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

The Wall is the trail from French Henry to Copper Park, up the South
Ponil ravine between Baldy and the Aztec Ridge. As nasty as they come.

Don't remember what trail on Trail Peak - whichever one that basically
went straight up the mountain. I did it as a Scout, over 30 years ago,
carrying about a 70 pound pack (>50% of my body weight, then). The pain
faded, the memory remains.

The Stairmaster is the tough stretch climbing out of Indian Writings
over Hart Peak. There is a pretty good stretch about 10 minutes out of
IW where steps were formed, hence the name. Not all that long, but
you'll feel the burn. Back when they allowed some variations in
starting points, we would do about 8 miles on our first day - Six Mile
Gate to IW, do the Petroglyph Tour, then over Hart Peak into Ponil (stop
for Cantina and Museum), then up to Sioux or Bent for the remainder of
our Ranger Training. Maybe because it was the first day, the trail
impressed me more than it would have otherwise.

The old Shaefers Peak Trail basically went straight up the side of the
mountain from Shaefers Pass to Shaefers Peak. It was replaced with the
current monster switchbacks in the early 90's. If you're walking the
new trail, you'll cross over the old trail twice - it's filled in with
branches, and is becoming overgrown, but it's easy enough to spot if
you're looking for it. I did this trail four times, three times on the
way all the way to Basecamp. Even with nearly no food or fuel left, it
was tough. One of my more "challenging" days on the Ranch was Black
Mountain Camp to Black Mountain, to Shaefers Pass to Shaefers Peak, to
the Tooth of Time to Tooth Ridge. At the time, two of Philmont's
toughest trail climbs, plus the ToT scramble, back-to-back-to-back.

What we do for "fun"....

Larry Sims - KBR Elec wrote:
> Snip < more challenging than The Wall, Trail Peak, the Stairmaster,
> or the old Shaefers Peak trails. >
>
> Dr. Bob mentioned the above trails in his early morning post. I am
> curious.
>
> a. Where is the Wall?
> b. Which trail up Trail Peak?
> c. Where is the Stairmaster?
> d. Where is the old Shaefers Peak trail?
>
> Larry Sims
> 610-C4 2004
> 609-A3 2002
>

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Received on Fri Jul 9 17:29:57 2004