonnnnnnnnggggggg dry hike
into base camp. We Made It! Checked-in and returned gear by
10am........and finally.......the first shower in 11 days!!!!!!!! Whew!
Get out the putty knife and steel wool!
This was my first trip to Philmont. What a fantastic Trek! I have't
figured out the milage yet but it was plenty. Didn't climb Baldy as per
the original #30 but climbed plenty of other peaks including Lookout,
Bonita, Big Red, Phillips and the Tooth. Most important, the guys in our
crew all had a great time and were plenty challenged. They did an
excellent job and I could not be more proud of them and honored to be a
part of their crew. #30-FM is a great route and I highly recommend it.
Earl Lawrence
Advisor 710-D1
SM T115
Lakewood, OH
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