2003 Philmont Journal Crew 1

Crew Members:

Brian Orlick - Lead Adult Advisor

Tom Conlon - Adult Advisor

Eric Burley - Adult Advisor

Ryan Weaver - Adult Advisor

John Poats - Adult Advisor

Matt Conlon - Crew Leader

Ben Arnstein

Ben Ayivorh

Randy Froehlich

Justin Leichter

Bobby Orlick

Bobby Scruggs

1-2 August - Thirteen of us, to include Tom Conlon and myself from Crew 1, flew into Albuquerque on Friday the 1st where we spent most of two days acclimating to the dry air and nearly mile high elevation. In Albuquerque we went to the Petroglyph National Monument, took a tram ride to the top of Sandia Peak (10,000 feet), hiked along the top of Sandia Peak, stopped at REI for some last minute supplies, and ate New Mexican cuisine in old town Albuquerque. Tom Conlon made prior arrangements for us to sleep in the gym at Kirtland Air Force Base. The gym arrangements were fine except the heat inside the gym by nightfall was almost unbearable. Big fans positioned at the open doorways leading out helped pull in some cooler air. We rented sleeping bags from the base recreation center but also had to rent a small trailer. Because the rec center was closed on our check-out day, Sunday, we put the sleeping bags inside the trailer the morning of our departure and locked the trailer shut. A little scout creativity!

3 August - Driving up from Albuquerque, the Tooth of Time and the Philmont high country were visible off in the distance from the Interstate. We arrived at Philmont base camp at 1115 after the four hour drive from Albuquerque. Since I had previously been to Philmont in 1976, I was anxious to return. I of course recognized the Tooth of Time, the entrance sign with shoes hanging from it, and tent city, but I could not recall the layout of the buildings and did not remember the Villa Philmonte. It was really impressive to see all the scouts--both those having returned from the trail very dirty and the clean, arriving scouts. The number of packs in pack lines was impressive. I wondered what it must feel like to have just come off the trail.

We had originally planned to meet up with the rest of the Troop who drove across country but they had a longer day than expected. They arrived around 1 PM and it was good to see them and my son, Bobby, who I had not seen for almost two weeks. I was anxious for him to experience Philmont as I had many fond memories from when I did a trek at his age.

Once checked in at the Welcome Center, it was only a matter of about 10 minutes before our Ranger, “Slim” or Christian Braunlich, arrived to lead us through base camp to the trail. Slim, as it turns out, grew up in Alexandria, Virginia only about 10 miles from our Troop. Having been a scout the last time at Philmont I was unaware of all the paperwork involved in the checking in process. As the adult crew advisor, it seemed like I walked several miles over the next day between the rental van, my tent, and the base camp administration buildings. The check-in process included a stop at Logistics where they mapped out our itinerary in detail telling us the location of water sources and activities. This was extremely valuable. We also picked up pots and pans and a very impressive pile of bagged meals for the next three days. We had nearly 60 bags of food! (I would later learn that we had an even more impressive pile of bagged food awaiting.) At this point I began to wonder how it would all fit into our packs.

4 August - I learned last night that base camp is not the place to get good sleep. The wind would occasionally strengthen whipping the tent fabric and blowing fine dirt around and the many scouts at base camp were not exactly quiet while going about their business. The anticipation of hitting the trail also kept us from sleeping well. Today we had our equipment check by Slim. As he went through the checklist, we had to show him that we had each item. To do this we pulled all our equipment out of our tents, backpacks, and other bags we brought along on the trip. This was a very important activity but created a challenge to repack everything not only into our backpacks but into the van and Troop trailer. We had our last meal in the dining hall before hitting the trail. We said the Philmont grace before lunch as we did before every meal for the rest of the trek. At 230 PM we were scheduled to depart base camp for the trail! At this point all final packing decisions had to be made, valuables had to be stowed either in the rental van or at headquarters, and last minute items purchased.

Finally we were boarding the bus to get on the trail! As it turned out, Crew 3 from our Troop was on the bus with us and was also making its way to Lovers Leap Camp. We proceeded to the Lovers Leap turnaround about four miles down the road. After exiting the bus and gathering our packs we underwent some training on the use of the “red roof inns” (aka toilets). The Rangers had our two crews gather inside one unit meant for only two people. It was here that the rangers explained why scouts grab a stick (in the middle!), rattle it around inside the seat (to knock off the spiders), and do their business (number 2 only!). It was quite a sight to see so many people inside one red roof inn.

