This is a report prepared by Terri Smith, Advisor of Venturing Crew 405, on Trek #8 as completed by 2005 Expedition # 714-C-1. The crew was composed of four female Venturers, Courtney Dolezal, Kim Kreitner, Allison Mjos, Alison Smith, and three Scouts, James Davis, Weston Koopmann and Crew Leader Cody Welch. Adults were Jim Smith, Terri Smith and Andy Welch.
Several members of the crew had been to Philmont for Cavalcade in 2003 and/or Kanik in 2004. Jim and Andy completed backpacking treks in 1999, and Andy has been on a couple of Autumn Adventures plus a Cavalcade in 1998.
Selden, Terri grants permission for you to publish her report on your
web page.
YiS,
--
Calvin H. Gray
Scoutmaster, Troop 405
Associate Advisor, Venturing Crew 405
Georgetown, Texas
I used to be an Owl (WM-62-2-98 @ Philmont)
http://www.troop405.org/
Our first day out was longer than originally planned so we could hike on
trails and see Cathedral Rock and Hunting Lodge. When we got to
Cimarroncito it was too late for the rock climbing that day, so it was
scheduled for early the next morning. Andy and our ranger took some of
our crew back UP to 'cito and the rest of us stayed at camp (Ute
Springs) to pump water (fun, fun). The water faucet at Hunting Lodge
was properly reinforced to prevent wild horses (2003 Calvacade) from
ripping it out of the ground. We also found out that we had a shadow
crew from north of Worchester, MA. - same itenerary, same day.
July 16
-------
The second day was also longer than planned due to our navigator's and
crew leader's map reading learning curve. Nice side hike to Devil's Wash
basin, though. Got to pump water out of Deer Lake, trying not to suck up
tadpoles and flies. Good thing we had lots of MicroPur tablets... That
night the Alisons ate too much chocolate cheesecake and giggled until
late that night.
July 17
-------
The 3rd day we hiked to Visto Grande. Beautiful place and great view of
Baldy - each day we could see Baldy getting closer. Jim, Andy and I
arranged to have Ranger Phillip bring the crew pizza to the Cimarron
River crossing (BTW - Simple Simon's people know the mile marker to make
pizza deliveries there). Before dinner we took the kids on a side hike
down to the river. You should have seen their faces...
July 18
-------
Our 4th day was long and mostly uphill from Visto Grande to Santa
Claus. Everyone was tired and a little grumpy. Our one grumpy day...
The camp was nice though - even had a picnic table. One of the other
crews told us they spotted a bear.
July 19
-------
Our 5th day was even more climbing to Baldy Town. We hiked through Head of Dean. It has changed since we were here for Kanik. There are some new roads, RRI's, You can still see the mountains in Colorado. We got to see where Jim and Sean did their conservation work on the Baldy Skyline trail in '99.... We opted to hike straight to Baldy Town instead of going to Miranda for program first. Probably should have hiked to Miranda... The programs for our 4th and 5th days were long side hikes - we didn't get to do them.
Baldy Town was a welcome sight - showers! Our campsite was located in
an aspen grove - gorgeous! The altitude took its toll on us adults as
we had to pause to catch our breath fairly often. The campsite was
spread out due to lack of flat areas. The tents were in the lowest
meadow, then up to the next flat area for the cooking/eating area, then
up through 2 other campsites to the road and RRI. James and Weston
opted to avoid the not so warm showers. Baldy Town has a nice little
museum and history to read about - used to be a mining camp in the late
1800's.
July 20
-------
6th day (my 49th birthday) - we climbed Baldy! It's the hardest thing I've ever done. Took about 5-6 hours going up and down on the south side of the mountain. What a way to spend a birthday! Hope you enjoy some of the pictures...... We didn't get to spend much time on top because a thunderstorm was moving in. We could see the lake and town of Eagle's Nest on the far side of the ridge. The kids said they saw a jet flying below us heading south. While climbing/hiking we used the "caterpillar" method. An advisor at Santa Claus camp told us about it. The group starts out hiking with the slowest person (me) in front. When that person wants to rest - he/she calls out "Caterpillar" then stops, the next person hikes about 15 steps and stops, and so on until the last person in the group stops and that person calls out "caterpillar". Then the first person starts hiking again, joined by the other crew members until the first one wants to rest again. The progress is slow, but steady, with no one getting too tired.
The last part of the "trail" up Baldy was loose shale, very difficult to
hike up and even worse coming down. Alison and Courtney sat down and
slid on their heels down to the trail. We left a note in the time
capsule at the top, so you'll have to get the next group to look for it
in a few years.
