Philmont 2016 - Day 9 - August 11, 2016

The big day … burro packing! Today we would be given a burro to take with us on our hike. The burro would stay with us overnight, and then we'd take him with us to our next camp. The hike today is only about 5 miles, however, we would be climbing approximately 1500 feet in elevation.

We weren't in a hurry to get up this morning, because we had to under go “burro training” before we could leave Ponil Camp. We woke up and got packed up, and then ate a leisurely breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed down to the corral to get our burro and get trained. When we got there, a couple of the ranch hands were messing around trying to rope each other. Once they successfully roped their opponent, they would try to pull him down into the mud and the … well … you know … it's a burro corral!!! It was VERY entertaining!

Next, they let the boys into the corral to go and find a burro that they liked.

Once they found their burro, it was time to learn how to properly pack our gear onto the burro. The boys did a really good job of it … they picked up the procedure very quickly. They also had to give their burro a name … may I introduce Harold … Harold the Burro!

The boys had wanted to take a second burro, but mean old me told them to stick with just one … I figured one would be more than enough trouble!!! We got our gear loaded up and hit the trail.

We were hiking along a dirt road on our way to Elkhorn Camp. Elkhorn is a trail camp … there would be no staff members there and no program activities. Once we arrived at the camp, we would have to unload Harold, put him in the pen, and give him some water and hay. There would be too much else to do.

The trail had a slight grade to it, but it wasn't too bad. We needed to make a left turn at some point, at which time we would have to head straight up the side of a mountain to Elkhorn Camp, which was located at the top. Once again, Mt. Baldy loomed off in the distance.

We had some minor navigation problems and initially walked past the turn. We quickly realized our mistake and turned back. We found the turn and then started the climb. It was very steep, rocky & dusty, and we had to guide Harold up with us … he wasn't really in the mood!

We finally reached the top and found Elkhorn Camp. The top of the mountain was essentially a ridge line. The camp was slightly down hill on the other side of the ridge we had just climbed. The views from the top of the ridge were just fantastic. We could see all the way back to the Tooth of Time.

We got Harold into the pen and gave him his food & water. After that, we set up camp and everyone took a well deserved rest. A little while later, our sister crew showed up with their burro, Burrito. After dinner, we decided to walk back up to the top of the ridge. The boys found some rocks to climb around on while we watched the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful.

It was a beautiful, clear night, and fortunately for us, the Perseid meteor shower was scheduled to put on a great show that night. We brought our chairs back to the top of the ridge and we sat there for at least an hour watching an incredible show of meteor trails. I've never seen anything like it.

Tomorrow we'd be hiking with Harold from Elkhorn Camp to Miranda Camp. Miranda is one of the camps that serves as a “base” for day hikes to the top of Mt. Baldy.

Philmont 2016 - Day 8 - August 10, 2016

We will hike from Camp Dan Beard to Ponil Camp today. It's about a six mile hike. We're all pretty tired from yesterday's long hike, so it will be interesting to see how we hold up. Before we leave camp, however, the boys are going to participate in some challenge activities. The main program at Dan Beard is a series of challenges that the crews have to complete. We had arrived too late in the day yesterday to do anything, so the plan was to do some of these first thing in the morning, and then continue on our way.

One of the challenges the boys faced was a climb over a wall onto a platform. The wall was probably about 12 feet high. They had to figure out how to get everyone on top, using whatever means they could think of. It took a little while, but eventually, they all made it to the top.

After they finished the challenge events, it was time to hit the trail. There were several incentives for us to get to Ponil. First, there were showers at Ponil!!! This would be our first opportunity to take a shower since leaving base camp five days earlier! Second, dinner tonight was a “chuck wagon dinner”, prepared by the Ponil camp staff, with some help from a couple of our crew members. Third, there was a trading post at Ponil, and we had been told that the root beer was really good.

