TomEske
Member
(Continued from part 1...)
Day #3 we hiked about 7 miles (now up to about 8,000 ft.) to Fish Camp, Waite Phillips old fishing camp. Here the boys learned Fly tying and did some fly fishing. I explored and found some Monks Hood growing out in the woods. This is an endangered species in New York, and only grows in 2 small places in the Catskills which I have not yet found. It was really cool to find this plant and take some pictures.
Day#4 we hiked to Apache Springs with an even bigger meadow. Here the boys did 3-D archery, corn grinding with lessons on tee pee construction and how the native Americans in this area survived and thrived. They also did a sweat lodge session. We also did a food pickup here. In the evening after dinner a staff member led a rapid paced side hike up Apache Peak (10,000 ft.) to watch the sun go down. What a view! We could see for 30 miles and look at the entire town of Angel Fire spread below us. (7.25 miles, 385 yards, or 3 hours and 53 minutes to the closest cold beer, I was told.)
Day#5 we layed over at Apache Springs and did a conservation project (meadow trail refurbishment). In the afternoon we had a heck of a hailstorm lasting almost an hour. I had laundry drying that took the next three days to dry out with the 'pack hanging' method. Temperatures in the morning were usually about 38 degrees, and the highs were in the hi 60's.
Day#6 saw a pickup in the pace, we had to hike about 3 miles to do a food pickup, then another 2 miles to a staff camp, where we loaded up on water, got a homesteading tour and lesson, then another few miles to a dry camp at Wild Horse. This was my 'tough day'. When we left the staff camp it was raining lightly so we covered the packs and put on rain gear. We hiked for about 45 minutes gaining altitude and building up sweat under the rain suits. Finally we stopped to strip off some of the rain gear, because the lite rain wasn't justifying it. Of course, a half hour later the temp dropped 20 degrees, and we got hammered with heavy hail and rain. The ground was covered with hail. By the time we hit our campsite, I was hypothermic and just could not get warm. I knew what was happening, shared my problem with the crew, and we got a tent up, got me into it, and dry clothes, and I stayed in my sleeeping bag until the next morning. They fed me in the sack. The next day I was tired, but fine. It's a great feeling to have a good crew working on you.
Day#7 was a tough one for all of us, Mt Phillips at 11,765 ft.. I think we were about 7 miles getting to the beginning of the climb, and the climb was a bear. Few switchbacks and very aggressive (the altitude was sucking my lungs inside-out) , halfway up, we got hammered with hail again, big-time, but we kept hiking. When we reached the top it had cleared off and we were rewarded with some fantastic views. Our campsite that night was just 2 minutes from the peak. So after dinner, we returned to watch the sun go down, and the next morning we came up and watched the sunrise while we ate breakfast. I hated to leave this camp, the environment at tree line is so special and I could have spent a day exploring the plant and animal life.
Day#8 Cypers Mine, named after the mine manager that ran the gold mine here until 1906 or so. There is an actual mine here that goes 472 ft. into the mountain, and we got a tour of every foot of it. Coming out we did it in the dark, and boy is it DARK in there with no headlamps. We also did blacksmithing and gold panning (some of the guys did actually find gold or silver in their pans) here. In the evening they had a "Stomp", where they get everyone inside the restored miners shack and play music, sing, yell, and generally provide a damn entertaining evening. It brought a tear to my eye when they ended with "Ashokan farewell", I had to tell the players that it was my all time favorite fiddle ballad, and that the composers live just down the road from me (Jay Unger and Molly Mason).
Day#9, Cimarroncito. Here we did rock climbing, climbing wall in the evening, and a side hike for food pickup. They also had some showers here. I did a bandana bath and foot maintenance, which was interrupted by one of our crew asking me for assistance in getting an overweight chipmunk out of someone's pack. (More on this later.) We also toured Waite Phillips Hunting lodge here, pretty neat.
Day#10, Ponderosa Park. We hiked through Clarks fork and spent some time there doing branding (boots, hats, wallets, you name it), roping, and horse shoes. We left there in the afternoon to hike up the mountain another hour, and set up camp. We hiked back down to Clarks for a chuck wagon dinner and some entertainment, then back up to camp in the dark. This was a high mountain lion activity area, so we kept in groups of at least 4 on the trail.
Day#11, the longest day, we got up at 4:30 in the rain and it took an hour and a half to get on the trail (we had been averaging a little over an hour, but the weather and some other stuff delayed us). We had at least 9 hard miles on this day, plus a side hike. We climbed up the back of the Tooth of Time ridge for about 2 hours, then traversed the ridge (boulder hopping) for another hour (I rolled my ankle here, but didn't say anything). Eventually, we arrived at the base of the Tooth, made a packline, and scrambled up the back of the Tooth. This was challenging, using all fours and picking the "lead" from among the rocks, there is no trail, it is a pure scramble. The view at the top was supposed to be incredible, but visibility was about 50 feet. We were in the clouds. We took crew pictures and scrambled back down, got saddled up, and started the last 5 miles into basecamp. It was a long hike, but very rewarding. The cactus life was incredible. I counted 7 different species. We did some very long switchbacks (some almost 1/2 mile long). It was great to hit 6,000 feet again, return the gear, turn in paperwork, get showers, order a pizza, and chill out.
