6/28/2003 - 7/11/2003  Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico

This Journal is the log of scout Mark R.  It is an account of the events that occurred on the Philmont trek of Crew 629-K2-03.  It covers the dates between June 28, 2003 and July 10, 2003.

6/28/03

Today we flew from Detroit to Cincinnati to Colorado Springs.  We went to a buffet at pizza hut.  We then received water bottles from the tour company.

After lunch we went to the Olympic Training center in Colorado Springs.  We spent approximately two hours in a tour around the facilities.  We saw the areas where the shooting team practices, then to the area where the athletes do their exercising.  We then proceeded to the pool training center, where the swimmers and synchronized swimmers train.  Then we went to the gym where the gymnastic people train and sports teams practice (volleyball and basketball).

We then went to the hotel where we put our stuff down.  Some of us took naps, as we had been up all night, and didn’t sleep on the plane.  Some of us went swimming.  We went to the Garden of the Gods, a large set of rock formations. They are incredibly large, and otherwise indescribable.  It was raining, thundering, and very wet out, so we were not able to go out and look at them outside the bus. 

For dinner we went to the flying W ranch.  It was a large setup that was similar to a small town in the old west.  We spent an hour or so wandering around the town that was part history, part department store.  It had a store in just about every place they could fit one.  After eating dinner there (beans, cornbread, meat, a roll, and some lemonade), and listening to country-western music for over two hours (we were all dead from the trip, and got tired of the music very quickly), we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

629-K2 at the US Olympic Training Center	The Flying W Ranch

6/29/03

Today we left the hotel at an early hour; we traveled to the Garden of the Gods again, as yesterday it was raining when we went.  This time we got to get out of the busses and we looked at the four main panels from a distance.  We saw the “Kissing Camels” that look more like a rabbit and a turtle.  We then continued on to the area with Steamship rock and the balancing rock. Steamship Rock looks kind of like the Titanic, and the Balancing rock looks like a large rock that is balanced so that a slight nudge would tip it over, or there is some invisible person holding it up.

When we got into base camp we checked in, had lunch, went to first aid review, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the trading post and then ate dinner.  Tent city is an amazing sight, as tents stretch off into the distance.  The weather is interesting out here; it rains from about 3pm to 4pm every day.  The ground is usually dry by 6:00, and the sunsets are beautiful.

After dinner we went to our church services, and then to the opening campfire.  At the opening campfire they told “the New Mexico Story.”  It is the history of Philmont from the first natives, through the old west, to when the camp was donated to the Boy Scouts by Waite Phillips.  We then packed up and went to bed after a short stop at the snack bar for candy, ice cream, and various other snacks.

"Kissing Camels"	Steamship Rock and Balancing Rock

The Tooth of Time from Base Camp (Tent City in the foreground)	Relaxing in Tent City

Sunset at Base Camp

6/30/03

Today we started out on the trail.  We got up in our tents in base camp, and went to breakfast; we then proceeded to complete some final activities.  We took our crew picture, and did a final shakedown and prepared for lunch.  We were late to lunch, and so we had to hurry to make our 1:00 bus.  We threw the stuff we weren’t taking on the trail into lockers, and ran to the bus.

The bus dropped us off and we did some practice orienteering.  We attempted to triangulate our position, and had some trouble. We took a 3 mile hike to Rayado River Camp, where we set up camp.  It is a very small camp, and we got our first chance to set up our dining fly and hang a bear bag.  We haven’t seen any bears, but there were a few claw marks on some of the trees around the bear bags.

In order to setup camp we prepared our gas backpacking stoves, unpacked ALL smellables (things that animals, especially bears, smell that could attract them).  We then put up our bear bags (where the smellables go, at least 10 feet in the air on a wire between two trees), and cooked dinner.

A couple of the guys felt sick, but hopefully they will feel better tomorrow.  The stars out here are beautiful, we looked up into the stars, and there were an infinite number of stars.  One could practically look up into the sky and create their own constellation.  There is no light pollution like there is in Michigan, so I can see so many more stars here than I ever have before.

