From: Johnlebl@aol.com
Date: Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:03:26 CST
<<It will all depend on how much rain and snow Philmont has gotten since last
summer.>>
For all practical maters, moisture is still zilch. Philmont is still in the
grips of a drought. Not quite as severe as last June, but still a drought.
There obviously will be many changes made this year and a lot of criteria
must be considered in making those decisions.
<<The hardest day for me was when we climbed Mt. Philips, I've been up Baldy
three times and it wasn't as hard as Philips with a full pack.>>
Phillips has a rather steep trail gradient. Used to be that the "backside"
toward Cyphers was steepest, but work to that trail reduced it's gradient to
that of the "frontside" which is more correctly called the West approach. At
any rate, the side from Clear Creek.
The problem with Mt. Phillips is the approach from the West is not on
Philmont land and the owner has not allowed and "trail improvement" work at
all. What you see is what you get and it's a real mountain climbing
experience WITH PACKS ON.
Including Mt Phillips on your trek is sort of like the Smith Barney ad of
years gone by on TV, "you earn it the old fashioned way".
<<I'm sure we could beat this thread to death, but the truth is, we really
won't know until the new books come out.>>
The PhilAdministration is well aware of the crews chomping at the bits to
know. They monitor this list but do not comment on this list and I
compliment them for that. That is the way it should be. They work really
hard to give everyone a fair and equal shot at information by mass mailing
the information to the crews.
A given would be the South and Central country programs are for the most part
still intact. More have been added as the example of mountain biking at
Zastro in 2002.
Many of the North country programs will have to be modified meaning moved,
canceled, changed, converted or whatever needs to be done.
Hopefully new programs will take the place of some of those displaced.
Now is the time to study the programs as listed in the most recent literature
for what they involve and for the crews to prioritize that information so
when this years Treks booklets come in the mail an intelligent decision can
be made.
Now is the time to also decide if you want to include horseback riding, tour
the Villa or participate in the excellent Car-Max museum program. Those
decisions need to be studied and tossed around for the crew members to decide
and they don't require waiting on the Treks booklets.
If you haven't started your accelerated exercise program in earnest, then you
are behind schedule. That needs to be done TODAY! The trek decisions can
wait until tomorrow.
John LeBlanc
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