Trek #24 Report for 610-C4
Trek #24 is posted as a 70 miler. It had 8 out of 11 days of beautiful, scenic, skyline trails. Our crew was an experienced backpacking crew with two new members and consisted of nine youth (8 Boy Scouts/Venturers returning from 2002 and 1 new female Venturer) with three advisors (2 male and 1 female).
Our biggest mistake was to train only on flat ground and take only day hikes of 6-9 miles each with full packs. We did not go to the Hill Country of Texas for the 500' up and down trails as we did in 2002. We did not do 15 to 20 mile two day backpacking training as we did in 2002. As a group we were in good physical shape from sports and aerobics, but this is no substitute for carrying a 35-45# pack over hilly terrain and traveling 15 to 20 miles on two consecutive days.
Day 0 - Wednesday, 09Jun04 - Travel from Katy, TX to Albuquerque, NM
We flew from IAH to ABQ. Blue Sky Adventures, our tour provider, was very good. The tram to Sandia Peak was my favorite.
Day 1 - Thursday, 10Jun04 - Albuquerque to Base Camp
Excitement, check-in procedures, stress, Ranger Training, medical rechecks, shake down, too much fun in one short day.
Day 2 - Friday, 11Jun04 - Base Camp to Dean Cutoff - approx. 2 miles total barring any navigational blunders
Dean Cutoff is not on the maps yet. It is a little less than a mile SW of Ponil Camp and just off the 4WD road above the brand spanking new Red Roof Inn (RRI).
We were dropped off at Ponil Turnaround and crossed the Middle Ponil Creek. We also took the false trail (mentioned in Mike Floyd's report posted 30Jun04) near the creek that dead-ends into the burro pens at Ponil. Our Ranger suggested to the Crew Leader and Navigator that we backtrack and find the real trail. It is very difficult to spot, but branches off near an old, abandoned RRI with a washing trough out front. I cannot remember now if it is before or after the rickety steps over the barbed wire fence.
Base Camp Services had filled our fuel bottles with kerosene or some other light fuel oil instead of white gas. We carry a Coleman Exponent as one of our three stoves, so we had warm food that evening. It turns out that our Dragonfly has two jets. The DG jet is installed and is used to burn white gas. There is also a DK jet in the stove bag that could have been quickly installed and used to burn the kerosene. The Wisperlite was useless in this situation.
Lesson Learned - A little variety in stoves is a good thing. In 2002 one of the four crews in our troop's expedition took only Coleman Exponent stoves. You guessed it. Early in the 2002 season the back country commissaries were not always stocked with the PowerMax fuel cartridges. This crew was able with some difficulty to get the commissaries to give them additional lunches instead of suppers. They ate cold food from Day 4 until the end of their trek.
Day 3 - Saturday, 12Jun04 - Dean Cutoff through Ponil to Rich Cabins - Approx. 6 ½ miles total
We ate breakfast at Ponil on the porch of the Staff Cabin after their kind invitation. Ponil has treated water out of a spigot. We filled up on water and hiked on toward Rich Cabins. This is an easy 5 ½ mile hike up the road from Ponil to Rich. There are many stream crossings, but crossings could often be made without any rock hopping. Our Ranger wore gaiters and could wade through water deeper than his boot tops without getting his socks wet.
The navigational "faux pas" of Day 2 gave our crew great interest in Day 3 Ranger Training. Our Ranger, Wyatt Schmitz, focused heavily on Terrain Recognition and Land Navigation. For the rest of the trek the crew was heavily engaged in the navigation process, which made me very proud of our crew.
(For the other Texans out there and our sister crew from Chattanooga, TN. Pronunciation: faux pas (fO pä') - a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct; an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion. In our case it was a "slip or blunder" in navigation.) I called our sister crew from Chattanooga, TN the "Choo-choos", because they could really move, they carried a big load, and they looked like they had been shoveling coal. Ray, Jim, and Larry; if you read this, send me an email.
