Philmont Trek 4 June 19-July 1, 2016

 

Day 0

Departed Cedar Falls, Iowa at 2pm.  Took group photos before leaving.  An easy drive to Fort Madison.  About a 3 hour drive.  We stopped and had supper at the Subway close to the train depo.  We were early, so went across the street and had ice cream at the small ice cream shop.  Very good.  The train was delayed, so we drove to see the fort at Fort Madison.  It was closed, but were able to look at the grounds.  Went back to the station.  This was one of the few times that someone was on duty.  They told us where to put packs, etc.  We used the storage car for our packs.  There were at least 4 other crews on the train headed to Philmont.  Everyone got their seats, then the scouts headed to the lounge car.

Had an easy ride down.

Got to Raton just about on time.  Found our bus and loaded up.  Stopped for lunch, then headed to Philmont.

 

At Philmont, we got our tents, put our gear there and then the boys had time to explore.  One crew did Villa Philamonte (Waite Phillips summer house) today, the other crew the next day.

Looked around camp, the trading post.

Met the second half of our crew that got in from California.  Their train was late.  Seem like a good fit.  One of our scouts moved to California.  He had been with us on our 2014 trek and wanted to go back if we came out again.  He had several scouts from his troop that joined us.

Had supper and then went to one of the Church service.

We were done for the night.  The boys played cards and just relaxed.

Getting in a day early is a good thing.  The next day will be busy.

 

Day #1 Basecamp

 

They have a new showerhouse at basecamp. Really nice.  Each unit has its own shower, toilet, and sink.  There are 12 units on each side.  The older showerhouses are still there as well.

Breakfast at 6:30. 

Met our ranger at 8  and started out way through the 13 stations.  This year, both crews had to go through registration together, but we didn’t realized that and both crews were not together and had to track down the other one.  The rest of the stations were easy.  Plan for plenty of downtime during registration and logistics.  Some rangers will do training during this time, others, its free time.  Plan accordingly.

Took our afternoon tour of Villa Philamonte.  Be sure to get  your time reserved ahead of time as it does fill up.

After supper, the adults headed to their training.  Don’t miss this.  Mark gives lots of good information.  You can also pick up hot chocolate mix, coffee and hot cider packs for the trail.

Opening campfire was fun and well worth going to.

Finished up a little bit of packing and packed up most of the stuff I won’t be taking on the trail.  Luckily, we have much less food to take at the start of this trek.

Day # 2 old Abreu

Up at 5:30, showers were busy, but got in before the rush.  Breakfast was at 6:30.  Then back to our tent, to finish packing, clean out the tent and get the gear that is not going on the trail into our locker.

After breakfast, one of our scouts developed nausea and diarrhea.  Did he pick up a bug or bad fod on the train?  Hopefully its not contagious.

Left on the 9 am bus.  Its great to get out of camp early.  Took us to Zastro turnaround.  Unloaded our gear and then the ranger did some orienteering training with the scouts.  We hiked to Zastro and let the scouts do the orienteering course.  The adults looked through the woodbadge museum.  Our sick scout just layed down.  Not any better, but not worse.  Our other crew decided to go straight to Abreu.  Our scouts did great, one team placed first and the other second for the season so far.

A short hike to Abreu.  Ryan wasn’t feeling any better and spent the afternoon laying down.  We had lunch, played with the chickens goats and other animals, learned how they made adobe bricks, and took the tour of the house.  We also had rootbeer from the Cantina.

We talked to the staff about Ryan.  We brought him up to the cabin, he was lightheaded, and vomited several times.  He stayed in the cabin while the rest of us decided what to do.  Eventually, we decided to go with our ranger to get camp set up and he and his dad would stay at Abreu for now.

Our camp was only about 10 minutes away.  Our ranger taught the scouts how to properly set up camp and then how to cook and clean up the Philmont way.  All tents were up, bearbags were up, the dining fly was up

Four of us hiked back to Abreu to see how Ryan was doing while the scouts cooked supper.  No decision had been made about Ryan yet, so we hiked back to camp and ate.

Just as we were going through devotions and Leave no trace, Robert and Ryan came walking into camp.  Ryan was feeling better and had kept some food and water down.

We finished with thorns and roses.

We have a beautiful campsite, running water, a full moon lighting up the evening sky, and all o four crew is back.

