Day 1 - Sunday, August 3, 2003
It was 2:00 p.m. when we arrived at Philmont headquarters. The scouts from three crews from Boy Scout Troop 1131 excitedly waited for their Crew Leaders and Advisors to check-in at the “Welcome Center.” All of us had started driving to Philmont early in the morning. For those of us on the cross-country road trip, we left Silverton, CO, around 6:00 a.m.. Those who flew into Albuquerque, NM, also left quite early because the original plan was to check-in at Philmont before lunch. Since Philmont wanted all of us present before they would start the check-in process. The flyers had to wait for those of us on the road trip to arrive.

The actual check-in process went smoothly. We were assigned to our tents in “tent city,” and we were given a package of material that needed to be completed before we could start our trek. We also met our Rangers, the young men who would spend a couple of days with each crew to make sure we learned the “Philmont way” to do things on the trail. Crew #2 got Skye Schell for its ranger. Skye is an Eagle Scout from our own Patriot District back home in Virginia. He is a Vigil member of the Order of the Arrow and he was the newly formed Patriot Chapter’s second Chapter Chief. Skye is entering his junior year at Rice University. The scouts on our crew warmed to Skye immediately, and over the next few days enjoyed his company and guidance. Several advisors knew Skye from the Order of the Arrow, and we were all delighted to have him as our ranger. I am sure Skye enjoyed working with us too.

One form we had to complete required our Crew Leader, Oktawian Otlewski, and one of our advisors to walk around to various offices. We needed signatures from an appropriate member of the Philmont staff. Perhaps the most important of these offices was “Logistics.” Oktawian, Mr. Sternberg, Ben Butterworth and David Myers sat in on the logistics briefing. The person who conducted the briefing made a very bad impression on us. His manner was condescending, and he brushed off questions with snide remarks. Oktawian was really put-off, and wrote scathing remarks in his evaluation of the check-in process at the end of the trek.

We learned at logistics that many camps on our trek had little water or no water at all! Ben volunteered to go back to logistics to copy the names of places that did have water. At logistics, we scheduled an extra hike over the Tooth of Time when we returned to base camp on the last day of our trek. We also requested breakfast bags at 5:30 a.m. the day we depart Philmont. Lastly, we scheduled our crew for the horseback-riding program at Beaubien Camp.

Besides logistics we had to report to the Post Office, the Equipment Section, and Commissary. While we needed little in the way of crew equipment, we had to get quite a lot of food for the first three days on the trek. The forms package included information on crew pictures and a security envelope that we used to put keys, and other valuables while we were on the trail. The Registration office had a safe used to store the envelope. Philmont also offered lockers for crews to store larger items, but we kept our larger items in our troop’s trailer. The Registration office also took our health forms and our final payment.

The tent city at Philmont has two sections, one for arriving crews about to start their treks and the other for departing crews who have completed their treks. The tents are light brown wall tents with two metal cots in them. The tents were in excellent condition; they looked new. We each brought our backpacks from the troop’s trailer to our tents, and we also brought a small kit of things we wanted in base camp overnight. Most of our traveling luggage stayed in the trailer. The tents were arranged in rows facing each other. Each section of tents had a letter designation, and at the end of most sections was a shower/bathroom building. These buildings had signs designating them for use by Male-Youth, Male-Adult, Female-Youth, and Female-Adult. The showers were hot, and the buildings were clean.

Our Ranger, Skye got the crew together at our tents for an equipment “shakedown” before dinner. Each person pulled his cot out of the tent and laid out his backpack and gear. Skye asked to see the items that we were taking onto the trail, and as each item was called, we replaced it into our backpacks. We also divided up the crew gear, pots, Polar Pure, stoves, fuel, etc. The food that we picked up was organized into two person portions. So we paired off to carry our share of the food. In past years, Philmont used four person portions, but the two person portions used now is much better. For our initial food issue, we did not unpack things, discard cardboard boxes and get rid of some food items. Later, during the trek we would carefully weigh the food we carried, and get rid of whatever we could before packing it. It is amazing how much weight food and water adds to a backpack.

Our first meal at Philmont was dinner. All the outgoing crews reported to the flag pole area near the dining hall. The rangers put on a little show for scouts. Several of them climb onto the stone base of the flagpole and the rest of the rangers encircle the base of the flagpole. Skye was among the rangers standing up on the stone base. He and the other rangers did a chant of sorts, and ended by falling backwards into the arms of their fellow rangers standing below them. Of course, our scouts were impressed.

After the flag ceremony, each crew lined up to enter the dining hall with their ranger. At the entrance, Skye asked us to remove hats and follow him in the Philmont Grace. We would say the Philmont Grace before almost every meal thereafter. This is the Philmont Grace:

For Food, For Rainment,
For Life, For Opportunity,
For Friendship and Fellowship,
We Thank Thee, Oh Lord. 

The dining hall serves good food, including a salad bar and vegetarian selections for those people who want them. Scouts can eat as much as they want, but have to return for “seconds.”

