Philmont 2021 — 722J — Troop 55
Trek notes by Brian
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
We arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch at 12:30pm, following a 17 hour train ride from Ft. Madison, IA that arrived in Raton, NM in late morning. The 50 minute bus ride included pronghorn sightings and the visage of an arrowhead in the mountains, renowned to be proof of destined return if seen upon one’s departure.
Settling into the PTC, on the southside of the highway, we were impressed by the deluxe housing — canvas tents on concrete platforms. We ate well and though we have to mask the whole time, being on site is glorious. We spent a couple hours in the National Scouting Museum and played human foosball. Several of us finished the night watching game 6 of the Bucks-Suns NBA Finals on Matthew’s phone (something quite impossible in 1994). Giannis had 50 points and Toby was quite pleased at the Bucks first championship in 50 years.
Sad news from home–Natalie received confirmation that our beloved cat of 7 years, Tiger, died on Sunday after being struck by a car and cared for by a neighbor who didn’t know she was ours (ID tags were missing).
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
We hiked 5 miles this morning, down the road and back — finding a lovely spot for a group photo below the south face of the Tooth of Time. It felt good to stretch our legs and take in the nature — pronghorn, meadowlarks, Indian Paintbrush, Rose colored grasshoppers and plenty of quartz. We got a good view of Lover’s Leap, a granite outcropping 2 miles from where we turned around.
After lunch I took a nap and we all took a tour of Villa Philmonte, Waite and Genevieve Phillips’ summer/holiday home, completed in 1926. Decorated with Mediterranean flourishes, it’s a roaring 20’s exhibition of affluence and American hubris, reminiscent of the Hearst Castle in CA.
Before supper we played 4 Square and Cookie (a tag game on playground equipment that incorporates closing one’s eyes). After supper, some of us took a 7 mile bus ride to Rayado, a recreated 1800s trading post and home of Abreus, Beaubiens, Mirandas and Kit Carson. The joint venture of the BSA and National Park Service has re-enactors showing life near the terminus of the Santa Fe Trail, a trip undertaken by US entrepreneurs taking advantage of the Mexican capital’s vast distance from NM territory. I called Nat who was still understandably in the throes of grief about Tiger. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Thursday, July 22, 2021
After breakfast at PTC we packed up and headed to the north side of Philmont (Basecamp) to begin our logistics and prep with Ranger Liam. Liam is an Eagle Scout from Troop 55. Meeting with Liam was all day, Getting gear and food, packing out and packing up, etc. By 7:00 p.m. we were at worship and at 8:15 we took in the opening campfire with a nearly full, bright moon overhead. By 10:00 we were packed and in bed, ready for an early morning.
Friday, July 23, 2021
Wake up at 5:30 and breakfast at 6:30 with bus pickup at 7:30 had us scooting early. We rode past Cimmaron and 11 miles west on the only gravel highway in NM. We saw evidence of the 2002 Ponil Complex Fire and the 2018 Ute Creek Fire (more to come on that one). Rangers Liam and Jack offered humorous tour anecdotes as we drove. It reminded me significantly of the Holden bus trip from Lucerne to the Village. Copious ranch horses greeted us at Ponil Trailhead/Turnaround as we learned map navigation and proper and proper use of Red Roofs (“pre pee your poop!”).
A half mile down the road we came to Ponil and squandered a lovely half hour visiting the original 1938 Philturn Base Camp. Liam serenaded us on the Trading Post piano and we enjoyed pre-emptive root beers. Staff person Alex gave our hats and bottles gorgeous Zia and Philturn brands and we watched without envy as crews encumbered with burros passed through. The 1958 chapel (one of 7 backcountry chapels) wasn’t in use but our gratitude and awe at the sights and sounds were provisional worship.
By 11:00, with the smell of burnt plastic and fabric in our nostrils we followed pacesetter Miko and Naviguessor Cam on toward Head of Dean with billowy cumulonimbus clouds growing along the ridge. Pungent ponderosas and lovely douglas firs lined the creekside trail that took us to Head of Dean Camp, our first overnight stop. We ate Spam and gouda wedges with crackers, relaxing in the diminishing shade of our coniferous companions.
We divided up bear bags into smellables for tomorrow and tonight’s food. Liam walked us 200 yards back to our bear bag lines after describing the Bearmuda Triangle (though it’s quite often a line these days) of firepit, sump and bearline. The flow of the Creek was comically punctuated by a Philmont food and supply truck rumbling past on the other side. Cal noted we’d be wise to be thankful for what is likely our next food pickup.