The Rich Cabin Staff and tour were excellent. Rich Cabins are in the Valle Vidal where there are no bear cables. We set up camp in the large meadow below Rich cabins. Wyatt showed us how to rig bear bags when bear cables were not available. The first location did not work. The second location worked much better. Bear bags take a lot longer when there are no preexisting bear cables. We treated water from the stream and cooked. After supper the crew went back to Rich Cabins and had a great time with the evening program. They fed the animals, milked the cow, played on the teeter totter, etc. I was beginning a 3 day bout with altitude sickness and stayed behind. My altitude sickness is another area in which I knew better but didn't do better. I might cover this in another posting to the list.
Day 4 - Sunday, 13Jun04 - Rich Cabins over Wilson Mesa to Pueblano then to Pueblano Ruins Trail Camp - almost 6 miles total
We "catapillered" up the steep 4WD track on the north side of Wilson Mesa. My brother had been on this trail in 2001 on Trek #21 and wrote in his journal to his son, "You almost became an orphan today!" There are great views to the north. We stopped in a shady spot on top of the mesa with an inspiring view of Baldy Mountain across a small lake and had worship services. Then down another steep trail into Pueblano Camp. There are great views to the west toward Baldy. We checked in at the Staff Cabin at Pueblano. The Staff pressured us pretty hard to do Cons here, but most of our crew wanted to do program and we did not have time for both. Pueblano has a spigot with treated water. We requested a temporary campsite and cooked supper for lunch while most of the crew did spar pole climbing. Two of the boys and I who had done spar poles at Crater Lake in 2002 opted to stay and cook. The evening program at Pueblano was "Logger Ball" and sounded like lots of fun. It was about a mile on up to Pueblano Ruins and took us 35-40 minutes. We set up camp, ate our lunch for supper, treated water from the stream, and washed some clothes. Only four of nine youth wanted to go back into Pueblano for evening program and none of the advisors had the energy. We decided to ask our sister crew, if our youth could accompany them. The open pilot-to-bombardier at Pueblano Ruins has a sign that declares "No Fishing". Be careful not drop your TP into the pit!
Day 5 - Monday, 14Jun04 - Pueblano Ruins through French Henry (about 3 miles) to Copper Park Trail Camp (another 1 ½ mile)
Every trail at PSR looks steep to a "sea level flatlander", but I maintain that this is another very steep trail. It is a beautiful hike beside South Ponil Creek. The program at French Henry is blacksmithing, gold panning, and the Aztec Ponil 2 mine tour about 20 minutes up the trail toward Copper Park. The blacksmithing program was excellent and the crew made a decorative hook that would be used to hang things in one of the cabins at FH. They pursued gold panning for 45 minutes, we ate lunch, treated water, and hiked on to the mine tour. The Staffer at the mine was interesting, informative, and fun. Everyone enjoyed the tour immensely.
We hiked the "Wall" from the mine into Copper Park meadow. The "Wall" is what happens when a really steep trail gets steeper. We found snow banks remaining on the southern edges of the meadow. Failing energy returned immediately and snowball fights commenced. Mosquitoes awaited us at our campsite and we wore long sleeves and long pants to fend off their attacks, since it was 6pm and we didn't want to apply a smellable. We got untreated water from a spigot in camp and treated it with Polar Pure, so we would be ready for the climb up Baldy Mountain tomorrow. You know you've been to Philmont, when water without Polar Pure tastes flat.
Day 6 - Tuesday, 15Jun04 - Copper Park up north face of Baldy down the south side to Baldy Camp and back to Copper Park (a little over 6 miles)
We left camp about 730am and topped out on Baldy about 1045-1100am, so our climb was just over 3 hours. The scenery and views are spectacular. The physical effort required is enormous. The angle up the north face feels like 45+ degrees and the scree is loose and treacherous. Often you would lose most of a step up when the scree shifted. {Scree - skr[=e]), n. A heap of stones or rocky debris [Prov. Eng.] - Southey} "Baby steps to the top of Baldy" became the advisors mantra.
Although we topped out early we only had 15 minutes on top of Baldy before threatening clouds and lightning in the distance routed us off. We loaded up and raced down the south side of Baldy to the relative safety of the trail in the forest beneath the southern ridge. The hike into Baldy Camp was long, steep (again), and very rocky. We saw mule deer about a mile out of Baldy Camp.
