Philmont: Day 2 - On the Trail

On the trail! Day 2 of Philmont means leaving base camp as each of the three crews hit the trail for the next ten days in the Philmont back country. The last of the base camp activities was taking the traditional Philmont crew picture, grabbing some food and clearing out the tents for the next inbound group. We found that over 600 people hit the trails of Philmont each day, so the logistics of pumping that volume of scouts and adults on the trail is no easy feat. Each crew has a different itinerary and makes different stops along the way. For that reason, we’ll break out each post to show each group’s individual journey.

Crew 1 (715-J-01) – Itinerary 25

Crew 1 started their morning by reviewing their itinerary then headed off to Rayado Turnaround.  Once the bus dropped them off in the hot, breezy campsite the ranger set to providing them training on basic first aid and the use of the Red Roof Inn’s, which are make-shift bathrooms that are around camp.  For those who haven’t been to Philmont, the biffy’s are arranged in two ways: Pilot to Bombardier (back-to-back) or Pilot to Co-Pilot (side-to-side … or as they like to call it – “cheek-to-cheek no peek”). 


 


At the turnaround they took a tour of Kit Carson museum and took in some of the homesteading games the area had to offer.  In addition to the games and the tour the museum is home to some local livestock.  In particular there was a large, fat goat which Erik was able to make “purr” through his prolonged attention to the animal. Everyone from crew 1 and 2 gathered to marvel at Erik’s channeling of Dr. Doolittle before leaving for the trail.





Once hitting the trail, Crew 1 headed to Olympia which was three miles away.  This was a trail camp, so the group focused on training on bear procedures and camp setup.  The campsite was set upon a ridge and the sights were wonderful.  As the sun began to set, the crew reviewed their plans to hike to Bear Caves the next day, beginning their Philmont trek for the next 10 days.





Crew 2 (715-J-02) – Itinerary 14



Right after lunch Crew 2 took the afternoon bus to the Rayado River turnaround and started at the Kit Carson museum.  The museum consisted of a restored home and the surrounding areas.  There were plenty of activities outside of the home tour for the crew to enjoy including tomahawk throwing, blacksmithing, playing with livestock and other local back country games.





From there Crew 2 hit the trail, heading to the Rayado River camp. Each crew assigns a daily “navi-guesser” who attempts to navigate the Philmont back country trails with the maps provided.  On the way to our field camp we stopped by Zastrow which had a wonderful evening program including cake and horseshoes.  Some of the advisors took some time to play a quick round of horseshoes with the scouts, but quickly it was time to get back on the trail to set up camp for the night at Rayado River.  We arrived at our trail camp shortly before dinner and received some trail training from our ranger on sumps, bear bag procedures, campsite setup (avoiding the “bear”muda triangle). After our first freeze dried meal of the trek we set up our tents and  called it a night, eager to get our first day of hiking under our belt and ready to tackle the hike to Uraca Mesa.




Crew 3 (715-E) – Itinerary 10

After a late start in the afternoon Crew 3 was transported to the Lover’s Leap turnaround.  Upon arriving the crew started their backcountry training with the ranger, which involved everything from cooking, cleanup to how to use the bathroom properly at Philmont.  After a short hike of 1.5 miles, the crew arrived at Lover’s Leap and hiked out to the rock’s edge. 

 

There are 24 locations in the United States which carry the name “Lover’s Leap” and like all of the others, the one at Philmont has an interesting story. As the legend goes, a Local Native American village was nearby and one young star-struck man proposed to a young lady from the village.  He said that he would wait at the location until she made her decision.  After a few days without an answer he surmised that her decision was no and they would not be married, and in his grief he hurled himself off of the cliffs to the valley below.  The young woman came shortly afterwards to give her answer of yes, only to find her love had taken his own life. In her sorrow, she followed him to his grave on the very same cliff as others from the local village watched in astonishment. From that point on the location was given the solemn name it carries today.




Once the crew explored the area and had their fun it was time to get to work setting up camp, hanging bear bags, cooking dinner. The group camped in the meadow that night on the side of the hill.  As the night grew later, many of the scouts felt as if they saw coyotes up the side of the hill before they went to sleep awaiting the next day’s adventures.

Philmont: Day 1 Trail Bound

OK folks, we’re off the trail, so it is going to take a short while to catch up on our blog posts.  After 12 days on and off the trail with three crews, we managed to take over 2700 photos and have several memories to share. We’ll be posting these over the weekend, so keep a close eye here for the summary of each day.  For now, let’s start with our first day into Philmont.
After a short three hour bus ride we arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch in the early afternoon after being dropped off by our Blue Sky Adventures hosts. The first order of business for trail bound crews was to get assigned a Philmont Ranger and begin the process of onboarding for the upcoming treks. While there is a lot of waiting there is a lot to accomplish in a short time including checking into camp logistics, shaking down individual gear, locking up personal items in security, getting trail food, locking up personal gear in lockers, checking out required crew gear from Philmont and getting assigned Trailbound tents for the evening.



Each crew is assigned an identification number and from this point forward each of the three groups act as an independent crew, taking leadership from their assigned scout crew leader in the group. We had a (*cough cough*) wonderful meal at the local dining hall and continued with our duties as the day went on.