General comments: They have about 4 verities of Chipmunk at Philmont, from smaller than what we have here in SE New York, to one that look like a pregnant cat, and they are BOLD. They will take a cracker off your leg when you are reaching for your peanut butter. They climb inside your pack while you are standing next to it. The snakes did the same, we had great fun getting a rattler out of one guys pack ("gee I dunno Chuck, he's in your pack, I guess you just have to carry him out"). Several times we had mule deer browse through our campsite while we were cooking dinner, talking, and having a normal loud evening. The deer couldn't care less. The land was unbelievably grand! AND CLEAN! I am a neatnik in the woods and always stuffing little pieces of trash in my pockets that I find on the ground. In most Scout Camps I pick up a bunch, on State Land, I pick up a ton and carry a bag in my pack for all I collect. At Philmont I managed to pick up 3 (tiny) pieces of paper in 12 days, including basecamp. I also saw neat stuff like bleached out animal bones along the trail because they teach a very strict "leave no trace" (sure, pick it up, look at it, take pictures, but put it back they way you found it when you are done, let someone else enjoy it"). Every campsite we stayed in looked like it had not been used in over a year, but I knew darn well that they were probably used the night before. The crew we had was composed of youth aged 14-16, and adults aged 40ish to mid 60ish. My son and I were the only cronic hikers in the group, but everyone had done some level of conditioning prep. We never had any muscular problems or physical injuries that we couldn't deal with on the trail and always kept a pretty good pace. I couldn't ask for a better crew, good folks, every one of them.
One final note, for any Scouts or Scouters who might read this: If you can get to Philmont, do so! This is an exceptional experience in every sense. I am looking for any excuse to return, even If I got out to the Philmont Training Center for a course and sneak in a dayhike or two. They have three museums on the ranch (open to the public), one of which is on the national register of Historical landmarks (the Kit Carson Museum) which was a bona fide stop on the Santa fe Trail. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains will always hold a special place in my heart, I truly hope that it wasn't a once in a lifetime experience. I have GOT to do it again.
Happy Hiking,
Tom
Day #3 we hiked about 7 miles (now up to about 8,000 ft.) to Fish Camp, Waite Phillips old fishing camp. Here the boys learned Fly tying and did some fly fishing. I explored and found some Monks Hood growing out in the woods. This is an endangered species in New York, and only grows in 2 small places in the Catskills which I have not yet found. It was really cool to find this plant and take some pictures.
Day#4 we hiked to Apache Springs with an even bigger meadow. Here the boys did 3-D archery, corn grinding with lessons on tee pee construction and how the native Americans in this area survived and thrived. They also did a sweat lodge session. We also did a food pickup here. In the evening after dinner a staff member led a rapid paced side hike up Apache Peak (10,000 ft.) to watch the sun go down. What a view! We could see for 30 miles and look at the entire town of Angel Fire spread below us. (7.25 miles, 385 yards, or 3 hours and 53 minutes to the closest cold beer, I was told.)
Day#5 we layed over at Apache Springs and did a conservation project (meadow trail refurbishment). In the afternoon we had a heck of a hailstorm lasting almost an hour. I had laundry drying that took the next three days to dry out with the 'pack hanging' method. Temperatures in the morning were usually about 38 degrees, and the highs were in the hi 60's.
Day#6 saw a pickup in the pace, we had to hike about 3 miles to do a food pickup, then another 2 miles to a staff camp, where we loaded up on water, got a homesteading tour and lesson, then another few miles to a dry camp at Wild Horse. This was my 'tough day'. When we left the staff camp it was raining lightly so we covered the packs and put on rain gear. We hiked for about 45 minutes gaining altitude and building up sweat under the rain suits. Finally we stopped to strip off some of the rain gear, because the lite rain wasn't justifying it. Of course, a half hour later the temp dropped 20 degrees, and we got hammered with heavy hail and rain. The ground was covered with hail. By the time we hit our campsite, I was hypothermic and just could not get warm. I knew what was happening, shared my problem with the crew, and we got a tent up, got me into it, and dry clothes, and I stayed in my sleeeping bag until the next morning. They fed me in the sack. The next day I was tired, but fine. It's a great feeling to have a good crew working on you.
