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This is the log of our 1994 Philmont trek. It is based on the log I kept during the trek, with additions and more detail as I remember them.
This was the first time our troop went to Philmont. We sent two crews, each with 11 people. One crew had 3 adult advisors (the one I was in), the other crew had 4 advisors. Both crews had the same itinerary (we followed the same route each day, and stayed at the same camps each night), but we hiked separately, followed our own schedule each day, and camped apart from each other. The whole expedition was planned by Tom Schob. Crew one was adult advisors Tom Schob, Dennis Benoit, Paul Haydel, scouts Brad Schob, Chris Haydel, Barret Benoit, Nick Benoit(crew chief), Kyle Prater, Kyle Branch, Lance Wimmer and Matt Johnson. Crew two was adult advisors Rick Tobin, Fritz Weigl, Bruce Duty and Bob Havemann, scouts Rick Tobin Jr.(crew chief), Eric Havemann, Dan Weigl, Jonathon Duty, Jeremy Horton, Chris Bryant and Ian Jaeger.
The entry to the camp complex has a big arch over it, from which were hanging numerous pairs of hiking boots. Clearly, some people came off the trail, tied their boots together and slung them over the arch. A nice touch, I thought. There are probably 6-8 buildings that support the trek operation - mess hall, souvenir shop, medical building, registration office, equipment checkout, laundry, adult leader lounge, plus a couple of others. There are also 2 tent cities, the "Clean" and the "Crusty". As you might guess, you begin in the "Clean" side, and when you get off the trail after 11 days, you go to the "Crusty" one. Each has shower and latrine buildings, with separate ones for adults and scouts, male and female. Met our ranger - Aaron Roarke - He's been here 3 times here on treks, but this was his first time as a ranger. Started check in - registered (forms), lunch at noon in the mess hall, medical check, logistics (food pick up points and trail routes) and supply (equipment and food). This process was very organized. Each station had several staff that did nothing but work that area. At the logistics station, we had our itinerary reviewed by the staff, marked on the topo maps we bought there, and got last minute updates on trail conditions. One day looks like it will be a killer - 12-13 miles. Oh well... At the medical station, they checked all our answers on the medical forms, and I think checked blood pressure and weight for some people. At the equipment station, we got tents, crew gear - pots, pans, shovel, etc.
It was now mid afternoon - back to tent city for a personal equipment shakedown by Aaron. I took out one long sleeve shirt, an extra flashlight and batteries, 1 pair underwear, etc. Got my food allocation for the first part of the hike - 1 each breakfast, lunch, dinner. The food is prepackaged in plastic bags, each sized to feed 4 people. Since we had 11 people, we got three sets per meal, so we had a little extra food. This is some times good, some times bad, as I'll get to later. I saw a lot of familiar items - spreadables, crackers, Oreos, Richmoor dehydrated packets. Aaron also said we didn't need to carry all the pots they gave us - we left behind in camp at least one pot and I think a frying pan.
It rained on and off in the afternoon. I learned very quickly that my poncho isn't good for lower legs and boots. Trading post didn't sell just rain pants - only full suits at $20. This was too much - I bought extra trash bags from the trading post ($.50 each, if I remember) to cover my legs if needed. This turned out to be not a good decision - more on that later also.
There was a meeting for advisors from 5-6:30, including dinner. The meeting wasn't much - a Guy Smiley type, the Philmont Director of Programs, and the Chaplain. We went to trading post afterwards, then called home. At 8:15, there was a campfire, where the staff presented a tableau of sorts called "The Story of New Mexico". It was pretty good. After that, our crew went into Cimarron for ice cream and a snack. The food has been good but not a lot of it. We were in our tents by 10pm.
After an initial orientation by Aaron on compass and map reading, we hit the trail at 9 am. Several other crews were starting there also. Once we started hiking, my pack didn't want to stay upright - it kept listing to the left. It also uncomfortable on hips - probably to be expected at the start. It was about a 4 mi hike to Bent Camp. We arrived at 11:00 - not a bad pace at all for the first day, and not bad terrain - no bad up or down hills. We set up camp and tents first - we thought we left behind the dining fly, but Dennis had it - he thought it was his tent fly. Each camp site has a sump that is used for waste water and food particles, but it is to be used sparingly. Also there are cables strung between trees for hanging your bear bags. Each crew tosses a line over the cable, then hauls up their bear bags. This was to become a nightly ritual.
