Philmont Journal
Olmsted Falls Boy Scout Troop 201 made another trek to
Philmont Scout Ranch near
The saga really began in the spring of 2001 when several adult leaders spent a Saturday morning speed-dialing the reservation line. We finally got through after about 45 minutes only to find all treks for 2002 were taken.
We tried again in 2003 and, lo and behold, Asst. Scoutmaster Jerry Muller hit the jackpot. Trek 724N was ours. Now we had to fill two crews, collect the fees, arrange for transportation and set a training schedule.
Based on the experience of 1999, we pulled it all together and 14 Scouts and 8 adult leaders were poised for one of Scouting's greatest experiences.
The crews met at
With a two-hour layover at George bush International in
Once in the desert southwest it became a waiting game. Wait for the luggage. Wait for the bus from Kirtland Air Force Base. Wait for security at the base gate. Finally everyone and their baggage arrived at the West Gym to find...we were the only troop staying there!
With plenty of room to spread out, they quickly made camp around the gym perimeter. Then it out the gate and across the street to search for - you guessed it - something to eat! That accomplished, the group collected back at the gate to return for the night. The new security crew couldn't find our roster which we left on departing so it was wait some more before being let back in.
With daytime temperatures in the 90s (it's a DRY HEAT) the gym stays hot all night. Sleep was restless at best.
Wakeup was
Off to the Thunderbird, about 2 miles from the gym, was easy in the Air Force bus. In 1999 we hiked there the first morning and decided once was enough. The base mess offers meals to visiting Scout units at the same price as Air Force personnel. Even the every-hungry Scouts were filled up as a very reasonable price.
Back at the gym, everyone got spiffed up in their Class A uniforms and hiked out the gate to catch a city bus downtown. After a long, circuitous route all finally arrived in Old town Albuquerque. And, with $5 each in hand for lunch, the gang dispersed like chaff in the wind to explore.
The final stop, after everyone congregated back to the square, was a visit to the Atomic Energy museum, now relocated from Kirtland AFB to Old town. After spending the day outside in the heat, the air-conditioned museum was a blessing. Then it was back to the bus stop for the trip back to Kirtland.
Back "home" in the gym, we took the bus to the Thunderbird and dinner. Afterwards some played basketball or volleyball and a few took in a spirited softball game on one of the fields outside. A spectacular sunset ended the day and began another sweltering night in the gym.
After a very early wake-up (4:00am) and showers and final
packing, 22 eager campers and assorted gear waited in the dark outside the gym
for the bus to Philmont. The scheduled
While bussie stood and watched, the crews loaded the two back rows of seats floor to ceiling with packs, tents and the rest of the baggage then crammed into the remaining seats. With everything settled for the moment, we were off with a lurch, out the gate and headed for the freeway north.
As we sped up I-25 most of the Scouts caught up on the sleep they’d missed the past two nights in the gym. About 20 miles south of our planned breakfast stop in Las Vegas, NM, a loud boom, metallic rattle and scent of burning rubber signaled that something was very wrong with our vehicle.
Bussie was able to get us safely off the side of the highway and stop for an inspection. The inner, right tire was shredded and the muffler and tailpipe were dragging on the pavement. Troop 201 immediately jumped in to help save the day.
Some of the adults commandeered our supply of duct tape and re-hung the exhaust system so it wouldn’t drag. The bus driver decided he could safely drive on to our breakfast stop, either having no spare or the knowledge to replace the tire if he had. We limped up the interstate and eventually made to the exit to Las Vegas.
Those who had made the trip in 1999 remembered the place we ate then and directed the driver through town to Pinos. Everyone had a delicious but lengthy breakfast while our driver sought a tire shop. He finally returned with a new tire and we were off again.
