| Here it is, my long put-off Philmont Journal...don't be too harsh about my grammar or anything...
The following is a personal account of the trip of Robert Jones between the 16th of July, 2004, and the 1st of August of that same year. The trip began at Huntsville International Airport in Huntsville, Alabama, at 5:30 on the morning of the 16th. A pair of flights brought myself and my crew of 9 (6 other Boy Scouts, 2 adult male Scouters, and 1 female adult Scouter) to Dallas, Texas and then on to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Arrival at the Albuquerque airport was on time somewhere near high noon. Albuquerque is on Mountain Time, whereas Huntsville is on Central Standard, so the change was two hours: not much, but just enough to throw an unsuspecting traveler off. A stay in Albuquerque’s finest Best Western and a little sightseeing ended on the 18th, when a 15-passenger bus and trailer arrived to whisk us away to Philmont Scout Reservation, in Cimarron, New Mexico, approximately 3 hours north of Albuquerque, and quite near the Taos area. Some of the sightseeing included a trip to ancient Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings.
On arrival at Tent City (Philmont base camp), I (the crew leader) was issued a meal ticket for my crew, and we literally had to run to get to lunch on time. Orientation was held after lunch, and my crew was “familiarized” (more along the lines of “blown away”) with all the Philmont buildings, staff areas, mess hall, and tent sections. It isn’t easy to describe the gargantuan size of this Scout complex, but I’ll try nonetheless.
The tent section alone was split into two areas: Homebound and Trail bound. Each tent must be vacated, clean and swept by 8:30 AM on the morning after its occupancy, for one would only sleep two nights in Tent City: once in the trail bound section, and once in the homebound section. The number of tents was astounding, so instead of giving each tent a solely numerical identity, the tents were organized alphabetically, and numerically. There were sections A-F, and each letter-section was comprised of two rows, 30 tents per row. That’s 360 tents, with each tent sleeping up to two scouts. For those of you who may be numerically challenged, that adds up to 720 possible occupants of the Tent City section of Base camp alone. Approximately 250 Staff are housed in larger tents off in another section of Base camp, and there are more tents not in Tent City near the Villa Philmonte. Philmont has a total of 900 Staff members, and 200 of those are Rangers, 250 Base Camp Staff, so the rest work in Staffed Camps (actual locations where crews hike to and camp, participate in neat activities known as “programs” or simply “program”) or are employed in supply and maintenance of this massive reservation.
All the buildings in Base Camp and any recently remodeled Staffed Camps have roofs of red tin. The new outhouses also have red roofs, but the term “red roof inn” applies only to the outhouses (even the ones that lack roofs), but it does not apply to other buildings.
On the 19th, our Ranger (Staff member assigned to our Crew who properly equips us with the knowledge necessary for traveling in Philmont) had us empty our backpacks and suggested that we remove certain items. At his recommendation, I removed my rain pants, my insulated underwear, my fleece pants, and a few small items. At departure time on the 19th, my pack weighed 50 pounds, with food and water, and I weighed 185 pounds, with clothes and boots. Upon my return, my pack weighed 55 pounds, with virtually no food and little water, and I weighed 175 pounds, still with clothes and boots.
Before I talk about the hike itself, I should comment on the organization of my crew. I was the crew leader, elected by the Scouts of the crew (Scouts are under 18, Adults are 18+), and before we began planning the trip none of my crew members knew me. I guess I seemed trustworthy. My assistant crew leader, appointed by me, was Josh Matthews, who also served as Chaplain on the trip. In the position of Navigator was Mackenzie Stout, though everyone on the crew was fully capable of navigation. The Adults were Crew Advisor Dr. Phil Stahl, with Mr. George Stanley and Mrs. Shannon Myers assisting. Other youth on the trip included Sam Venters, James Hereford, Mark Stahl, and Steven Ammons. That makes for a total of 10 crew members.