A great first day!

 

Day # 3 Crags

Ryan had a good and is feeling better today.  We have a short day, so slept in until 7am.

The adults still woke up about 5:30.  We got bearbags down and the dining fly taken down.  Camp was torn down and finished breakfast by 8.  Had a  nice short hike to Carson Meadows.  I had never been to this camp, but it is worth checking out.  They have a good program of Wilderness Medicine and Search and Rescue.  The scouts got to use a pulley system to move a stetcher.

Had lunch, and the adults took part in the blood pressure study.

Left about 1 pm.  Hiked up to the Notch.  Some beautiful views along the way.  Lots of good photo spots.  Took pictures at the notch.  Don’t miss it.  Was a very level hike until we got to the Crags turn.  Then turned into steep switchbacks. Then dropped a lot of height over  a short distance. 

Arrived at camp at 3:15.

Looked like it might rain, but never did.

Got camp set up quickly, then started supper.  Beef Stroganoff -Yum!  This was our last day with our ranger.  He finished up teaching.  Then brought out pound cake for the scouts.  Even had frosting and cherries.

The scouts used micro-pur and filtered water to see which they liked better or if there was a difference.  The gravity feed filter works really well.  Much better than my old pump.

Did our nightly devotions, Leave no trace, and thorns and roses.

Looked at the trek for the morning.  Will be longer, but we go to Fishcamp (one of my favorite camps) , stop at Phillips Junction, restock food and then a layover at Beaubien.

Good think we don’t have a long hike from PJ to Beaubien as we are picking up a LOT of food.

Another great day.

 

Day # 4 Beaubien

Up at 5:30, camp broke, ate part of breakfast and out of camp by 7:20.  We had to hike back up part of the switchbacks to the trail.  Easier and shorter than we were expecting.

Hiked to Fish camp.  Great stop along the way to take a break and finish breakfast.  Beautiful views in both directions.  Got to Fish Camp later than we had hoped.  Got a tour of the cabin.  They have a program of fly tying and fly fishing.  The boys weren’t interested, so we didn’t do program.

Left and started hiking to Phillips Junction.  Got there in about 1 ¼ hour.   Minimal line for food.  Got our food and started to distribute.  66 bags for 11 people  Ugh!

Also got some fruit and milk – Yum!  Topped off our white gas and then had lunch.

Got to Beaubien in about an hour.  Met the son of one of our adults.  He is assistant camp director.  Once again looked like rain, so got to our campsite, put up bearbags, tents and dining fly.  Only a mild drizzle.

Had the Chuckwagon dinner that night.  Hot cooked meal that we didn’t have to carry.  Skipped dessert, and went back for a shower.  They have a tabasco donkey.  Stoke it up with wood, and you have plenty of hot water.  They are building a new shower facility like at basecamp, but it wasn’t done yet.

Got laundry done as well.  It’s not clean, but knocked off a few layers of dirt.

Went to advisors coffee and had hot chocolate and cookies.

That night the program was the staff “Outlaw Show”.  Was really  good and fun to watch.

Finished back at camp with devotions, Leave no trace, and thorns and roses.

Had to redo bearbags as the rope had stretched.

 

Day # 5 Beaubien

Up about 6 am, got bearbags down.  We switched some of the breakfasts around and had the cooked breakfast today as we had more time. If you have time to make it, the egg scramble was very good.

Got camp cleaned up and left by 9:20.  The hike out of camp was not bad.  Got to a T-intersection that is not on the map.  Go to the right. The left, which looks like the correct way takes you back on some cow trails.  The initial part of the trail is not bad with switchbacks.  Then it gets steeper.  This side is much easier than the straight up trail on the other side, but still not an easy hike.  When you get up to the plane wreckage, it is a humbling site.  There is a plaque on a tree commemorating the crew that died in the crash.  There are parts of the fuselage, wing, and other parts in the main crash site.  Further down the mountain is a propeller.

Had lunch up there, and then hiked back down to camp.

Another hot shower, and made sure the scouts showered and did what laundry they wanted to do.

Spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the porch.  Chatted with other crews, played horseshoes.

We had swapped out a “popcorn” supper for Jambalaya.  Great swap.  It was really good, and didn’t take up anywhere near as much space as the popcorn dinner.  The adults cooked supper and the scouts cleaned up.  Went to advisors coffee again.