In Baldy Camp we checked in with the Staff and did a partial food pickup of supper and breakfast at the commissary, since we would be back through in the morning. The commissary probably gets this request every day and didn't have a problem with it.
We ate a late lunch, relaxed and took in the wonderful vistas, showered, washed some clothes, bought harmonicas and duct tape at the trading post, mailed post cards at the Post Office in the Trading Post, admired the mountain iris, saw butterflies, stroked the camp cats, ate oranges (fresh, pulpy, not dehydrated), life was good, our bodies were refreshed and our spirits were high. We filled up on treated water out of the spigot below the Staff Cabin and hiked back to Copper Park up another steep "Wall".
Supper was prepared and demolished. We seldom had any food particles collect due to superior bowl sumping by the entire crew as well as focused, dedicated, daily, pot sumping by Mr. P (our almost 50 advisor with the appetite of a 16 year old).
Day 7 - Wednesday, 16Jun04 - Copper Park through Baldy Camp through Head of Dean to Upper Dean Trail Camp (approx. 8 ½ miles)
We hiked from Copper Park back to Baldy Camp and picked up the remainder of our food issue. We inventoried TP carefully and the commissary gave us the TP that we thought we needed to make Ute Gulch commissary. We filled up on treated water again and began our hike through Ewells Park Trail Camp, the junction at Baldy Skyline, Head of Dean Camp, and then to Upper Dean Trail Camp. This was a great hike with excellent views over the valley, toward the eastern plains, and toward the Tooth of Time. The trails on Trek #24 were often rugged and the skyline views were exceptional on all days, except Day 5 when the forest and the stream were the beautiful view.
We stopped for a brief packs off at Ewells Park for RRI and foot care. We hiked to Baldy Skyline, where there is a 5-way junction. We met a crew packing with burros that was just about to leave for Miranda. We saw 2-3 wranglers herding burros up the 4WD trail. They were moving burros from Miranda back to Ponil. They moved by quickly leaving only a cloud of dust in their wake. There were lighting storms in the area and we moved off of the ridge into a clearing to eat lunch and see which way the clouds were moving. After lunch we choose a trail below and to the south of Baldy Skyline because the rain clouds were still in the area and we wanted to avoid ridges due to possible lightning. It was an excellent, rough, scenic trail with great views.
We arrived in Head of Dean Camp and checked in. Our crew did the challenge events with Theresa until 530pm. We did a platform exercise, a stack up to the sun, the high tire, and the wall. Theresa was a great facilitator and helped our crew gain confidence in themselves as a team and to learn the strengths of each individual. I'm glad we did not hurry the challenge events. They were one of the high points of the trek.
We filled up on treated water from the spigot by the Staff Cabin and left for Upper Dean about 615pm. The crew decided not to cook, since we were late and we had quite a bit of finger food from lunches and breakfast on hand. My appetite was returning strong after my 3-day bout with altitude sickness and I longed for the beef stroganoff that I would miss tonight.
We saw fresh bear scat, freshly turned rocks, and some large, fresh bear prints (see also Day 6 of Mike Floyd's posting on 30Jun04). The entire crew got a hot case of bear religion without any prodding from me. The assistant crew leader argued that our campsite was too close the pond. We were late into camp and just had time hang bear bags, set up tents, treat some water, and eat before it began to get dark. Untreated water above the pond came from a spigot or well by a stock tank. There was another well and spigot with untreated water below the pond. If we had cooked we would have been cleaning up after dark and I was now glad for the crew decision to eat finger food leftovers rather than the beef stroganoff. Everyone purged smellables from pockets, packs, and other hiding places with fervor. Duct tape from blistered feet and small bits of trash left over from 2003 were scoured up and put up in the opps bag. I was proud of the crew for their knowledge and execution. Here was training from 2002 that was paying off again. Hallelujah and Amen Brother Bear!
Even though several slept with shortened trekking poles at their side, we did not have a visit from an Ursus Americanus that night or at any time during our trek. In 2002 we had several close encounters with the furry ones, but it was not due to poor bear protocol on our part. The fires had the bears on the move and compressed into a smaller territory in 2002.
