Philmont Scout Ranch – This past summer 9 scouts and 3 adults from Troop 175 traveled to
Cimarron New Mexico for an unforgettable 2 week backpacking adventure in the Sangre De Cristo mountain range. Philmont was donated to the Boy Scouts in 1947 consisting of 220 square miles of high altitude terrain.
Our crew hiked approximately 65 miles carrying fully loaded backs enabling us to be self sufficient for our 2 week stay. Philmont is a wonderful experience not only for the outdoor adventure but also for the wilderness and leadership skills each scout mastered along the way.
Andrew Fletcher takes a day by day look at the trip from through the eyes of a scout.
Day 1: Day 1, we arrived at base camp. After meeting mike, our ranger, we dropped our equipment off at our tents. We picked up trail/ crew gear, and placed it in the tents. We went to a campfire after dinner (very corny). After the campfire, we spent rest of night playing Frisbee and eating junk food from the trading post.
Day 2: We woke up and after breakfast, distributed all of the crew gear and did equipment check. We waited for the bus to take us on trail, and later arrived at Zastrow Turnaround. After getting the "poop talk" from mike, we started on trail. Later that day, we arrived in Old Abreu (trail camp). Naturally, during the first nights dinner, one of our scouts puked and had to carry the contents of his stomach in his backpack for several days because we were not allowed to bury it. After dinner and cleanup, we went down to Abreu, a staff camp, and spent a little while eating chocolate and playing Frisbee, going back to camp for the night.
Day 3: Woke up, and after a relatively uneventful and gentle day on trail, arrived at camp for the night, the Crags (trail camp). We arrived fairly early, so mike drilled in our knots and whatnot for it was his last day with us. This camp was especially dusty, and we ended up getting most of our dirt from this night. Played cards for the night, Eddie spilled his Gatorade water meaning he had to carry it out. That's about it for that night.
Day 4: Another easy day, offset by the fact that we woke up to about 500 vertical feet of switchbacks. We arrived at Fish Camp (staff camp), set up camp, and took a fly tying as well as fly fishing program.
After buying our fishing licenses we tried our hands at fly fishing to no avail. However, Mr. Van Loon did find a snake halfway through eating a fish, which was interesting to see. This night was the cow chasing night. Cows invaded our camp so a few of us ended up chasing them all over the place which had to be one of the most fun things we did. Somebody from another troop yelled at us for chasing them, so naturally, when the cows trampled through their camp, we found no need to chase them out. After listening to their groans of devastation and trying not to laugh too hysterically, we went to sleep.
Day 5: Our longest so far, but still not all that difficult, day on trail. We arrived at Apache Springs around 11, and after lunch, did our trail conservation. This is required for all groups who pass through Philmont to do, however, our troop enjoyed it thoroughly. Although it was merely trail making, it involved dangerous tools, so we were right at home. Our crew removed a momentous chunk of stone from the trail, with a great amount of man power. This was also a very fun thing to do. After conservation, we had the rest of the night to ourselves, so we went to the giant open field and played ultimate Frisbee. The only other exciting thing of the night was that a certain person “slipped” into fresh cow poop. That was a riot. After a beautiful sunset over the grassy field, it became too dark to play Frisbee so we went to bed.
Our layover day. We woke up extra late, in fact, we had no real requirement to when we had to wake up except for when the voices of others woke you yourself. Today may have been our favorite day. We did two programs that day, Archery, and later in the day, the famous Sweat Lodge. Apparently, our troop isn’t all that great at archery, but it was still enjoyable. However, the highlight of the day was by far the sweat lodge. By now the phrase, “Everything’s funnier at 11,000 feet” had been circulating around, and it is fair to add “and at 110 degrees” to it. Honestly, I cannot describe the experience to you, but imagine 9 guys cramped into a dark room no larger than a cubicle, laughing at jokes that didn’t make any particular sense and sweating like pigs. Let’s just say that by the end of the experience, all we were talking about was how we were going to make our own. That was about all for that day, and after another round of Frisbee; sleep.
Day 7: Day 7 was a relatively long day, about 8 miles as I recall, but still not all too bad. Our day consisted of a very long trek before arriving at Crooked Creek, the last staff camp for a few days. Crooked Creek, certainly lived up to its name, the people there were certainly crooked, and the only water they had was a small very brown creek, which we had no intention of using. After being hackled by the staff for resting at the bottom of their hill, we took a decent break. Now, during this break, one of the staff members began to hassle Jake, so, one of our adult leaders stepped in by humming a little redneck jingle. The staffer, speechless, walked away, followed by restricted laughter from our group. After this, we began a very painstaking uphill path to our camp, and I’m not sure how many vertical feet we gained, but the switchbacks were steep and seemingly endless. After arriving at Wild Horse Camp (trail camp) very tired, we all ate and went to sleep.