The itinerary (also known as “trail”, even though we were on numerous different trails) we were on was Itinerary 16, and our Expedition Number was 718-G1 (Expd. #’s are used to identify the date your crew arrived at Philmont (718, July 18th), and help make logistics easier.). There was another crew on our Itinerary, crew 718-L1, a crew from Kansas. There’s more info about them in my log. There are a total of 35 Itineraries, numbering from #1 (easiest) to #35 (hardest), and are rated to be Typical, Rugged, Strenuous, and Super Strenuous. Itinerary #16 is classified as Rugged.
The length of our trek is stated to be 67 miles, however, that is the absolute shortest distance possible. If a crew takes "side hikes" they add miles to that number...and we did our fair share of side hikes. I am going to go out and say that we probably hiked more along the lines of 70-75 miles, simply because that sounds good and its a reasonable number. To give some context, the shortest trek at Philmont (Itinerary #1) is 50 miles long, and the longest (Itinerary #35) is 120 miles long...or therabouts.
The trip to the trailhead was by bus at 1 o’clock PM on the 19th, and the ride lasted only about 30 minutes. Rayado Turnaround was the name of the trailhead, and here we offloaded our gear from the bus, and hiked about 5 minutes, then David (our Ranger) did a little bit of instruction on the use of barbed-wire gate use and crossing fences.
Here begins my actual trail log, written at the end of each day, with some weather observations/forecasts I made using my father’s Suunto Observer wrist watch. This is all straight from my log, with no changes made to punctuation or grammar.
Robert A. Jones. 7/19/2004
Today we commenced our 10-day trek at Philmont. A bus brought us to Rayado, a subdivision Philmont, where we began our 2-mile hike in to the Olympia Trail camp. Here, our Ranger David conducts routine crew training, which includes bear-bag and sump hole rules, proper placement of tents, and how to dispose of human waste in the woods properly. Weather: Sunny in the morning, with clouds and a light sprinkle or two in the afternoon. Barometric pressure started at 30.50” Hg but dropped down to 30.10” before stabilizing at 30.25”. Start Altitude: 6677’ above sea level. Terminal Altitude: 6713’. Climb/Descent: negligible. First day is a sucess, with only slight problems arising from the bus ride and security packets with minimal yet interesting drama coming from the packing of the crew locker. Our Ranger, David, has turned out to be a first-class guy, though from first impression he may have seemed indecisive. Crew decided to arise and shine at 5:30 AM 7/20/2004, and as Leader I have been chosen to do the wakeup call. Thus I sign out, @ 9:09 PM, Mountain time, for I need sleep. I’ll have no trouble falling asleep, though. That is easy.
Robert A. Jones
9:12 PM, 7/19/2004
Crew Leader, Expedition 718-G1
Olympia Camp
Philmont, NM
Day Two: Rose @ 5:29 AM, woken by George Stanley. After waking the crew, it takes a full 2 ½ hrs. to pack up & leave camp. Hiked to Zastrow Camp (staffed), which is the American home of Woodbadge training, with the last course being taught in 2000. Ate lunch on the climb from Zastrow Turnaround up to Toothache Springs Camp (trail). The climb is ~½ long, rising 1100’ in elevation. We spent the night in Toothache, with a ~¾ mile side hike to the top of Urraca Mesa. We arrive on top plenty early enough to get a wonderful view of the sunset. Here, David (Ranger), gifts us with slices of pound cake and loads of icing. While hanging bear bags, we encounter the only other crew staying in Toothache Springs, an all-girl Venture Crew from Kansas, Expedition # 718-L1, Itinerary 16B. Our Itinerary is 16A, and this means that our two crews will be staying in the same camps over the next eight nights. It goes without saying that my Crew might frequently be distracted by L1, but this could prove to be an enhancement of our Philmont experience. Time for bed, @ 10:00 MT.
