RE: [Philmont]: 2004 Returning Philnotes

Jerry, et al:

I have to echo some of the other readers comments.. this is a wonderful,
informative summary. Your information is current and most helpful. I very
happy to hear there is abundant water throughout the Ranch, as this has not
been true in the last couple of years. Especially the spring at Shaefers
Pass. This has been dry most of the time. Having water for the last days
push over the Tooth is a relief, providing it continues to flow.

Looking forward to my 7th trip on the ranch, doing Itinerary #30, and
leaving next week.

Scotty MacDonough
Advisor-702-G
Troop 72-Fayetteville, GA

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com]On
Behalf Of Jerry Lewis
Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 4:00 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: 2004 Returning Philnotes

Greetings from God's Country, Ya'll,

I was the Expedition Coordinator for Circle Ten Council's (Dallas) 8-crew,
610-M bus contingent that just returned last night and one of 4 Advisors on
M2. I'm going to tell you things I observed that I think will help others
following us in. To help you understand my point of view, this was my 11th
Crew Trek to Philmont, beginning in 1989; I was on PTC faculty in 1992; am a
life member of PSA; and will begin my 23rd year as an adult Scouter with the
same troop this September. Our crew did Itinerary 1; but don't let that
fool you; we "tweaked" it a lot. We started in Cimarron Canyon at the
bottom of Turkey Canyon, went through the Central Country, South Country,
and out after Abbreau.

Green Grows the Valley: Beginning around Dalhart, we never saw anything
brown afterwards. Every field, pasture, mountain, hill, etc. in eastern New
Mexico and around Philmont is totally green. The vegetation is lush.
Although there are still parts of NM that are desperately dry, such as the
Santa Fe area, northern and north eastern New Mexico AND PHILMONT is the
most beautiful I've ever seen it. Mountain and alpine flowers are at their
most spectacular above 10,000'; so, that doesn't lend itself much to
Philmont. Still where flowers were growing at Philmont they were
spectacular! We even saw lots of cactus blooming, yellow's, red's, clarets,
and even the rare pink ones. I didn't carry the Philmont Field Guide due to
weight but wish I had this year. I suggest you buy one and take out the
spiral. Remove all the pages that don't have anything to do with geology
and tree/flower identification, replace the spiral and take it along.
You'll be pleased and add a lot to the curious Scouts' wonderment about what
they're seeing.

Water, Water, Everywhere: I saw ponds, and pools, and streamlets that I've
never seen at Philmont. Water was flowing across our trail (probably enough
only to help a desperately dry crew) above Ponderosa Park just below
Schafer's Pass on our hike up from Clark's Fork. The spring at Schafer's
Pass was flowing well, about the size of 1/2 my little finger, at 9:30 am on
June 17th. The water tank (non-potable) at Vaca was plenty, 3/4 full.
Shower water was plentiful and readily available at Cito, Clark's Fork,
Beaubien (after the Advisors coming through on June 12th convinced the CD
that it was okay to light fires in the Tabasco Donkey), and Cyphers Mine.
Watch out for the Rayado Creek; it's full. All the rocks we needed to step
on when we needed to cross it were visible, but just barely. If you meet
the Rayado a day or two after heavy rains up above swell it, you may have to
de-boot and be careful about the current. Everywhere around Philmont,
whatever the stream's name, unbuckling your sternum strap and hip belt when
crossing--even a log bridge--is NOT an option this year. Don't be stupid
and get in a hurry. One additional impact of the available water is on Camp
Suds. The Ranger will want you to pull all your little personal bottles of
the stuff and take just one. Don't agree. Yes, one's enough to do pots and
wash hands; but you need at least one other bottle to wash clothes and do
all the showers.