After dinner we had some “free” time, but there were several activities scheduled for the evening. Philmont has a large “Trading Post” that sells Boy Scout items like uniforms and patches. The trading post also sells all kinds of camping equipment, maps and books,  and Philmont souvenirs like t-shirts, caps, mugs, etc. Next to the trading post there is a snack bar that sells soda, candy and other snack food. Religious services are held every night. The Crew’s Chaplain Aide, Tom Robinson, attended a meeting to learn about his role. The Crew Advisors and Crew Leaders also had meetings to attend. The last activity of the day was the “opening” campfire where the staff put on a multimedia performance highlighting the history of this part of the “West.” Crew Leaders were asked to go up onto the stage to receive an American flag to take on the trek. The evening ended with everyone singing the Philmont Hymn, “Silver on the Sage, Star-lit skies above. . . .” Like at a sporting event, the words to the song were flashed on a screen, and a sound track helped everyone follow along. It really sounded good.

Day 2 - Monday, August 4, 2003 

We had a busy morning, but our afternoon was free because the bus to the trail head didn’t leave until 2:30 p.m.. Most of our crew decided to visit Villa Philmonte in the afternoon, but four people on the crew opted to hang around base camp. After breakfast, we took our crew pictures with the Tooth of Time as the backdrop, and then we walked over to the Health lodge for our medical review. All of the adults had to have their blood pressure checked. One item of concern for the medical staff was insuring people did not exceed weight limitations. Our crew all passed their medical review.  

Reservations are required to tour Villa Philmonte. It’s the former ranch home of Waite Phillips, a member of the Phillips Petroleum family. The Villa and the ranch were donated by Waite Phillips to the Boys Scouts in the 1920's. His Villa is a spacious mansion built in the southwestern Spanish architectural style and appointed with expensive and rare furnishings from around the world. Artisans brought from Europe to do the work installed tile work and other features. Waite Phillips also had other buildings on the ranch, like the fish camp lodge. Besides donating the property, the Boy Scouts got the Philmont brands, and still runs a horse and cattle ranch on the property. 

The tour took about an hour, and we had to rush at the end so we could make it back in time to catch the bus. Several crews boarded the bus with us. The back of the bus is partitioned off and the rear seats have been removed so that backpacks can be stacked there. The rangers rode along with us in the bus, and they acted as “tour guides.” They told us stories about the things we passed along the way. Some of what they told us was true, but we had to listen carefully because not everything was true. They were very funny, and everyone enjoyed their banter. 

The ride to the drop off took less than 30 minutes. We unloaded the bus and had to climb over a barbed wire fence using an interesting double-sided wooden ladder. On the other side, each crew selected a shady area to sit and talk about map reading skills and land navigation. However, before sitting, Skye asked us to form a circle and introduce our packs and boots to the rest of the crew. So, in turn, each of us named our packs and boots, and said a few words about them. Skye then explained that since we were now familiar with each others packs and boots, we didn’t have to stare at them as we hiked along the trail. By this he meant for us to maintain enough distance between each other as we hiked, and to look around at the scenery, not at another hiker’s boots and pack.  

We sat in a circle for the class, and Skye kept everyone’s rapt attention. Well, almost everyone paid rapt attention. Mr. Sternberg dozed off impolitely. The class lasted about an hour, by which time everyone wanted to start hiking. Our “naviguesser” was Matt Abbott, but all the scouts actually got involved. The trail took a trick turn through a culvert under the highway, but none of the scouts on our crew nor on any of the other crews caught the turn. So we walked awhile in the wrong direction until someone said something. It may have been a ranger who asked the boys to double-check our direction. Mr. Sternberg has been known to exhibit a bad habit of occasionally interfering. Back at base camp, Ben Butterworth and Bryan Burley had admonished him to let the boys “run the show,” so he did not forewarn the crew. 

We camped at a place called Vaca; it’s an un-staffed camp. The hike to Vaca was not too difficult, but it was 6:30 p.m. by the time we arrived. We had talked about possibly going to Harlan for the burro races in the evening, but it was too late. Vaca, although not completely dry, had very little water. A solar powered pump fills a large galvanized water silo, but only a trickle of water was flowing. Our dinner was a lunch meal that didn’t require water. We would cook dinner tomorrow. After dinner, Skye talked to the boys and ended the day with a Philmont tradition called “Roses and Thorns.” It’s a time when everyone can say what they liked (roses) and didn’t like (thorns). The rule is that each person respects everyone’s right to say what they want, and nothing leaves the circle. It’s a good tradition. Often we’ll end the day by having the Chaplain’s Aide read from the Philmont Trail ***guide***. 

All of the Philmont campsites have a steel campfire ring surrounded by logs for crews to sit on while eating. Nearby is the “sump,” a PVC pipe planted in the ground and covered with a wire mesh screen. The sump is where we dump the “gray” water after cleaning dishes. However, we scrape any food particles off the wire mesh, and put the solid material in a zip lock bag called the “yum-yum” bag. The yum-yum bag is part of the trash that crews pack out of camp with them. We also brush our teeth and wash ourselves and our clothes around the sump.