It started to rain, light at first, then heavier.  The program was moved to the Chuckwagon dinner space.  Tonight the program was the “Home on the Range program”.  It was good, but I thought the Outlaw Program was much better.   It rained throughout the program.  When the program was done, so was the rain.  Went back to camp, got ready for bed. Once everyone was in their tents, the rain started again.

Was a good sleeping night.  Lauren had been cold the previous 2 nights.  We swapped her synthetic bag and my down bag.  Both are 20 degree bags, but the down sleeps warmer and she was happy the rest of the trip sleeping in my bag.

Day # 6 Black Mountain

Up at 5:30, camp taken down, breakfast eaten and out of camp by 7:30.  Hiking to Black Mountain today.  First half of the trip is all uphill, the second half is all down.  An interesting hike.  Stopped at the top of the hill by the garbage cans (Black Mountain does not have garbage pick up at the camp), to let the scouts call home.  Everything at Black Mountain must be carried in and out, this includes all food and supplies for the staff).  We arrived at the camp at 9:45.

We were given the porch talk, then taken to our camp site.  A beautiful area by the stream, our water source.  We dried out our wet gear from the night before, then set up camp.  Got water filtered and filled all of our water dromedaries.  Got bearbags and the dining fly set up, then our dry gear was set up.  Had lunch, then went to the program.

They have 58 caliber black powder rifles.  This is fun, but bring your own target, a bandana works well.  Everyone gets 3 shots.  They teach you to load the rifle as well.

Then the scouts went to blacksmithing.  They made an “S” hook.

By now, it was time to start cooking supper.  Took longer to boil water due to the altitude.  Tonight was Fettuccini Primavera.  Was very good.

The scouts cleaned up and put the Oops bag up.  They are getting much better at getting the bags up.  Went to advisors coffee and watched the boys play a version of old baseball.  We met up with 3 scouts from our troop who are working at Philmont.  They stayed with us for the next 2 days.

We have started to do devotions, leave no trace and thorns and roses right after supper and before advisor coffee.  It works really well this way.

 

Another great day at Philmont.

Day # 7 Red Hill Camp

Up at 5:30 again.  The boys are hitting their stride.  Had camp torn down, breakfast eaten and ready to leave by 7.  There are several routes from Black Mountain to Big Red.  We could go to the camp first, drop gear and then backtrack to go up the Mountain, or just hike straight up the mountain with full packs, but not backtrack.  We decided to go with full packs.  Comanche Pass was very pretty.  Then we were headed down through a valley and then straight up Big red.  The trail leveled off and we thought we were at the top, but we were only at 10,700 feet.  Lost another 200 feet before the final 700 foot assault.  Thanks goodness for doing a caterpillar up the steep trail.  There were no switchbacks up this trail, only straight up.  It was beautiful at the top with great views all around.  Signed the book on the top.  We took lots of crew photos and ate part of lunch.

The clouds started to look menacing and thought we better get off the top of the mountain.  We about 200 feet down and heard loud thunder.  No rain or lightning yet.  The route to Big Red camp was interesting.  Part of the trail is in a drainage canal.  We were not sure if we were still on the trail at one time until we saw trees cut along where we were walking a knew this was the trail.  Being in a drainage ditch is not a good place to be when it starts raining.  We hiked on , and the rain started.  Very light at first, then heavier for about 15 minutes.  Then got lighter again.  Then the hail started for about 15 minutes.   Now we know it’s a real Philmont trek as we always get rained and hailed on at least once.  Luckily, never had any flooding issues in the ditch.  We got to camp and the rain had stopped.

We quickly got camp set up and all our gear in our tents.  Then the heavy rains started again.

Our sister crew got to camp during the heavy rain.  We helped them get their camp set up.  We held up the dining fly over an area where a tent was to be set up so they could set up dry and get their gear in the tent dry.  Then moved the dining fly to the next tent area.  This works really to set up camp in the rain.

Once all the tents were set up, and the rain stopped, worked on filtering water from a nice stream.  Then  got supper cooked, eaten and cleaned up.

We started a fire.  That night we did combined devotions, leave no trace and thorns and roses with both crews together.  Very nice.

All in all, a great day!  Even with the rain and hail.  Tomorrow is Mount Phillips and Cypher Mine.  Looking forward to lots of fun.