For those who have never been to Philmont, the “old hands”
pointed out landmarks almost as soon as we left the interstate for the run to
Cimarron. Baldy and Touch-Me-Not mountains could clearly be seen rising above
the mountains directly in front of the bus. Nearing Cimarron, Tooth of Time
Ridge soon showed on the left. A quick left turn in downtown Cimarron and we
soon pulled into Philmont Camping Headquarters. The time,
The two advisors and crew leaders went to check in and we soon met our ranger, Kurt Sarsfield. Kurt gathered us and our gear at the welcome pavilion and got us tent assignments. After dragging our stuff across the dusty field to the outbound part of tent city, we were surprised to find some changes since our last trip.
Al the tents were the new, yellow canvas variety BSA wall tents and were perched on concrete platforms instead of the wooden variety. Complete with cots and mattresses, this was a welcome site for the tired travelers. After stowing our gear, we left immediately for the dining hall and lunch.
Mealtime at HQ was a bit different from the last time. Crews gather around the area outside the dining hall and all the rangers cluster around the bell at the center. As the appointed time, four rangers climb on the pillar holding the bell and tell a tall tale. Then the entire group chants a little ditty about wanting to go back to Philmont and the four do a “trust fall” into the arms of their comrades.
Someone rings the bell and the rangers then, in turn, call their crews to enter the dining hall. After a quick “Philmont Grace” outside, we entered and lined up in the chow line snaking through the large building. Since we were one of the most recent arrivals and wouldn’t go out until the next day, our crews were near the end of the line but the wait wasn’t long. Those that had made the trip in 1999 decided the food was better this time around. There were also two salad bars one could patronize after going though the line that were quite popular.
After lunch, the crews sat outside the admin building
getting quizzed on map symbols by our rangers while the advisors completed the
paperwork to check us in. After that, the crew leaders and advisors went into
logistics for final trip planning and getting the scoop on trail and water
conditions. We soon were told that now we had three dry camps because a bear
wrecked the water system at Aspen Glen. We also learned we wouldn’t catch a bus
for the trailhead until
Then it was off for the medical re-checks. The rangers did some first aid training while we met individually with the nurse. Everyone passed, including our heftier scouts and adults. Next we got our equipment (we needed very little since we brought most of our own gear) and trail food for the first two days.
Back at our tents, everyone pulled their cots outside and spread all their gear out. The rangers went through the checklist and recommended what to take and what to leave behind to save weight. After three long trips training for Philmont, everyone had packed sparingly and there wasn’t a lot of extra gear. After packing back up and distributing crew gear time was our own until dinner. Of course, everyone (adults included) had to hit the trading post.
Following dinner and religious services, we trekked across
the road for the opening campfire. The “New Mexico Story” was about the same as
we remembered. A play about the history of the area from the prehistoric
natives through the Spanish conquest to the mountain men and miners and finally
the settlement by ranchers. With the clear, dark sky a little stargazing was in
order on the way back to camp. Everyone hit his bunks around
Friday, July 25
The crews started stirring around
After killing time with more trips to the trading post, lunch
and some serious Euchre action we finally caught our bus to the trailhead
around
The bus finally stopped on the north side of Highway 64 and we offloaded Scouts and gear. We’re finally getting our start on the trail. But first, we had to hump everything over a fence and assembled in the shade of some scrub. Kurt made everyone offer a toast to the upcoming adventure and take a swig of water after each one. Just another sneaky ranger trick to get us to drink water. Then it was a bit more “ranger talk” and we finally hit the trail.
The trail up to Vaca camp starts west then crosses under the
highway and climbs a ridge. It was hot and dusty and the climb and altitude
started to get to some. Climbing higher, we had several nice views back toward
Vaca is a trail camp so our crew leader scouted around first to find the best site for camp. After dropping our packs, we pulled all the crew gear together and put all the food we wouldn’t use that night and all personal “smellibles” into the bear bags. Kurt then showed us how to hang the bags from the provided cable between two trees. He had us add a karabiner at the midpoint of the rope and string another rope through this. Now with the bags aloft and tied off at two points, we had a way to hang anything forgotten without having to take the whole thing back down.