 The other feature of a Philmont campsite is the bear bag cable strung about 15 feet into the air between two trees. As the name suggests, bear bags hang from this cable. Bear bags are very strong, lightweight bags made of a plastic woven material. They are also used as grain bags or feed bags by farmers and ranchers, and they will hold a great deal of weight. After dinner, or when we leave the campsite, we put all of our food and “smellables” into the bear bags and hang them over the cable using a strong nylon rope. “Smellables” include anything that animals would be attracted to by their odor. Things like toothpaste, soap, film, chap stick, and any clothing that might have had food stains go into the bear bag. The goal is to discourage animals from finding food rewards at campsites, and scouts at Philmont have done an excellent job. Our crew never saw a bear on this trek, but Crew #3 said they saw two bears. The primary scavenger to be avoided is the black bear, but smaller rodents like chipmunks are called “mini-bears” at Philmont. Chipmunks and field mice will go right into a pack or shoes to get a meal. 

Philmont calls the fire ring, sump and bear bag cable, the “bearmuda triangle.” The idea is to set up tents, clustered together, outside the “bearmuda triangle.” Each person keeps only sleeping clothes in the tent. Packs and other items can be put under the crews’ tarp set up inside the bearmuda triangle. When the crew selects a campsite, or is directed to a campsite at a staffed camp, they decide where the tents will go. Everyone unpacks crew gear and food, and the scouts as a group set up the crews’ tarp. On our crew scouts could set up the tarp in about five minutes. Then, if we’re not going to make dinner right away, the scouts pack and hang the bear bags. Hanging the bear bags can often challenge the best throwing arms. Getting the nylon rope over the cable isn’t always easy. Advisors set up their tents while the scouts are working on the tarp and bear bags. Then the scouts set up their tents. The whole process would take us about 20 minutes. 

Day 3 - Tuesday, August 5, 2003 

The crew woke at 6:30 a.m.. Breakfast consisted of dry granola, dried fruit and some meat sticks. While our crew was quick to set up camp, packing up in the morning generally took longer. It took us almost two hours to get out of camp this morning, but that time would get better as the trek progressed. We were on our way to Harlan, a staffed camp where we would be shooting 12 gage shotguns at clay pigeons. We got to Harlan at 10:00 a.m., after hiking for only about an hour and a half.  Part of the shotgun program is reloading shotgun shells to save Philmont money. Each person reloaded three shells; we also got another two new shells. In total we shot five rounds at the clay pigeons free, and could buy another three rounds at the range for a dollar. On the walk to the range, we saw a rattlesnake near the path. It was small, and slithered away without seeming upset by all the people nearby.  

The range had a small shelter where we waited with another crew. There were two stations that each of us went to in turn. We had to wear both ear and eye protection. The shotguns were double-barreled, side-by-side. Most of us had never shot clay pigeons before, but took to it easily. Marc Presler hit four out of five clay pigeons, Mr. Sternberg and Danny Klinger hit three out of five, and Ben Butterworth hit five out of eight. Ben, David and Mr. Sternberg handled the clay pigeon slingshots. Everyone enjoyed shooting; in fact, the crew had asked that we select a trek that afforded us the maximum opportunities to shoot rifles and shotguns. 

After shooting, we found an unused campsite at Harlan to cook dinner for lunch. Another crew had the same idea, and we shared the area with them. This was Skye’s first opportunity to show the crew how a cooked meal is prepared at Philmont. Skye really prepared the meal for us while the scouts watched and assisted him. Some of his key suggestions included advice to break up the small chunks of meat and seasoning that normally comes in a separate package in the freeze-dried meal. It started to rain, and we set up the tarp to cook and eat under.  However, the rain ended soon after we finished eating. Cleaning up the Philmont way was Skye’s next lesson. It’s really not too hard, but the goal is to scrape and eat all the food out of the cups, bowls and pots before using camp suds and a “scrubbie” pad. 

Our destination was Deer Lake, another un-staffed camp. Skye really liked the camp, and he conveyed to the crew how special the place was. The hike to Deer Lake from Harlan is uphill all the way, but it only took us a little over an hour. The ground was powder-dry; every step kicked up a small cloud of dust, and everyone’s legs appear either very tan or very dirty. The lake at Deer Lake Camp shows the impact of the drought. It’s about half the size it should be. The bathtub rings around the lake show where the water had been. Everyone hiked around the lake sometime during our stay.

We set up camp in a beautiful wooded spot overlooking the lake. Again, we ate lunch for dinner, as there was no potable water at Deer Lake. Then around 5:30 p.m. we hiked back to Harlan for the burro races.

Back at Harlan, we stopped to fill our water bottles. The water spigot comes out of the ground near the campsite where we cooked dinner for lunch earlier in the day. Around the base of the spigot are rocks, but there is also a lot of mud. Skye suggested our scouts use the mud to paint their faces and bodies like Indians as a way to prepare for the burro races. It didn’t take much coaxing. Bryan Burley placed a flat open hand into the mud and covered most of his bare chest with a large handprint. Other people put lines of mud on their faces. We were ready! 

There is a large meadow at Harlan where crews race the burros. The staff cabin is off to one side about halfway along the length of the meadow. The cabin porch and benches near the cabin provide great seating for advisors to drink a cup of coffee and to watch the burro races. Most of the staff camps offer advisors coffee on the porch in the evening too. Coffee is made the old-western way. They put the ground coffee directly into the water, and boil it. A small sponge is put in the spout to filter out the grounds when coffee is poured into a cup. 