Most of the hiking we had done to this point followed dry river beds and lake beds or crossed large meadows and cattle grazing fields. The trail from Dan Beard was a much more difficult trail, and was more like the trails we were used to hiking in Harriman State Park, with lots of rocks along the trail, and a lot of “ups and downs” as we hiked along one side of the canyon.

It was slow going, but we eventually made it through the canyon and onto easier terrain.

When we arrived at Ponil, we ate lunch and then got ready for our program activity. When we had met with the logistics staff at base camp at the start of our trip, we had to choose between horse back riding and shooting at Ponil. The staff needed to know in advance which we wanted to do, so that they would be prepared accordingly. The boys had chosen the shooting activity. We each had the opportunity to shoot a rifle, a pistol and a shotgun. I'm not really into shooting, but it was fun.

After we finished shooting, we set up our camp and waited for our scheduled time to use the showers.

It felt really good to have a hot shower. After the shower, it was time for us to go down for the chuck wagon dinner. It was beef stew and corn bread, with peach cobbler for dessert. I'm not sure if it would have tasted as good under normal circumstances, but after eating “Phil-food” for the past five nights, it sure did taste good then!!!

After dinner, the Ponil staff put on a cantina show. We all drank some root beer and watched the show.

It was actually a really good show. After the show ended, the staff said they were going to take a short break and then put on an “after show”. Some of the boys decided to head back to our camp site, but some of us decided to stay. The after show was even better than the main show! Afterwards, we headed back to our camp site to get some sleep.

The next day would be an exciting one … one of the program features of our itinerary included “burro packing”. It is what it sounds like … we would be given a burro (or two), that we could pack with some of our gear, and then we would take the burro with us to our next camp.

Philmont 2016 - Day 7 - August 9, 2016

Today's hike is the longest of the trip, approximately 14 miles, and will take us from Whiteman Vega to Camp Dan Beard. Most of this hike will be in the Valle Vidal, after which, we'll cross back onto Philmont property. It's going to be a long day!

We woke up early, and packed up our camp. It was another beautiful morning.

We had been talking with the camp staff at Whiteman Vega the night before, and they had suggested that rather than following the trek plan on our itinerary, that we back-track the way we had come the day before and return to Ring Place, where we would then be able to reconnect with the trail we were supposed to take. It would save us about four miles of hiking, and according to them, there really wasn't much to see by following the original plan, so we didn't need to be told twice!!!

When we arrived at Ring Place, we met up with our sister crew who had arrived there a little earlier. Even though we weren't supposed to, we decided that we would finish today's hike together. Everyone was pretty excited to have the opportunity to spend the day together.

We had been hiking along a dry river bed through a canyon, that I would later find out was Seally Canyon. At one point, we were only about a mile West of the camp we had stayed at two nights ago!

Despite cutting the extra miles out of the hike, it was still a long day in the hot sun. After about three and a half hours of hiking, we found a nice shady spot to take a break, near an old cemetary.

Jim worked with the “navi-guessers” from each crew to plan the remainder of our route. We were still in the Valle Vidal, so there were no trail markers. Map and compass navigation were still required.

The next section of the hike required us to climb up and over a wooded mountain. We started the climb, making slow steady progress towards the top.

When we reached the top, Jim sat down with the boys for another navigation check. If our navigation was correct, as we came down the other side of the mountain and emerged from the woods, we should see an old windmill in front of us. Jim asked the boys if they thought we were on course or not. The navi-guessers double and triple checked the map and their compasses and thought we were o.k., but a little doubt was starting to creep in. We came down the other side of the mountain and emerged from the woods. Right there in front of us …

… was the old windmill!!! It turned out, Jim was just messing with the boys!!! We were in an area known as Beatty Lakes, an area of dry lake beds. The scenery here was breathtaking. It seemed as always, Mt. Baldy loomed in the distance.

We crossed the lake bed and decided to take another break to eat lunch. Josh & Ben had gone off ahead to find a spot to stop. A minute or two later, they both came walking back towards us, at a hurried pace. It turned out, they had found a nice shady spot near some trees. As they went to put their packs down, right in front of them was a huge rattlesnack!!!