I was tired, but it was a good first day hike - mostly level, and short. I had no problems with the altitude, but I rubbed a blister under my left big toe. Lunch was Ritz, peanut butter, jerky and a fruit bar. Aaron gave us a refresher on first aid training after lunch, then we had free time. I took a nap. Dinner that night was an experience: chicken soup, green beans, mashed potatoes w/ beef and gravy. First we cooked the green beans in the soup, to conserve pots and cleanup. This wasn't too bad. Then came the mashed potatoes. The potatoes were NOT a hit - Aaron had us make the gravy and beef in with the potatoes, again to conserve clean up. It made a rather unpalatable mixture. I didn't mind it too much, but others couldn't stand it. I think it would have been better if we had poured the gravy over the potatoes instead of mixing all the dried stuff together first and then adding water.
Aaron indoctrinated us on the "bear" rules - any food, powdered or otherwise, that is dropped on the ground must be eaten. Anything food that is cooked must be eaten or packed out, not left behind or put down the sump. To clean your personal dishes, put water in them, rinse it around, and then drink the water ("gravy"). The same with pots. That is about as far a clean up goes after a meal. If there is a messy pot, each crew gets a sheet of green scrubby material, like I've seen in stores. Aaron told us to cut that in fourths, and use it to scrub out the pot. You don't really worry about sterilizing at the end of a meal. That is done at the start of the next meal. The routine is that you boil water for the meal in the pot, which sterilizes that pot, and then every one drops their bowl, cup and spoon into the pot and sterilizes them. Some times you wind up with "floaties" in the water, but it all blends into the meal when it's cooked.
The boys had lots of laughs despite the fact of doing it. This isn't as bad as it sounds - what ever you fix in a pot is already rehydrated, so you're just eating (or drinking!) your dinner. When the boys were fixing dinner, especially the mashed potato flakes, they ripped into the bags and sprayed a fair amount of flakes onto the ground. One image I'll always have is Aaron standing over them, running his hands through his hair and saying, "Guys, look what you're doing". He then gathered them all around the flakes and had them pick up and eat each flake out of the dust. This was the last time they got careless with the food preparation. They learned the lesson, and also learned the Philmont way of low impact camping. It was obvious that Aaron believed in what he was teaching them, and that our crew was willing to go with the program.
Aaron made peach cobbler for desert. He got the Dutch oven from a box that was by the camp site, set up just for this purpose, and he had packed in the canned peaches. After cleanup, we put out the fire and hung the bear bags. Aaron then started us on a program called "Thorns and Roses". We all sat in a circle and took turns saying what was the worst thing that happened to us today (our thorn) and what was the best (our rose). This also became a ritual during the trek, and in retrospect was one of the best things to help keep us together as a crew. We turned in ~9:30.
There has been some discussions in both crews about whether the two crews should hike together or stay separate on the trail. After some discussion among our crew, we decided to stay separate from our sister crew when hiking. We were in bed by 10pm.
We broke camp and were on the trail by 8:30. Sunny, no wind. Hiked on road most of the way - dusty and sandy. There were several beautiful views of meadows and mountains. One I remember was coming around a bend in the road and seeing a large meadow with an old wind mill pump off in the middle of it, with mountains in the back ground. I got pretty tired toward the last couple of miles. Kyle Prater felt faint at the end, just before arriving, but he came around after we stopped.
Breakfast didn't last - I was hungry by 9:30. Arrived at Iris Park about 11:30. This was a small camp - one building with food, and 2 staff tents. 4-5 staff members. This is one of several camps along the way that were staffed by a coed crew. Everyone handles this with no problem. The program here is mountain biking - we got in too late to get signed up for today, so we signed up for first thing in the morning. This means we'll get onto the trail late.
I did some wash - socks, t shirt, underwear. The water came from a wind mill pump that emptied into a big above ground stock tank. I borrowed a couple of buckets from the staff camp. We were also able to draw our drinking and cooking water from the pump, as long as the wind was blowing to turn the pump.