As we headed up the trail Slim schooled us on the four “t’s” associated with our first trail sign. No touching, turning, tinkling, or trusting. He reiterated that a scout should always check his map at a trail sign. We made a stop at Lovers Leap which offered quite a view from about 500 feet above the valley below. Then we proceeded the easy mile further to Lovers Leap Camp--our first unstaffed camp. Slim instructed the crew on proper bear bag, cooking, and clean-up procedures. It was a lot for us to get a handle on so it helped that he would be with us for another day and a wakeup. We hiked quite a ways to refill our water bottles from a nasty, trickle of a spring. For the next hour and a half, we pumped a number of bottles full of water. We went to bed after Thorns and Roses, an activity done in the dark light where each person comments about that days good and bad experiences and buds or issues to improve upon.

5 August - Departed Lovers Leap Camp for Crater Lake Camp and had our first trail breakfast. We had a short hiking day of about three miles and arrived at Crater Lake before noon. While setting up camp we got our first taste of a New Mexican hail and rainstorm. Quite a bit of rain was deposited but as we learned, the moisture doesn’t last for very long. This is true also of our bodies as to this point we had all been drinking copious amounts of water. Crater Lake turned out to be one of our favorite camps. The crew did spar pole climbing up to a height of about 30 feet! We also experienced a really fun campfire with lots of creative storytelling. And did I mention the incredible view of the Tooth of Time? at Thorns and Roses, Ryan likened base camp to a POW camp which we talked about for the rest of the trip.

6 August - Slim departed this morning and the crew was sorry to see him leave. After breakfast at the campfire ring and the great view of the Tooth, we started for Black Mountain Camp and what turned out to be our first real test on the trail. We hiked about seven miles, the last two or three of which was through the very scenic, but narrow North Fork Urraca Creek valley in the rain. John Poats led the crew through the valley in which we crossed 15-20 narrow log bridges. At Black Mountain Camp the scouts shot black powder rifles and practiced blacksmithing. The camp was reenacting the 1860’s. At blacksmithing, all who volunteered to make our wrought iron hook was named “Bob.” We chose a nice campsite near the North Fork Urraca Creek.

7 August - Off to Beaubien and a two day stay. We had a short hike today but were required to gain about 500 feet in elevation before descending. Beaubien is in a scenic valley of pastures and open spaces. The main camp building has a nice view of pasture and the horse corral. In addition, in front are horseshoe pits and mock cattle to practice roping. They also offered fresh fruit on the front porch. Upon arriving at our campsite we sent four crewmembers off to Phillips Junction (four mile roundtrip) to pick up our food for the next two days. The afternoon was lazy with branding under the new metal-roofed pavilion, roping and horseshoes. That evening we has a wonderful chuck wagon dinner and attended the campfire which was not nearly as good as at Crater Lake.

8 August - Early wake up today for horseback riding. This took most of the morning but the entire crew enjoyed it. That afternoon, half the crew hiked the six miles or so to the top of Trail Peak, site of the B-24 bomber crash from the 1940’s. It was on the top of Trail Peak that we got the first glimpse of our biggest challenge--Mt. Phillips. We had been warning the crew that we had some hard, steep hiking ahead to reach the top of Mt. Phillips at 11,700 feet. Unfortunately we did not do our conservation project at Beaubien. We took it for granted that the project was practically in the camp. We realized our mistake days later when we got to Cimarroncito Camp.

9 August - What would turn out to be our hardest day began with another food pickup at Phillips Junction. While eating breakfast at Phillips Junction, Crew 3 arrived. Because of the challenge of Mt. Phillips ahead with no water, Tom and I had decided that we should not cook a meal until Cimarroncito--2 days off. At Phillips Junction we ensured we had plenty of dry food that needed no cooking. We took a wrong turn at Porcupine Camp and went up the wrong trail for about a mile and had to backtrack. In addition, we gained about 600 feet in elevation which was really discouraging to descend knowing that we only had to re-ascend that amount later that day. At Crooked Creek Camp we learned a little bit of homesteading lore before reluctantly having to proceed to Wild Horse Camp at 10,400 feet. The climb to Wild Horse was the hardest part of our trek. Steep trails led us to Wild Horse where we were the only crew for miles! A violent, never-ending thunderstorm greeted us. Some put up tents while others ate dinner in the rain. We were not exactly happy campers.