At the lower end of the meadow there is a fenced area for the burros. Crews assemble outside the fence to choose the burro that they want to race. The burros are very friendly; the Harlan staff says the burros are just like big pet dogs. So after looking at the burros for a few minutes from outside, scouts go inside the fenced area to introduce themselves to the burros by petting and talking to the animals; our crew chose a burro named Madonna. She was gentle and fast. 

There were three races, and winning crews got prizes of cake frosting. Oktawian took the rope attached to Madonna’s halter. Our scouts spread out along the meadow to take over if Oktawian needed help. Mark Presler, Damian Rories and Danny Klinger clustered around the burro to slap her butt and run along with her. In the first race, we were in the lead outward bound and most of the way back. Just before the finish line, the rope came off Madonna’s halter, and she stopped running because Oktawian was no longer pulling her. We could have won the race, but the bad luck caused us to come in second place. 

The second and third races gave us problems too. During the second race, Marc had the rope, and he was cut off by another crew who ran their burro right into him. Zach Stephens raced Madonna during the second race too. We experienced yet another mishap during the third race. Marc fell while running. Other crews kept going and we thought Marc would be run over. We were sure he would sport burro hoof prints all over his body for the rest of the trek, but miraculously, he escaped without a scratch. 

We hiked back to Deer Lake after cleaning up at Harlan. The sun had set and we were bathed in bright moonlight. The sky was clear and the stars were out. At Deer Lake, we sat around savoring the day’s events. Tom Robinson read from the trail worship booklet, “Eagles Soaring High,” and we ended the day with a moving Roses and Thorns. We were all gaining an awareness of and appreciation for this special place called Philmont. It was also Skye’s last night with us, and we were going to miss him. 

Day 4 - Wednesday, August 6, 2003 

About 4:30 a.m., we awoke to the loud sounds of animals fighting. It sounded like cats screaming. Skye thought we had heard mountain lions. These big cats have recently returned to Philmont after a long absence. The large cats are territorial, and we could have heard a fight over where we were staying. 

We got up early, and were packed and on our way by 7:00 a.m.; our breakfast would be on the trail in a little while. As we were hiking out of camp toward the trail, Bryan Burley suffered a sudden bout of diarrhea. We waited until he took care of himself, and cleaned up. Bryan had complained of headaches and a sore throat on the road trip, but didn’t have problems on the trek until this morning. 

We said a good-by to Skye and started down the trail to the Ute Gulch Commissary to pick up four more days of food. This time we opened the bags and took out things we wouldn’t use. We also discarded some packaging material. Ute Gulch had a swap box where people could put food they didn’t want, and take food they did want. Our crew seemed to really like peanut butter, and a few of the guys, Ben Butterworth and Danny Klinger in particular, liked Boulder bars, a hard taffy like brick, i.e., a high energy bar. The commissary had put out a box full of apples and another full of oranges for hikers to eat. We helped ourselves to the fruit and ate our lunch here. 

Leaving a little after noon, we hiked to Cimeroncito. It rained lightly while we were on the trail, but the rain only lasted a short time. As we were hiking up the trail, an adult advisor from Detroit, MI, approached us from the opposite direction. He was lost. He wanted to go to Cimeroncito but was hiking in the wrong direction. His crew had left him, and he didn’t even have a map! We invited him to hike along with us, which he gladly did. When we got close to C’ito, he took off to find his crew. By now it was raining fairly hard, and everyone was wearing rain gear. When we got to the campsite area at C’ito, we wet up the tarp so the crew could stay dry while Oktawian and Mr. Sternberg went to check in at the cabin.  

At the cabin, we met Tim, a C’ito staffer. Tim came from Tennessee, and would be starting law school after he returned home. Oktawian and Mr. Sternberg took Tim back to where the rest of the crew had waited. The rain was slowing, and by the time we all got to our assigned campsite, it was no longer raining. One nice thing about Cimeroncito is their shower house. The entire crew took advantage of hot shower facilities, and most of us washed clothes. Back in the campsite, we strung lines to hang our washed clothing to dry, and by morning everything had almost dried completely. 

Dinner was cooked Beef Stroganoff; we had water! After dinner we headed to the cabin for the advisors’ coffee and to hang around. Crews had assembled in front of the cabin. Some were playing with hacky sacks, while others were throwing a ball around. Some of our guys just sat in front of the cabin talking and laughing. There’s a “u” shaped climbing wall in front of the cabin too. It’s very difficult to maneuver around the three sides of the climbing wall; only eight people had done it all summer. Tom Robinson gave it his best try, but couldn’t complete the course.

Day 5 - Thursday, August 7, 2003 

We woke at 5:30 a.m.; we wanted to be packed and ready to go after rock climbing at C’ito. There was enough time to boil some water for Marilyn Myers’ half a cup of coffee, and for Mr. Sternberg’s hot oatmeal. Marilyn likes to have a little coffee each morning, but for most of the trek, here morning coffee was made with cold water. Although there was plenty of fuel, we almost never heated water in the morning. Cold breakfasts were the rule. As a result, we didn’t need the 11 fuel bottles we carried on the trek. The Philmont menus did not require that much cooking. 