Robert Jones
10:02 PM, Mountain Time
Crew Leader, Exped # 718-G1
Toothache Springs Camp
Philmont, NM
7/20/04
Day Three: From now on, I will not make any notations on the weather, because at Philmont, it follows a particular pattern: mornings are clear or partly cloudy & chilly, while afternoons are generally overcast, with a 90% chance of rain starting at 11:30 AM and ending at 11:30 PM. Afternoon temps range from temperate to hot, with cold evenings. This day we trekked to Miner’s Park Camp (staffed), and we got ourselves temporarily lost. The program at Miner’s is rock climbing, but our time-slot was rained out. Way rained out. No trouble with leaky tents, and the Crew is holding together relatively well for their first day without a Ranger. Very beautiful scenery.
Robert Jones
10:28 PM, 7/21/04
Crew Leader, Exped. # 718-G1
Miner’s Park Camp
Philmont, NM
Day Four: Hiked from Miner’s Park to Lower Bonita (trail), with program activities at Crater Lake. It seems that no matter how early I try to get the crew on the trail, we don’t get any faster. Oh well. At Crater Lake we did some cross-cut sawing and spar-pole climbing. It was awesome. After finding out that each staffed camp has its own stamp, I proceed to take the “cookie” I just sawed off of a log and get it stamped. Then, someone gets the bright idea of sending two or three people back to Miner’s Park to get their stamp. Somehow, I end up volunteering, and with Sam & Mackenzie, I run back to Miner’s. The trip to Miner’s took 27 minutes, and the trip back took 36 minutes. The hike from Crater to Lower Bonita was uneventful, however, Lower Bonita is home to many cows and their consequential “patties”! Fun Stuff.
9:58 Pm, 7/22/04
Lower Bonita Camp
Day Five: Today’s destination was Apache Springs (staffed), with a stop at Fish Camp (also staffed) for program. At Fish Camp I tied a fly and went fly-fishing. Not very interesting, but it was a welcome break from hiking. From Fish Camp we hiked in the rain to Apache Springs. We set up tents during a lull in the rain, which continued on into the night. Interesting goings-on of this day: saw a 200-lm. Cinnamon colored Black Bear @ Fish Camp; the bear was chased away by staffers. Also, the staffer who checked us in @ Apache is really cool; long, curly hair, overalls, and uses the phrases: “kickin’ it”, “that’s straight”, “awesome”, and other beach bum phrases. Man, he’s crazy. Due directly to a lack of fuel on the part of our sister crew, we invited them over to our campsite for supper for we have enough fuel, and can cook for everybody. Lots of rain today.
Robert A. Jones
Robert A. Jones [signed]
10:27 PM, 7/23/04
Apache Springs Camp, Philmont, NM
Day Six: Lots of fun stuff happened today. At eight o’clock the crew went down to do some conservation work on the trail leading into Apache from Agua Fria. (“Cold Water”…or so I’m told) At the project site I was chosen to use the sledgehammer to break up rocks. I made big, unusable rocks into small, useable ones. This day was our rest day, no hiking. The conservation project lasted from eight ‘til eleven. At one o’clock the crew toured a Hickory Apache Indian tepee. Their story is the same as all the other Indian stories…just different names, places, and dates. We were scheduled for a 4 o’clock “sweat bath” (a fire heats up rocks until they glow, the rocks are placed in buckets inside “inipis” [three feet high by ten feet across, circular, tightly covered structures. Covered with deer hide/canvas], after entering the inipi, a “driver” [one who drives the steam] begins pouring water on the glowing rocks, creating steam). The point of the sweat bath is to cleanse the body by inducing sweat which opens and clears the pores. Immediately after exiting the inipi, you have to pour cold water on yourself, closing your pores. My crew was really looking forward to the sweat bath, seeing as we haven’t had showers since Miner’s Park. Sadly, there was an 11:45 AM rain which soaked all the firewood, and Fluff (cool staffer aforementioned) tried to start the fire for an hour and a half (even used a bottle of “Scout water, a.k.a. white gas) with no luck. Well, my crew gathered dry wood from secret places in the forest and I approached Fluff with the idea of my starting the fire. He told me of his failure, but I continues to plead my case. He relented, but didn’t believe that I could do it. In the end, the fire was perfect, and for my unabashed, Southern determination, I earned the nickname: Tenacious B. (B is for Bob) The sweat was definately one of the highlights of the trip so far. After the sweat, Fluff challanged Anna (from L1) to drink a gallon of milk within half an hour. She accepted the challenge, and of course, after she finished, she threw up. (Note: this “milking” was held in the staff cabin, and served as the evenings’ entertainment) Several staffers had weak stomachs, and 4 of the 6 staff present lost their supper. They thought that this was pretty cool. Hmm. I think they’re really bored. We pick up food tomorrow.