Day #8 Cyphers Mine

Up at 5:30, the boys were awesome and had camp torn down quickly  we were out of camp by 7, even with breakfast.  We looked at the map and knew which route we wanted.  Took what appeared to be the correct trail out of camp toward Mount Phillips.  Somehow, we ended 1 ½ miles off course on top of Commanche Peak.  It was a nice view, but added 1 ½ miles to head over to Mount Phillips.  We hiked further, however this trail was easier than the trail we had wanted to take.  Timewise, may not have been much different.  We got to the top of Phillips at 11.  Spent 30 minutes at the top looking around getting lots of pictures.  Then started to see dark clouds forming and decided we better get rain gear on and get moving.  Within 20 minutes it started to rain, lightly at first.  Lasted about 30 minutes.  Then light hail started, then quit.  Then the big hail, about quarter size started and lasted about 15 minutes.  It hurt!  The ground looked like it was covered in dippin dots!

There are a lot of switchbacks from Comanche Peak to Thunder Ridge.  From there, it is an easy hike to Cyphers.  Take the trail, not the road!

We arrived at Cyphers about 3.  You cannot set up a tent here, too many rocks.  They have Adirondacks to sleep in.  Camp was quick to set up.  Put up clothes lines to dry gear.

The boys did gold mining (nobody got rich), and did the mine tour.  Had a lot of fun with it.

My son had worked at Cyphers Mine the year before.  We were able to look at the Legacy wall.  It was very cool!

Ended the day with supper, devotions, leave no trace and thorns and roses.

Then had advisors coffee.

They have a program called “The Stomp”.  Every year, this is one of the best campfire programs at Philmont.  It did not disappoint. Don’t miss this if you are close to Cyphers.

 

Day # 9 Cimmaroncito

Up at 5:30.  Tearing down camp was easy, no tents to take down.  The bearbags were small, we are down to only 1 meal per person to carry.  Ate our full breakfast.

The route was scenic, but has a lot of stream crossings.  An easy downhill hike to Hunting Lodge,  about 1 hour and 45 minutes.  We decided we had plenty of time, so took the tour of the lodge now. We enjoyed the tour and the camp.  It’s only about a 15 minute walk to Cito from hunting lodge.

Met the staff and got the porch talk.  One of the scouts who has hiked with us the last 2 days, works here.  His dad is on this trek as well.

We were taken to our camp site and got camp set up. Put up more laundry lines and dried out the wet clothes.  Emptied 4 backpacks and hiked to Ute gulch for our final restock of food.  It about a 45 minute hike there, but scenic.

Once back with food, we were ready for climbing and rappelling.  They have a really fun mountain for this. It takes about 30 minutes to hike to the mountain, but its worth it.  Everyone had a chance to climb and rapel.

Then it was showers and laundry.  They have a very nice showerhouse, individual stalls and nice laundry facilities.

Finally it was supper, devotions, leave no trace and thorns and roses.

They have yoga at 7 fo rthose who wish to participate.  Advisors coffee at 7:30.

There is scout volleyball and the indoor bouldering room is open for scouts to enjoy at night.  The scouts had fun in the boulder room.

We also learned more about our service project for the next day.

We got tiems set up for those who were unable to climb today, to go first thing in the morning.

Hard to believe the trek is almost over!

Day # 10 Cimmaroncito

Good morning to sleep in.  Some got up to climb at 7:30.  The rest of us had a hot cooked breakfast.  Today was biscuits and gravy and it was good.

Everyone met at 9 am to head to the location of the service project.  We had been given directions by the staff on how to get there.  It was supposed to be about a 45 minute hike.  After 30 minutes, we realized their directions were wrong and we were not where we needed to be.  A quick review of the map, and we rerouted ourselves.  We arrived 15 minutes late.  They were not happy.  We explained why we were late, and all was good.

We spent the next 3 hours working on new trail creation.  Some were smoothing trail, some cutting new trail and some removing rocks and stumps from the trail.

When we were done, we had lunch and then hiked through Hidden Valley.  I had never been through this, but had wanted to see it.  We stopped at Window Rock and then at Cathedral Rock.  These areas are worth hiking to.  Just beautiful!!

