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

Patrick - the response was to Susan's request for advice, and the detail
was to correct the idea that it is the eastern approach to Black
Mountain that is so difficult. They can of course go however they like.
  Though they may prefer kayaks for the North Fork Urraca trail!

Re letting a Crew get lost, I have stuffed a sock in my ever-running
mouth a couple of times and allowed my Crews to go wrong. In at least
two cases, their "errors" resulted in my seeing new parts of the Ranch
that I otherwise would never have seen, such as the drop from Midnight
Mesa down into Bear Canyon, a tough trail but a spectacular view from an
unusual vantage point.

However, the southern face of Black Mountain is a disaster of jackstraws
and thick scrub brush that you cannot voluntarily let a Crew descend
into, as a simple matter of Health and Safety. Getting "lost" on the
Philmont trail system may be painful and make for a long day (maybe a
VERY long day), but is otherwise essentially meaningless unless you
missed a Commissary stop or some other *critical* aspect of your trek -
and there are very few such critical aspects of any trek. But getting
lost on a bushwack is another matter altogether; and getting someone out
who was injured (let's say a broken ankle) on a bushwack off Black
Mountain would require quite an S&R effort.

One might say that all this is just another learning experience, and
you'd be correct. But the situation with the false trail and poor
signage atop Black Mountain throws an unfair curve ball into the mix.
When you check the map, and you see an obviously well travelled trail
that's going "sort of" in the right direction, and there are no other
obvious trails in view, and no signs other than the "black" attempt at
humor "Everest", who is surprised that Crews are getting lost there,
probably every day? I hope the Ranch isn't just waiting on a known
problem til someone gets badly hurt, before they'll fix it. I know I am
not the only person who has pointed this situation out. Yes, I
understand there are (at least) a hundred other higher priorities - but
this is an easy fix, that a couple of REALLY macho Rangers doing Black
Death could handle in two hours.

I do understand the correct usage of the terms Black Death and Ranger
Marathon (aka Ranger Run or Ranger Challenge (both archaic terms from
decades past)), but I have had numerous Rangers and Staff use the term
"Black Death" to refer to just the west side trail of Black Mountain. I
will say that it is the most difficult trail I have ever taken at
Philmont, more challenging than The Wall, Trail Peak, the Stairmaster,
or the old Shaefers Peak trails. Or at least it used to be - someone
told me that there are some switchbacks on it now (don't know if that's
true or not - it used to be straight up the side of the mountain, and
you were sometimes semi-climbing on all fours). But I will avoid
mis-using the term in future posts!

Patrick Arsenault wrote:
> Bob,
> I agree with you assessment of those trails and the options available. I
> would however, stress the importance of a boy run experience. Letting a crew
> choose their path is an important part of Philmont. As a ranger, I made it a
> policy to never direct a crew in one direction or another...even if they
> were making a mistake. It is my opinion, that boys should always be let
> alone to decide for themselves unless staff or advisor believes that the
> scouts' safety could be compromised. In addition, you used the phrase "Black
> Death" to refer to the trail from BMC to Black mountain. That is not
> entirely accurate 'phil-speak'. In actuality, Black Death refers to one of
> the many "ranger challenges". For those on the list who have no idea what
> I'm talking about, its fairly simple. As the summer progresses, many on the
> ranger staff look for challenges beyond those that a normal crew could
> provide. Thus they undertake various challenges. One of these is black
> death. It begins at Clear Creek camp and summits, Phillips, Big Red, Bear,
> Black, Shaeffers Peak, and the Tooth into base camp in that order or the
> reverse order and it is done in one day. Typically it takes between 10-15
> hours to complete. Also popular among rangers, is the Ranger marathon which
> is a continuous hike from Dean Beard camp in the north to Abreau in the
> south, once again...all in one day. I completed this in just over 12 hours
> and also drank more than 2.5 gallons of water and only urinated once. Hope
> this gives everyone a little insight into the characters that make up the
> ranger staff.
> Patrick Arsenault
> Amherst MA
> 98 (Youth) 02 (Adult) 03 (Ranger)
>
> On 7/8/2004 6:55 PM, "Dr. Bob Klein" <drbob@troop111.org> wrote:
>
>
>>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 Fri Jul 9 05:12:55 2004