YiS,
--
Calvin H. Gray
Scoutmaster, Troop 405
Georgetown, Texas
The next day we woke up early, grabbed our packs, and were driven south to Zastrow Turnaround, and were dropped off with our ranger. For the next 10 days, we would be on the trail. We hiked a short distance to our campsite for the day, Olympia. We hoisted bear bags, in which all "smellables" (food, batteries, film, sunscreen, etc.) were hung 15 feet above the ground. We would raise bear bags at every campsite, immediately after we would arrive. We took many measures to prevent bears from having a reason to come near the camp. Our ranger taught us essential backcountry skills, such as cooking freeze-dried food, special "leave no trace" techniques for cleaning, and how to compact our trash into the smallest space possible. We hiked up to another campsite and did some mountain biking before retiring for the night.
The next day we got up around six A.M. and hiked to our next campsite, which was halfway up the side of a mesa (Uracca Mesa). We were beat after that, and slept good that night.
The following morning, we got up, climbed up the rest of the mesa, and ate breakfast on top. The view was incredible. We continued hiking over the mesa and down to Miner's Park camp.
At Miner's Park, Karl, Mr. Drake, Alex, and Mr. Anderson participated in rock climbing. A bear cub was sighted wandering through our campsite. We dropped off extra food and trash, a luxury we would come to appreciate.
At 6:00 we woke up and left camp. Our hike that day was to Lower Bonita campsite, a beautiful camp in the middle of a large meadow. It rained that night, something that was very appreciated in Philmont due to the forest fires that had been raging for the past few weeks.
Our next stop was to Apache Springs. After a four mile hike we set up our tents and leisurely cooked dinner, as we were scheduled to stay at the camp for two days. The next day, we woke up at 8:00 (almost unheard of in the backcountry, where the sun is up at 4). We visited the archery range, which was supplied with models of various wildlife as targets. We learned about the Jicarilla Apaches, which had once lived in the area. In the afternoon, a storm blew in, and while the advisors were sitting on the staff cabin porch enjoying coffee, the Scouts were crouched under the dining fly being pelted by rain and hail.
Our next stop was Crooked Creek campsite. At this camp, one of the activities was chicken chasing, which the Scouts thoroughly enjoyed. Nick learned how to hypnotize chickens, which was very amusing.
After Crooked Creek, we camped at Clear Creek. There, we shot black powder rifles, threw tomahawks, and learned how to set beaver traps. David decided to lay his shirt at the end of the rifle range, and it was almost completely decimated by the time we were all done firing. The next day, we were to take on Mount Phillips, the second highest mountain in the whole ranch.
We woke up earlier than usual for the hike. We left Clear Creek and began the hike. It was a tough climb, but our crew performed admirably. When we got to the summit, we took a break, took pictures, and had a snack. One of the pictures includes each member of the crew holding up a stick of Cooper's beef jerky, which will be sent to them. After a long hike down, we arrived at Red Hills camp. (Calvin's comment: Cooper's is an excellent barbecue restaurant in Llano, Texas.)
Day 11 of our trek was exciting. We had an eleven mile hike in front of us, to Clark's Fork. We stopped at the Hunting Lodge Camp on the way and were given a tour of Waite Phillips' original hunting lodge. We continued to Clark's Fork and ate the Chuckwagon Dinner. It was delicious compared to the freeze-dried food that we had been eating the whole time, even though it was just canned beef stew and crackers. Many of our crew also got their boots, belt, or hat branded with the Philmont cattle or horse brand. We had one more day ahead of us.
Our last day, we got up at 5:30 and started hiking. It would be even longer than the day before. We were to climb up to Shaefer's Pass, then along Tooth of Time Ridge down into Base Camp. It was a very long hike. We ate lunch with a spectacular view of the whole ranch, and miles and miles of the plains to the east. The hike seemed to take forever, and what made it worse was that we could see Base Camp almost the whole way. We were exhausted when we finally got there, and turned in all our crew gear, took showers, and rested. That night, at the closing campfire, the crew received the "We All Made It!" award for successfully completing the trek with all its members. We slept soundly that night, and prepared to wake up early for the last time.
We woke up around 4:30 and brought all our gear to the bus station. We ate a continental breakfast and hopped on the bus. Another grueling bus trip later, we were in the REI parking lot, greeting our families.
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