Robert A. Jones
Crew Leader, Exp. #718-G1
Apache Springs
7/24/04
Day Seven: Woke up at 5:50 AM, left camp at 8:48 AM, a very slow start. Hiked to Philips’ Junction for food pickup. Ate lunch there and eased over to Crooked Creek where we’ll spend the night. Program here consists of Homesteading life, and livestock. Its just a backcountry version of Constitution Hall Village in downtown Huntsville. Not much else.
Robert A. Jones
Crew Leader, Exped. # 718-G1
Crooked Creek 7/25/04
Day Eight: Rose at 5:40 AM, woke the crew at 5:45 AM, departed camp at 8:02 AM, a somewhat slow start. For reasons unbeknownst to me, Dr. Phil Stahl (Crew Advisor) is driving the crew harder than usual. Its as if when he wants to move fast, we all have to move fast. But any other time when I suggest that we, “pick up the pace”, his reply is that , “it’s not a race”. I have begun to think of this trip as, “the Stahl family vacation”, because it seems that whatever Phil or Mark want to do will magically fit into our itinerary, even if it pushes the crew for no reason. The hike to Clear Creek is a short one, we get there right at lunch time. Program here is .50 caliber black powder rifle shooting, tomahawk throwing, another cabin tour, and a campfire (which didn’t happen). Black powder shooting was fun, however, youth participants could only fire 50 grains of powder, wheras adults shot with 100 grains. Fifty grains has no kick at all. Still a fun activity. During the trapping demo, I vollunteered to help with the beaver trap. I was instructed to remove my boots and step into the creek. No big deal. Until I felt the water. The water was ~40º F, and I stood in it for about 7 minutes. Others volunteered at the same time I did, and our collective purpose was solely to demonstrate the frigidity of the water. We did a good job. The “hawk” throwing was quite fun. I’m not to terribly good at it, but Sam and James are. There was a hawk throwin’ tournament this evening, but G1 was out after the first round. No campfire tonight. I’m looking forward to some sort of evening program soon.
Robert A. Jones
Crew Leader, Exped # 718-G1
7/26/04
Clear Creek Camp, Philmont, NM
Day Nine: Today we tackled Mount Philips. The estimated time for travel (quoted to use by a Clear Creek Staff member) was “a good 2 hours”. I took us only 1½ hours to make the 1200’-1500’ elevation increase. A 1500’ is not a thing to sneeze at. Started out from Clear Creek wearing running shorts and a light t-shirt, as we increased in elevation and wind chill, I summited Philips wearing camo pants, with running shorts, and light t-shirt with a fleece jacket over it. We got to the top of Philips around 10:15 AM, and we laid on our sleeping pads, took some pictures, soaked in the view, and ate lunch before departing at 12:30 PM with storms coming in. The view was fantastic, we could see for miles upon miles; Baldy to the north, Urraca to the south, Black to the east, and God all around us. Mackenzie and I were the last to eat, yet we made it down to Red Hills Camp (trail) first. Using my father’s Suunto “Observer” watch I tracked our descent of 1400’ over the 45:23 minutes of travel. Our peak loss of altitude was -54 ft/min, with an average of like -27 ft/min. That was some fun stuff. After going over tomorrow’s hike with the crew, we decide that we should wake up @ 4:30 AM with a scheduled departure of 6 o’clock. Perhaps we’ll leave close to that time.
Robert A. Jones, Crew Leader
Exped. # 718-G1
Red Hills Camp, Philmont, NM.