July 21
-------
7th day - we left Baldy Town to hike to Pueblano. Got there too late to
do Spar Pole climbing program, but signed up for the next day. We
stayed at Pueblano Ruins about a mile away. We took our dinner with us
and stayed at Pueblano Camp for our conservation project and campfire
that night. Busy day.... Our cons project was build part of a trail.
The staff had started a new trail from Pueblano to Ewell's Park.
Kids said they enjoyed working on the trail. The campfire was great.
They managed to put a spin on the old "blame it on the dog" fart joke.
The music was good. Hiked back to camp about 10:30 in the dark.
July 22
-------
8th day - after Spar Pole climbing, we hiked on to our next stop Rich
Cabin via Wilson Mesa. This was our last look at Baldy from the pond on
Wilson Mesa. Kodak Moment... Rich Cabin is at the end of a long canyon
with a creek meandering around the meadow. The kids enjoyed playing with
the farm animals and with the Wooden Seesaw in the barn yard. We were
treated to a cabin tour and fresh apples and oranges. No bear lines here
- we had to string our own bear lines. And no sumps. The kids got to
milk the cow "Momma", some of them borrowed our coffee cups to use to
milk the cow.
July 23
-------
9th day - encountered the worst part of any trail. Left Rich Cabin on a gentle 8% grade up the canyon to the end of the ridge on the way to Dan Beard. The last 100 ft was at about 70% grade over loose rocks. I had to have help with my pack as I was climbing on my hands and knees up to the top of the ridge. Embarassing!
At Dan Beard was a COPE course, Kim and Alison found a staffer with the new Harry Potter book. The kids did a shortened version of the course with the 13 ft wall being the highlight.
Then on to Cook Canyon - we set up camp just in time for the afternoon
rain. Nap - Thirty! It rained softly most of the afternoon.
Andy got a good nap for his birthday!
July 24
-------
10th day - on to Indian Writings - mostly hiked on the road. When we got close to IW camp we could see where the Ponil fire had been. The camps were spread way out 3/4 mile on either side of the staff cabins. We saw bear and turkey tracks on one of the river crossings. Some of the kids saw the turkeys. We set up camp and got to the program by 11:00. Had lunch after the program. By this time, we knew we wanted an earlier bus (I chose the 1:30 bus - not realizing how close we were to the 6 mile gate). Some of us went back to the staff cabin to change the bus time. We knew it was about to rain, but didn't bother with raingear - which is why we got a downpour!!! The conservation and program crews came in to wait out the rain. The staff fixed everyone coffee and hot water for tea, cider, hot chocolate.
When we got back to camp - things were a mess, the rain had splattered
mud everywhere. Some of the tents were wet inside. It continued to rain
until about 6. We had just enough time to get dinner before the
advisor's coffee and evening program. The crews played "anazazi"
(volleyball) with the staff that evening.
July 25
-------
11th day - race to the bus... We did pause long enough to see the T-rex track and cross the river a few times - which was now running a little higher than the day before and a little worse to cross.
Got to the gate about 9:30, had a trail devotional and took pictures with our shadow crew. Caught the 10:30 bus. Bus driver didn't know our crew was supposed to be there (which caused a problem later) but let us on anyway. We still don't know where the communication breakdown happened. IW staff said they radioed in the change.
Back at base camp - we did paperwork and turned in crew gear, emptied our locker and SHOWERED, ahhh. Nice thing about being a female advisor - I had the showers to myself, no rush, no waiting....
The guys had trouble finding available showers and then had to hurry. We found out that the 1:30 bus waited a half hour for us. I felt bad for those that had to wait.
We caught the 2:30 bus into Cimarron - the girls wanted to visit with our shadow crew and shop. The bus driver told us where her stops were and then didn't stop at the last 2 stops. James and Weston wound up back at base camp without getting off the bus.
We went to evening vespers and the closing campfire - wasn't too
different from the one we had at Calvacade.
July 26
-------
The next day we went back to Cimarron for more shopping and lunch. Left just before noon. We stopped for dinner in Post, and got home before 1 am. For some reason - bus drivers get lost on the way to Philmont but not on the way home.....
Calvin's note: The "lost" comment relates to our contingent's unscheduled side trip to Oklahoma, which produced a Top 10 list that was waiting for each crew member when they picked up their mail on July 25.
This Web page is maintained by Selden Ball
at Wilson Lab.
Please send any comments or corrections to
seb@lepp.cornell.edu