We talked to the other crew. They had bush whacked some to get to the camp, and said they saw a rattle snake - Jeremy Horton came within 10 ft. and heard it rattle. Bush whacking is a Philmont term for using the map and compass to depart from the marked trails, usually done to cut some distance off a day's trek. Bruce Duty has spent a lot of time with us - I think he likes our group better. My right thigh is still sore. Our camp was in a clearing just up the meadow from main crew camp. The staff asked us to go far enough away so we couldn't see them, nor they us. I guess they need their privacy. There were lots of chipmunks all over - these are called mini bears, because they can do almost as much damage to equipment as bears. Staff said they had 2 bears in their area - Dave and BooBoo. They visit daily.
We plan to bush whack to next camp to cut a few miles off the trek. [Later - night] The bush whack went OK, but we passed a staffer who recommended following a fence line. We did, which eliminated a lot of map work. We got away from camp late - almost 12:30 because of the mountain biking in the morning. The boys all liked it, but it put us off to a late start. Got to Ring Place ~ 4 pm. This camp is where we do our conservation project, which consisted of helping build a protective log railing along a spillway from a dam. This site is actually off of Philmont property, in a national forest. There is a public campsite close by, where the dam is. We'll have to do conservation in the morning - 8-11. Another late start.
When we got to our camp site, the scouts were tired and started to plop down. Tom got on them about staying on plan and doing what had to be dome. Things got a little tense between adults and scouts. We came close to cooking our own food, but decided not to, because we realized we'd have to clean up our pots. We are not fools - after all, "we're on vacation". (This is what the staff tells the scouts and scouters at base camp - the scouts are expected to do everything, the adults are "on vacation" and are there just to monitor the scouts.)
To make matters worse, Dennis's stove leaked fuel, caught fire and got stomped on by Brad Schob in trying to put it out. This caused some difficult feelings between Dennis and Brad, but they worked it out before the day was done. The boys only cooked 2 meal packs not 3, mostly because they were afraid it wouldn't all get eaten and they'd have to eat it any way. We got onto them about this also - you need to eat everything they give you to get enough energy. We got some rain after we got to camp, and during dinner. The camp was in a beautiful pasture, very large, with a great view of Baldy. There was 1 buffalo in the field.
We plan to go back along the fence line to get to Sealy Canyon. This cuts a lot of distance off. By the time we finished conservation it was 1130. We ate lunch in camp, then saddled up - on trail ~12:30. It was hot and sunny all the way. Luckily it was breezy and low humidity. Arrived Sealy Canyon ~ 2:30. Missed afternoon program - begged for evening program to avoid another morning one and another late start. Staff agreed. They told us the direct route to Rich Cabin, the next camp, is very doable - makes it about 5 miles vs. 12 miles. We are pleased (for now - more later). Rained in the afternoon, 4-5, heavy, and in the evening and night. Found out my poncho is not water proof - I am pissed. Dinner was chicken and rice, soup and chocolate mousse - very good.
The Sealy program is search and rescue and mountain medicine. Lots of fun for boys - 2 female staffers made like they were lost in woods, and program staff organized 2 crews to form a search line to sweep the woods to find them. After finding them, they had to treat each one for injuries, then carry one out on a Stokes litter, and pull them across a ravine on a rope pulley. Chris and others went across in a harness. Started about 7, and went to 10 in the dark with a full moon. In bed by 10:30, with a light rain falling
We started down the side of the mountain, not really having a trail to follow. It was a very treacherous descent, full of loose rocks, but all made it OK. Dennis was bringing up the rear, and he said by the time he got to the trail, it was really bad from the rest of the crew going over it before him. About mid way down, we found a rut or drainage channel and followed it the rest of the way. When we started down, it wasn't clear that there was a way down at all - we could have been forced to turn around and go the long way.
After we arrived at camp, we took a short tour of the Cabin, which was still mostly set up like it had been a hundred years ago. There was a coed staff here, the women were cooking what looked and smelled to be a great meal. Also had a fire going - it was hard not to stand in front of it. The staff pointed out that this really wasn't a cabin, it was a home stead, being much larger and better constructed that a mere cabin.
It rained the rest of the afternoon, hard, til ~ 7 pm, just before sun went behind the mountains. My boots and everything else are soaked. Nothing dried out. Right after arriving and getting tents set up, I had to get into the tent and lay down under my wool shirt to try to warm up some. I didn't want to change clothes, because I couldn't stay dry anyway, and I'd wind up with two sets of wet clothes. The camp is in a meadow of tall grass, now very wet. I was generally miserable. Bob Haveman has same poncho as I do and the same problems. I was genuinely concerned for a while about getting chilled and hypothermic. It was no fun. We went to bed about 9:30. There was no roses and thorns tonight for the first time. Chris and I smelled rather gamey, what with 8 days on the trail and being wet to boot.