Once again, it looked like rain was coming our way, so we headed back to camp.  The rain never hit us.  We stopped at Hunting Lodge.  We topped off water.  Those who did not do the tour yesterday, did it today.  The rest of us headed back to camp.

Showers and the final backcountry laundry.

We had supper, devotions, leave no trace, thorns and roses.

Then advisors coffee.  The scouts went back to volleyball and the boulder room for the night.

What a great day.

Tomorrow Clarks Fork.

 

Day # 11 Lower Clarks Fork

Up at 6.  Got camp torn down, finished breakfast and were out before 8.  A little slower today.  Easy hike.  We stopped by the demonstration forest.  Steve was the volunteer.  He was great!  Did a really good presentation that kept the scouts interested.  We got pictures in front of the reservoir.  We were at Clarks Fork by 10.

We topped off water and went to the branding station.  Everyone had time to get something branded if they wished.

We were able to get a temporary camp site to use.  We cooked that evenings supper for lunch.  We had water and everything we needed there.  This worked out well.

We got everything cleaned up and headed to our camp by 2.   We arrived at our camp by 2:30.  The rain started before we got to camp.  Luckily it was raining lightly and we got camp set up before it rained hard.  It started to pour.  We found some dry areas under trees.  Eventually, the rain slowed down and we got the dining fly and bear bags up.  Everything was extremely muddy.

Everyone was cold and wet.  We fired up the stoves to get hot chocolate and hot cider into everyone to warm them up.  We also got a big fire started to warm everyone up.

We ate lunch for supper about 5.   We had talked about going back to Clarks Fork for the evening program, but nobody really wanted to go back.  We sent a few people back to fill up all of our water dromedaries.   We will need a lot of water for the final hike back.  There is no water between here and basecamp.

We did our final devotion, leave no trace and thorns and roses.

Hard to believe we have 1 day left.

 

Day # 12 Basecamp

Up at 4:30.  We have a long way to go and want to spend time on the Tooth.  We got camp packed up in the dark.  It’s no longer raining, but everything is soaked.  We left by 6:15.

At Schaefers pass by 7:15 and took a short break.  Finished breakfast.

Then hiked to the base of the tooth.  Arrived about 10.

Dropped packs and got our day packs for the hike up.  Took about 20 minutes to get to the top.

Amazing views from the top.  Took lots of photos and group pics.  Hiked back down and then had lunch at 11:30.

We left Tooth Ridge Camp at noon.  Once again, we saw storm clouds rolling in.  We stopped and put on raingear.  Minimal light rain, but thunder and lightning in the distance.

You hike down the “Trail of Tears”.  It’s a long hike of very shallow switchbacks.  Took 2 hours to get to basecamp.

We stopped at the “We Made it Back” sign and got our pictures.

 We went through all of the check in stations in about 30 minutes.

Put our gear in our new tents.  Then to real showers.  They felt really good.

We headed to the St. James Hotel for supper, luckily we had reservations.  We had 2 big tables.  One for scouts, and one for adults.  A great time was had by all.

We arrived back at camp by 6:30 and got laundry done.

We were ontime for the 8:30 closing campfire.  This is another don’t miss.

Some of the adults headed back to St. James for a nightcap while 2 other adults chose to stay back at camp.

It was a great way to end the week.

 

Day #13

Up for breakfast at 7.

Got everything packed up.  The tents were full and they did not have any room to store our gear, so it stayed in a packline.

We headed to Cimmaron for the morning.  Enjoyed walking around town and having a milkshake.

We got back to camp for lunch and then waited for our bus to take us back to Raton.

In the past, we have called ahead to Pizza Hut to deliver pizzas to the train station for us.  This time, we used Brunos Pizza which is just across the street from the train station.  Their pizza was really good.  We will use them next time!

As always, the train was a little late.

Got our gear on the train and had an uneventful ride back to Fort Madison and drive back to Cedar Falls.

Once we were back, I got copies of everyone photos and got copies of all the pictures to everyone.  It always surprises how somebody on the same trek can see something that I totally missed.

In the end:

 everyone made 105 plus hiking miles.

Earned the Duty to God, Wilderness Pledge, 50 miler patches.

The scouts earned the Hiking and backpacking merit badges and completed most of the camping merit badge.

Most importantly, they had an adventure of a lifetime.

Can’t wait for the 2018 trek!