Day#7 was a tough one for all of us, Mt Phillips at 11,765 ft.. I think we were about 7 miles getting to the beginning of the climb, and the climb was a bear. Few switchbacks and very aggressive (the altitude was sucking my lungs inside-out) , halfway up, we got hammered with hail again, big-time, but we kept hiking. When we reached the top it had cleared off and we were rewarded with some fantastic views. Our campsite that night was just 2 minutes from the peak. So after dinner, we returned to watch the sun go down, and the next morning we came up and watched the sunrise while we ate breakfast. I hated to leave this camp, the environment at tree line is so special and I could have spent a day exploring the plant and animal life.
Day#8 Cypers Mine, named after the mine manager that ran the gold mine here until 1906 or so. There is an actual mine here that goes 472 ft. into the mountain, and we got a tour of every foot of it. Coming out we did it in the dark, and boy is it DARK in there with no headlamps. We also did blacksmithing and gold panning (some of the guys did actually find gold or silver in their pans) here. In the evening they had a "Stomp", where they get everyone inside the restored miners shack and play music, sing, yell, and generally provide a damn entertaining evening. It brought a tear to my eye when they ended with "Ashokan farewell", I had to tell the players that it was my all time favorite fiddle ballad, and that the composers live just down the road from me (Jay Unger and Molly Mason).
Day#9, Cimarroncito. Here we did rock climbing, climbing wall in the evening, and a side hike for food pickup. They also had some showers here. I did a bandana bath and foot maintenance, which was interrupted by one of our crew asking me for assistance in getting an overweight chipmunk out of someone's pack. (More on this later.) We also toured Waite Phillips Hunting lodge here, pretty neat.
Day#10, Ponderosa Park. We hiked through Clarks fork and spent some time there doing branding (boots, hats, wallets, you name it), roping, and horse shoes. We left there in the afternoon to hike up the mountain another hour, and set up camp. We hiked back down to Clarks for a chuck wagon dinner and some entertainment, then back up to camp in the dark. This was a high mountain lion activity area, so we kept in groups of at least 4 on the trail.
Day#11, the longest day, we got up at 4:30 in the rain and it took an hour and a half to get on the trail (we had been averaging a little over an hour, but the weather and some other stuff delayed us). We had at least 9 hard miles on this day, plus a side hike. We climbed up the back of the Tooth of Time ridge for about 2 hours, then traversed the ridge (boulder hopping) for another hour (I rolled my ankle here, but didn't say anything). Eventually, we arrived at the base of the Tooth, made a packline, and scrambled up the back of the Tooth. This was challenging, using all fours and picking the "lead" from among the rocks, there is no trail, it is a pure scramble. The view at the top was supposed to be incredible, but visibility was about 50 feet. We were in the clouds. We took crew pictures and scrambled back down, got saddled up, and started the last 5 miles into basecamp. It was a long hike, but very rewarding. The cactus life was incredible. I counted 7 different species. We did some very long switchbacks (some almost 1/2 mile long). It was great to hit 6,000 feet again, return the gear, turn in paperwork, get showers, order a pizza, and chill out.
General comments: They have about 4 verities of Chipmunk at Philmont, from smaller than what we have here in SE New York, to one that look like a pregnant cat, and they are BOLD. They will take a cracker off your leg when you are reaching for your peanut butter. They climb inside your pack while you are standing next to it. The snakes did the same, we had great fun getting a rattler out of one guys pack ("gee I dunno Chuck, he's in your pack, I guess you just have to carry him out"). Several times we had mule deer browse through our campsite while we were cooking dinner, talking, and having a normal loud evening. The deer couldn't care less. The land was unbelievably grand! AND CLEAN! I am a neatnik in the woods and always stuffing little pieces of trash in my pockets that I find on the ground. In most Scout Camps I pick up a bunch, on State Land, I pick up a ton and carry a bag in my pack for all I collect. At Philmont I managed to pick up 3 (tiny) pieces of paper in 12 days, including basecamp. I also saw neat stuff like bleached out animal bones along the trail because they teach a very strict "leave no trace" (sure, pick it up, look at it, take pictures, but put it back they way you found it when you are done, let someone else enjoy it"). Every campsite we stayed in looked like it had not been used in over a year, but I knew darn well that they were probably used the night before. The crew we had was composed of youth aged 14-16, and adults aged 40ish to mid 60ish. My son and I were the only cronic hikers in the group, but everyone had done some level of conditioning prep. We never had any muscular problems or physical injuries that we couldn't deal with on the trail and always kept a pretty good pace. I couldn't ask for a better crew, good folks, every one of them.
One final note, for any Scouts or Scouters who might read this: If you can get to Philmont, do so! This is an exceptional experience in every sense. I am looking for any excuse to return, even If I got out to the Philmont Training Center for a course and sneak in a dayhike or two. They have three museums on the ranch (open to the public), one of which is on the national register of Historical landmarks (the Kit Carson Museum) which was a bona fide stop on the Santa fe Trail. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains will always hold a special place in my heart, I truly hope that it wasn't a once in a lifetime experience. I have GOT to do it again.
Happy Hiking,
Tom