We found another spot to stop and ate lunch. After lunch we continued hiking towards Dan Beard. As we approached the camp, we decided that we'd come into the camp as two separate crews so that we didn't upset the staff members there. We sent our sister crew on ahead and we waited about 10 minutes before we continued.

When we arrived at the camp, rain was starting to move in. We were all hanging out on the porch of the staff cabin when the weather started getting pretty rough. A lightning strike hit the ridge line at the top of the ridge above the cabin. This was the closest I had ever been to a lightning strike, and it was MORE than close enough!!!

Fortunately, the weather moved through pretty quickly. We got our camp set up and made dinner. After dinner, the boys played some volleyball with the camp staff.

Jim and I took the opportunity to do some “trail laundry”. Tomorrow's hike would be a fairly short one, only about five miles. It had been another great day!

We had reached the halfway point of our trip!

Philmont 2016 - Day 6 - August 8, 2016

Our hike today would take us from Seally Canyon to Whiteman Vega, passing through a camp called Ring Place, where we would be resupplying our food stocks. It's only about a 4 - 5 mile hike, however, since we are in the Valle Vidal, there are no trails, and we would have to rely completely on map and compass navigation.

When we arrive at Whiteman Vega, we will be doing our required three hour conservation project, working on the mountain bike trails there, after which, we would have the opportunity to do some mountain biking.

We got a late start today … the boys just weren't in the mood to get themselves up and ready. We finally got packed up and headed out, with Jim helping the boys with navigation.

We had been told by the staff at Seally Canyon that our route today would take us up and over a small mountain, the Eastern end of the ridge we had climbed the night before, after which, we'd find ourselves in a large clearing. At that point, we were supposed to head Northwest, using Little Costilla Peak as a navigation point.

We would then climb up and over a small wooded mountain. If we did everything right, after emerging from the tree line on the other side of the mountain, we should see the buildings of Ring Place off in the distance.

We set out on the hike and after about 45 minutes, we came out of the trees, and sure enough, right there in front of us, we could see the buildings of Ring Place. The boys were really excited to see how well their navigation went.

We got to Ring Place and met up with our sister crew. They had been there for a while and were getting ready to set out for the second half of today's hike to Whiteman Vega. After a short rest and a snack, it was time for the boys to resupply our food. It turned out, that food resupply at Ring Place took the form of a “bucket brigage”. The staff members had the boys line up and the next thing we knew, food bags were flying through the air. The boys couldn't keep up the pace, and food bags were hitting the floor. It was really funny to watch!!!

One of the staff members asked the boys if they wanted some edible napkins. We all kind of looked at each, wondering what he was talking about. It turns out, edible napkins at Philmont are flour tortillas, the idea being, that you use the tortillas to hold your food, and that way you don't have to wash your plates!!!

After resupplying, we left Ring Place to continue on our way to Whiteman Vega. The scenery in the Valle Vidal is absolutely incredible. We had views of the mountains all around us, including Mt. Baldy way off in the distance.

We hiked for about 45 minutes or so and then we saw the yurt at Whiteman Vega ahead of us. When we arrived, we met up with our sister crew and it was time for lunch. The protein for today's lunch with a slab of Spam … let's just say, that I probably won't ever be eating Spam again!!!

After lunch, the staff members told us that one of our crews would do their conservation project while the other crew went mountain biking. Our sister crew did the conservation project first, and we got to do the mountain biking. Unfortunately for Jim & I, there was another crew at the camp who was also going mountain biking. The staff members told us there were too many of us for everyone to be able to ride, so the adult advisors from the two crews sat out while the boys went riding. I can't lie … I was pretty bummed out about not getting to ride.

After the ride, it was time for us to do our conservation project work. During our work, some bad weather started to move in, so the staff cut our project a little short of the three hours we were supposed to do … no one was complaining!!! Fortunately, the rain passed through very quickly.

We set up camp for the night and then ate dinner. The sunset was absolutely incredible. As we were beginning to figure out, sunsets at Philmont are a really awesome part of the experience.