The boys went to a tie making demonstration, and the adults had a hobo shower. It was a nice refreshing break. Dinner was cheese enchiladas (like vegetarian chili over tostidos), beef broth and chocolate pudding. This was very good, at least I thought so.
After dinner the adults went to advisors coffee, and then a camp fire put on by the staff at the camp site. This turned out to be an outstanding program. It was funny and well done by a very talented staff. There were 4 total, with 2 guitars, a mandolin, dulcimer and harmonica. The camp director called himself Boss Voss, and he and his staff told a story about some of the history of the Philmont area, and the personnel who were part of it - Lucien Maxwell, and a couple ofothers. They got in a few digs at the base camp version of the Philmont story. After this, Boss played "Hootchie Kootchie Man" ( an old John Lee Hooker blues number) on the harmonica. He had great stage presence. He then told a long story about a local family by the name of Kennedy who would invite folks in for a fancy dinner, then kill them. His descriptions of the meals and what they would serve to their victims got us all thinking about real food. "Stuff just oozing out all over the place" was a repeated line in describing the meal. After the program ended around 10pm, went back to camp and decided to get up at 5 to be on trail in order to get to Baldy.
There was a trading post as part of the base camp. I bought a rain suit and a Jolly Rancher at the trading post there. The suit was $15 - a small price to pay for a water proof suit. It was more weight, but at least I don't have to worry about hypothermia any more. I was lucky til now. The store had a few other items, like some candy and some souvenirs, but it was pretty limited. I don't remember seeing mch to eat, and nothing exciting to drink. Oh well...
We hiked back from Baldy and I crashed for a while. I wrote most of this on my back, hence the even worse hand writing. Ther are lots of Aspen tress up here - beautiful tall, straight white trunks with pretty green leaves. Camp isn't the greatest - tent sites are small and rocky. Oh well, only a couple of more days. I can start to smell the barn. Tomorrow has one more killer climb, almost 1000 ft, then it's all down hill back to the pick up point. I really don't have the legs for climbing - guess that's why I was born in New Orleans and live in Dallas! My lungs have held out ok, it's my legs start to burn after a steep uphill.
We got here about 9, but the burros weren't going to be available til 10:30. When we got to corral, there was only one burro to be had. After looking at the wrangler have trouble making one move and being afraid that they'd slow us up, we opted to not pick one up. Our other crew did - we'll have to compare notes later.
Took off ~11:00, and hit another hill in about 1/4 mile. We had just started up when Kyle Prater realized he left his camera and money behind at Miranda. Dennis, Barrett, me, Chris and Lance went on, while the rest waited for Kyle Prater and Kyle Branch to retrieve the stuff. The hill was another killer. I can remember Dennis and I struggling up the hill, having to stop frequenltly to catch our breath and give our legs a break. We would stop in the shade of a tree, since it was sunny and getting somewhat warm. When we stopped, I would turn around and face down hill - this seemed to help my legs. Then we would pick out another spot that was maybe 3 shady places ahead, and head to that one, and repeat the process all over.
We finally reached the top, which had a nice flat area at the summit. The other group got to the top about 15 minutes behind us - they started 45 minutes after we left. This says something about Dennis and me!. We ate lunch at the top along with the other crew and their burro. Then we started off for Elk Horn.
The burro did OK for them - it didn't act up but once or twice, and didn't slow them down any - they got to Elk horn before us. Stopped midway at Head of Dean camp for a break and to refill our water. It was a nice camp and staff - they do a challenge course there. It looked like lots of logging was going on - a lot of cleared land and logs by the road. It was a long hike (7-8 miles) and we were all tired when we arrived at Elk horn. This was a trail camp, with no staff and just a stock tank for water. There was also a faucet with running water.
There were several large logs around the camp site, and the boys pulled a couple of them together and laid some smaller logs on top to make a table of sorts. Then they put a tarp over that and played cards. We did thorns and roses in the evening, and played Telephone around the campfire, with the Dutys, Ian Jaeger, Jeremy and Chris Bryant visiting. There was no rain today.
