Philmont Notes from Trek 32
Greetings from Troops 387, 42, and 48 in Kingsport, Tennessee. We were
Crews 612-E1 and 612-E2, and returned home last Thursday, June 24th.
General Information:
I was the Expedition leader, and also one of the two crew advisors, for a
group of 24 hikers (15 scouts and 9 leaders). This was my third trip to
Philmont (other trips in 1998 and 2001). Except for myself and one scout,
it was the first Philmont experience for everyone else.
We hiked as two sister crews, choosing Trek #32, which we knew would be
challenging for both scouts and adults. We chose it because we wanted to
see a lot of the ranch, hike Baldy, and participate in a variety of
activities at the staffed camps, and we wanted to finish up with a hike over
Tooth of Time and walk into Headquarters (as opposed to taking a bus on the
last day).
Here's a report for (1) those who are preparing to go, and (2) for those who
didn't go this year but wished they could have.
Sightseeing in Colorado Springs: We arrived in Colorado Springs by air
(Tri-Cities to Atlanta to COS) on Friday morning, June 11th. We spent an
enjoyable day being shuttled by folks at Timberline Transportation Company
to the US Air Force Academy, the Cog Railway to Pikes Peak, and an
after-dinner trip to Garden of the Gods State Park. We pre-ordered lunches
at Subway Sandwich Shop, and enjoyed an excellent all-you-can-eat pizza and
salad buffet in the party room at Sevali's Restaurant in Manitou Springs.
We spent the night at the Ramada Inn near the airport, enjoyed a big
continental breakfast at the hotel, and departed early on Saturday morning
for Philmont.
Staffing at Philmont:
Philmont is a great place, and the staff was enthusiastic, polite, and
almost all seemed happy to be there. Our two crews loved the experience,
and had a wonderful time. And this is the overall message I want to convey.
However, I have listed a few comments below which show there are exceptions
to the rule. These comments are not to denigrate the staff or Philmont
Ranch, but are only meant to give a complete record to help upcoming crews
plan their trip.
Pre-Trek Conditioning:
Extensive physical training and conditioning was strongly encouraged
beginning 6 months prior to the trip. It was evident on the trail which
crew members had trained the most, and which ones were struggling. There
were a few scouts who did very little training, but scouts can handle the
physical exertion better than adults. On the other hand, all of the adults
understood the need to improve their physical conditioning, and while some
trained harder than others, I'd like to stress that they all did some
training. Our crew began training last December, 2003, with 1-hour hikes 3
times per week (two nights per week, plus Saturday mornings), wearing our
backpacks and hiking shoes. We rotated these three-times-week hikes in my
neighborhood, in a nearby park, and a nearby greenbelt. We also had an
extended day hike in February and March, a 22-mile overnighter shakedown in
April, two extended day hikes in May, and one final 10-miler day hike in
early June.
In addition to using the weekly hikes to toughen our backs, shoulders, legs,
hips and feet, there was an additional benefit: it also strengthened
friendships among adults and scouts, and gave us many opportunities to
discuss Philmont issues such as training, equipment, etc. Participation in
these weekly hikes was strongly encouraged, but not required. The
participation by crew members increased as the weather grew warmer and as
the departure date approached.
Everyone Finished!
Everyone completed the entire hike. This group included a 58-year old dad
with a past history of open heart bypass surgery, a 53-year old dad with a
past history of a total hip replacement, and one scout who is scheduled next
week for surgery on a progressively worsening foot deformity. Some were
slower than others on the uphill climbs, and most of us had a few small
blisters by the last 2 days. We had one case of altitude sickness (headache
and vomiting) on the way down from Baldy, but the scout quickly recovered.
Luckily, these were our only problems.
Trek#32:
This trek is a 85-miler which travels the north country, has an overnighter
at Miranda, a tough 12-mile side hike to Baldy on Day 7, and finishes up
with another tough hike over Schaeffer's Pass, across Tooth Ridge and the
Tooth of Time, and into Headquarters. Other camps along the way are Anasazi,
Cottonwood, Ponil, Pueblano Ruins, Santa Claus, Harlan, Clarks Fork,
Ponderosa Park. This trek also hikes for several miles through the burned
areas.
Day 1 in Logistics:
The staffer in Logistics at Headquarters who meets with the crew leader and
crew advisor upon arrival surprised me when he asked me not to talk during
our Logistics discussion. He also gave the same instructions to the other
crew leader and advisor. He wanted and expected input from the crew leader
ONLY. I did a little nonverbal communication with my foot and elbow and
some head-shaking and nodding, but otherwise let my crew leader make the
decisions. For this reason, I advise any upcoming crews to have a thorough
discussion between advisor and crew leader, prior to arrival at Philmont, so
that the crew leader already knows (1) which days he might want to schedule
the conservation project; (2) whether or not to sign up for burro packing;
(3) when to do horseback riding, if it is an option, and (4) any other sort
of issue which the boy leader and the logistics staffer will decide.