Our crew met the C’ito staff at 7:30 a.m. to start the rock climbing and the repelling programs. Rock climbing was too easy for our crew. We had experience rock climbing at Raven Knob and at other places. We were done with the program by 9:30 a.m. and continued our uphill hike to Sawmill camp. We passed through Lower Sawmill and stopped at Upper Sawmill to eat our lunch of tuna fish and crackers. After lunch we continued uphill en route to Sawmill camp where the cabin is sited to have a spectacular view of the valley and plains below. On a clear day, they say you could see across New Mexico to Texas from the swinging bench on the cabin’s front porch. Although the bench was supposed to be for staff and visiting adults only, our scouts had no problems getting a few minutes on the swing. 

The Sawmill campsite was uphill behind the cabin. After setting up camp, we went back down the hill to participate in the 30-06 Rifle Shooting program. Our first task was to reload three 30-06 bullets, and along with two new bullets we headed to the range. It rained as we waited on the trail for our turn to approach the range shelter. The wait was worth it. 30-06 shooting was great fun. Bryan Burley volunteered to put his orange baseball cap out as a target. The crew did a good job shooting holes into Bryan’s hat. After we had all gone through our five bullets, most of our scouts purchased three more bullets for a dollar, and shot the rifles a second time. Like shotgun before, everyone enjoyed shooting the 30-06 rifles here. 

It rained on and off in the evening. Ben Butterworth volunteered to cook dinner, “Tooth of Time” Chicken! Dave Myers continued compacting trash; this evening’s trash got impounded in cracker boxes. Damian Rories and others were intrigued by David’s technique, which involved using a small stick to poke little pieces of paper and plastic wrapper material into a cracker box. 

Day 6 - Friday, August 8, 2003 

David Myers, Bryan Burley and Ben Butterworth decided to wake early to see the sunrise. The staff had told us that it was a great sight here at Sawmill. While it was a good plan, they actually got up at 4:30 a.m., about an hour before sunrise! The rest of us slept until 6:00 a.m., we broke camp quickly, and were ready to go by 7:00 a.m.. The only problem was figuring out which way to go. We were not quite sure. The staff had told us that there was a new trail that would save us an hour and a half, but nobody knew exactly where the trail started.

Marc Presler and Danny Klinger went down the hill to the cabin to try to get information, but everyone was asleep. We examined the map and determined where that the trail must be; we had to go past the shower house where everyone filled their water bottles. Dave Myers suddenly felt nauseous so we decided to wait a while and eat breakfast hoping David’s stomach would settle down. That’s what you get for waking up at 4:30 a.m.. The plan worked. David felt better after eating a little and resting a while.  

The turn off onto the new trail was actually well marked with engineer tape. As we hiked up the trail, we passed several places where the Sawmill staff had placed shovels and other trail building equipment. Crews could use the equipment to complete their requirement for a conservation project while on their trek at Philmont. Our turn to complete a conservation project would come later in the trek. The “new” trail was easy to follow, but Matt Abbott worried that we were actually going in the right direction. After about a mile or so of hiking uphill, we stopped to rest with our packs off, and we took out the GPS to see if we could locate our position on the map exactly. It turned out that the “new trail” was on the map and it was the best way to go to Comanche Peak camp. 

It took us three and a half hours of uphill hiking to reach Comanche Peak camp passing several spectacular views along the way. We were in camp by 1:00 p.m.. There was no water. Several scouts carried extra water including two 96 oz. water carriers. Ben’s meal must have been a good one, because we had to stop twice for people to go off the trail to defecate into “cat holes.” Amazingly, the crew has had three days of straight uphill hiking, and everyone is in good spirits. This is a really terrific crew. 

Comanche Peak camp is on the top of a ridge. We set up camp and relaxed. David Myers and Ben Butterworth decided to go off on a side hike to Big Red Mountain, Bear Mountain and possibly Black Mountain. Mr. Sternberg had his doubts, but David and Ben really wanted to go. When they returned, Ben had some choice words for David’s speed hiking skills. While they were off on their hike, it started to rain and hail on us. The hail was about the size of green peas; Ben said the hail was twice as large on their hike. 

Day 7 - Saturday, August 9, 2003 

After another cold breakfast we started hiking uphill again to the top of Mount Phillips, the highest elevation on our trek, over 11,700 feet. We made it to the top of Mount Phillips by 11:00 a.m., and we spent an hour up there. Other crews were there too.  

We did something very cool. Ben conducted a First Aid class, and he had everyone take their partner’s pulse, and listen to each other’s heartbeat using his stethoscope. The views were spectacular, and after our First Aid class, Tom Robinson led us in a short religious service on the top of the mountain, in God’s Country. 

There are several ways to hike to the top of Mount Phillips, and I think the trail we took was one of the better ways. We went down a steep trail that was also much more rocky that the trail we had come up on. This was our first long hike downhill, and our knees were not used to being pounded. Our destination was Clear Creek camp. The staff member took us to campsite number six situated on the far side of the Clear Creek. It was not a very good campsite. Oktawian saw a tent site on the other side of the creek and we told him it would be all right to set his tent up across the creek from the rest of us. He would be bait for bears. After setting up camp, we went back to the cabin to get a short talk about how to throw tomahawks into the wooden targets. Then at 3:00 p.m. we went down the trail to the Black Powder rifle range.

