Re: [Philmont]: Double H Report

Most impressive. Thanks for taking the time.

We're with 812e2 which is a roll your own hike on the last week and our
boys planned an 83 (or so) miles in 7 days. Sounds like a warm up for what
you did.

Richard Schraudner
Algonquin-District Vice Chair Program
Westchester-Putnam Council
New York

At 04:41 PM 7/26/04, you wrote:
>Double H High Adventure Base Update-
>
>Greetings to all. I know that this time of year most people are looking for
>updates on the Philmont treks, but I wanted to provide a bit of information
>about the new Double H High Adventure program.
>
>Trek 717-AA 1 and 2 returned this weekend from our weeklong adventure at
>the new
>Double H High Adventure Base. We had a blast, it was amazing, it was by
>far the
>toughest hiking I had ever done, it makes most Philmont treks seem like a walk
>in the park and we can only hope that the program succeeds! To be honest, we
>were a Class 3 trek, advertised as the most challenging, and it exceeded out
>expectations. We were told that we were only the second and third crews to
>finish a level three trek without an itinerary change.
>
>In short the program involves getting from water source to water source
>via map
>and compass and gps navigation. There is plenty of water at the campsites,
>more
>on that later, but absolutely none in between. Consequently it was
>necessary to
>carry 5-6 liters per person or more. We arrived in our designated campsites
>with little or no spare water, and on one occasion had to side hike to get
>water to make our campsite. This extra weight was a challenge and many crews
>were showing up with 2-3 liters of capacity per person. We had a minimum of 4
>and two 10 liter bags for the crew. Obviously since someone had to carry the
>big water bladders, the crew had to carry that brave souls' share of the crew
>gear and food.
>
>Campsites were designated next to water. Generally it was a windmill which
>pumped into livestock tanks. If you were lucky the wind blew and you could
>collect water from the outlet pipe. This only required polarpure, not
>filtering. If you were unlucky, with no wind, or at one of several tanks with
>no windmills, then filtering was necessary. The water was extremely dirty.
>Even
>with double filtering with bandanas, adding a coffee filter to the pump inlet
>hose we had to clean filters every half to 1 liter of pumping and at one water
>source abandoned pumping all together in favor of boiling the water and then
>polarpuring. Some water supplies did have solar powered pumps, but they
>seemed
>in a different states of reliability or operation.
>
>Pulling into base camp is a bit like the opening scene of the movie
>"Holes", and
>you wonder what the heck you have gotten into. Base camp is established in the
>middle of the prairie, literally 15-20 miles from nothing. The bus driver
>directions were to pass through Magdalena and turn right at the first tree!
>They were very accurate. There's only 1 large cottonwood for miles.
>Fortunately
>for us we had met a group returning from Double H and they assured us it was
>better once they took you to the mountains for the hiking. It was, but that's
>relative. The primary forest is juniper and pinion pine, with a smattering of
>ponderosa. The footing is treacherous, very rocky, loose talus, that is unless
>you are walking in the canyons. There you find your choice of very soft, silty
>sand and deposits of boulders and gravel.
>
>Despite all of this the scenery was breath taking, the amount of "life"
>amazing,
>from rattlesnakes, to deer to elk, to horned toads. The flowers bloomed in a
>multitude of colors, until it got hot anyway. You are accompanied by a
>Wilderness Guide, not to be confused with a Philmont Ranger, they took
>pains to
>tell us. The guide does the training, helps with navigation and puts on
>programs such as astronomy, search and rescue, first aid, leave no trace etc.
>Your trek is greatly influenced by the skill and personality of your Guide.
>
>This was a tough trek and we heard of daily reports of people plucked from the
>trail with sprained ankles, knees, severe dehydration and such. It was
>particularly hard on adults. You do not hike on any established trails and
>usually the shortest route from point a to point b was the least desirable. We
>were told that some of the class 1 treks did hike jeep trails and did a lot
>less ridge running. All of the campsites were accessible by vehicle, which
>made
>evacuation easier.
>
>At the midpoint you passed through the Martin Ranch. There was water, a food
>pickup, chuck wagon dinner, black powder shooting and a guitar playing singer
>available, as well as some shade.
>
>Well that's the bit for now. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions. We
>will be posting pictures and video to our web site and writing an article for
>publication. I'll keep you posted as to the status of the endeavors. More to
>come!
>
>Yis
>Hiking Czar
>Fred Mussler, SM Troop 357
>Raleigh, NC
>Double H Charter Hiker 2004 717-AA1
>Philmont 1990, 98, 2000, 02
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Tue Jul 27 17:50:41 2004