Got Fish? License's are only $1.50 for the kids and can be bought at Fish
Camp if you don't want to buy one at the Tooth of Time Trading Post. Adult
licenses (anyone over 18), however, are problematical. New Mexico
regulations won't allow ID by a driver's license. You must have a copy of
your Social Security card with you. The TOT winked at that most of the
time; but Fish Camp demands one to sell there. I heard some of the CD's are
capable of busting you same as a NM game warden for fishing w/o a license.
I doubt that; but that's what I heard. No matter, NM wardens frequent the
backcountry, too. Fish were being caught more than normally, very small
compared to the 10-12" rainbows I saw in 1989, but still fish. It's all
catch-and-release. No live bait is necessary.

Fire's Out: There's a state-mandated burn ban at Philmont; but they gave a
dispensation for program-related fires (see the shower thing at Beaubien
above). This means all staff-made campfire programs, blacksmithing, chuck
wagon dinners, and camper-fed shower stoves are okay to do. However,
absolutely no camper-built fires are allowed. The fire rings remain virgin.
'Tis a shame, primarily because Philmont's never going to get rid of all
that tremendously dangerous dry wood laying around until we burn it in
campfires. On the other hand, if we burn campfires, we'll probably burn the
place down. Philmont's long policy of let-no-wildfire-burn is going to
cause the place to be eliminated, someday. The forest floor is totally
covered in deadfall and fallen, dry wood. Mature trees that should have no
lower branches do and don't have lower bark toughened by ground level fires.
Sadly, it's so bad, there's nothing Philmont can do about the situation but
hope. Get your Scouts to Philmont sooner than later.

Need Help? I was really impressed by the helpful spirit displayed by all
the staff we met, from the Welcome Center to the Base Camp to the
Backcountry. Mark and his folks have definitely done a good job instilling
that. However, I was taken by the green-ness of the staff this year.
There's lots and lots of inexperienced people out there, more so than I've
seen in the past. They all want to do right and I did run across many
returnee's, even some 4 & 5 year ones. Generally, however, the Tabasco
Donkey crowd is gone. I didn't meet any staffer I didn't like and met some
who did far beyond the expected to help us. The biggest thing missing is
they're not getting much training in the Philmont traditions. They want to
know; but no one's teaching them. Lots of stuff is being forgotten. It
could be that the Philfolks want that to occur and time does march on; but
it's still a pity.

Chow's Ready! Philmont's spent lots of money building fire resistant,
restaurant style metal pavilions for the staff-supplied dinners at Clark's
Fork, Beaubien, and Abbreau. It's a little out of character for the forest
setting, but a huge improvement. Your clean-up Scouts don't come back
covered with soot, anymore. The food's prepared quicker and is better.
There's a problem with the cowboy camps, though. I heard this from other
advisors at the Shack and experienced it myself. They built large vats for
actual wood fires under the metal covers; so, they can make cobblers again
in Dutch ovens with real wood coals. Unfortunately, the staff was given no
training on how to make cobblers in that quantity and with the fixin's
provided. The young staffers are relying on what they learned as Scouts.
The result is you may experience uncooked cobblers and biscuits. Don't let
your Scouts, especially if you do a lot of DO cooking in your troop, be too
disappointed--the staff is trying to do their best. I do lots of
large-group outdoor cooking and the Clark's Fork guys let me help with some
suggestions. Things may improve there soon. They were letting the Scouts
stir the peaches into the cobbler base instead of pouring the base over the
peaches. That was slowing the cooking a lot. Philmont's supplying biscuit
mix but the guys, for time's sake, are just cooking one large cake-style
biscuit. White flour doesn't lend itself to that--not enough air. I
suggested to the CD that she ask for some use-water-only packages of
cornbread mix. That will taste better with the stew and is designed to cook
the way they are cooking. All in all, the new chuck's are an improvement;
but they need training they didn't get.