We set up the fly and tents in the shade of shrub oaks, cedars and firs. Drawing water from the alder thicket surrounded, five feet wide stream, Liam taught us to use micropure tabs for water purification (urging us not to forget to “bleed the threads” before imbibing). “Don’t let the tabs touch your skin,” Liam dryly noted, a curious thought to this observer since we’d soon be ingesting it! “Planes, Trains, And Automobiles” was cited as Phil and I realized the cozy geometry required to fit us both inside our tent. I took my first of two creek baths, enjoying the cool water for 5 minutes. It felt amazing to cool off while two hummingbirds flew wildly overhead. Their preferred abode was a large cottonwood overhead, silhouetted well by a bright blue sky. A large yellow and black butterfly navigated the alder thicket. One restless youth lamented there was nothing to do and was unmoved by my suggestion of water-based relaxation and animal observations. This first of our trail camps proved to be less popular than later staff camps (Mistletoe and Red Hills being exceptions).
Saturday, July 24, 2021
We rose at 5am and had camp pack in 1 hour 12 minutes, a summer record for Ranger Liam (and what would turn out to be possibly our quickest time). We hiked for an hour and a half until we reached half way between Dean’s Cutoff and Pueblano Camp.
We worked with Barbs and Nataleigh for our Conservation project, carting dirt in wheelbarrows, busting rocks with a sledge and collecting large rocks to build a new trail near Flume Canyon. We hiked on another 90 minutes and arrived at Pueblano. It rained for an hour and while sitting on the porch Carson shared that he was not feeling well. We hung out for awhile and then 10 moved on to Pueblano Ruins while Carson and Tim waited for medical tests. Walking 1 mile up the road we were treated to huge quaking aspens and more conifers, and encountered our first wet, mucky bit of trail (more to come!). Timmers arrived shortly before chicken and potatoes dinner, to great applause and appreciation for our reunion. We had a pleasant, calm evening but once we headed to bed the rain came hard for a couple hours and we were glad we hadn’t hiked back into Pueblano for the evening program on the logging history in that area.
Sunday, July 25, 2021
We said goodbye to Liam this morning and after crossing the creek at Peublano Ruins, Carson decided he was ill. The two Timmers headed to Pueblano and we headed toward French Henry. It was a sad goodbye but we left with some hope that they could be reunited later on down the trail (though once at Basecamp, staff and the Timmers discerned that for Carson’s health and safety, a return home was necessary).
French Henry is an old mining camp where the boys learned sociological history, some iron forge work and panned for gold after learning about mining practices and labor practices. We headed up the hill toward Baldy Town, in a sprinkle, before Noon. It was a monster hill and we made a multi-mile mistake at the Aztec Mine turnoff. It gave us a heckuva warm up for Baldy Peak tomorrow. We mastered the Caterpillar method of hiking and encouraged one another along the way. Walking through the gorgeous meadow along the way, and along an aspen lined road and trail into Baldy was a good encouragement.
Getting into Baldy Town was a relief though it was still raining. We waited a bit before setting up camp. Thankfully it remained clear the rest of the day and we hung out gear to dry. The moon was nearly full and provided lovely light as we bedded down for a short night, albeit a hopeful one at the thought of not needing to tear down camp nor carry full packs on our “day off” for the day hike up Baldy.
Monday, July 26, 2021
We rose at 4:30am and hit the trail before 6am with day packs, enjoying the lack of weight and not having to tear down. It was a 2500’ gain up the south side (goat trail) that we tackled pretty well, using the caterpillar a lot. It was upgrade through fir, pine and more beautiful aspen. We managed well, in part, due to copious amounts of singing together and offering up the few lines of various upbeat tunes that we knew to varying degrees. The last 500 yards is a bear, up exposed slate rock beyond the treeline but we took it well and Cal Iehl (denied peaking on several attempts dating back to 1999) led us onto the peak around 9am (a fast 3 hours!). We called family and friends, including the Timmers, after taking photos on top and got the sad news that Carson’s altitude sickness hadn’t improved and they’d be headed home in the next day or two.
After the 360 degree views and bracing winds, we descended the north side and it was lovely. Coming across the ridges was gorgeous. Weather stayed away and we descended well groomed switchbacks into Copper Park where we ate lunch in the shade of fir trees while it rained. We had the privilege to yet again cross the gorgeous meadow from the day before and across the aspen ridge while keeping keenly aware of lightning and thunder about us.