Triangulating our position on the map	Dinner at Rayado River Camp

7/1/03

 Today is the second day on the trail.  We got up at 6 am and hiked to Abreu, and ate breakfast.  Abreau is a camp made to authentically recreate a Mexican Homestead.  It included a cantina, kind of like a general store, where it was possible to get all sorts of food and such.  Mr. J. (our scoutmaster) treated us all to some good root beer at the cantina. The homestead also included some goats, which liked to follow the groups of people. They were eating the vegetation, but we had to shoo them away from our stuff, as they tried to eat several things (straps, cloth, etc.)  While we were there, Seth, (our ranger) learned an important lesson on how anyone can make mistakes regarding the proper way to eat.

We left Abreau for Lookout Meadow, and we were unknowingly traveling on the “Hill from Hell,” as many of us called it afterward. Our trail leader for today seemed to have forgotten to look at the topographical information on the map.  We were all under the impression that this would be a leisurely 4.86 mile hike, but what was not realized was that this trip was over rocky terrain up a 45^o incline.

Nobody felt sick today, despite the hard hike. Today was our last day with Seth, and we will miss him, as he almost became part of our Crew.  We also saw two deer with velvet antlers today.  They hung around our camp today for a while, but left when we tried to take pictures and get closer to them than they really wanted to be.

On the trail	Matt T. at the top of the "hill from Hell."  We started at the bottom of this ravine.

7/2/03

 Today we left our camp early and went up to Lookout Peak.  Matt got altitude sickness.  The view from the top was fantastic.  We could see for miles, and see the trails we were on the days before.  It was a steady uphill to the peak, which stressed our lower legs.  The trip down hurt our toes as they banged in the front of our boots.  We got into Fish Camp early, about 10:40 AM. We then took a tour of the cabin.

The cabin was a hunting lodge of Waite Phillips, the man who originally owned Philmont, and who then donated the land to the Boy Scouts.  He also used it as a place to fish, hence the name.  The cabin had early indoor plumbing, and separate rooms for himself, and each of his children.  There were several hunting trophies in the cabin.  The cabin even had a living room with a card table, and several chairs.

We then ate lunch, and then went to our conservation project.  Here at Philmont there are so many people coming through that preservation is a challenge, so maintenance is a must.  Our project was to aiding the maintenance of a riverbed, home to trout.  We followed the 4 C’s of trout (Clean water, Clear water, Cool water, and Covered Water).  We moved rocks that will eventually be used to fill in holes dug to fill in the stream to keep the water deeper and cooler.  They constrict the flow of the stream.  The guys apparently got a little too dehydrated because almost everyone felt sick afterward.  Today was a great day, and I hope tomorrow will be even better.

One of the two rivers at Fish Camp	Mr. J. revels in the beauty of the mountains

7/3/03

Today was a good day; we started out our day in Fish Camp.  Because we did our conservation yesterday we were able to do activities this morning.  We got up, broke camp, and went to activities.

This morning we did fly tying (the process of making fly fishing flies; they usually remotely resemble some form of insect). Philmont requires a catch and release policy, however nobody in our crew actually caught anything anyway.

After we tied the flies we went out and practiced our casting.  At this point I somehow lost the fly I tied, but found two more.  We then got fishing licenses, care of Mr. J, and went out to the river to fish.  No one in our crew caught any fish.  I saw several, but I seemed to have a flaw in my casting methods, because I only seemed to scare them away.  Philmont’s streams are full of trout.

After the morning activities we took a short hike, ate lunch.  We took a longer hike to Apache Springs, and signed up for activities for the next day. We ate dinner, played cards and went to bed.  The adults went to their coffee, and then to an archery activity.  Good Night.