The people on staff for the Black Powder program were dressed as old time, backwoods hunters. They looked scraggy with long unkept beards, and they were quite entertaining. Each of us was asked to yell something other than “firing” before we pulled the trigger. Someone yelled “DRINK WATER, “Ben’s famous line. Someone else yelled “SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS,” and to quote Bryan Burley, someone yelled “MAKE ME A SAMWHICH.” Tom Robinson put his shirt out as a target, and Marc used his bandana. Like all the other shooting we did, everyone enjoyed the Black Powder program. 

Lunch was Three Bean Chili, and dinner was Chicken and Rice Teriyaki. Having water, enabled us to have two cooked meals. However, while we ate dinner, it started to rain hard. The stream started to overflow. When we set up camp, the stream was perhaps a foot deep and five feet wide; now it had swollen into a raging torrent, five feet deep and ten feet wide. In the campsite, there was a log that formed part of the fire ring seating. The log formed a barrier to water running down the hillside. During the rain, the log formed a dam with water at least three feet deep on one side. Everything got soaked, but we made it through the night. Besides the rain, hail fell on us. The hail was at least an inch in diameter, considerably larger that on Comanche Peak. Oktawian’s tent was higher up the hill than the rest of our tents, and he was drier than the rest of us. It was our worst night. 

Day 8 - Sunday, August 10, 2003 

We woke at 6:00 a.m., but it took us three and half hours to get out of camp. Everything was wet, and dirty. Mr. Sternberg heated water so we could clean our pots and personal dishes before packing them. We also made some Raman Noodles that we had gotten out of the swap box. Mr. Sternberg was upset that it took so long to get out of camp. Some scouts thought our stuff would dry if we stayed in camp longer. Mr. Sternberg explained that we would be better off getting to our next camp and hanging our thing out to dry in the afternoon would be better. 

Our hike to Porcupine camp was the longest hike of the trek, but it was a gentle trail, going downhill along the side of Clear Creek. About a mile out of camp we came upon Crew #3 heading toward Clear Creek camp. They looked good, and they were heading to Mount Phillips. We told them about the steep, rocky trail they would have to climb. They told us that they had crossed paths with Crew #1. It was great to see our fellow troop members doing so well. 

Porcupine is a nice site. We met a Philmont staff member on the trail as we entered Porcupine. He told us about one of his favorite, little used, camp sites, and we went there. It was an open and airy site. We set up our crews’ tarp, put out our crew gear, and set up our bear bag ropes as clothes’ lines to dry our stuff. The weather was sunny and with the low humidity, most of our things dried in an hour.  

David, Marc, Oktawian, and Zach went to Phillips Junction Commissary for a one day food pick up. Everyone placed orders for swap box food, peanut butter, apple sauce, oatmeal, and dried apples were high on the list of desirable items. 

We also had time for another First Aid class from Ben. He went over CPR, snake and animal bites. The scouts had a good time. It took the scouts an hour to put up the bear bags. The cable was pretty high, and for whatever reason, they had a real challenge throwing the rope over the cable. It was more fun than frustration. Watching them going through their rituals was entertainment too. 

Day 9 - Monday, August 11, 2003 

We awoke at 7:00 a.m., later than usual as we had an easy day ahead of us, and considering the previous night at Clear Creek, we wanted to get a little extra sleep. Everyone just seems to hang around camp in the morning seeming to be waiting for something or someone. To an outside observer it might be like watching a slow motion movie. Last night, we had talked about getting out of camp a little faster, but it still took us an hour and a half. This is definitely not a morning crew.  

The hike to Phillips Junction Commissary was easy and quick. We had to get three more days of food, and our packs were heavy again. There were hot showers at PJ, and several of us took advantage of the opportunity during our snack break. Others opted to shower at Beaubien camp later. The crew has adopted a cartoon song to sing along the trail, “Sponge Bob, Square Pants.” David Myers lead the chorus; he starts loudly with the line “I can’t hear you,” and they all chime in. It only took us about an hour to get to Beaubien camp where we had our cabin “porch talk” before setting up camp. 

Along with several other crews, we were scheduled to do our conservation project at 1:00 p.m., after lunch. Beaubien has a large shelter where crews report for their conservation projects. A young female staff member gave the assembled crews a safety briefing. She explained how to use the tools, before actually assigning crews to projects. She was dressed in coveralls and she looked like she could do a lot of work.  

Our crew got to cut down a large Douglas Fir tree, cut off the branches, and strip away the bark. The resulting log would be used as a border along a horse trail. Scouts took turns using a large two-person saw to cut the wedge out of the base of the tree. Then after the tree fell, everyone used smaller bow saws to cut off branches, and finally we used flat picks to strip off the bark. Mr. Sternberg didn’t think, cutting down a healthy Douglas Fir was a “conservation project.” However, the scouts enjoyed the work and did the job with gusto. 

We were just about finished stripping the tree when thunder and lightning forced us to return to the shelter with our tools where we waited out the afternoon storm. It rained hard, but all the things inside our tents were dry back at camp. Beaubien offers crews a chuck wagon dinner with a Dutch oven cobbler desert. Each crew sends two scouts to help prepare the meal; we sent Zach and Bryan. The meal was a hearty beef stew, with biscuit type bread prepared in Dutch ovens, and followed with peach cobbler for desert. 