Tragedy struck upon our return to Baldy Town when we learned that showers were unavailable due to not enough rain and another trekkers overabundant use of shower water. Advisor Coffee on the porch was also canceled so our afternoon activities were reduced to commissary pickup and some time combing the Baldy Town Museum, a town which had 2k residents at its height. The town closed in 1943 and was reminiscent of our beloved Holden Village (and the connected Winston Town).
Phil and Cal got our troublesome stove going and we dined on mac and cheese and Chips Ahoy. We grieved the Timmer loss again but looked forward to tomorrow’s 10+ mile downhill slope, rather than another epic uphill slog.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
We got started from Baldy Town Camp at 6:10am and arrived at Head of Dean around 9:15 after a great hike through Baldy Skyline Camp and a large Cons area where trees were cut and stacked, both log cabin style and teepee style. It was a great relief to drop 1200’ overall instead of up up up. We did rise a couple hundred feet before the ridgeline with views of Baldy, a lingering nearly full moon and Colorado’s Three Sisters Mountains to the north and west.
We played football and drank coffee at Head of Dean before the boys took part in a COPE course. Staff person Sarah was our coffee hero, twice boiling waters for us to add to our instant coffee. On COPE, Matthew was largely blindfolded and Cooba fell a lot. Events included Spiderweb, Balance Beam and the Wall. Toby, Matthew, Miko and I shot some hoops, fulfilling a long dreamed of “basketball at Philmont” moment for me.
We launched southward toward Santa Claus in hopes of a shotgun program staff camp en route to our night’s trail camp. At Santa Claus we got news that there was no room for us to load shells or shoot shotguns. We failed at temporarily stealing their shelf on the elf, Stephen. The one hour walk to Mistletoe was threatened by dark clouds that never brought rain and an old road with lots of puddles. Mistletoe was our most remote camp and thus most bear-dangerous. It was hear that Cal spotted what appeared to be broken down old tractors but were in fact fallen trees. We had a great night of hilarity and enjoyed the strength of knowing our way on the trail.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
We woke up to a nearly full moon that resembled the Death Star and hiked 5.6 miles, mostly downhill, to Cimarroncita, formerly a Girls Camp from the 50’s through 90’s and only purchased by PSR in 2015. It was hereabouts that the 2018 Ute Park fire started and burned for two days.
Hiking here we traversed an intermittent stream bed and went under the only highway that bisects the Ranch. We noted cougar tracks along the way and later learned that four of them live in the area. “Use the buddy system,” staff encouraged.
We adults cooked jambalaya after Phil fixed the stove, while the boys shot the recurve bows at 3D animal targets. Cooba hit near the eye of a velociraptor which netted the boys a bag of semisweet chocolate chips. We set up camp at number 6 which offered only a partially alive ponderosa for shade though it was enough as several boys napped and lounged before heading to lower camp for a hunter safety talk and video game hunting activity. The refurbished dining hall offered AC and respite from hot sun even as storm clouds bloomed over Baldy Mountain and Touch Me Not Peak to the north. Much discussion ensued over whether we’d see rain or not but given our experience so far, we planned for wet.
Thursday, July 29, 2021
We joined a crew from Cincinnati to hike through Ute Park Fire with staffers Jake and Maria. It’s a 3,000 foot elevation gain day. Much burned ponderosa and high grasses on an old service road. We saw cougar tracks and observed recently flash flooded areas. We hiked 7+ miles to Sawmill staff camp where the boys loaded shot and fired 30 ought 6 (whatever the hell that is). The view from Sawmill porch rivaled Head of Dean despite the burnout in the valley below, the long view stretches to the 6,000’ high plain below, edged by far off mountains. Cal and I again enjoyed coffee with boiled water supplied by staffers.
Showers were available but I opted for a refreshing head/face/arms scrub at the filtered water tap. After lunch we headed uphill to Whistle Punk, our evening layover, and an unstaffed camp. Whistle Punk is a trail camp and we were encircled by 2 other crews. The 2 miles up were not too incredibly hard and the 10k’ of elevation made for a cool night. We set up quickly and ate biscuits and gravy after Phil, Matthew, Toby and I made the less than 1 mile round trip to the springs/tank for water fill ups.