After the cook fly went up and all the crew gear stowed under it, we set up our tents for the night. The area formed by the bear bags, cook area and sump is dubbed the “Bearmuda Triangle”. Tents were erected outside the triangle at least 50 feet away to minimize bear-scout contact should we get a visitor.
Kurt then cooked dinner for us and cleaned up with everyone observing so they’d be able to do it properly in the future. We all went back down to the water tank and went through water purification procedures just before dark. Time to hit the sleeping bag.
Saturday, July 26
After a tiring day everyone slept well, despite the loud
snoring of a certain advisor. John was going to wake us at
We only hike about 20 minutes before coming to Harlan for trap shooting. Everyone got the safety talk and reloaded three 12 gauge shot shells before hiking to the range. By this time our sister crew had joined us and we all waited about 40 minutes for the previous crews to clear the range.
The staff had two traps set up and each scout and leader got to shoot the three shells they reloaded and two factory loads. Many of the boys took the opportunity to pay for five more shots. This was not your typical Scout camp set-up. Philmont uses Ruger Red Label 12 ga. over/under shotguns. Pretty fancy equipment for the backcountry.
We all finished about
After the break it was a short hike to a trail junction where the boys got a bit confused as to which trail to take. After a bit of discussion and repeated glances at the map (with Kurt watching and muttering “doesn’t anybody have a compass”, they finally reached a decision to take the left fork and about a half hour later rolled into Devil’s Wash Basin.
Camp was in a stand of pines that wrap around a meadow with
a very stagnant pond (the wash basin) in the middle. The sites were very nice
and after hanging the bear bags and setting up camp, we dined on lunch for
dinner – Jalapeno squeeze cheese, crackers and canned ham. Not everyone was
into the ham so we saved two cans for future use. Near dark, Kurt took us
through the meadow to a rock outcropping with a magnificent view of the valley
and mountains to the west. To the southeast we could also see most of Tooth of
Time Ridge and
We had a reading by our Chaplain’s Aide, R. J., and did
Roses and Thorns. Roses for the view and the way the crew was coming together
and a Thorn for the reloading staff at Harlan whose comments were a bit
un-Scout like at times. Kurt said his goodbyes, as he would be leaving in the
morning for Camping HQ. He gave each of us our Wilderness Pledge cards.
Everyone was in bed by
Everyone was up at
After a long climb up a switchback trail (are there any others here?) we rolled down into camp and picked a site. We had been told at logistics this was a dry camp lately after a bear ripped up the water supply. It had been fixed since we left HQ so we didn’t have to carry water back from the nearby staff camp. We hung all that food except for lunch in the bear bags and left for Cimarroncito just a short uphill and downhill away.
The staff calls it “Club Cito” and we found out why – WARM
SHOWERS! After checking in Big R led us to the far shower house where we had
lunch, did some laundry and all had showers. Only two members of our crew
signed up for rock climbing but most of our sister crew took part. The rest of
us just lazed around before our alpinists re-joined us. We all left for the
15-minute hike back to Aspen Springs around
While waiting for the cooks to make dinner, most of the boys
explored a large rock formation (like the size of a football field) behind the
camp. It had an interesting pattern of holes on top (erosion) and a view of
Tooth Ridge. After a dinner of chicken teriyaki and Ramen noodles the boys
gravitated again to the top of the rocks. The adults made coffee for the first
time and then joined the Scouts to watch the sun set. Back in camp the boys
played hacky sack until bedtime around
Everyone up at
We stopped again about a quarter mile further at Window Rock. This is basically a big hole in a rocky ridge with a great view to the east. Then things got interesting. Near the end of the valley we took a trail to the right to the top of the ridge but it just wound around and took us back to Window Rock. Big R and Ian finally got things straight and we headed off to the end of the valley (which is actually a valley high up on one side of a ridge) and dropped off to the east on a switchback (what else) trail. This took us down and finally around to the valley above Little Cimarroncito Creek.