Ouch! Mosquitoes are terrible--all over the ranch. We unbelievably had
them at 10,800' atop Black Mountain in a strong wind! Their presence is not
related to bodies of standing water. They are living in the leaves of the
pine trees. Phillips Junction commissary received a truck shipment of
insect repellant the morning before we arrived but was already sold out when
we arrived. We ran out by Day 7 and were pretty desperate. Don't over pack
the stuff; but DO ignore the Ranger's "suggestions" to take it out of your
packs. My best suggestion is not to walk in shorts. If you are taking
zip-off pants, don't take off the legs. Keep your skin covered at all
times. The Scouts who wear non-zip-off shorts will want to put on their
rain pants upon entering camp. The same drill is advised for putting on a
long sleeved shirt or light rain top after you cool off from hiking in camp.
No kidding, it's a jungle out there. Take Benadryl capsules along to stop
the itching for those who get bit enough to begin a slight allergic reaction
to the toxin. I always carry Gold Bond powder to stop minor itching from
insects; but this year it was not even close to being enough.

Storm's a'Comin: If you go soon or in early July, be prepared for lots of
unstable weather. We got rained on during our hiking only once; but we were
an exception. Some serious systems are waving across northern New Mexico
and will probably continue for some time. We arrived, for example, to find
2" of ice covering the ground in the tree garden outside the Welcome Center
from an hail storm the previous day. You need to plan for contingencies,
escape routes, alternative trails, etc. on your high-mountain and high ridge
days.

Store's Empty: Apparently, Philmont's got some newbees running commissary
supply headquarters; and they don't know what they're doing. On June 14th,
we arrived at Ute Gulch wanting fuel but they didn't have any Powermax
cartridges. The CD apologized but said he didn't even know they were
supposed to have any. He radioed PJ for us and PJ had some when we arrived
on June 18th. PJ, on the other hand didn't have any Camp Suds or post cards
to sell and didn't know when they were getting any! Apples and oranges,
however, were abundant.

Potty Time: We saw some of the many new Red Roof Inns built this year; and
they are great. Philmont's got a long ways to go in that department,
though. Most of the old ones we used were in in bad need of repair. We saw
very, very few of the old outdoor exposed pilot-to-bombardier's. Our trek
was pretty luxurious; and if you are going into the boonies a lot you might
ignore this. But we didn't need to carry the heavy Scout spade after all.
A metal--not orange plastic that won't dig into Philmont soil--garden trowel
would have been sufficient for the few times someone needed to go on the
trail.

Tie it Up: Philmont's now issuing two bear ropes to everyone. One's
supposed to be for the Ooop's Bag. I suggest you bring along a 3rd
lightweight line for that purpose and use both of Philmont's ropes to hang
food and personal smeallables. You can hang unneeded food on one as soon as
you get to camp and forget it. The after-dinner hang then becomes lots
lighter and easier to get up. Philmont is insisting that all "dirty"
bottles go up. Some CD's will porch-talk you that it's okay to put them in
the fire ring at night; but the vast majority require bear-bagging them.
Teach your kids to drink-up the Gatorade so it won't have to be hauled up or
pour it in the sump first. Bears now know the shape of the Nalgenes mean
water and taste-good.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! We've now got about as much problem with
mountain lions as bears, maybe more. Bears are always a "concern" if you
mean one on the trail (as we did climbing up Schafer's Pass); and you HAVE
to keep a smell-free camp, at least the sleeping area to keep bears out; but
the real danger of getting hurt is lions. I don't want you to get paranoid
here. We aren't covered up with them; but they are definitely out there in
numbers. One growled a couple of times (not screamed) at us from the hill
only slightly above our camp as we went to bed at Fish Camp. Another one
calmly walked through the meadow on Deer Lake Mesa. The impact on you is to
teach "No one walks alone." Don't allow anyone to go wander-lusting alone
out of camp, especially at dusk or early light. Going to the Red Roof Inn
after dark is now, unfortunately, a buddy-required deal.

Got a Drink? For some reason, Philmont's removed all drink powder from the
dinners and several of the breakfasts. We brought Crystal Lite to fill the
gap. Many evenings during the early days, we used it. Towards the end,
we'd accumulated enough Gatorade packages (1-qt size) to get by and the kids
eventually just drank water. However, we were in areas where potable water
was abundant. If you're going to be iodizing a lot, bring Crystal Late.