More rounds of Contact were played and we got a campfire started after numerous folks tended foot wounds. We were tired from a big commissary stop (3+ days of meals) and noted we had just enjoyed our penultimate staff camp. I miss Natalie and Sophie something fierce.
Friday, July 30, 2021
This evening there was rumbling thunder in the distance as we settled into Red Hills, a trail camp that is in a steep canyon with fir up and down, many having been felled naturally. Their branches are lined with lichen. The 6’ wide creek is our source of water and is supposedly delicious. We are dog tired after peaking Comanche and Phillips (minus Cooba, Miko, Cal and me who mapped and rested feet at the intersection of Phillips, Comanche and Red Hills. The Quick Six were up and down in just over an hour. We are half battling blisters and foot soreness but grateful for several dry days. Tonight…spaghetti, another campfire and plenty more games of Contact.
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Goodbye July! We had an amazing five mile hike down from Red Mountain through a gorgeous valley, crossing Uraca Creek 30+ times. Vine maples, mulberry-like trees, aspen, and fir accompanied us. We saw 4 trout once, in a 3’ deep pool. By 11 we arrived at Black Mountain Camp, a late 1800’s pioneer staff camp (our last of the trek). Donkeys ate grass around the canvas tents and smoke curled out of the chimney of the log cabin that serves as a staff facility. Beeswax (staff name) welcomed us, informing us that there’s no swap box and that we missed the weekly mail run by an hour.
It started raining here at 3, just after the boys finished with black powder rifle shooting and some refreshments of Mountain Dew brought in by Troop 55er, friend of Caleb’s and 5 year PSR staffer Ben Mord. Once the rain started it never stopped and we had some minor panic, cooking while wet and preparing hot water bottles for the boys to cuddle in their bags. We went to bed hoping it would’ve stopped by morning and we could have hope of drying things out. Going to bed at 7 while still light out but being pelted with rain wasn’t ideal. Plenty of prayers for cessation of precipitation were offered.
August 1, 2021
Still raining though we slept til 8am (well past our usual 5am wake up call). We got word from Ben Mord that rain and lightning would keep coming for days and that all roads were closed and emergency evacuations had been run all night to Baldy area. We decided to change itineraries, forgo Tooth of Time and head for Basecamp. Toby shared this with BM staff, who radioed in our change to Basecamp and got approval. We headed toward North Fork Uracca by way of the creek, crossing it 51 times, calling out athlete’s jersey numbers as we went, corresponding to the number of times we’d crossed. It rained incessantly and the creek was high. Crossings alternated between simple and scary, with some demanding that we simply wade through, up to our calves. This was the location, I’m quite sure, of rescuing Daryl’s walking stick from the creek. From NFU we headed uphill to Miner’s Park and had a brief rest on the porch and raid of the swap box. We ate lunch quick and filled our water bottles before tackling the final 8 miles to Basecamp, reveling as we went in brief rain breaks and amazing Ponderosa groves. We were soggy all the way in but motivated by all that Basecamp promised. Views of Lover’s Leap and Tooth of Time, up close, were a delight.
We arrived at Basecamp around 4pm and set about turning in gear and getting to our platform tents. Long overdue flushable toilets and showers were greatly appreciated, as was the dry tents and soft cot for the night. Each time we looked up to Tooth Ridge we were grateful not to be enduring a wet night with wet gear.
— Brian Julin-McCleary
Collected Quotes
“Kidneys are the organ I’ve gained the most respect for. — Caleb Iehl
“I am fruity.” — Cal Iehl in response to Liam’s sharing that humans and bananas share 60% of DNA
“You misnomered misnomer.” Caleb Iehl to Cal Iehl after the latter said “It’s a misnomer that water has to boil for sanitation.”
“We need to take better care of our crackers.” — Toby JM
“It’s hard to see when I can’t see.” — Joe Kenkel
“HaCooba Matata.” — Many folks along the trail
“Phil, stop eating. I’ll trade you for that.” — Cooba Patterson
“While playing a Capitals game, “Hey, I got one. United States. Des Moines.” — Joe Kenkel
“Anybody see the tractors up there?” — Cal Iehl as he looked up the hill at Mistletoe Trail Camp and saw what turned out to be two felled trees 50 yards uphill
“Welcome to Baldy Town my dudes!” — BT staff person
“Anyone know how to open this or are we supposed to just look at it.” — Cal Iehl at a post trek Basecamp supper