We ate lunch (hickory squeeze cheese, and a Wha Guru bar, which is basically an inedible mixture of bird seed and brown library paste. I could only eat 6-8 crackers and cheese - can't hardly face it any more!. After lunch, I went to the shower house and washed a set of clothes to put on later after a shower. Then went to the branding demonstration. The staff talked about the history of brands and showed some of the ones that were local to New Mexico. The camp staff will brand almost anything - belts, boots, gloves, wallets, etc. I got my boots branded on the side of the heel. I like the way it looks.
Then went to the cantina and had root beer and chips. Needless to say, it tasted very good. Horse back riding is also available, and there are a couple of roping stations where you can practice throwing a rope over a fake steer's head. Tonight is a chuck wagon dinner prepared by the staff - beef stew, biscuits, cobbler. We furnish 2 scouts for cooks and 2 for clean up.
I TOOK A REAL STAND UP HOT SHOWER! They had very nice fiber glass stalls. Felt superb.
It started raining about 2pm - the usual. It needs to stop so I can get my clothes dry. I plan to shower here and then again tomorrow back at base camp and put on new clothes. I'm tired of smelling myself. If I have to put back on same clothes I will.
There is a problem in the other group with the 3 drivers wanting to leave as soon as they can after check in. Bruce, Bob and Fritz all want to go immediately (Bruce even tried to leave today) and not wait for the closing camp fire tomorrow night. Tom, Dennis and I are ticked, because most of the boys want to stay, and we can't carry them all back plus our crew. We plan to talk about it tonight at advisor's coffee. Hope it works out - it's putting a damper on the end of a great trip for our crew, and maybe a not so great on for the other crew. At the coffee, we asked Bob Haveman to stay, and he reluctantly agreed. The other two - Bruce and Fritz - are going as soon as they can on Monday. At least that is resolved. Rick had some harsh words about Bruce to the three of us.
It kept raining most of the afternoon on and off, through chuck wagon dinner, up to just before sunset. I never did get my dry laundry. I finally put on my clean damp T shirt and dried it that way. It was nice not to smell for a while.
Chuck wagon dinner was good canned stew, biscuits and cobbler. There was plenty of stew, but they came up short on biscuits and cobbler. Our guys were late arriving and almost missed it. The biscuits and stew went fast after the 10 days of trail food. After dinner, we went to the advisors coffee and talked to the camp director for a while. He's a real nice guy, just graduated from OSU with a teaching degree. Then back to camp, into bed about 9:30. Perfectly clear, with full moon. Another typical day weather wise.
After we broke camp, we went back to main camp area and messed around - Chris tried lassoing (did good) and went into the cantina one last time. We left Ponil around 9:15 and hiked to the pick up point - 15 minutes. Saw a deer there while waiting for the bus. The bus came right on time - there were several other crews waiting to be picked up. The drivers each had the crew numbers for the ones they were to pick up. It felt different to sit in a chair after all the days on the trail.
When we got back to camp check in was pretty uneventful and well organized. Spent some time in the trading post - bought a neckerchief, slide and Chris got a map. Didn't get a whole lot of stuff - the jackets were expensive. Took another shower and changed into really clean clothes and tennis shoes. EXCELLENT! Called home, then tried to do some laundry, but the trading post was out of detergent. I couldn't believe it. There have been several things that were inexplicably out of - stuff that doesn't spoil or change from year to year. They are just losing sales. The two meals so far were mediocre. More heavy rain, wind and hail in the afternoon and into the evening.
We went into Riyado, about 10 miles past Philmont, and poked around in a museum there. The boys really wanted to buy a tomahawk there, but they were out. Got mouth harps instead, plus a few books. Then went into Cimarron and back to the St. James hotel for some more souvenirs. Back to camp in time for evening meal. Closing camp fire was a dud - the same Guy Smiley type from the opening advisors meeting, plus a staffer doing really weak comedy. It was a very disappointing way to end the trek. After camp fire, we went into Cimarron again to the DQ there, and got some food and snacks. A nice change from camp food. Back to camp and in bed by 1030 or so.
All in all, a really neat, memorable experience. Certainly the high point of my scouting career, and one of the high points in my life. Hope everyone remembers it as well as I do.
Paul Haydel
Philmont Log
PHILMONT LOG, JULY 13-26, 1994. TREK 714E2, ITINERARY 18
Paul Haydel