Once done, we went to a welcome campfire which gave a short, narrated history of the Philmont Scout Ranch and the Santa Fe Trail which runs through it.  Unfortunately the presentation was cut a little short by rain, but that provided a good lesson on being prepared with rain gear in the back country. After all that activity and excitement it was time to head to our tents and prepare to hit the Philmont trail the next day. The Cimarron evening sky was quite a sight as the clouds reflected the glow of the setting sun. For the outbound crews, this would be the last time we would have flushing toilets, hot showers, sodas, candy bars, ice cream and other creature comforts we all know and love.


As promised, we’ll be putting together the daily posts over the next few days in order to re-live each day and share our funny stories, our challenges and most of all, our daily triumphs as each of the three crews set out on their Philmont treks.

Philmont: Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

Day 3 on the ground in New Mexico and today was another great day.  First stop, Santa Fe! We had our first stop outside of Santa Fe where we learned about the first and oldest city in the United States. After a brief history lesson we set forth and experienced the local art the only way we know how – we climbed all over it like spider monkeys.

After taking in the local art we headed out to the historic part of Santa Fe to see the old city square.  We walked around for about an hour and learned about the historic Santa Fe Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.  Local folklore states that the spires of the cathedral were never completed by Archbishop Lamy because he loved the town so much and completion would require that he relocate to yet another city to start another cathedral. Mr. Brookes took a short moment to thank the Archbishop Troop 466 style for his efforts.




After historic Santa Fe (and a quick visit to the historic Santa Fe Starbucks) we headed out for a quick hike and a picnic outside the Rio Grande river.  The hike was a short 3 miles as a warm-up for the Philmont trek and spectacular views of a 1000’ gorge which is known as New Mexico’s equivalent to the Grand Canyon.  From there we had a quick lunch then on to the highlight of our pre-tour – rafting!  We each paired up and manned our “funyaks” to head down the Rio Grande river for 2 hours of white water rafting. 

Rio Grande Rafting VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Needless to say, being on the water was the highlight of the day and everyone enjoyed the time rafting down the river.  Look for plenty of photos on the troop website of us enjoying the water and the sunny skies.  After all that work we really were looking forward to dinner and we were treated to a nice sit down dinner at Furr’s which had all the veggies, steak, salad and of course ice cream we could eat.  After all the hiking and rafting the meal really set well for all of us. 

Well folks, that’s it for Albuquerque. Starting at 5:30 AM tomorrow we’re on our way to Philmont Scout Ranch to spend several days on the trail.  The crew leaders met with the adult leaders and each scout crew leader took charge of their crews.  They spent the evening discussing routes, roles and expectations for each trek.  Now the scouts are all enjoying the last pleasures of civilization and settling in for the start of their Philmont experience tomorrow.  We have a great trip ahead of us, but unfortunately the blog posts will have to wait until we come back off the trail.  Look for random Facebook posts, texts, emails and other means of communication while we are away.  If we can send updates, we most certainly will.

Philmont: Magical Mystery Tour

Well, after a very short amount of sleep the troop and crew woke up at 5:30 AM (mothers, take note), ate, then hit the roads of Albuquerque at 6:30 AM for a wonderful tour of activities with our hosts Blue Skies Adventures.  First stop was a hike to the  “Three Sisters”, which is three volcanoes in the local area.

Although it was bright and early, we weren’t alone on the trail.  Along the hike we were joined by a plethora of wildlife including several millipedes, beetles and a horn toad (almost mistaken for a local rattlesnake).




From there we were off to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History to learn about ancient local history, NASA projects in the area and to catch a 3D movie about surfing the big waves in Tahiti.  One of the most interesting exhibits we saw was the Sun Daggers, which are three rocks which were strategically placed to allow the local Chaco Canyon population to tell time over 1000 years ago.

New Mexico Museum VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After the museum and the IMAX movie we headed to lunch.  As we’re told, almost every meal in New Mexico involves green chilies and lunch was no exception.  We enjoyed a nice meal at Albuquerque's very own LotaBurger with the crew.  We had a choice of burgers, burgers with fries, chicken burgers and shakes – oh yeah, green chilies on the side for everyone!



Most groups would have said “enough’s enough” and went home for a nap, but 466 was off to the next adventure. Next we visited Old Town Albuquerque. After a quick history lesson in the park we went out and toured the area.  Aside from the local trinket shops, we were able to take in great sites such as the Rattlesnake museum.  Sam found himself surprised at what was inside the rattlesnake eggs pouch and likely won’t be as curious in the future.




After Old Town we were off again to visit the National Nuclear Museum since Albuquerque is home to much of the research, development and testing behind the nuclear age. The museum was rather interactive and the troop enjoyed many of the attractions provided inside.

Nuclear Museum VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From there we headed to our last stop of the day – Sno Peak’s gondola ride up the mountain.  At one point we were hovering over 1000 feet off the ground.  The sights were amazing, although we were not able to hike to the old CCC lodge at the top of the hill due to the New Mexico wildfires. 




Now, we’ve returned to the hotel to take much needed showers, get some swimming in and enjoy the warm evening air. Tomorrow has another early morning ahead of us to include some hiking and kayaking to fill our day before heading to the Philmont camp.