TomEske
Member
Although this trip is not available to the general public, I am posting this report here for 4 reasons:
1) Some of our VFTT friends knew we were going on this trip and might have an interest, and one VFTTer donated gear to the group.
B) Several VFTTers are either current or former Scouters, and might be interested in how things are going at Philmont.
3) I spread the VFTT Url around Philmont, and some of those folks might be interested to see the report.
4) I thought the group in general might be interested to see how the Scouts are teaching our youth to respect and enjoy the land.
For those who have never heard of Philmont, a little background is in order: Philmont was donated to the BSA in 2 grants around 1940 and 1946 (a story in itself). It is 213 square miles in the northeast corner of New Mexico (Just a tad smaller than the Catskill Park), in Cimarron, which resides in Colfax County. The Sangre De Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains run through the racnch. The Scouts run it as a high adventure base, and have treks using 35 different itineraries that criss cross the ranch and also venture into the Carson National Forest, as well as a little bit of the adjacent ranches (with permission). Also used is the Valle Vidal (I think this is part of the CNF noted above). For the most part, the ranch is mountainous terrain, with mesas, meadows, and pastures. Basecamp is at about 6,200 feet, and the highest peak is at about 12,100 (Baldy). It is a working ranch, with herds of Horses, Bison, Burros, and cattle. Trek crews are 7-12 people (no more) and each crew picks a specific itinerary about 6 months before stepping on the trail. Which crews are on which itinerary is closely controlled to ensure that there is no overuse, and that you do not see to many people on the trail when hiking. They practice concentrated impact usage at Philmont. This means that they have established camp sites you must stay at each night, and camping on the trail is not allowed. The trail maintenance is incredible, with millions of man/boy hours spent over the years to make some incredible trails. They put "turnpikes" through many of the meadows to minimize the impact (this is a raised trail, built on a bed of rocks, then gravel, then dirt, and contained by logs. Quite a task across a half mile of meadow!). All treks are from 50 to 90 miles and completed in 11 days. Our trek was about 65 miles with side hikes. You spend one day in basecamp on arrival for medical checks, equipment checkout, food pickup, logistics planning, and a little training. You also spend one night in basecamp on your return to return gear, cleanup, and do odds & ends, or go to town for solid food. The ranch supplies all the trail food which you get in 3 day groups. They have food pickup points out in the backcountry. They also have "Staffed camps" out in the backcountry to give the trekkers first hand experience in subjects ranging from goat milking to roping, riding, gold panning, black powder shooting, top rope climbing, conservation projects, blacksmithing, and burro packing to name just a few. Some campsites are as above, and some are "trail camps" (water source and campsites but nothing else), and some are "dry camps" (pack your water in, but there is a campsite). A word about the campsites. They were fantastic. In each area there were about 9 individual sites, spread out over about 1/2 mile. You could camp near another group if you wanted to, or be out of sight and sound if you didn't want to. Each site comes with a premade fire pit so that there was no messing with rock rings or multiple fire areas in each site. As there has been a fire ban for the last 5 years due to drought, this was a moot point, but the fire ring still serves as the focal point anyway. There is also a "sump" which is a plastic pipe, sunk in the ground to a small dry well a few feet down. This is where you dump soap water, cooking water, toothbrush water, etc. This keeps the animals away and prevents every rock from having something under it. There is also a bear cable about 25 feet up to be shared between 2 or 3 campsites. The ranch also issues each crew a Ranger when they arrive. He/She is your guide for the first 3 days and walks you through everything at basecamp, reviews map skills, teaches about leave no trace, first aid, and a host of other little things, then goes off on the trail with you and teaches efficient cooking methods, proper cleanup methods, and most importantly, the ranch bear protocols. I would have to say that these are the most stringent I have ever seen, and they work well when you consider that 22,000 people hike these trails between June and August each year. The protocol is extensive, and I plan to utilize many of the things I learned as routine here in the northeast, it just makes good sense.
I've already rambled too far with the intro, so I'll just hit on the highlights of out trek. If anyone has any specific questions, just email me, and I'll be happy to answer.
We were trek crew #808-F1 doing itinerary 11. We left basecamp on 8/9 and took a bus to the southeast corner of the ranch getting a history lesson by our Ranger as we drove along. We left the bus, and the ranger led several rounds of "toasts" with our Nalgenes to make sure everyone started out with a full belly of water. Hydration is a major issue here, and this is a neat way for the Rangers to get the boys in the habit of drinking. I thought it was a great idea. The first days hike was almost insignificant, about 1.5 miles with a stop at a Staff camp along the way to get a tour of the Woodbadge museum (I used to be a beaver). We made it to our camp by about 5pm. From here on it was all the Ranger teaching the boys "how we do things here at Philmont". It was great! This guy was sharp, and boy could he teach. I had NOTHING to add to what he taught our kids. He cooked dinner, he cleaned up, he hung the bear bags he explained about siting tents, and proper pitching. All along the way, he would do it, then let the boys try it. It was important to him that they "got it", and he needed to see them do it well (as he said "look good doing it").
Our Ranger, Kyle Mckay, stayed with us until early on the third morning, when he headed back to basecamp. I saw him off at about 5am. I really hated to see him go. He was great for the boys, and a terrific trail companion.
Day#2 we camped at Carson meadows, which was the prettiest meadow I think I have ever seen. It was about 50acres and totally untrammeled. After dinner we hiked down to the Abreu camp for goat milking and the chicken races. (You had to be there, it was hysterical!)
