[Philmont]: Trek 26

L. Rocky Spooner asks...

Has anyone been on Trek 26?? Any helpful tips, ups & downs??

Response...

While I have not been on Trek 26, I helped prep a crew from our troop who
did it last summer, and I have been on most of it's trails. Full
disclosure - parts of the following are from my notes on Trek 4, posted at
http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/philmont-trek9-1999.html, which covers many
of the same trails, but only two of the same camps. We had a second crew
last summer that was on Trek 4, so they and the crew on Trek 26 had two back
country rendezvous (what's the plural?) near the beginning and end of their
treks. The second one was even more special when my hiking partner, Tom
Wills, who was on the Logistics staff last summer, hiked from Base Camp up
to Tooth Ridge to spend their last night on the trail with them (and bring
them some real world treats).

Day 2 - Rayado River. Typical easy first day for Ranger Training. Like the
other Treks that start from Zastrow Turnaround, you do have opportunities
for program this day at Zastrow (Land Navigation) and Abreu (Mexican
Homestead) if you have an early bus.

Day 3 - Urraca. The hike up the mesa is very exposed to the sun - get an
early start. The '04 crew's consensus was that this was their toughest day,
though others are longer and higher - so I'd chalk that up to not being
fully acclimatized yet. Program at Urraca is Challenge Events (like at Head
of Dean) and very good, especially coming early in the trek. Make sure you
check out Inspiration Point - spectacular views of the Tooth from just
outside of camp and a possibility for sunrise. Campfire at Urraca is
centered on ghost stories about the mesa. In '99 in Logistics, our
coordinator highlighted the contour of the top of the mesa - it is shaped
like a skull, and one eye is allegedly the portal to the underworld where
the Anasazi Indians disappeared.

Day 4 - Miners Park. Say good bye to your Ranger and head out on your own.
You've got two choices - back to the top of the Mesa and down to Stone Wall
pass (which is what I expect most crews do) or around the north side of the
mesa (the route my crew in '99 on Trek 4 did in the opposite direction.)
Program at Miners Park is Rock Climbing at Betty's Bra - the two routes
there are more challenging than at Cito - most of the boys in my '03 crew
had real trouble with the harder one, and this climbing-challenged advisor
hyper-ventilated on the 'easier' one. If you are scheduled for climbing the
next morning, break camp and take all your gear - there is a bear cable at
the junction of the trail to the climbing area for you to use for your
smellables.

Day 5 - Black Mountain. The hike along the North Fork of Urraca Creek is
famous for it's 50+ stream crossings in about three a half miles. There are
some nice views of Grizzly Tooth and other rock outcroppings, but you will
have to look over your shoulder to see them - I did this hike in this
direction in '02 and was puzzled by comments about how scenic it was until I
did it in the opposite direction in '03. Program at Black Mountain is the
ever popular Black Powder rifle and Blacksmithing, plus a Mountain Livin'
cabin tour. This is one of the two camps without any road access - all
supplies, including the coal for blacksmithing, are brought in by burro.

Day 6 - Comanche Camp. A long day. You will pass through Beaubien, but
since you will have a full day at Clark's Fork later, there is no need to
stop for the program. On to Phillips Junction for a food pickup and then to
Crooked Creek for the Homesteading program there. However, you will need to
leave by mid afternoon to get to Comanche and setup camp, so the crew will
miss the highlight of that program - chasing the chickens and other animals
to get them put up for the night after dinner. Crooked Creek is the other
staffed camp without road access and also is one of two (French Henry is the
other) without a source of treated water.

Day 7 - Comanche Peak. A tough day, with timing and water management
issues. A short hike to Clear Creek for program (Rocky Mountain Fur
Company - a second chance at Black Powder rifles, tomahawk throwing, and
your third cabin tour). But then its up to the top of Mount Phillips and on
to the trail camp at Comanche Peak. A dry camp, so dinner for lunch at
Clear Creek is an option, but one that will make your climb later in the day
which will be both warmer and more prone to possibly being caught in a
thunderstorm. Make sure you explore all the available sites here - one is
particularly nice. Just beyond the camp is vantage point that looks down
Cimarroncito Creek, and another great place to watch the sun rise.