Day 8 - Thursday, 17Jun04 - Upper Dean to Elkhorn to Dean Skyline down to New Dean and on to Dean Cow Camp (posted as 6 1/2 miles adding in the side hike to Elkhorn and Dean Skyline it was a total of 8 1/2 miles plus much more elevation changes)
We had the Staff at Head of Dean radio Dean Cow to determine a location for the Conservation Project (Cons). The location was purported to be at Dean Skyline, so our plan was to hike through Elkhorn and along Dean Skyline trail until we located Cons. More about this below.
We had planned to sleep in a bit this morning and didn't get out of camp until after 8am. We treated water from the well at Elkhorn, treated feet, and quickly resumed our hike. The scenery to the north from Dean Skyline was fantastic. We saw a grouse or partridge or something. It was smaller than a turkey and bigger than a quail. We saw another on Tooth Ridge trail on Day 12, where my picture is better and closer. We got to the trail junction above New Dean on Dean Skyline about 1130am and took a packs off for lunch. There were clouds and lightning in the area and we had to move off the ridge to a clearing just off the 4WD road coming up from New Dean. The night before the crew had planned to hike the ridge all the way to Dean Cow and look for the Cons project. I quizzed the Crew Leader and Assistant CL about their plans for continuing our hike. They had consistently made good decisions, but in this case my assessment of the lightning danger was higher than theirs. It was one of the very few times that the Lead Advisor overrode a CL decision. Shortly afterwards, PSR Security drove up the 4WD track and on then east on Dean Skyline to clear off crews the ridge. PSR Security had spotted funnel clouds in the sky a short time earlier.
We hiked down to New Dean and then towards Dean Cow Camp. We accidentally found the Cons project at 120pm just as the instruction portion began. The Staffer at Dean Cow that sent us to Dean Skyline was obviously not in the Conservation Department. Thanks to the daily 1100-200pm lightning and rain clouds, which diverted us to our Cons location in Dean Canyon about 15-20 minutes below New Dean Trail Camp.
We did a Fire Rehab project along with another crew. The sun was shinning, it was hot, and the lightning was still a possible factor in the distance, but we went ahead with the project. We lugged bales of hay, heavy rakes, bags of seed, and two seed-slingers up a steep slope. We disturbed the topsoil with the rakes. Seeds were slung. We then spread a thin layer of hay over the area.
We were hot, dusty, and smoky from the project. We hiked into Dean Cow and thought of the refreshing showers that we would take. It would be great to be clean before we went to sleep tonight. But we were foiled by the (and I say this tongue in cheek) evil CD (Camp Director), who had declared no showers after 6pm and each crew must be scheduled. The CD's reason was that showers with soap after 6pm would make us a smellable. OK, we've got bear religion too and we're believers. At our campsite we negotiated with one of the Staffers to let us shower without using soap, but that was a non-starter. We might have had success with the CD, but I didn't think of this at the time and I was too tired to go back and talk to the CD anyway. Most of our crew went to the shower house after dark and washed clothes (quietly and without soap) so they would dry overnight.
Lesson Learned - We went through Logistics on 10Jun04, which was only the 3rd day of operation. They were quite fuzzy about the location of the Dean Cons site, which was our preferred location. Our logistics person drew a large oval around Dean Skyline and Dean Canyon. Things have probably become much clearer in Logistics after three weeks of operation. Be sure to extract the info you need from Logistics on Day 1. We did not obtain a good enough answer at Logistics and should have asked them to contact the Conservation guys at Dean Cow for details. We could have easily missed our 2nd opportunity for Cons and been forced to scramble on Day 11 at Hunting Lodge at our 3rd opportunity. We would have been rushed and missed Hidden Valley, Window Rock, and the Hunting Lodge tour.