The staff members came to our site to ask the boys if they wanted to play some wiffle ball. We made our way back over to the staff area and the boys played wiffle ball against their sister crew while we advisors had some coffee. It was a great night.

Tomorrow would be our longest hike of the trek, in terms of mileage. It was time to turn in and get a good night's sleep.

Philmont 2016 - Day 5 - August 7, 2016

Today we will say goodbye to Ranger Ben. He's been with us since we arrived at base camp and he has made sure that we know everything we will need to know to complete our trek safely. We'll all be sad to see him go.

We'll be hiking from Metcalf Station to Seally Canyon today. It's about a 9 mile hike, almost all of which follows the North Ponil Creek bed through a canyon.

We woke up early, broke down our camp and then headed over to meet the staff members at Metcalf Station for the blacksmithing program activity. All of the boys got a chance to participate and they made a letter opener that we were able to take with us as a souvenir.

After blacksmithing, it was time to say goodbye to Ben. We thanked Ben, said our goodbyes, and then headed North. Philmont treks cross lands owned by Philmont Scout Ranch, other private lands and some public land. Our trek today would be taking us across some private cattle ranches, and then into the Valle Vidal, a part of the Carson National Forest. We hiked for a while and then decided to stop for a breakfast break.

It was a beautiful morning, but it was already getting really hot in the canyon. As we were walking through a cattle ranch, there were lots of "cow-pies" we had to watch out for ... "cow-pies" are gross!!! We continued on our way, with some beautiful scenery in front of us.

After a while, I started to become a little concerned that we may have taken a wrong turn. Part of my concern was due to the fact that at one of our map checks, we didn't orient the map properly when we checked it. Note to self … ALWAYS make sure that the map is oriented properly before doing any navigation!!! After a short lunch break …

... we eventually reached the fence that marked the boundary for the Carson National Forest. After about another hour of hiking, we saw another canyon intersecting the one we had been hiking in. It was our destination for the night, Seally Canyon. As we approached the intersection of the two canyons, we saw three Philmont staff members walking towards us from Seally Canyon. It turned out, these were the staffers from Seally Canyon Camp. They didn't have any other crews in camp, so they had decided to go for a walk.

Where the two canyons met, there was a pretty high rock ledge. The staff members asked us if we wanted to climb up onto the ledge … of course we said yes! The view from the ledge was awesome.

We figured that we might have a bit of a wait for our sister crew, so we decided to leave our packs and take a walk with the staff members further North to the site of a former settlement in the canyon. There was a small cemetary and a few scattered remains of some structures. We returned back to the canyon intersection and waited for our sister crew.

After a while, our sister crew finally appeared, off in the distance!

We continued on the final leg of our hike to get to Seally Canyon camp. The program activity at Seally Canyon is search & rescue. The staff members asked us if we wanted to do any of the program activities, but given that it was getting kind of late, and we were pretty tired, we all decided to just set up camp & relax for a while. After dinner, the staff members came for a visit and asked us if we'd like to take a short hike to the top of a ridge behind the camp. They told us that the views from the ridge were incredible, and, as a bonus, we might be able to get cell phone reception from up there!!! That was all we needed to hear, so off we went.

The climb up to the top of the ridge was very challenging. It was really steep, and there was a lot of loose rock. I had to maintain a “three points of contact” approach to the climb at all times. I'm not usually afraid of heights, but I was definitely nervous about slipping, and then sliding and/or tumbling all the way down to the bottom!!! When we finally got to the top, as advertised, the views were incredible.

We could see the Tooth of Time way off in the distance as well as Mt. Baldy.

Off in the distance, we could see a small white speck, marking the yurt at Whiteman Vega … our destination for tomorrow! Some of us were able to get cell phone reception. Most of the boys called home to check in. Everyone was in great spirits! We stayed on the ridge until sunset, and then it was time to hike back to camp for the night.

It had been a long day, but it had also been a lot of fun.