Winding back and forth across the flanks of the ridge finally brought us to the Hunting Lodge where our sister crew was just leaving. They took the route back to Cito and down the valley instead of our more adventurous meanderings. We had to check in there and some of the always hungry scouts rummaged through their “swap box” for more food. After resting and re-filling water bottles we headed out for the trail up Middle Fork.
This was a good trail most of the way but we did cross the creek at least 16 times before a hard right put us on the trail up to Cypher’s Mine. After about another mile uphill, we arrived at a bustling camp and were immediately invited inside the staff cabin. We got the “porch talk” sitting inside at a table sipping Gatorade, which was a nice change. The staff dresses in early 1900’s garb and, after explaining the program, we were led to our camp site.
Our site sits up on a hill above the creek and, like the
others here, has a large
Dinner was three-bean chili to which we added the two cans
of ham we’d been saving from our second day. The adults went to the advisor’s
coffee at the staff cabin and tried some of Bass’ Brew, a specialty of a
staffer named Bass. It supposedly has brown sugar, cinnamon and a dash of
After the show we all retired to the
Since the next camp is dry, we were going to hang around and
make dinner for lunch again before starting out. But, since we had a ways to go
and much altitude to gain, Big R convinced us to have dinner for BREAKFAST and
get going. Macaroni and cheese isn’t bad for breakfast when you’re on the trail
and we soon had eaten, cleaned up and packed. Everyone hiked back to the staff
cabin and the water spigot where we filled up our bottles and a 2-1/2 gallon
jug for the hike to
The hike up
Most of us hiked the short way back down the trail to the
overlook and took pictures. The view to the north and east was stupendous, even
with the clouds. Touch-Me-Not and Baldy rise to the north. We looked back and
marveled at how far and how high we had hiked. Saw some Mule deer feeding down
the slope about 50 yards. Everyone in bed by
Everyone up at
Now it’s all down hill but the trail is so rocky (BIG rocks)
it is still slow going. We pass several crews struggling up and are thankful we
are not climbing from this side. After crossing
After check-in we’re guided down the creek and through a fence to site #2. We’re now off Philmont property we’re told. After camp was set we had lunch (squeeze peanut butter and jelly on graham crackers. Some decided to take naps while our four card sharks got another Euchre game going. Then it was back up to the trapping demonstration in a fake beaver pond below the staff cabin. Three “volunteers” from other crews waded into the muddy pond with the staffer who showed them how to set traps for beaver. One was a member of a Mountain Women crew (all females) and she acted like she’d been doing this all her life. They are camped next to us…we’re going to have to keep a leash on R. J. who seems to like their company more than ours.
Afterwards our crew went to shoot black powder then toured the trapper’s cabin and got a look at what life was like for the mountain men who pursued beaver in these mountain streams. After dinner it was off to the advisor’s coffee. “Frenchie”, one of the staff, was casting lead balls for the rifles in the fire. Some of our sister crew couldn’t get enough of the tomahawk throwing and were still at it in front of the cabin until dark.
Just at dusk a bear is spotted in the meadow about 75 feet from
the “hawk” field by the boys. The staff moves into action and throws rocks to
scare it away. Failing that, staffer John creeps out into the field and SHOOTS
THE BEAR with his black powder rifle! Mr. Bear drops….we all stand there with
our mouths hanging open. John reloads and fires again then warily advances and
pokes the bear with the barrel. The bear then springs up to chase the him!
Finally we see it is only another staffer with a bear skin over his head and
back. Boy were we fooled! Some of the Mountain
Women were aghast when the bear was
“killed”. After all that excitement we hit the sack around
Up at
Five miles later at
Arriving back before
We all visited with our sister crew downstream a ways until dark. A Rayado crew pulled in just as we were going to the tents. They had come from Baldy that day – about 15 miles. A good night, cool with the babbling brook outside the tent to lull you to sleep.