Day 9 - Friday, 18Jun04 - Dean Cow Camp to Harlan Camp via Turkey Creek Canyon, Cimarron River and Vaca Trail (approximately 8 miles)
We were scheduled for showers at 700am. We woke up, packed up, ate breakfast, and sent our two ladies and their relatives to the showers at 630am. The rest of the crew showered at 700am and more clothes were washed. We still didn't use soap because it doesn't really help that much on the clothes. They are almost as clean after a good, through, no-soap wash. Wear them for 30 minutes on the trail, they get dusty again, and soap doesn't matter a bit.
We hiked up another steep trail out of Dean Cow. There were more great views to the east and south from the trail along the ridge. We dropped quickly into Turkey Creek Canyon and slogged out the long hike down to the Cimarron River. On this long, hot hike the advisors actually caught up to within 50' of the crew. When we did we were driven back by the smell of drying socks. The hiking order must have been determined as the smelliest sock owner hikes in the rear. OSHA would have declared a 200' minimum safe distance around this laundry. LNT would classify those socks as a high impact on the environment. Maybe we should have used soap on the socks at least.
We ate lunch, treated Cimarron River water that I had intended to avoid, and treated feet. We took the Vaca Trail to the top of Antelope Mesa. More great views from Vaca Trail to the north toward the area we traveled through that morning. I believe we had a few glimpses of Baldy Mountain to the north. Each day was unique, beautiful, scenic, and a challenging hike. Since we had lounged in the showers at Dean Cow, we got into Harlan too late to reload and shoot shotguns. Hobbits have second breakfast. Well we had something better at Harlan, second dessert. Our Ranger, Wyatt, had been at Harlan until 230pm before leaving his current crew. He had brought us another ranger dessert with special topping. He had also brought an apple for Diane, our female advisor. Our crew was disappointed to have missed Wyatt by a few hours but excited at the prospect of "chocolate cheesecake something" and a Ranger dessert. We feasted at supper and cleaned up quickly, so that we could go to the burro races. We still had lots of wet laundry from Dean Cow and everyone spread their laundry out to dry.
The burro races were another highlight of the trek. They were funny, exciting and full of surprises. Our crew won the preliminary race after our 2nd burro handler (Ryan) was trampled at the turnaround point.
Let me describe the sequence of events. At the turnaround point Ryan took a firm grip the lead rope and raced away. The burro turned around and stopped to eat grass. Ryan hit the end of the rope. His upper body stopped and his feet kept going. The burro feels the jerk on the end of the rope and takes off over the top of Ryan leaving hoof marks on Ryan's back. Ryan and Dane, the burro, recovered and went on to win the preliminary race. Things went smoother in the finals. The burro handler realized that burros want to stop and eat grass at the turnaround. We were far ahead of the nearest competitor in the final race. The prize was "Third Dessert", a box of powdered sugar donuts. The crew gorged on the donuts and floated back to camp in high spirits. My Casio QRV40 has movie mode and I caught most of the action for posterity.
We went to sleep flushed with success and full of sugar. About midnight it began to rain and continued until 430am. During this 4 1/2 hour period of rain I found a novel use for the spare zip-locks that I carry in my compression sack with my sleep bag and clothes.
Day 10 - Saturday, 19Jun04 - Harlan to Ute Springs Trail Camp (approximately 6 miles)
We woke up to fog and light drizzle. Spirits were low. The laundry had been rinsed once again and was total soaked. We knew we would carry wet clothes, wet tents, and muddy ground cloths to our next stop. We packed up and went to the Staff Cabin.
Mr. P claimed to have been visited by a bear in the night. He began to sing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home ...", so the bear would know there was a human around.
The bear turned out to be me. I woke up just before the rain came and went around the camp checking tents and ground cloths. I was tucking Mr. P's ground under his tent when he came out of his slumber. I didn't hear the singing part.
We ate breakfast around a huge boulder and waited for shotgun reloading to open. The weather was still foggy and moist. Staff couldn't promise us if or when shotgun shooting would open up. The crew had a great time with reloading and shooting. The weather managed to improve enough to shoot.
We filled up with treated water from the spigot across from the Staff Cabin and moved out to Ute Springs Trail Camp. The trail below Deer Lake Mesa was rough, rocky, up & down but mainly down, and very scenic. We had great views of Tooth of Time, the ToT Ridge, Shaefers Peak, and more. We got into Ute Springs about 230pm, set up camp, hung bear bags, put laundry out to dry, and sent three folks to Ute Gulch Commissary for food pickup. Ute Gulch Commissary was out of duct tape that day.
