Fred, and the list serve:
We were 4 days behind the Hiking Czar's crew at the Double H, and hit 2
of the same geocaches Fred's crew did. I'm glad to hear he thought it
was the most difficult hiking he's ever done. We were on a level 2
trek, and I was completely drained at the end of each day. We had one
crew member come off the trail on the next to last day, because he was
physically ill due to exhaustion.
Some bad news for Fred, James Ray and other folks who hiked before us:
there's a good chance your conservation project washed out in a flash
flood a week ago today. There was a lot of rain and hail at some of the
higher elevations on the afternoon of the 23rd; we were camping in Old
Canyon, and the dry wash we hiked down around noon was flooded 4 feet
deep, moving at incredible speed, carrying logs, rocks and other debris
with it, by 3:30. I hope to have some pictures of the flood by Monday,
which I will try to post somewhere on the internet. It was one of the
most amazing (and frightening) things I've ever seen.
Like Philmont, Double H crews do 3 hours of conservation work during
their trek. The Double H projects involved putting in dams and fords
along Thompson Canyon (many miles west of Old Canyon) to slow run-off
and reduce erosion. We hit Thompson Canyon this past Monday morning, and
spent our conservation time replacing the 4 dams at the bottom of the
canyon; they had completely washed out on Friday, and most of the dams
between Thompson Well and Cinch Bug were either gone completely, or
barely recognizable.
On the other hand, the flooding firmed up the sand in the washes to just
this side of asphalt, so we had much easier walking than Fred.
Except for antelope and one elk sighting, we didn't see any large
wildlife, but saw plenty of evidence that they are around, including a
large shed elk antler, a 10 point mule deer shed, and plenty of piles of
bear and mountain lion scat. One kitty pile and paw print was extremely
fresh -- we came across it during a rainstorm, but the print was still
extremely crisp and distinct in the soft wet ground, indicating it was
less than an hour old, which really inspired the crew to stay close
together. And we saw lizards, horned toads, ground and tree squirrels,
and a kangaroo rat that tried to climb up my co-advisors leg to get out
of the desert sun.
We also found some very well-preserved Anasazi pottery shards, purely by
chance. Our navigator for the day plugged in an incorrect UTM on the
GPS, and we were about a half kilometer off-target; we found the pottery
between where we came over a ridge, and where we SHOULD have come over
the ridge.
As our Wilderness Guide said a couple of times "there's a good chance
you'll be walking places where no human has set foot for hundreds of
years"; the reliance on GPS units, the emphasis of LNT principles and
the absence of trails make it very likely that, except for the vicinity
of water sources and geocaches, each crew will travel different routes
to get from place to place.
Fred and James said it before, and I'll confirm it: this is not the
place for novice hikers. It is very different than Philmont, and it is
intended to be. For an experienced group of hikers, that works well
together and knows and does what needs to be done without having to be
told, the Double H is an incredible experience.
The Double H director, Ryan King, and his staff put together a
tremendous operation on short notice, and they were constantly seeking
input on how to improve for next year. We had a great time, and I know
it will get better as they work the few remaining kinks out things, and
more information is exchanged between folks who have been there, and
folks who are headed there in the future.
Dan Bestul
Monroe, WI
2003 Philmont Crew 812-A
2004 Double H Crew 721-BB
-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
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 Fri Jul 30 21:02:31 2004
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Jul 26 2006 - 11:59:50 CDT