10 August - The ascent of Mt. Phillips is today! We broke camp early and headed to Clear Creek Camp for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. of the early 1820’s. We had another nice trail breakfast and arrived at Clear Creek by about 1030 AM. We met up with Crew 3 once more and discussed the previous nights weather as we laid equipment out to dry. The crew enjoyed throwing hatchets at shirts and hats and had another opportunity to shoot black powder rifles. The crew also heard a discussion of beaver trapping techniques. By mid-afternoon, we began the steep, rocky ascent of the western side of Mt. Phillips. We gained about 1700 feet in elevation. The views from the top were stunning. We could see Mt. Baldy--the highest point at Philmont--and Wheeler Peak--the highest point in New Mexico. A big thunderstorm over Wheeler Peak provided entertainment at sunset. After two very hard days, we bedded down that night at the nicest and quietest camp of the entire trip.

11 August - Most of the crew awoke early to enjoy the sunrise from Mt. Phillips. After breaking camp we embarked on our longest hiking day of about 11 miles, all downhill, descending about 3700 feet in elevation! At lunch time we stopped at Cyphers Mine Camp and enjoyed touring the gold mine and sitting on the porch of the new lodge building. As happened in 1976, deep inside the mine we turned off our lights and the ranger made a very large noise as in a mine collapse. We departed the mine very quickly. Surprisingly, today turned out to be the most physically exhausting day of our trek. Many in the crew had blisters by days end and we did not arrive to Cimarroncito until dinner time. Tom and I decided that it would be best if we cooked dinner and cleaned up. The scouts were very tired and needed hot showers which Cimarroncito offered. In addition, it appeared as if our conservation project would have to be done way back at Cyphers Mine Camp, nearly four miles away! I doubted whether the entire crew could make it back uphill to Cyphers Mine and then work for three hours. After dinner, the scouts enjoyed traversing a rock climbing wall with many other scouts.

At bedtime, I was awakened by the Cito staff who were looking for the crew from the camp next door. They had checked in to the camp, dropped their packs without putting up their bear bags, and departed. Cito is well known for black bear problems and the staff members were obviously worried. They were obligated to send out a search party. About an hour later, the missing crew returned from their trek to pickup food at Ute Gulch. I instructed them to check in with the camp staff so that the search could be called off.

12 August - Two important events had to be completed today. We needed food and we had to do our conservation project. Three of us (Tom, John, and myself) made the four mile roundtrip hike to Ute Gulch for our last food pickup while the rest of the crew went rock climbing at the famous Cimarroncito. The Grouse Canyon trail turned out to be very scenic, and, you guessed it, we ran into Crew 3 again! By late morning we made our way one mile to the Hunting Lodge--Waite Phillips’ mountain lodge--to meet the conservation project ranger and hopefully get a project at the hunting lodge. We were successful although only if you consider digging out a giant Douglas fir stump as successful! We also got to cut and split firewood which the scouts enjoyed. After our three hour project, we toured the hunting lodge and admired the thick outer doors intended to keep out grizzly bears. Hot showers after this long day we very soothing.

13 August - We departed Cimarroncito on another challenging hike to Tooth Ridge Camp at the base of the Tooth of Time. We stopped at Clark’s Fork Camp--another horseback riding camp--and Ryan did a foot check. Lots of blisters. We also filled up all our water bottles and bags as there was no more water until base camp! From Clarks Fork the elevation gain to Tooth Ridge Camp was a tough 1000 feet. In addition, the top of Tooth Ridge is a very rocky hike. Along with Mt. Phillips Camp, Tooth Ridge Camp is a very nice area. Several of the scouts enjoyed climbing on the large rock formations near the campsite. After dinner, Bobby S., Bobby O., Justin, and myself hiked to the top of the Tooth. Several others turned back before the top after realizing how tough the hike was. From the top one could get a glimpse of base camp once again after many days. Also, most of the Philmont backcountry was visible affording a nice reminder of where we had been. During our last thorns and roses, the crew was encouraged to talk about the overall trek. This was our last night together as a crew.

14 August - Several crew members hiked up the Tooth this morning to enjoy the sunrise. Afterwards we broke camp and began the winding, monotonous descent into base camp. We played leap frog with 3 or 4 other crews on the way down. Base camp was visible almost the entire way but did not seem to get close very fast. Finally we arrived to the famous “We Made It” sign welcoming us back to base camp and took pictures. We were all happy to return and in relatively good shape. Throughout the trip we were reminded of one of Slim’s sayings which was “you want to look good because looking good is important.” Indeed, at the end we were looking good!

That afternoon, after checking into base camp and after showering, some of the crew toured Villa Philmonte and then we all went to the closing campfire. The parachuting mini-bears were one of the most memorable skits.

15 August - Very early departure to Albuquerque for the flyers. Lots of memories and talk about our experience.