Re: [Philmont]: Clark Forks to Black Mountain Camp

By me, you would be going up to Shaefers Pass, then taking the ridgeline
trail west to Black Mountain, then going down the backside of Black
Mountain into Black Mountain Camp. The alternative is to go over
Shaefers Pass down to the North Fork Urraca trail, and take that to
Black Mountain Camp. Past commentary on this List suggests that the NFU
trail to BMC has over 50 stream crossings. With all the rain this year,
I'd expect that the NFU is flowing pretty well these days.

The trail from Shaefers Pass to Black Mountain is *routine* until the
last bit, where it steepens pretty significantly (but not too badly);
this is about the last third from SP to BM. It's tough but not
ridiculous. The actual trails of horror to Black Mountain that you've
heard about are: A) from Commanche Pass past Bear Mountain to Black
Mountain, and B) from BMC to Black Mountain. I've done them both, and
believe me, B) is tough. They don't call it "Black Death" for nothing.

But you're going DOWN that side, not up, so nothing to worry about!

The biggest issue is figuring out the trails at Black Mountain summit.
Heading from Shaefers Pass, the trail you're on will "T" into the Bear
Mountain/Black Mountain trail. Turn left. The summit of Black Mountain
is 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how well you're moving. There used to
be a single sign on the summit, labelled "Everest". It was still there
in 2000, but I have no idea if it's still there.

Here's where things get a little dicey. The trail to BMC is basically
WEST of the summit sign, but it's not all that easy to find from the
summit. You have to look for it, and really make sure you're on it
before proceeding. The problem is that there is ALSO a well-beaten
APPARENT trail heading south from the southeastern side of the summit.
This is a FALSE TRAIL, and has been taken by many Crews, all to their
eventual dismay and total aggravation. That trail eventually peters out
to nothing south and east of the summit - after you've already lost 500
feet of elevation, that is. We have already had one of our returning
Advisors mention in passing (in his after-action report) that his Crew
got lost off Black Mountain and had to reclimb to the summit. I bet I
know exactly how! Note that the large scale Central map seems to "split
the difference" between the actual and false trails - but don't be
fooled. The real trail to BMC is west.

I have personally asked Philmont to correct this situation with some
better signage, but to my knowledge things remain as they have been for
over three decades now. I guess the Cons guys don't feel like
schlepping all the necessary equipment to Black Mountain either (can't
say I blame them).

Anyway, just make sure you head west off the summit, and you'll be fine.
  It's a fairly quick drop into BMC, once you're on the right trail.

SusanBKewley@cs.com wrote:
> Our crew is on trek #1. On day 7 we go from Clark Forks to Black
> Mountain camp. The crew is trying to decide if they want to go over the
> top of Black Mountain or go around the side of Black Mountain. Looking
> at the map and from a previous email we have been informed there are
> about 20 stream crossings if you go around the Mountain. We were also
> informed that the trail over the top is the toughest trail on the ranch.
> Has anyone been on Trek #1 this year that can offer some insight. How
> Steep is the terrain over the top and how high is the water in North
> Fork Urraca Creek. We will be attempting this on July 23rd.

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Received on Thu Jul 8 18:16:01 2004