After dinner, we went to the cabin and had a good time with other crews hanging around the porch until it was time for the campfire. On the porch, we played chess while some people tried their hand roping “cows” (wooden cows) in front of the porch. The evening’s program campfire started with a “strong man” contest in front of the porch. One scout did pull-ups and pushup with a 50 lb. pack on his back. A young lady bragged about how she single-handedly rescued her male crewmembers. Another scout ate 14 squeeze cheese packets, and the winner drank an incredible amount of bug juice.  

As it got dark, we went back to where dinner had been for the actual campfire. The staff told jokes and stories. Here’s an example: “A rope goes into a restaurant. The waiter asks if he’s the same rope that had been there the night before. The rope answers, ‘I’m afraid knot.’” Several female staffers sang songs and played guitar. One of their songs was “They call the wind ‘Mu rye yah’.” 

Day 10 - Tuesday, August 12, 2003 

We got up at 6:30 a.m. and had our usual cold breakfast, packed our gear and walked over to the cabin. We formed a pack line near the cabin and then walked a short distance to the horse corral. Each of us got a plastic helmet, and had to wear long pants to go riding. These animals are quarter horses, and they are all geldings. Despite being very gentle animals, we needed to wear helmets to protect ourselves from over hanging branches on the trail. The staff “cowboys” had saddled the horses before we got to the corral, and one by one, each of us was assigned to an animal. Most of the horses were 12 years old or older, except Danny Klinger’s steed who was only three years old. Mr. Sternberg’s horse was named “Spivey.” The staff helped us into our saddles and explained that the horses would find their own place in the line. Like humans, the horses have friends, and prefer walking near them. 

Danny’s horse didn’t seem to have a friend; in fact, he fought with several other horses with Danny still mounted on him. The horses in front would kick and bite Danny’s horse that would then gallop off the trail until Danny got him turned around. Other horses, especially Mr. Sternberg’s horse, stopped often to eat fresh grass along the trail. Overall, the trail took us to several very scenic spots overlooking Black Mountain and the Tooth of Time. The “cowboys” were very friendly and talked to us while we were riding. Sometimes horses would brush our legs against shrubs and trees on the side of the trail. Most of our scouts had never been on a horse back ride, and they enjoyed the experience a lot. Back home, Mr. Sternberg has offered the troop the opportunity to go horseback riding, but the Patrol Leaders’ Council has never wanted to do it. 

The horse back riding took about two and half hours. Back at Beaubien, we tried our hand at branding. Philmont has three registered brands, and the staff had all of them on branding irons that we could use to burn our boots, hats, shirts, etc. Our crew also branded the wedge of wood we had cut out of the Douglas Fir tree yesterday. By the time we finished branding it was around 11:30 a.m. so we ate lunch before returning to the trail.

Our goal for the day was Lookout Meadow camp, and we started hiking uphill around 12:30 p.m.. The trail was not especially difficult, despite a final steep, uphill, climb to the un-staffed campsite area. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful high meadow at Lower Bonita. The scouts took out the map and wandered around trying to figure out where the trail went after it sort of disappeared in the meadow. Marc Presler soon figured out where we were and where we should hike. The other guys wouldn’t accept his judgment right away. Marc became ever more frustrated. The younger advisors admonished Mr. Sternberg not to intercede. So we rested for about an hour while the scouts figured finally agreed on the way we should go. The trail actually did not correspond to what the map indicated. However, as we hiked along a small stream in the middle of the meadow, we became convinced that we were going in the right direction. In a mile or so, we came upon the trail up to Lookout Meadow camp. 

Lookout Meadow camp is a high plateau, in fact, it’s the remnant of an extinct volcano. We could easily identify the geology by the porous igneous rocks, and the bowl shape of the site left over from a volcanic caldera. A small pond sits in the center of the basin, but like the pond at Deer Lake where we stayed early in our trek, the Lookout Meadow pond was a fraction of its normal size. The basin is surrounded by Douglas Fir forests where the campsites are located. We cooked a nice chicken dinner and mashed potatoes despite being in a dry camp, but we had a lot water, and could get more water early tomorrow. David helped Danny and Tom cook dinner; they did a good job. 

As the sun was setting, we walked out into the basin to enjoy the evening and conduct our “Thorns and Roses.” Ben Butterworth entertained us with a story that the scouts had begged him to tell for several days. It seems that when Ben worked on the Health Lodge Staff at Raven Knob Scout Camp, he had to treat a scout who had an accident mountain biking. The boy hurt himself when he slipped off his bike on a very rough trail ride. His testicles got twisted and he was in agony. As the camp medic, Ben had to untwist the boy’s testicles. Ben’s description of the procedure was graphic and included anatomical terms. The scouts on the crew loved the story. In turn, each scout let out audible squeals at appropriate times. A funny aspect to this story was how they convinced Ben to tell it. At various times along the trail, like at rest stops, Danny or Damian would chant “Ben, tell us about the testicles, . . .  Tell us about the testicles!” It took several days of goading before Ben finally broke down and told us the story. Marilyn Myers, our crew mom, took it all in good humor. 