(See part 2 for continuation...)
1) Some of our VFTT friends knew we were going on this trip and might have an interest, and one VFTTer donated gear to the group.
B) Several VFTTers are either current or former Scouters, and might be interested in how things are going at Philmont.
3) I spread the VFTT Url around Philmont, and some of those folks might be interested to see the report.
4) I thought the group in general might be interested to see how the Scouts are teaching our youth to respect and enjoy the land.
For those who have never heard of Philmont, a little background is in order: Philmont was donated to the BSA in 2 grants around 1940 and 1946 (a story in itself). It is 213 square miles in the northeast corner of New Mexico (Just a tad smaller than the Catskill Park), in Cimarron, which resides in Colfax County. The Sangre De Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains run through the racnch. The Scouts run it as a high adventure base, and have treks using 35 different itineraries that criss cross the ranch and also venture into the Carson National Forest, as well as a little bit of the adjacent ranches (with permission). Also used is the Valle Vidal (I think this is part of the CNF noted above). For the most part, the ranch is mountainous terrain, with mesas, meadows, and pastures. Basecamp is at about 6,200 feet, and the highest peak is at about 12,100 (Baldy). It is a working ranch, with herds of Horses, Bison, Burros, and cattle. Trek crews are 7-12 people (no more) and each crew picks a specific itinerary about 6 months before stepping on the trail. Which crews are on which itinerary is closely controlled to ensure that there is no overuse, and that you do not see to many people on the trail when hiking. They practice concentrated impact usage at Philmont. This means that they have established camp sites you must stay at each night, and camping on the trail is not allowed. The trail maintenance is incredible, with millions of man/boy hours spent over the years to make some incredible trails. They put "turnpikes" through many of the meadows to minimize the impact (this is a raised trail, built on a bed of rocks, then gravel, then dirt, and contained by logs. Quite a task across a half mile of meadow!). All treks are from 50 to 90 miles and completed in 11 days. Our trek was about 65 miles with side hikes. You spend one day in basecamp on arrival for medical checks, equipment checkout, food pickup, logistics planning, and a little training. You also spend one night in basecamp on your return to return gear, cleanup, and do odds & ends, or go to town for solid food. The ranch supplies all the trail food which you get in 3 day groups. They have food pickup points out in the backcountry. They also have "Staffed camps" out in the backcountry to give the trekkers first hand experience in subjects ranging from goat milking to roping, riding, gold panning, black powder shooting, top rope climbing, conservation projects, blacksmithing, and burro packing to name just a few. Some campsites are as above, and some are "trail camps" (water source and campsites but nothing else), and some are "dry camps" (pack your water in, but there is a campsite). A word about the campsites. They were fantastic. In each area there were about 9 individual sites, spread out over about 1/2 mile. You could camp near another group if you wanted to, or be out of sight and sound if you didn't want to. Each site comes with a premade fire pit so that there was no messing with rock rings or multiple fire areas in each site. As there has been a fire ban for the last 5 years due to drought, this was a moot point, but the fire ring still serves as the focal point anyway. There is also a "sump" which is a plastic pipe, sunk in the ground to a small dry well a few feet down. This is where you dump soap water, cooking water, toothbrush water, etc. This keeps the animals away and prevents every rock from having something under it. There is also a bear cable about 25 feet up to be shared between 2 or 3 campsites. The ranch also issues each crew a Ranger when they arrive. He/She is your guide for the first 3 days and walks you through everything at basecamp, reviews map skills, teaches about leave no trace, first aid, and a host of other little things, then goes off on the trail with you and teaches efficient cooking methods, proper cleanup methods, and most importantly, the ranch bear protocols. I would have to say that these are the most stringent I have ever seen, and they work well when you consider that 22,000 people hike these trails between June and August each year. The protocol is extensive, and I plan to utilize many of the things I learned as routine here in the northeast, it just makes good sense.
I've already rambled too far with the intro, so I'll just hit on the highlights of out trek. If anyone has any specific questions, just email me, and I'll be happy to answer.
We were trek crew #808-F1 doing itinerary 11. We left basecamp on 8/9 and took a bus to the southeast corner of the ranch getting a history lesson by our Ranger as we drove along. We left the bus, and the ranger led several rounds of "toasts" with our Nalgenes to make sure everyone started out with a full belly of water. Hydration is a major issue here, and this is a neat way for the Rangers to get the boys in the habit of drinking. I thought it was a great idea. The first days hike was almost insignificant, about 1.5 miles with a stop at a Staff camp along the way to get a tour of the Woodbadge museum (I used to be a beaver). We made it to our camp by about 5pm. From here on it was all the Ranger teaching the boys "how we do things here at Philmont". It was great! This guy was sharp, and boy could he teach. I had NOTHING to add to what he taught our kids. He cooked dinner, he cleaned up, he hung the bear bags he explained about siting tents, and proper pitching. All along the way, he would do it, then let the boys try it. It was important to him that they "got it", and he needed to see them do it well (as he said "look good doing it").
Our Ranger, Kyle Mckay, stayed with us until early on the third morning, when he headed back to basecamp. I saw him off at about 5am. I really hated to see him go. He was great for the boys, and a terrific trail companion.
Day#2 we camped at Carson meadows, which was the prettiest meadow I think I have ever seen. It was about 50acres and totally untrammeled. After dinner we hiked down to the Abreu camp for goat milking and the chicken races. (You had to be there, it was hysterical!)
(See part 2 for continuation...)