Up at
Got the porch talk and were taken a roundabout way to our
site. Old Number 8 will be our home for TWO days. After camp set-up and a quick
breakfast, it was off to our
We got back to camp a little after
The sprinkle soon turned into a full blown downpour that lasted about an hour and showed us where the low spots were in camp – many under tests. After it stopped we moved several floating tents to higher ground. Had dinner in camp and then advisor’s coffee on the porch of the cabin. The scouts then competed in a “tough man” contest by telling whoppers about their prowess as tough guys. Our crew skipped the camp fire and went back to camp. It was tough getting to sleep as the camp has many crews staying there and some were very noise returning to their sites after the campfire.
We slept in until
We took the trail along the ridge on our side of the valley
before dropping down and crossing the road coming out of Beaubien. Then it was
up the trail on the other side on to the top. We hiked directly to the summit
and got a grand view down the south side of Tooth Ridge. It had taken about
We had lunch on a rock outcropping to the north and watched a thunderstorm roll in from the southwest. We started back down around 11 and got caught in the rain, which stopped when we reached the road at the bottom of the trail. We passed our sister crew on their way up. Instead of taking the trail back across the ridge, we decided to take the road back to Beaubien and then watched three wild turkey hens and four polts run around on the hill across the road. They finally saw us and ran back up into the trees. It was an easy hike on the road back to camp and another shower before dinner.
On our trek in 1999 we had exactly one chance to shower on
the trail and it was at our last camp. This time everyone has been able to keep
relatively clean and somewhat odor free although getting clothes clean is
nearly impossible in cold water and
Tonight was our night for the Chuck Wagon dinner under the
big metal shed below camp. Each crew has to send two cooks to help. Big R
decided he and another scout would go in place of the two advisors whose turn
it was…what a guy! However, our sister crew had a bit of a problem. Their cooks
hiked to
Now these guys know their way around a cook fire and were in their element tending the giant pot of beef stew and keeping two dozen Dutch ovens going with biscuits and peach cobbler. The wayward crew leader and scouts soon turned up – they has made a wrong turn after coming down the mountain – and dinner was great. The Minnis clan made sure the cobbler was perfect and the biscuits done but not burned like the charcoal we ate at Ponil in ’99.
After leader’s coffee on the porch where we watched a big 8-point muley in velvet wander through, it was another episode of the tough man. Owen’s fabrication won out over a true story. An advisor from another crew, a construction worker, has literally nailed his knee to the floor with a nail gun a few months before coming to Philmont. He had to use his hammer to pull the nail out so he could get to his cell phone and call for help. Here he was having a great time on the trail carrying a heavy pack. Owen tried to abdicate but was still declared the winner. Both were recognized at the camp fire that night.
Beaubien can have a fire even thought there is a fire ban
throughout the southwest due to eight years of drought. They have a huge metal
trough for the fire and it is under the metal roofed open pavilion that keeps
any sparks contained. One of the female staff, Alyssa, played guitar and
mandolin and sang for us. The boys (and a few younger advisors) were smitten.
She had a beautiful voice and ran through every song she knew but they still
kept asking for “one more”. Finally they had to chase the crews back to their
camps as it was getting late. Went to bed by
We were up at
From the camp the trail goes down North Fork Urraca Creek to the trail camp of the same name. The trail and creek run through a very narrow canyon and we were told it crosses the creek 57 times. Big R lost count but we crossed at LEAST that many times, mostly on some of those flattened logs like we were making back at Beaubien. One notable one was about 20 feet long and 6 feet above a beaver pond. Of course it was the narrowest one we crossed all day. We finally made North Fork Urraca Camp with only four sites – two on each side of the creek.