Teepees at Apache Springs

7/4/03

Today was a good day.  Happy Independence Day! Today was our layover in Apache Springs. This means that we didn’t hike anywhere today.  We stayed in Apache Springs, and did programs all day.  In the morning we ate breakfast then went on a teepee tour.  Our campsite was on the side of a hill, and our fire bowl was near the top at a more flat location.  We then hiked to the Teepees where we learned briefly about the Apache Indian lifestyle.

After that we had some down time, and then went to the Apache Sweat lodge.  Kind of like a sauna, it was how the Apache Indians took a shower, but it was actually more like a sauna.  There were hot rocks in the middle of a small enclosed area, and we would slowly pour water over them.  It cleans out the pours, and was an extremely refreshing experience out on the trail.

We then went directly to 3D archery.  We walked up a trail, were given the instructions, and then slowly walked down the trail.  We would stop at points along the way, and at these points would be some sort of foam animal.  These were life size models at varying distances from the trail.  At one point along the trail a small ground squirrel scurried across the trail, and he almost got hit by an arrow.  No one was shooting at him, but he just had perfect timing to almost become dinner.

Tomorrow we have a hard hike, and have to get up early.  Happy Indepencence Day!

7/5/03

Today was a long Day.  We got up very early, about 5:00 AM, and got ready for our nine mile hike.  We hiked from Apache springs to another camp for breakfast.  We saw many mini bears (chipmunk like ground squirrels). The hike today was mostly down hill, and over flat ground.  We stopped at Philips Junction Commissary to pick up the food, and then hiked over a small mountain to Crooked Creek to eat lunch.  Crooked Creek was set up as an American Western style homestead. 

We ate lunch, and then took a tour of the homestead.  It was very simple, just a few beds clustered to make a bedroom, a fireplace and some rope chairs to form a family room, and a separate room that acted as the kitchen and dining room.  There was a simple oven and a pantry made of wood sides and cloth.  There were many chickens, a couple of mules, a cow, and some sheep.

We then proceeded on the long uphill hike to Wild Horse Campsite.  The hike up the hill was very long, steep, and mosquito infested. It was strange how the mosquito problems actually got worse the higher we went.  I think it has something to do with the average temperature. We took about two hours to get up to the camp.  I think today is our hardest day tied with the “hill from hell.”  It was a nine mile hike; the first four were easily downhill into the homestead.  After the homestead, the last five were uphill with no switchbacks through mosquito infested forest.  We eventually arrived at Wild Horse.  We ate dinner, played cards, and rested from our long hike.  Tomorrow shouldn’t be a long day, but it looks difficult.  Hope it’s a good day.

Crooked Creek Homestead	Wild Horse Campsite - Mosquito infested, but picturesque.

7/6/03

Today was a long day.  We hiked from Wild Horse to Clear Creek.  We ate breakfast at Clear Creek, and then did our Program.  Clear Creek is an 1824 Mexican Trapper’s lodge.  The people there were pretty laid back, as they are one of the most isolated camps in the south country.

We threw hatchets, and then hiked up to a range for black powder riffle.  The hatchet throwing was interesting.  We threw the hatchets in a certain way so they rotated, and stuck in the targets we were throwing at.  After hatchet throwing we climbed a large hill up to the black powder range.  Black powder riffles are muzzle loading rifles that are accurate replicas of those that were used by trappers in the nineteenth century.  We both loaded and fired the weapons down a range.  These guns were slow to load, and were relatively inaccurate compared to more modern riffles.

Today was a five mile hike, and the last two miles were all up hill.  It seemed like it was straight up at times.  10,000 feet straight up.  Our hike took us from Clear Creek to the top of Mt. Phillips.  We got into camp eventually, and ate lunch for dinner (we ate dinner for lunch because it is easier to cook at Clear Creek).  Phillips is a dry camp, so we had to carry all the water we will need till our next camp.  We conserved water by not cooking here at the top.

We tried to watch the sunset from the top of Phillips.  Mt. Phillips is the second highest point in Philmont, second only to Mt. Baldy.  The scenery around us was beautiful, we could see for miles around us, and we could see some of the places we were on previous days.  Tomorrow is all down hill; hope it will be another great day here.