Ranger Training:
Our arrival on 6/12 was the fourth day of arriving crews. This meant that
all of the experienced rangers were already out on the trail with their
first crews. All crews arriving on 6/12 were assigned brand new rangers who
were receiving their first crews EVER. The results of this lack of
experience were mixed: One of our crews had an enthusiastic ranger with
great "people" skills, and he did an excellent job. The other crew's ranger
was not quite as adept at some of his tasks, and seemed to get hung up on
certain tasks, and didn't mix well with the scouts and leaders. As an
example, instead of doing a shakedown on everyone's backpack equipment
simultaneously, he spent an entire 45 minutes just going through the crew
advisor's backpack. This was frustrating for the crew advisor, and of course
it put the crew behind schedule, and didn't help the blood pressure problems
the crew advisor was having with the medical people.
Conservation Project:
Our sister crew did their conservation project on Day 4 on the way to
Pueblano Ruins, involving trail building. They had excellent staffers, and
it was a very positive experience.
On the other hand, my crew's "con" was a very negative experience. It was
on Day 3 after Cottonwood, and located near the Indian writings in the burn
area. In addition to the frustration of back-tracking two miles immediately
after we met up with the staffer, he did not give enough instructions on how
far we were hiking or on how much water we would need. We therefore,
didn't take sufficient water for the 2-mile hike followed by a 1.5 hour
lecture (I'm not exaggerating) in the blistering sun (90+degrees) with
absolutely no shade because we were in one of the burned areas. To make
matters worse, the staffer had been instructed "to talk" for 1.5 hours, even
if it meant saying "blah-blah-blah" and "yada-yada-yada" (these are actual
quotes from his lecture), supposedly all as part of the requirement for the
conservation project. This was very frustrating and annoying to the entire
crew. Once the lecture part of the project ended, we seeded some areas.
Hiking the 2+ miles in and out of the con project were not counted as part
of the time spent. An adult leader in our crew approached the staffer, in a
positive way, about how the session might be improved for future crews. The
staffer replied with disrespectful comments to the adult leader.
Weather:
We experienced great weather, mostly dry, mid to high 80s in the day, and
low 40's by morning. It was cool enough at night and in the early morning
to use our jackets. The usual afternoon thunderstorms didn't materialize,
even though the sky would cloud up and we would hear thunder. We had one
hail storm before the Chuck Wagon dinner at Clarks Fork, which resulting in
a couple of inches of hail on the ground. Although the weather was mostly
dry for us, we saw evidence of the even bigger hail storm occurred a few
days before our arrival.
Water:
We had plenty of water at all camps. We were also able to take 3 baths on
the trail, and were allowed to wash our clothes at Baldy Camp.
Food:
Lots of peanuts! One of our crew advisors has a peanut allergy and a
sensitivity to processed cheese. Although he had brought some extra food
with him, I'm not sure he had quite enough to eat. Also lots of granola and
gorp. Everyone else had plenty to eat. The meals were plentiful and pretty
tasty. We could have asked for apples at some of the commissaries
(unfortunately, I forgot about this at the time to my great disappointment).
The menu for 2004 has been previously posted on this Philmont group site.
Trekking Poles:
Almost everyone in our crew had decided to take trekking poles. This was a
great decision. After taking no poles on my first trek at Philmont, followed
by only one pole on my second trek, I took two poles on this trek. I
recommend them. At some points along the trail, the trekking poles were
almost a necessity, such as walking down the steep gravelly part of Mt.
Baldy known as "The Wall." Most of us still ended up with a few blisters,
but it probably would have been worse without the trekking poles. Our one
scout with the foot deformity suffered with blister problems on all of our
training hikes. This motivated him to acquire trekking poles for Philmont,
and he had no problems on the trek.
Campfires:
The opening and closing campfires were excellent. The campfire at Miranda
was also very enjoyable. Unfortunately, we couldn't attend the campfire at
Ponil because they held it inside the cantina, and there was just not enough
room for all of the crews who were camping nearby.
Chuck Wagon Meals:
We had 2 chuck wagon dinners and one chuck wagon breakfast. This was a very
positive experience for scouts and leaders. Two scouts from each crew were
assigned to help cook dinners, and two scouts to help clean up. For the
breakfasts, two leaders were assigned to help cook. No problem getting the
leaders to sign up - the ones who wanted coffee were glad to do it. The
scouts and leaders enjoyed meeting people from the other crews. And the
food was excellent. Especially the pancakes and sausage breakfast. There
was no cobbler at the Clark's Fork chuck wagon dinner because the hailstorm
had ruined the fire. However, the staff served plain canned peaches
instead, which the scouts really enjoyed.
