From: Calvin H. Gray (405geezer@igg-tx.net)
Date: Tue Jul 09 2002 - 08:42:29 CDT
This report, written by Crew Leader Will McKinnon, is on Trek #16. The
crew was originally scheduled to take Trek #17 which is a Valle
Vidal/North Country trek. All members of the crew hiked at least 68
miles. The crew was one of twelve in the Capitol Area Council's
contingent which arrived at Philmont on June 8. Selden, you may include
the report on your web site.
YiS,
--
Calvin H. Gray
Scoutmaster, Troop 405
Georgetown, Texas
***********
After the seventeen hour bus ride, we finally arrived at Philmont
Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. We slept in the Tent City, which
was composed of hundreds of wall tents set up in rows. We spent the
next day at Base Camp, collecting equipment for the trail such as
dishes, fuel, and food. We put all our personal gear in a locker and
attended the opening campfire before preparing to hit the trail the
following day. Our crew number was 609-E-9, and included Scouts Karl
Anderson, Nick Benbow, Phillip Drake, Dan Hunter, David Lowery, Alex
McKinnon, Will McKinnon, and John Montgomery. Our adult advisors were
Ken Anderson, Anthony Drake, Jud McKinnon, and John Montgomery.
The next day we woke up early, grabbed our packs, and were driven
south to Zastrow Turnaround, and were dropped off with our ranger. For
the next 10 days, we would be on the trail. We hiked a short distance
to our campsite for the day, Olympia. We hoisted bear bags, in which
all "smellables" (food, batteries, film, sunscreen, etc.) were hung 15
feet above the ground. We would raise bear bags at every campsite,
immediately after we would arrive. We took many measures to prevent
bears from having a reason to come near the camp. Our ranger taught us
essential backcountry skills, such as cooking freeze-dried food, special
"leave no trace" techniques for cleaning, and how to compact our trash
into the smallest space possible. We hiked up to another campsite and
did some mountain biking before retiring for the night.
The next day we got up around six A.M. and hiked to our next
campsite, which was halfway up the side of a mesa (Uracca Mesa). We
were beat after that, and slept good that night.
The following morning, we got up, climbed up the rest of the mesa,
and ate breakfast on top. The view was incredible. We continued hiking
over the mesa and down to Miner's Park camp.
At Miner's Park, Karl, Mr. Drake, Alex, and Mr. Anderson
participated in rock climbing. A bear cub was sighted wandering through
our campsite. We dropped off extra food and trash, a luxury we would
come to appreciate.
At 6:00 we woke up and left camp. Our hike that day was to Lower
Bonita campsite, a beautiful camp in the middle of a large meadow. It
rained that night, something that was very appreciated in Philmont due
to the forest fires that had been raging for the past few weeks.
Our next stop was to Apache Springs. After a four mile hike we set
up our tents and leisurely cooked dinner, as we were scheduled to stay
at the camp for two days. The next day, we woke up at 8:00 (almost
unheard of in the backcountry, where the sun is up at 4). We visited
the archery range, which was supplied with models of various wildlife as
targets. We learned about the Jicarilla Apaches, which had once lived
in the area. In the afternoon, a storm blew in, and while the advisors
were sitting on the staff cabin porch enjoying coffee, the Scouts were
crouched under the dining fly being pelted by rain and hail.
Our next stop was Crooked Creek campsite. At this camp, one of the
activities was chicken chasing, which the Scouts thoroughly enjoyed.
Nick learned how to hypnotize chickens, which was very amusing.
After Crooked Creek, we camped at Clear Creek. There, we shot black
powder rifles, threw tomahawks, and learned how to set beaver traps.
David decided to lay his shirt at the end of the rifle range, and it was
almost completely decimated by the time we were all done firing. The
next day, we were to take on Mount Phillips, the second highest mountain
in the whole ranch.
We woke up earlier than usual for the hike. We left Clear Creek
and began the hike. It was a tough climb, but our crew performed
admirably. When we got to the summit, we took a break, took pictures,
and had a snack. One of the pictures includes each member of the crew
holding up a stick of Cooper's beef jerky, which will be sent to them.
After a long hike down, we arrived at Red Hills camp. (Calvin's comment:
Cooper's is an excellent barbecue restaurant in Llano, Texas.)
Day 11 of our trek was exciting. We had an eleven mile hike in
front of us, to Clark's Fork. We stopped at the Hunting Lodge Camp on
the way and were given a tour of Waite Phillips' original hunting
lodge. We continued to Clark's Fork and ate the Chuckwagon Dinner. It
was delicious compared to the freeze-dried food that we had been eating
the whole time, even though it was just canned beef stew and crackers.
Many of our crew also got their boots, belt, or hat branded with the
Philmont cattle or horse brand. We had one more day ahead of us.
Our last day, we got up at 5:30 and started hiking. It would be even
longer than the day before. We were to climb up to Shaefer's Pass, then
along Tooth of Time Ridge down into Base Camp. It was a very long
hike. We ate lunch with a spectacular view of the whole ranch, and
miles and miles of the plains to the east. The hike seemed to take
forever, and what made it worse was that we could see Base Camp almost
the whole way. We were exhausted when we finally got there, and turned
in all our crew gear, took showers, and rested. That night, at the
closing campfire, the crew received the "We All Made It!" award for
successfully completing the trek with all its members. We slept soundly
that night, and prepared to wake up early for the last time.
We woke up around 4:30 and brought all our gear to the bus
station. We ate a continental breakfast and hopped on the bus. Another
grueling bus trip later, we were in the REI parking lot, greeting our
families.
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