Day 8: Day 8 was Mt. Phillips summit. We climbed 1500 vertical feet in a very short lateral distance and, out of breath, arrived at the summit. The view from the top of the mountain, although not 360, was spectacular. After taking a few photos, eating lunch, and harassing the local mini- bears, what New Mexicans call chipmunks, we were on a 5 minute hike from the summit to our campsite, Mt. Phillips Camp (trail camp), creative eh? Not much else happened day 8, for we were incredibly tired from the hike, and as soon as dinner and cleanup was done, we were asleep.
Day 9: Day 9 was a relatively short hike. We arrived at Cypher’s Mine (staffed camp) early enough to do a few programs. The nice thing about Cypher’s Mine was that it had shelters for us to sleep in, which meant no setting up tents. For programs, we went to a blacksmithing lesson and made a hook to hang things on. The blacksmith at Cypher’s Mine was a pretty funny guy, every time somebody hit his anvil (affectionately named “Betty Lou”), he would make them get on their knees, apologize, and give “her” a kiss. Also, we went to a mine shaft and learned about mining of the age. On the way out, however, the program guide turned off his light and lurked in the corners attempting to scare as. Only one scout actually let out a yelp, while the rest of the 175ers remained strong. Also, everyday at Cypher’s Mine, there is a strongman contest. Clearly, this was a talent for us. We spent all day planning how to do this, and eventually came up with a good idea; I was to lie down and be bench pressed by Rob Carter while I explained Einstein’s theory of relativity to the crowd. This way, we figured, we would be both mentally and physically strong. However, later in the day, it started pouring buckets, so we stayed in the shelter in our sleeping bags playing 10s and 2s as well as Set Back, both popular card games of the trip. After a warm dinner, it was to bed.
Day 10: Day 10 was another decently long hike, although it was only 4 miles to Cimarroncito (staffed camp) a group of 3 had to make a 3 mile side hike to pick up food for the last day. While the 3 man group made the side hike, the rest of us went rock climbing and repelling. What was nice about this was that from the top, you could see a great deal of Philmont itself. After we had finished that, we waited for the rest of the group to join as. For most of the rest of the day, we attempted a small traversing wall they had at the center of camp, for if you won, you got some sort of sugary treat, which was very motivating to us. However, it had just rained, so the wall was slick, and it was very difficult even without the rain water, so none of us made it. Otherwise, not much else happened at Cimarroncito.
Day 11: A very easy hike, by this time we flew through the few miles extremely quickly, arriving at Clark’s Fork (staffed camp) sometime very early, about 10 am. In Clark’s Fork, we spent the rest of the day doing programs, as well as playing a few hours of horseshoes. Our first program was branding, we brought our personal clothes and had them branded with the Philmont brands. Next, we had horseback riding scheduled, but when we got up there, it started pouring. And by pouring, I mean that the dry path we had just walked up was now a stream. So, to Eddie Cronin’s discontent, we did not ride horses. The outstanding thing about Clark’s Fork was that there was a freshly cooked dinner, beef stew, biscuits, and for desert peach cobbler. This may sound simple enough, but that had to be the best on trail food I have ever eaten, perhaps because we were used to freeze dried food. However, we ate until we felt sick, and were very content.
Day 12: This was, by far, the longest day on trail. The day began by gaining 2000 vertical feet. There was two ways to do this, a switchback path, and a steep road. We took the road. Although it was dreadfully steep, we seemingly cruised through it, for we passed many, many crews who had (foolishly) attempted the road. However, next was a long, flat haul out to the Tooth of Time. After an hour or two, we arrived at the base of the Tooth of Time. By this point, we were fairly exhausted, and the hike required to get to the top was very difficult, both because of the steepness, as well as the fact that any prospective hiker had to climb on top of jagged uneven boulders. At the top, we ate a quick snack, took some photos, and it was back down to the bottom. Finally, we were on the last stretch. All that was left was to descend a huge amount of vertical feet to the base of the mountains and to walk back to base camp. Now, there are two ways to do this, the long, excruciating, switch back filled path that everyone seems to take (correctly named the “Trail of Tears”), or the short and steep way meant for only rangers. Us being us took the quick way down. Once at the bottom, we walked on a flat road in the dry hot sun until we arrived at base camp. Once there, we returned troop gear, checked our phones, and bought lots of junk food. And so ended our on- trail experience.
Note: Although this gives you a rough idea of what went on in Philmont, there are countless other things that really made the trip, such as the long list of inside jokes. Only those who went on this trip can really understand what is so funny about the number 1.9, why Eddie Cronin wants to ride the donkey so much, or even “Sir-tucks-alot”. The real experience of Philmont is only be held by those who have been there.
