From: Lawrence R Blumberg (blumberg@us.ibm.com)
Date: Tue Aug 27 2002 - 13:58:40 CDT
As has been stated many times by many folks, the Philmont experience was
all it was cracked up to be...and then some.
I would like to take this opportunity to 'thank' the lead advisor of our
crew, Jeff Dunckle, who put our crew and trip together. The 812B crew was
made up of a group of 8 boys / 4 advisors from the Baden-Powell Council
(Binghamton, NY). Representing several different units -- various troops
and one Venturing Crew -- from across the council, the crew members did not
know each other very well going into the trip, but that was never to be an
issue for us.
We were on a 'short' trek, and spent five nights / six days out on the
trail in the southern section. Being at the tail-end of the season, we
never experienced any of the over-crowding spoken about earlier in the
summer.
Itinerary:
1) Zastroe (starting camp)...Eric, our 'foreign exchange' Ranger from
Cameroon in Africa, released the boys early enough from training to allow
them to take a short mountain bike ride late in the afternoon...they really
appreciated that ! Saw our only bear of the trip, timed beautifully to
coincide with one of the many bear safety discussions.
2) Fish Camp...up before dawn, we arrived at Fish Camp early afternoon...a
few boys tied flies and tried their hand at fly fishing...a couple others
(and I) climbed nearby Lookout Mtn to take in the view. That evening,
enjoyed a tour of the Fish Camp cabin, and listened in as the staff played
guitars and sang songs.
3) Pocupine Camp...very short hike from Fish Camp, arrived mid-morning and
performed our 3 hour conservation project here, helping to fell and clean a
tree in preparation for constructing a stream crossing. That evening,
walked up to Crooked Creek Camp for their very enjoyable evening program --
chicken chasing, bringing in the animals, cow milking, horseshoes, and
another songfest -- this time, led by staff member John the Prospector. We
found Crooked Creek to be in one of the most enjoyable settings of our
whole trip !
4) Black Mtn Camp...had a couple of stops on this day's hike. First one
was to pick up food at the Phillips Junction commissary...cute story goes
along with this one -- they were literally 'begging' the boys to empty out
the 'swap' box and to take along other trail snacks they were trying to get
rid of...you would think the boys had hit the jackpot ! Next stop was
later in the morning at Beaubian for branding, some more games of
horseshoes, water refills, and lunch. From there, it was on to Black Mtn
Camp and our first experience with 'open-air' latrines ! Most of us
climbed Black Mtn, which at 10,800 ft would turn out to be our highest
elevation of the trip.
5) Shafer's Pass Camp...before leaving Black Mtn Camp in the morning, we
took in the black powder program. Then, on to North Yurraca Camp for lunch
(actually dinner, as this would be our last watering hole for the rest of
the trip). After our meal, we refilled our personal water bottles, plus
eight 1 1/2 gallon collapsible containers we had brought along...then came
the 700 ft climb up into the meadows of Shafer's Pass. Wow, was I
impressed with the beauty of this high mountain pass ! After eating our
day's lunch at dinnertime, a few of us hiked up to the top of Shafer's
Mountain to take in the sunset. Slept under the stars that night in
Shafer's Pass, as the next morning, at approximately 4 am, we awoke and
took off immediately in order to be on top of Shafers for sunrise and
breakfast. Then, on to the Tooth of TIme, and the rest of the long hike
back down into base camp.
Other comments:
1) Acclimization...no surprise, these factors had been discussed at length
on the listserve, and they certainly affected me !
* elevation
* heat
* extremely low humidity
* general tiredness from travelling
* getting used to consuming lots more fluids than normal
We had flown into Denver on a Saturday...rented vans from there, and spent
that day in Canon City (Royal Gorge area) and Sunday in Colorado Springs
(Garden of the Gods and driving up Pikes Peak), before arriving on Monday
at Philmont. Am sure glad we had a couple days 'head start' on getting
used to the conditions !
2) Water...after much discussion a few weeks ago on the listserve, in part
prompted by some questions from me, I guess we 'lucked out'...having taken
a southern route, we found ourselves passing thru camps with treated water
nearly each day...never used the Polar Pure -- on the few occasions we had
to treat our own water, we simply used our filters (had 4 for the crew of
12 people).
3) I'd like to thank the listserve for 'being there', your many notes
certainly helped to prepare me with what to expect at Philmont...and
special thanks to folks like Calvin Gray who took time to write me off-line
with additional advice and information.
4) Staff...was stated many times on the listserve, allow me to agree --
they were a fantastic group of folks !
Thanks, Larry
Internet e-mail BLUMBERG@US.IBM.COM
Venturing Crew 102 Advisor
Baden-Powell Council, NY
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