[philmont] Trek 27 thoughts

I just wanted to thank all of you out there on the list, especially those that took extra time to help me off list. We had 25 people going - only 1 that had ever been backpacking before. We had so much to learn in general, and so much to learn about Philmont in particular. Between the list, the Coop guide, and so many helpful web sites, we were about as ready as we could have been.

The summer trekking season is over, and this message got long, so please skip over it if you feel like you would rather move on to other topics.

My crew did trek 27. Philmont itinerary guide was right - our GPS clocked it at 80 miles not including the extra walking to programs and such. With that included, it was over 100. We were a bit overtrekked, so we missed a couple of program and campfire opportunities.

We had a great ranger. He was more than willing to respect our "system" if it seemed to work. We were likewise impressed with his knowledge and skills, and all he had to teach us.

Burro packing was interesting. Our burro was very friendly and was fairly cooperative once he got used to us. On the road we had one scout hold the lead rope on the left, and another scout holding the halter on the right to keep them from being dragged off the road when the burro saw grass. He was much better on the trails. I'm a real horse lover, but was glad when it was time to say goodbye to "Vito the Flying Burro". (The burro decided to jump over the stream instead of go through it.) However, it was a tearful goodbye for a couple of the scouts who wanted to take him home.

Head of Dean staff was hospitable and friendly despite an obvious staff person crisis they were weathering. Our guys were a little disappointed that their staff person abandoned them at program when it started to rain. The staff person with the other crew stuck with it in spite of the wetness. We did the challenge events the next morning. I'm afraid we weren't very good at it, but the boys liked it anyway.

Staff at Miranda was superb. We definitely thought it was the best presentation out there. I would love to just hang out there for a couple days.

>From Ute Meadows, we got up at 4 am and made to the top of Baldy by 10. However, with a couple of scouts having loose bowels, it took longer than we anticipated to get off the mountain. By the time we got across the saddle (11:15) storm clouds were directly overhead and moving toward the ridge where the new trail is. Once we heard thunder we decided to head down into the trees and make for the old trail down the north side. I was somewhat surprised we had no mishaps with all the loose rock going down the mountain. The detour took us out of the running to do gold panning and blacksmithing since we still had to do the food pickup at Baldy Town by 6 pm.

Baldy and French Henry was such a very long day, that we were still badly fatigued by the next. We also neglected to count our food packets at Baldy Town. The next morning found we were missing an entire days worth of meals. Crew leader and advisor had to go back to BT and pick up the extra meals before we could get going again in the opposite direction.

We enjoyed the 2 days of hiking with no program to worry about. Upper Bench was a beautiful place to stay and was our crew's favorite camp.

Rock climbing and conservation staff at Cito were both friendly and professional. Unfortunately, the staff person that "welcomed" us and did the porch talk was neither.

Also, it seems like there must be a better way to do showers. We couldn't get showers at Baldy Town, and by day 10 we were feeling rather desperate to get one at Cito. Very disappointing to walk in and have to wait yet another day because of the shower schedule. With adults on the odd hours and youth on the even, the showers had lines waiting on the odd hours and were hardly used on the even.

Our best day at Philmont was our layover day at Cito. We did rock climbing in the morning and Hidden Valley in the afternoon. Hunting Lodge staff was more than kind in bringing everybody in during a downpour and starting a fire to get us all warmed up. Our neighboring crew got caught up on the ridge during the storm when lightning struck just 10 feet away from them. They were still shaken up when they got back to camp.

At Clarks Fork we were rained out of horseback riding. Branding was fun. We all ate too much at chuck wagon dinner. Since we were heading out early the next morning, and there was only one singing staff person at the camp, we decided not to do the campfire.

We took our time going over the Tooth and enjoyed our last day on the trail. Our sister crew hit the trail at 5 am and landed in base camp by 11:30. We left at 6 am and went up Shaefer's Peak and had lunch on top of Tooth. Unfortunately, one boys sprained his ankle coming off the Tooth, so we got in the back gate at 4 pm. Didn't have enough time to do check-in. With a 7 am bus coming in the morning, they had to stay late for us.

Leftover thoughts...

The biggest highlight was the boys. They were awesome.

The biggest change I would make would be to not be so pressured to get somewhere that you couldn't just enjoy being where you were.

Some boys used hydration systems, some used bottles, but nobody got dehydrated. We stressed hydration and the boys figured out what worked for them on the shakedowns.

I put my Platypus in the detachable top piece of my pack. It was easier to get to and was always ready for a side hike. My Platypus still tastes like sulpher because of the water at Cito.

I tried many different, and mostly internal, packs but went with an external. Internals transfer the weight through the sacroiliac to the pelvis. Externals transfer the weight around the sacroiliac through to the hips. With lower back issues, external seemed to put less pressure on the parts that hurt. The boys were also impressed with how neatly everything hooked on my pack - especially my Crazy Creek Cradle Lounger.

I never got used to the altitude. I trained for a year and a half. By spring I was walking 3.5 miles a day with 55 lb pack (I'm 5' 2") doing the steepest hills multiple times. The muscles were strong, but at elevation there just wasn't enough air to keep up with the boys. It's good to be back in Maryland where the air is thick.

This human popsicle never used hat or gloves. I did however sleep in my down coat inside my 10 degree bag wearing expedition weight merino wool. I carried a thermometer with me on every camping trip for 2 years to figure out what I would need.

Thanks again to all of you.

Clare Grasso
ASM T602 Laurel, MD

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Received on Thu Aug 23 17:39:59 2007