The crew learning how trappers lived in 1824 at Clear Creak	The view from the top of Mt. Phillips

Dad and I on Mt. Phillips with Mt. Baldy in the background.

7/7/03

Today we hiked from the top of Mt. Phillips downhill all the way into Cypher’s mine.  Cypher’s mine was a small mining town in 1910.  The available activities today included a mine tour, gold panning, blacksmithing, and the “Cimmaron Stomp.”

The mine tour was interesting.  The premise of the tour is that we were going to be muckers.  Muckers were the low of the low in the world of miners.  They collected rubble, held picks, they were pretty much dispensable.  Apparently, people would come out to the mines expecting to strike it rich working in the mines, but they were paid less for their work than they were charged for their room and board.  The mine workers inevitably were stuck working for the mine as long as they lived, unless they could make some money outside the mine to pay off the rest of their debt.

The mine was a dark, long hole dug straight into the side of the mountain.  When we reached the far end of the tunnel our guide faked an explosion, and we had to run out.  About halfway out our guide’s air meter went off, meaning there was too little oxygen, so he had to turn out the lights, and we had to form a line to get out in the dark.

After the mine tour we went to blacksmithing, where we made an S hook.  It was an interesting process.  The blacksmith had a small blast furnace where she heated up the metal, then she had a volunteer from our group use the tools to flatten one side of the hook flat.  Then we put the first bend into the hook, put a twist into the middle for looks, then flattened the other end, and put the last bend in it.

Tonight we went to the “Cimmaron Stomp.”  It was kind of like having a campfire inside a small hut, except there was no fire.  Some people told stories, others sang, I had a good time there, but got tired near the end.  Matt won the "he-man" contest with a story about his toe getting slammed in a doorway. We all had to sleep in a small concrete floored, wood sided, and metal roofed lodge thing.  We were able to fit 13 people in about a 10’ by 24’ area.    It is a little tight.  Good night.

The entrance to Cyphers Mine	The "He-Man" contestants tell their tall tales

7/8/03

Today, one of the members of our crew had a birthday.  We celebrated his 14^th birthday with doughnuts and apples with our dinner.  Today we hiked from Cyphers mine to Cimmaroncito.  We woke up as a group, broke camp, and packed up to leave.

We hiked to the hunting lodge (old Cimmaroncito) and ate breakfast.  The lodge was one of four hunting lodges Waite Phillips owned on the Philmont property.  He used it primarily as a picnic spot, and allowed the government Mountain Lion hunters to use it as a place to stay.

The Boy Scouts originally used the camp as one of several “Base Camps.”  The camp would provide a place to camp, and the scouts would go out for day treks. Philmont has been used very differently in the past than the way it is currently used.  The camp was later abandoned, due to its close proximity to the river that provides water to the town of Cimmaron.  The town was afraid the camp may contaminate or disrupt this primary source of water.  The camp was relocated to its current location, and the lodge was not restored until 2000.

We arrived at Cimmaroncito, and went rock climbing.  Today we hiked 5 miles into Cimmaroncito, and Mr. J, Mr. M, and Mike T. took a side hike to Ute Gulch Commissary to get our food for the next few days.  They were kind enough to do this while the rest of us went rock climbing.  Mike G.’s helmet had the phrase “Princess” written on it.  Apparently we were not first in using this term as an inside joke.

This evening we had a party for Ryan S. with our dinner.  It was his 14^th birthday, and Mike T. brought party hats for the crew.  The commissary group also bartered for some doughnuts we could have instead of cake.  After our party we went to the bouldering wall, a horizontal climbing wall.  I made it to the second side and Andrew made it to the third and last side.  Tomorrow should be another good day, good night.