Philmont duct tape is not as sticky or slick as some brands. I recommend that you bring the stickiest, slickest stuff you can find from home. The rest of the crew rested, talked and made sure tents, clothes, etc. were drying out.
The crew treated water, cooked, and cleaned up well before dark. The crew had decided to do a tougher hike tomorrow, so that we could be at Window Rock as early as possible. They were studying the map during supper and discussing the route. I was proud of the crew.
Day 11 - Sunday, 20Jun04 - Ute Springs via Hidden Valley, Window Rock, and Hunting Lodge to Clarks Fork Camp (posted as 5 miles, we added side hike to HV, WR, & HL plus elevation changes)
We woke up early and hiked UP, UP, UP to Hidden Valley and Window Rock. We ate breakfast and had our worship service looking east over the valley and the plains and the mountains. We took time to explore Window Rock. Paul said to me, "Mr. Sims, I think this is my favorite place at Philmont." I agree that this is one of the really wonderful spots on the ranch. So many favorite places and so little time. We went over to the west side overlooking Hunting Lodge. My knees got wobbly as I approached the edge of the steep cliffs. I took magnetic bearings of the peaks. I could guess at the names, but I needed time to study the overall map. This is still on my TODO list. The vastness of the ranch is so impressive. What a legacy Waite Phillips left to the BSA.
We hiked down to Hunting Lodge, took the tour, and then ate lunch. There was treated water at HL. It tasted like sulfur, but was drinkable. We filled up bottles and hosers as needed and hiked off to Clarks Fork. As we hiked above Cimarroncito Reservoir we saw a pavilion with picnic tables that would have been a great spot for lunch. Tables are a definite luxury in the Philmont backcountry. It is probably used for PTC kids and day hikes from HL to CF, but it wasn't being used when we went by.
We checked in at Clarks Fork. The crew had decided to skip horse rides in Base Camp and we went straight to branding. I branded the soft, thin leather gloves that I had worn constantly during our trek.
Lesson Learned - In 2002 my fingers were cracked, peeling, and miserable by Day 6. I could barely operate a zipper by Day 8. The gloves made all the difference in 2004. I put them on to break camp. I wore them as much as possible each day. I learned to operate my camera with them on and the Casio had some mighty small buttons. The gloves were one of my best ideas for 2004.
We went back and got a Staffer to show us to our campsite. We set up camp. The water crew filled everything we had with treated water. We knew that tomorrow would be a long, dry, and ten miles with lots of vertical. We sent our cooks to the Chuck Wagon area. The remainder of the crew rested and visited in camp and salivated over the thought of stew, biscuits, and cobbler. This was about the 13th day of operation for the Clarks Fork Chuck Wagon Gang. Although they have received bad reviews from several members of this list, it was lucky 13 for us. The stew was hot and plentiful. Seconds could be had. The biscuits were singular, since there was one large biscuit in each Dutch oven. I heard that the centers were somewhat doughy but very edible. I received the scrapings from the edge and gobbled them up along with the stew. Biscuits of any description beat crackers all hollow after 10 days on the trail. The cobblers needed sugar, but they were wolfed down as if they were cooked in a French bakery. Thankfully the fire ban does not extend to the Chuck Wagon cooking as it did in 2002. You know you've been to Philmont when Chuck Wagon means fine dining.
The crew waddled back to camp and lay around awaiting evening program. We dropped into our bags quickly after evening campfire. Tomorrows wake up call would be early.
Day 12 - Monday, 21Jun04 - Clarks Fork via Shaefers Pass, Shaefers Peak, Tooth of Time Ridge, and Tooth of Time to Base Camp (10 miles that felt like many more)
Our Crew Leader's morning litany was "Wakey, Wakey, Eggs, and Bakey". It was much better received than the phase "Wake up you're burning daylight" which was the standard in 2002. The CL slept through his 300am alarm, but finally stirred about 320am. Two advisors were awake at 300am and we were about wake the CL when he stirred on his own and made his morning rounds among our tents. I would have been quicker to wake up the CL, but I would have preferred 330am as the wake up time anyway.
