[philmont] Treks 27 & 9 Mileage

Our crew did 2005 Trek 6 (now trek 11), and had a great time.

After we set up camp and did ranger training in Vaca, the ranger
suggested that we hike over to Harlan for burro racing. The kids
grumbled and growled, and generally did not want to hike over for stupid
burros. But the other advisor and I kind of shamed them into walking
over there (it's 1-2 miles).

As soon as the kids rounded the corner and saw the other crews running
across the field with burros in tow, our scouts broke out in a run and
stormed across the field to join the next race. They swapped burros each
race, so each race was different. Some races they had to all pull on the
burro... the last race was toward the corral, and their burro took off
at high clip. Our fastest scout, Nate, weighed only about 100lbs and he
was hanging onto the rope. The burro blew past the finish line and
continued on toward the corral, with Nate digging in his heels, kind of
skiing behind the burro. The burro finally stopped about half way down
to the corral. It was hilarious!

Many of the kids on that trek consider burro racing to have been the
highlight of that trek. Mostly you have to let the kids lead, but there
are times when you have to be a pain in the ...

I can't say anything about burro packing, except, you can always hike
and see scenery... but how often will you have the experience of packing
a burro and hiking with it?

The hike in from North Fork Urraca is a long haul. The kids were up at
5am packing their tents. We advisors would not let them leave camp until
the first light of dawn broke, though there was another crew that left a
little earlier.

Kevin, I'm happy to answer any specific questions about the trek.

Best of luck,
Dave Smith
Troop 32
Santa Rosa, CA

Kevin Mineart wrote:

> Our crew purposely steered clear of burros. Our crew had a discussion
> about it and asked the adults what they thought. The only comment made
> was that you are always taking a chance with a burro because you may
> get a cantankerous one that you have to drag more than he will walk
> and there IS a limit on how much you can pack on them. They decided
> not to take a chance on it.
>
> A question on burros, and it crossed my mind on the discussion not too
> long ago regarding 'backhauling' a burro. Is it possible to do an
> itinerary that has burros as part of the listed program and choose not
> to take the burro? We do have burro racing available in our program at
> Harlan, we may just encourage those that were interested in the burros
> give that a shot!
>
> Another thing I have noticed, on the Phil-search page, there are 2
> different routes listed between Tooth Ridge Camp and Base Camp. The
> one notated as 'Lower Tooth Ridge' trail is the switchback trail I
> remember in 2003. Does the trail on the routes marked simply 'Tooth
> Ridge' or 'We All Made It' gate still exist? This appears to be the
> original trail that ran down the spine of Tooth Ridge that was the
> route of choice prior to the addition of the switchback trail.
> Comments?? My crew side hiked the Tooth on day 12 (instead of "goin'
> into town") and our other advisor (who was on his 10th trek dating
> back to the early 80's) didn't realize how much farther the lower
> ridge trail was since the added all the switchbacks, I noticed from
> the Philsearch page that Base to Tooth Ridge camp is 5.4 miles, the
> summit of the Tooth is probably another .6 so the round trip is right
> at 12 miles. We went a lot farther than we were expecting and got back
> only 40 minutes before our bus to the train station!! Saw a 3'
> rattlesnake about halfway up (laying next to the trail, right behind a
> tree...I got a REALLY close look at it!!) I am not sure I'd do it as a
> side hike again but am really glad we did it then!
> Due to activities choosen (other than the desire to hike Baldy) our
> crew's preferences relegated us to a mid/southern itinerary. Our first
> choice is Itinerary 11 (old itinerary 6) I'm hoping to get positive
> word that we got our first choice tomorrow but am not holding my
> breath. The guys really liked the idea of doing Thunder Ridge,
> Commanche Peak, Phillips and Trail Peak and hiking in over the Tooth
> back into base camp. It looks like a haul coming in from North Fork
> Urraca though!.
>
> Kevin Mineart
> West Burlington, Iowa
> Mississippi Valley Council Contingent/Crew Advisor
> 618-E3
>

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Received on Thu Mar 15 14:20:59 2007