Food: The helpings at Base Camp are too small, but adequate. Be sure to
point out to any hungry crew member the peanut-butter-and-jelly table in
each wing of the mess hall. They've moved it way up in the end now instead
of leaving it in the middle; so, you'll miss it if you don't look. There's
a woeful inadequate amount of protein, in my and my crew's opinion, in the
trail food. Some nutritionist thinks it's enough; but we boys from Texas
sure don't. None of us were starving, or anything; but it doesn't take long
to run out of energy at the end of the day if you're still hiking deep in
the afternoon. Be sure to get your Scouts to keep some of the lunch or even
breakfast things handy to eat along the tail. That's what Philmont's
intending you do. You'll think you're getting too many packages of the
Gorp; but if you eat them during the day, it'll make more sense to you on
into your trek when you've become hungrier. They've taken all the hot
cereal out; we only had oatmeal twice. That's a real pity. Yes, it
requires heating up some water; but boy, does that stuff stick to your bones
longer than the candy bars they've replaced it with. If you're a regular
backpacker and need your cereal, bring your own. The evening meals are
mostly okay and better each year. The meats like chicken and beef require
more simmering to get tender, as usual. The problem is Philmont's
re-packaged everything into 2-person sets. That creates lots and lots more
trash than before. They should have left the evening meals in 4-person
packages. It also doubles the opportunity for a young Scout to tear the
package and send flying powder everywhere. Bring small scissors for your
kitchen bag or make sure a sharp knife is a part of the cook's equipment. A
spice bag from home was a must for us, too. Bring your own salt and pepper
shakers with lids that won't open in transport. Philmont's shakers have no
tops and the sticky come off the first day. In addition to the Louisiana
"sugar" (we brought Red Devil Trappy's in old contact lens saline solution
bottles), dry cheese in a shaker from mac-and-cheese dinners, and Potato
Toppings in a shaker helped a lot. A small thing of garlic powder and some
dried onion flakes will help the dried green beans become homey. We brought
extra potato flakes and instant rice to augment dinners when they were slim.
It worked well, especially towards the end when we were really hungry.
Philmont's dried milk is very good; but you have to ask for it at logistics
when you draw your food. You may not need any; but sometimes it helps
cream-up something. If you want to take the time, it'll also help the crew
eat all the dried oats and horse food they get in the breakfast packs.
Bring about 8 more of your own extra trash bags; the medium kitchen size are
good. The added packaging Philmont's created will double the size of your
trash and make you old Philmonter's swoon.

Out at Abbreau: If your route finishes going out through Abbreau there's
been a major change that affects you. You can no longer be picked up by the
bus at the Zastro Turnaround. Philmont's making you hike all the way to
Rayado Town on the highway. It's 5 3/4 mi. from Abbreau. We got up at 4
am, were hiking at 5 am, and arrived at 8:30 am. We had previously arranged
for a 10:30 pick up bus. We'd planned our hike to arrive at 9:30 but hiked
faster. It worked out great, though, because it gave us 2 hours to do the
tour of the Kit Carson Museum, which is WHY Philmont is demanding the crews
to go through there. Drop off for starting crews down there is also at Kit
Carson instead of Zastrow. That makes for a longer day, albeit flat hiking
, to Olympia Camp, etc. Take the time, enjoy the tour, it's fantastic.
Tell Henry, the Program Director, I said Hello.

Gotta stop. It's too long, already. If you have specific questions, I'll
try to help. Our route was Vaca-Harlan-Deer Lake Mesa-Ute
Gulch-Cito-Cyphers Mine (via the fantastically beautiful, but difficult,
newly reopened North Fork Ponil Trail)-Clark's Fork-Schafer's Pass-over
Black Mountain (WITH full packs, TWICE, 'cause we got lost going off and had
to reclimb it)-Black Mountain Camp-Beaubien-Phillip's Junction-Buck
Creek-Apache Springs-Fish Camp-Abbreau-Rayado Town.

Jerry Lewis
Committee Member, Troop 303
McKinney, Texas

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Received on Fri Jun 25 21:34:19 2004