Day 11 - Wednesday, August 13, 2003 

We hiked downhill from Lookout Meadow camp and followed the Rayado River through a long steep, rocky gorge. As we descended, the walls of the gorge funneled closer together. We got to Abreau camp around 11:00 a.m.. The programs at Abreau include a Southwestern/Mexican farm, complete with animals. They also have an adobe Cantina where root beer and other snacks are available. Free apples and oranges were available to hikers on the cabin porch. People on the Cantina staff said they had seen one of other crews. Our t-shirts identified us. 

We hung around Abreau, and ate lunch too. There was a hammock on the porch that several people tried, but Ben Butterworth really enjoyed swinging in the hammock. As Ben was relaxing, some farm goats wandered by, and we quickly learned that the goats liked our backpacking food. In fact their favorite food was Boulder Bars. The goats seemed to really enjoy eating Boulder Bars; they ate them even with the aluminum foil wrappers on. Several boys had collected Boulder Bars from the various swap boxes along the trip, and Ben had about ten in his pack and pockets. The goats were all over Ben in his hammock; to the goats nothing was off limits, and Ben had the Boulder Bars. 

We finally decided that we had enough time playing with the farm animals, and headed off to our last camp, Zastrow. A Russian Jew, Paul Zastrow, homesteaded here in the 1920's. He planted an apple orchard, and part of the original orchard was still there. The buildings at Zastrow had seen service as the site for the “Walking Woodbadge” course for many years. There were plaques and photographs and other Wood badge items like Kudu Horns and Axes on the walls of the large training room. These things were left by the various Woodbadge patrols who went through the course over the years. Outside, near the flag pole,  there was a bronze replica of the Woodbadge Axe in the Log from Gillwell Park in England where Baden Powell taught the first Woodbadge course. 

David, a staffer, welcomed our crew to Zastrow with a series of stories meant to terrify us. It seems Zastrow’s location seems to attract not only Black Bears but also Mountain Lions! David said he has seen a Mountain Lion weighing 275 lbs., an animal about the size of as a small African Lion. David warned us not to wander around the camp alone; he said, “don’t even go to the Red Roof Inn alone.” He followed this admonition with a story of an advisor who ignored the warning only to find himself face to face with a Mountain Lion. The advisor had gone back to his campsite alone to make himself a cup of coffee. He was sitting by the fire ring waiting for the water to boil when he thought he heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see the Mountain Lion. Luckily, a little screaming and noise making scared the cat away, but left the advisor shaken. 

Another member of the Zastrow staff, Paul, conducted a class in GPS navigation. He was entertaining, but really didn’t offer much in the way of new information. Paul was from Arizona, and he goes to the university in Tempe. After Paul’s talk, Marc and Mr. Sternberg took a short hike to the Zastrow turnaround, where we would meet the bus in the morning to go back to base camp. We wanted to make sure we knew where we had to go in the morning. 

Zastrow had hot showers, and besides a campfire program, offered crews the opportunity to make various kinds of cobblers in the evening. We sent Zach, our number one cobbler chef. Oktawian helped to build the fire along with people from other crews. Zach used a chocolate cake mix to make the cobbler with a combination of cherry and peach filling. We enjoyed the cobbler with coffee on the porch before the campfire. 

Day 12 - Thursday, August 14, 2003 

Everyone was ready to get back to Base Camp, and we were up at 6:00 a.m.. It was way too early. The bus wouldn’t be at the turn around for several hours, and we had a lot of time to kill after breaking camp. The walk to the turnaround was short, and even once we got there; we waited a while for the bus. We were the only crew returning to base camp, but there was also a Philmont staffer at the turnaround who was returning to headquarters. Our mood was cheerful; everyone agreed the trek was great, and not nearly tough enough. 

When we got back to base camp, we settled into our tents and unpacked our crew gear at the trailer. The idea was to re-pack the trailer now. As the other two crews from our troop arrived, we spent time collecting packs and equipment that would now go to the back of the trailer for the road trip home. 

Our crew had scheduled a hike over the Tooth of Time, and after getting settled, everyone on the crew except Mr. Sternberg took off in the van. Lauren Conlon drove the crew to the start of the steep trail up the backside of the Tooth. The crew hiked back into base camp over the longer trail on the near side of the mountain. Meanwhile, Mr. Sternberg, completed the check out process, and collected the troop’s equipment and got us ready for the drive home. 

In the evening, we attended the closing campfire where the staff had some very funny skits prepared. One skit involved tossing lots of stuffed animal “mini-bears” onto the stage area where a staff member was recounting his camping experience at Philmont. They also showed a clay-animation video made a year ago by Paul, the staffer from Zastrow. It was excellent, funny and philosophical, and the crews enjoyed watching it. Oktawian and Mr. Sternberg went up on stage to get the “We all Made It” plaque for the troop. Each crew leader symbolically handed the American flag that they carried on the trek over to the advisor. Then the advisor returned the flag to the crew leader as thanks for the job he did on the trek, and to keep. The campfire ended with the Philmont Hymn, just as the opening campfire had, but now the words of the song meant a whole lot more.