Resting on a rock at Cimmaroncito	Rock climbing

7/9/03

Today we had a short hike.  We went through Hidden Valley and saw some wild turkeys on the way to breakfast at window rock.  We had a spectacular view.  We could see all over the valley, with the Tooth of Time to our right.  Most of the guys climbed up on Window Rock.  I stayed safe on the ground, but did find a safe spot I could enjoy on the Rock.  Tomorrow is our last day on the trail, and it is a nine and a half mile day.  We plan to get up at 3:30am to hike in and reach Base Camp by lunch. 

Tonight we stopped at Clark’s Fork until after dinner.  Dinner was a Chuck Wagon Dinner.  The story was that the ranches with the best cooks had the best cowboys.  We had stew and biscuits, both can be made in enormous quantities.  Today was not busy, basically just a calm restful day.  We spent most of the afternoon resting under some trees in Clark’s Fork.  It was nice to have such a restful day before our huge hike tomorrow.  We plan to stop at the Tooth of Time for breakfast.  We will go to bed early.

We branded today.  I branded my moccasins and my boots.  Some of the guys had their belts branded.  I am anticipating getting back into Base Camp, Philmont has been wonderful, but I also look forward to being off the trail.

7/10/03

 Last day on the trail, this morning we got up at an insanely early time (a little after 3:30) and hiked along the Tooth of Time Ridge and had breakfast at Shafer’s Pass. Unfortunately, the hike took longer than we expected it to, so we didn’t make the Tooth itself for breakfast, Ponderosa Park was just too far away from the Tooth.  Last time, apparently our crew stayed at the Tooth Ridge Camp, so they only had to backtrack a short way to get to the Tooth.  We did, however, make the tooth in perfect time for lunch.

The Tooth of time is an extraordinary rock formation.  After walking along the rocky ridge for a long time, we came upon a wooded area where we set our packs down, and began the long hike up to the peak of the Tooth of Time.  The Tooth is covered in Massive numbers of extraordinarily huge boulders.  Many times, there was space enough between them for people to fit into.  Once at the top, we had an extraordinary view of the surrounding camp.  The Tooth overlooks base camp, and it was possible to see a few of the places we had trekked through on our way.  We found the Benchmark left by the 1955 survey crew that states exactly how tall the tooth is, all 9,003 feet.

After our somewhat brief stop at the Tooth, we moved on, and attempted to return to base camp by noon.  This proved to be difficult, and required us to move as quickly as possible, and be as efficient as possible with our rest stops, which we made very few of beyond that point.  As we moved down switchback upon switchback on our way down the large hill, we slowly got closer and closer to base camp.  This day was our longest day in terms of length, and was mostly downhill after the tooth.  It proved to be more difficult to go downhill than one might expect at first.  Eventually we made it all the way to the return gate, and we had completed our trek.  We fortunately made it back in time for lunch, and after two weeks of trail food, the pizza that they served was wonderful.  Its amazing how good even the most mediocre regular food tastes after two weeks of trail food.

This afternoon we went over to Waite Phillip’s old estate on Philmont property.  It was a massive house that was similar in scale to the estate at Meadowbrook.  This was called the Villa Philmonte.  It was a large, extravagant house that Waite lived in when he wasn’t out at one of his various cabins on the property, or somewhere else dealing with his petroleum company.  Words cannot do this place justice.  It had fountains, large, extravagant, hand painted rafters.  It contained many rare and valuable antiques.

This evening, John felt sick, and spend the night in the infirmary.  Apparently, he had become dehydrated on the long, hard hike we had taken that morning.  After a good shower, and some time to settle down and rest in Tent City, we were ready for dinner.  Shortly after dinner we were treated to the closing campfire, which included several songs, a couple of skits, and a homemade movie.  Among my personal favorites was “Attack of the Mini-Bears.”  After two weeks on the trail, we were all a little punchy, and understood the inside joke.

After the Fire, we had ice cream, and went to bed.  We will be getting up early tomorrow, and be taking the long bus ride back to Colorado Springs, and then we will fly home.

Mike and Andrew G. in a hole at the top of the Tooth of Time	The top of the Tooth

We made it!!!!	One of the many rooms in the Villa Philmonte

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