Activities we enjoyed:
Indian Writings: Excellent and knowledgeable staffer made this a very
enjoyable experience.
Horseback Riding: a much better experience for me in 2004 than on a previous
trek in 2001. We went on actual trails at Ponil where the scenery was
shaded and pretty, and in the woods. We crossed creeks and rode on more
challenging trails.
Burro racing: This was a big hit with the scouts. Many of them at first
were reluctant to participate, but they all eventually did so, and were
really glad that they did.
Challenge Events at Head of Dean: Great experience for the scouts. Good
staffers. Lots of good games which encourage thinking and teamwork.
Other good activities which the scouts enjoyed: spar pole climbing, black
powder rifles, skeet shooting with 12 gauge rifles. Staffers were
excellent, and the events were lots of fun.
Hiking the Peaks: We summitted Baldy, Shaeffers Peak, and Tooth of Time.
Some scouts said these experiences were the highlight of the trip.
Hike to Hidden Valley: Another great hike with beautiful views that the
scouts and leaders enjoyed.
Activities we missed:
The only activities we missed were on Day 7. The scouts decided after
climbing Baldy to skip the gold mining and blacksmithing at French Henry.
This allowed us a little more leisure time at Baldy Camp to shower and wash
clothes, and it cut off some mileage on this already-long hike. Even
without those activities, we still didn't return to Miranda until after 4pm.
Day 12:
We had a very early morning start, a sunrise breakfast at Shaffer's Peak,
terrific views at Tooth of Time, and we came off the trail around noon.
After a lot of discussion between the two crews, we all ended up taking the
3:30pm bus to Cimarron for dinner. This was a great experience, and seemed
like a celebration. Most scouts enjoyed seeing this small western town, and
the food was really good. The adults who had been reluctant to go and spend
the money were glad that they came along.
Camp Stoves:
Shipping to Philmont: We shipped our stoves and fuel canisters by UPS with
a tracking number so that we could verify that Philmont had received them.
No problem there. Cost about $15 for 6 stoves.
Fuel: Unexpected problem: two of the shipped stoves needed a different
fuel (propane/butane mix), that was not provided by Philmont commissaries.
One crew had to purchase two stoves upon arrival at Philmont because of this
problem.
Shipping Stoves Home: One small unexpected problem in cost. We had
expected to spend about $15 in parcel post to ship the stoves home.
However, the Philmont staff charges $7 per stoves to clean them and ship
them. They want to do it their way, and you don't have any option except to
pay the $7 per stove.
Toilet Paper:
I've seen lots of chatter on the Philmont group site about TP. There are
plenty of commissaries and they give you as much TP as you want. The
quality of the TP seems fine to me. But, you do need to be aware how much
TP you have remaining in your crew gear. Our crew accidentally dropped one
entire roll into a one-holer, and we were running short for a while.
Another crew we met up with on their last day were completely out of TP and
had passed the last commissary without asking for more. The embarrassed
scouts sent their crew leader over to us to ask if we would share one of our
rolls. There was a little added humor to this experience since the same
scouts beat us at the burro racing and didn't share their cookies with us.
Mosquitoes:
I've seen lots of chatter about the mosquitoes in the south and central part
of the ranch by returning 2004 crews. There is good news for crews who will
be hiking in the northern country: we experienced almost no problems with
mosquitoes, except for the uphill climb through the woods from Miranda to
Mt. Baldy.
Equipment:
Thanks to this Philmont group site, and Dr. Bob Klein's troop website
(www.troop111.org), we were very well prepared. Dr. Bob's website includes
a "2002 Philmont Guide" under their High Adventure section, which is an
excellent source of information. Also, be sure to encourage your crew
members to use the little Philmont handbook "2004 Philmont Guide To
Adventure" that is provided for each participant. The equipment checklist
in that guidebook is excellent.
Sister Crews Hiking Together:
There can be advantages and disadvantages to this choice. In our case, it
worked out very well. We sought advice prior to the trip about potential
pitfalls, and the advice proved to be very helpful. The camaraderie among
the 24 scouts and adults was enhanced by our "joint" trek, and all of us are
glad that we trekked together. We intentionally maintained separate crew
identities, in both hiking, and in our campsites. But we did enjoy our time
to socialize in the evenings.
Help & Advice:
If any crew advisors or crew leaders want more information about specific
logistics and details of Trek 32, I'll be glad to help Contact me at
jmather@chartertn.net.
Yours in Scouting,
Jon Mather
Troop 387
Kingsport, Tennessee
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Received on Fri Jul 2 20:49:05 2004
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