Day 8 - Sawmill. The '04 crew decided to drop down to Cyphers Mine for
program and water - make sure you understand what that means in terms of
distance and elevation - before climbing back to Thunder Ridge and on to
Sawmill. That is a trail I have never been on (which I plan to correct on
our upcoming '06 Autumn Adventure!) but I understand it was reconstructed a
couple years ago. Program at Sawmill is .30/06 rifles. And I understand
Sawmill has another great view and opportunity for sunrise.

Day 9 - Hunting Lodge. After your last food pickup at Ute Gulch, you've got
a choice - through Grouse Canyon to Cito or Hidden Valley to Window Rock.
Personally, while Grouse Canyon is very nice, for me that would be a
no-brainer. The trail from there to Cathedral Rock will also give you the
opportunity to look back at your last couple of days hiking as well as what
is ahead of you (the short climb to the ridge above Window Rock has an even
better viewpoint). If you do go the Cito route, be sure to stop and look at
the totem poles made by 1950s Wagon Train crews. Another cabin tour at
Hunting Lodge, and in the past there has been an evening program where the
staff impersonates Waite and Genevieve Phillips which I understand was very
good. Very likely your Conservation project will be this day or the next
(and might be practically at Cyphers Mine...) which will need to be figured
into your schedule. The other opportunity for Conservation probably would
be Day 6 at Beaubien (or maybe near Phillips Junction), and would likely
preclude going to Crooked Creek for that program.

Day 10 - Upper Clarks Fork. A very short hike today, and your horse ride
time will largely dictate your schedule. Breaking camp and eating breakfast
at Cito Reservoir might be an option. Afternoon horse rides would probably
mean going directly to Upper Clarks Fork to setup camp and then back to
Clarks Fork for the Western Lore program, the chuckwagon dinner, and the
campfire. But a morning ride would let you do the program, then on to setup
camp, and back for dinner and the campfire.

Day 11 - Tooth Ridge. Another high and dry camp. If your horse ride is
this morning, the following would all change. The spring at Schaefers Pass
MIGHT be flowing (staff at Clarks Fork will know, and will have more recent
information than you got 10 days earlier in Logistics) and dinner for lunch
there is an option (which is what my '99 crew did). However, even if the
spring is flowing, my advice would be top off containers when leaving the
Clark's campfire so that you have at least six quarts per person and get to
the Tooth of Time for lunch. You need water for this entire day plus
tomorrow's hike down to Base Camp. The trail across Tooth Ridge is very
rocky and very exposed and takes well over two hours - keep a weather eye
out for a thunderstorms if you do it in the afternoon. There is a bear
cable at the base of the Tooth to hang your smellables. Many crews at Tooth
Ridge opt to return to the Tooth for sunrise, but there is a rock formation
at the camp which also is very nice for sunrise. Even if you don't camp
there, check out the view from the pilot to bombardier near the last site on
the right.

Day 12 - Base Camp. A fairly easy last day. All downhill, but the trail
never seems to end, and is largely in the sun. Still no sources of water, so
getting an early start has the benefit of both beating the heat of the day
and of getting into Base Camp early to take care of the check-in routine.
You should have the afternoon free for a tour of the Villa Philmonte or to
take a bus to town.

All in all, a great trek. Outstanding opportunity for program, a couple of
peaks, a number of very scenic spots, hike in across Tooth Ridge - it pretty
much has it all. And while rated as Strenuous, that is not accurate at all.
In the 1990's this route (it was Trek 11 then) was rated as Rugged and 64
miles, and then Strenuous and 66 miles when re-numbered in 2000. However,
at that time it went from Sawmill to Harlan to Clarks Fork. In 2002, Harlan
was changed to Hunting Lodge, the mileage dropped to 56, but the rating was
still kept as Strenuous.

- Al Thomson, Troop 236, Schooley's Mountain, NJ
1999 - Trek 9 (now 4)
2000 - Autumn Adventure
2001 - Trek 21
2002 - Autumn Adventure
2003 - Short trek
2004 - Autumn Adventure
2005 - 711D Contingent advance team
2006 - Autumn Adventure

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Received on Sat May 28 12:35:44 2005