Philmont 2014 was a really fun, but LONG trek.  On paper, it looked really interesting.  It started in the lower east corner by the Kit Carson museum.  Then traveled west, then north past the Tooth of Time and all the way north to Baldy Mountain.  Then west to Indian Writings.  The only corner we missed was the south west corner.  This was trek 28.  It is listed as 82 miles.  By my GPs, it was 114.7 miles.

This post will be very long, so it will be split into 3 parts.  All 3 parts are now complete.  Just continue scrolling down to find the other 2 parts.

 

 

 

 

Amtrak is a great way to travel. It is fun for the scouts as many have never been on a train before. You can sleep, relax, play cards or read in the lounge car. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travis and Cullen play cards 

 

 

Just got off the train. Time to make a pack line while waiting four our bus to pick us up and take us to Philmont. 

 

 

 

 

The bus ride to Philmont.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first things you see at Philmont. The boots of many scouts are worn out after the trek and they end up here. this gets cleared off several times during the season. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dining hall.  Great food while you are in camp.  It’s hot food and you don’t have to cook it!

 

 

 

 

 

The administration buildings. During the day of check-in, you will spend a lot of time in this area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the tents that you stay in the first night.

 

 

 

 

More of tent city.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sign will get you anywhere you want to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour of Waite Phillips summer home is a don’t miss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for the tour to start

 

 

 

 

One of the final pack lines before leaving

 

 

 

 

The last time we will look this clean for a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last pack line in camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Packing up the bus to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Kit Carson museum, we got to do some blacksmithing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomahawk throwing is always fun

 

 

 

 

 

We had help as our ranger was going over orienteering. Yea, she was adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first night was at Backache Springs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our water source

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, this is how you get water from the pond.  We filtered some and used Micropur for the rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning we climbed to the top of the mountain next to camp for the sunrise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike snorts a tree.  The mature ones smell like vanilla or butterscotch. They really do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking through the trees is a great view of the Tooth of Time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we arrived at Crater Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a logging camp. It’s really fun!
Their main program is Spar Pole Climbing. It’s not as easy as it looks, but lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Dan was our instructor for Spar Pole Climbing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some really good looking Bear Bags hung up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for supper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaron won one of their challenges.  He got pudding and a photo shoot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crew put on a great show.  Good music and funny skits.

 

 

 

 

More to come as the next 2 posts go up.