The crew responded to the call and packed in the dark. We finished before there was enough light to hike and gathered around the fire ring to eat breakfast. We finished breakfast, signed out of camp at 515am, and began the hike up Shaefers Pass. We climbed and climbed and had great views of Black Mountain as well as to the NW and north. We took packs off at Shaefers Pass Camp about 7am and had another snack. We started the day with 5 liters of water per person, so we didn't bother to check the spring. I drank 6 liters on this day. Most of the crew drank 4 to 4 1/2 liters. We hiked on up Shaefers Peak and had great views of Grizzly Tooth and the ranch to the south. We met Crew 610-C3 from our troop while they were having packs off break. They had climbed up from the south side of Shaefers Pass. After a short packs on visit with the Crew #3 advisors our Crew Leader signaled us to press on. The crew could smell civilization nearby and was developing a case of the "run away horse" syndrome mentioned by Mike Floyd.
The other two crews from our Troop were on Trek #2 and had spent the night at Tooth Ridge Trail Camp. They were in Base Camp well before noon.
Lesson Learned - Each crew member had a minimum of 4 liters of water capacity, usually a 2 liter hydration bladder and two 1 liter wide mouth bottles. Additionally we took six 2 1/2 liter Platypus bottles. At $6 and 1.2 ounces they are relatively cheap and very light. The Platy bottles are tough as well as compact. This allowed us to carry up to 5 liters water per person. We used this capacity on Day 8 when we did conservation and Day 12 when we hiked 10 miles from Clarks Fork to Base Camp over an eleven hour period. My son's Platypus bladder is still going after 3 years of backpacking. In 2002 we took a 4 liter Dromedary and three 96 oz. Nalgene canteens. The Dromedary was too heavy for one person to carry when filled with water although one person carried it up to Mount Phillips, which is a dry trail camp. The 96 oz Nalgene canteens were not durable enough for the trek.
All the way across Tooth Ridge I just couldn't stop looking. My camera was in constant use. We didn't catch the crew until the packs off spot below the Tooth of Time. We climbed the Tooth of Time. There is no trail, just big rocks. We ate our lunch of Japeleno squeeze cheese and crackers while enjoying the panorama of Philmont that lay before us.
We lounged on the Tooth until 1230pm and went down. We treated feet and loaded up our packs. The trial to Base Camp(I didn't misspell it!) was beautiful, scenic, long, and tortuous. We barely glimpsed the "runaway horses" until we reached the gate at the bottom of the trail. I got a youth photo at gate. My camera was acting weird, so I didn't get a timer photo of the entire crew. We arrived at Welcome Center at 220pm. It was 11 hours after getting out of our sleeping bags. Then came tent assignments, check-in procedures, trip to Administration for locker keys, search for receipt so Administration would give me our Arrowheads and crew photos, Security, Services, Post Office, etc., etc. NO TIME TO GO INTO CIMARRON FOR PIZZA. Simple Simons would have delivered to the Welcome Center, but I didn't think of that. Supper, ToTTraders, Closing Campfire, large tent, soft mattress, sleep.
Day 13 - Tuesday, 22Jun04 - Travel from Base Camp to Albuquerque, NM to Katy, TX (approx. 1000 miles with almost no effort on my part)
This was an easy day. We arrived at the airport IAH at 530pm on time. We were home and in the shower by 645pm. The shower water still ran brown. My bed at home was just too comfy. I fell asleep harder than I have since June 2002 and twitched like a dog all night.
Larry Sims
Philmont 2004 Expedition Coordinator
Troop 1288 Katy, TX
Lead Advisor 610-C4 2004 Trek #24
We enjoyed the PRESENT! Thanks Waite!
2002 Philmont Expedition Coordinator
609-A3 2002 Trek #5FM (Fire modified treks)
718-G1 1965 (The Monsoons of '65)
IWTGBTP! My feet are better now.
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Received on Thu Jul 1 21:45:46 2004
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