Day Ten: The day began according to plan, with a 4:30 wake-up & 6:00 departure. We arrived @ Cypher’s Mine (staffed) around 8 o’clock, which happens to be the time the staffers begin offering program. When they heard that we had already traveled the ~four mi., they were impressed. We worked at the blacksmith’s shop, then took a guided tour of the mine itself. Very interesting, to say the least. Our guide insisted that finding our way out of the mine without the use of flashlights was the coolest thing ever, so we did it. Once we’d gone about half the distance to the entrance, our guide dropped a rock on a metal helment (she had left us previously…we were on our own). The tour itself was made all the more interesting with the presence of the L1 crew, who had arrived @ 9 o’clock. We departed Cypher’s Mine soon after and made our way towards the Hunting lodge. We had not made plans to tour the lodge due to the length of today’s trek (~11 mi), but heavy rain practically forced us to enter the warm, inviting cabin. Following the tour, we ate and got back on the trail. We passed a beautiful lake as we made our way to Clark’s Fork (staffed) where we stayed the night. This evening was fantastic, with beef stew for dinner (chuck wagon dinner), and an actual evening program! It was pretty cool, with some acoustic guitars, a bass guitar, and a drum. I thought it sounded pretty good. Due to a campsite malfunction, L1 is camping in the same site we’re in…though it didn’t impact the amount of time we spent together. There was talk among “extremist, fundamental factions” of G1 that pulling a prank on L1 would be a good idea…like, tie off their bear bags higher than they can reach…but nothing happened. I’d like to think I personally quelled this unrest, but in truth it was probably George, who under the guise of mentor and developer of this plan somehow turned our minds against it. He’s one wiley chap. In the morning, we must be packed by 8 o’clock for our horse-riding adventure. Tomorrow is another long day, ~10.5 mi. hike which we won’t actually begin until after 10 o’clock. I’m not sure we’ll make it to base camp in time for supper. Oh well.
Robert A. Jones, Crew Leader, Exped. #718-G1
Clark’s Fork, Philmont, NM.
Day Eleven: The final day of our trek starts well. All the gear is packed and we show up for horse riding @ 8 o’clock sharp. My horses’ name is Jazz, which I find quite cool. The ride takes very little equestrian skill, and only 1 ½ hours. A very beautiful trail ride, we got a great view of Tooth Ridge, and every member of the crew knows we’re so close to being back, they can almost taste it. Like a well-oiled machine, the crew leaves Clark’s Fork@ 10:45, and each member is encouraging James; putting him @ the front of the line, talking to him, helping him get water & snacks, etc. We stop to eat lunch at Shaefers’ Pass, just before we head up onto Tooth Ridge. At the Pass I take James’ tent and strap it onto my pack in hopes of speeding him up. Once on Tooth Ridge, we can see valleys on either side and Black Mountain behind us. At about 1:00 PM, we see a rainstorm pass over Black, with lightning intermittent. There is nothing like heading home while watching rain come down like a hushed veil over the land behind you. Moving as fast as we dare over uneven/rocky terrain, we arrive as the base of the Tooth of Time around 2:30 PM. Several crew members (including myself) dropped packs and ran up the Tooth for a quick view before being chased down by lightning, while the others stayed down and got some rest. The view from the top of the Tooth was fantastic: a panoramic landscape in green and gray, with rain following us like a wall of whispering sound. From the Tooth of Time it took about 3 hours to get into base camp. I would have to say that the last 2 hours of the trek were the most boring, repetitive hours of my life: the trail wasn’t steep at all, there were constant switchbacks, and Base Camp was visible for the whole time. When we arrived @ Base Camp, we round that we were just in time to pick up our meal tickets, cash, etc at the Security Office (they were about to close). We then sat down to a great meal, lounged around in civilization, participated n a wonderful closing campfire, and now, I am about to go to sleep. It’s been nothing less than awesome.
(Signed) Robert A. Jones
Crew Leader, Exped # 718-G1, 7/29/04
Base Camp, Philmont, NM.
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