Big R reconnoitered and found the best one already occupied
so we took site #1 on the north side. Sites 1 and 2 are next to each other and
together are about the size of one of the other places we had camped. We
squeezed everything into #1 in case our other crew needed to camp next to us.
We had camp set up in time for the
Some early birds were rustling around by
We hiked back up the creek with flashlights and hit the
trail up to Schaefer’s Pass where we stopped for breakfast around
The water bottle was recovered and we pressed on up the side and around below the top of the peak. Then it was the long march up to the Tooth of Time. The sun was now getting hotter and we emerged from the trees to the rocky ridge…and I do mean rocky. At one point picking our way down a trail made up of basketball-sized boulders, Ian slipped and crashed. We had to stop and bandage his forearm where the rocky landing had left two good gashes. He also got a black eye out of the deal. After passing our sister crew taking their breakfast break, we finally arrived at the base of the “Tooth”.
From the south, the Tooth of time looks like one huge rock
jutting out of the ridge. From the north side where we climbed, it is a
succession of smaller rocks – Volkswagen sized – leading to the top. After a
hot and dry climb, we all finally made it to the top about
The trail from the Tooth to base camp is hot, boring and long.
It switched back and forth across the entire ridge from north to south – south
to north, etc., etc., etc. We could see Camping HQ much of the time but it
didn’t seem to be getting any closer no matter how long we hiked. Finally,
after a long section on the north side of the ridge (where we watched a
Cavalcade in the valley below) we rounded the final bend and hiked down and
through the gate into camp. It was
Big R led us to the quartermaster building and went to check us in. Of course it was lunch and NOBODY was around. So, we lounged in what shade we could find and dried the tents. Finally lunch ended and we checked in what little Philmont equipment we has then went to our tents. The advisors from both crews collected the crew gear we brought and got it ready to ship then hit the showers. Only a few showers in the one adult shower house were working so we had to wait in line. Note to Philmont: HIRE A PLUMBER!
Getting back early was good. We could relax and, of course,
do some more shopping at the Trading Post. We found some Philmont polo shirts
from last year on sale and Jerry bought a Philmont belt for Big R and Philmont
hiking shorts for Aaron for being such competent crew leaders. Two advisors and
two scouts went into
After dinner most of us went to the Catholic mass. There were THREE priests (one presided) and a seminary student and we all enjoyed the service. Those of us fresh off the trail were asked to offer any advice for those hitting the trail the next day. Outbound hikers also could pick up a rosary to take with them.
In 1999 we had the only rainstorm on the night of the closing campfire, and had to hold it in the tent drying shed. This time, since we had plenty of rain on the trail, the weather gods cooperated and we had a real closing campfire. This was more like a Scout campfire program than the opening one. One of the staff from Zastrow is a filmmaker back in “the World” and put together a very good claymation video of a Philmont camper’s first night on the trail. The staff skit “Attack of the Mini-Bears” was a riot and then the crew leaders, including our own Big R and Aaron, got to present the American flags they had carried on the trail to their advisors…who then gave them right back.
Back at our tents the crew leaders held a little ceremony and handed out the arrowhead patches to everyone and then it was sack time. The “homebound” part of camp was a lot noisier than the trail bound side and it took a while to finally drop off to sleep.
Up at
We made a quick pit stop in
Stuff is a lot more expensive in Sante Fe than in
Three other troops, all heading to Philmont shared the digs
with us that night. Phil spent a lot of time with a troop from
WE’RE GOING HOME!
Up at
Arrived at the airport and check-in went smoothly. Security
was another matter and a few Scouts got pulled for further inspection. One boy
had a small pen knife in his pocket which now belongs to the TSA. Seems it was
his the pants in his checked luggage on the way out and he forgot he had it. It
was a long wait for our
Watching the sun set from 38,000 feet over
It was a great experience – even for those of us who have made the trip before. And, you can see the new-found maturity in the Scouts who have experienced Philmont. Hopefully the tradition will continue and Troop 201 can make the trip again in three or four years.