The Philmont 2006 Photojournal

Philmont, possibly the single most revered of all places in scouting. The greatest of the high 3, hundreds of acres of mountains and forests in the desert. Located in northern New Mexico, this place is visited by thousands of scouts from all over the country and the world annually. It's a place to test yourself, to do new things, meet new people, and enjoy. A program designed to give us a taste of the past as well as train us for future endeavors, all while enjoying this unique oasis. There is far too much to ever be put into words or pictures, but this photo journal will do its best to give you all a glimpse of what it was.

Note: Click on any image to enlarge it. This is best viewed on larger screens, but if the picture is a little choppy click to see it more clearly.

4:30 AM on the day of departure. It's freaking early, but we're already here at the San Jose Int'l airport. We would fly first to Denver, and then to Albuquerque. These guys are the guys from my troop that went, we eventually got split anyways in the two other crews. In order: Richard, Can, Justin, me, Peter, Jonathan.



You guys have been to airports, so let's skip to Albuquerque. There, we met our tour guide, Ed. He would basically show us around Albuquerque and talk with us so we'd get a better understanding of the area, its history and geography. It's actually very interesting. After lunch, we set out to the Sandias, or watermelon, mountains to ride the longest tram ride in the world.






Yeah, when they said long, it was pretty long indeed. This thing stretches some 2.7 ish miles from the base at city level up the mountain until it reaches Sandia Peak. The ride provided incredible views of the mountain. This was a good way to start the journey indeed.



Some views from the top:





Once we had finished with the Sandias, we went back in Albuquerque to take our city tour. We went to the Atomic museum but we couldn't spend all that much time there, so I'll probably just skip over that part. They had replicas or stuff, and plasma arcs, and all kinds of stuff. Later we went into the old district and toured the rattlesnake museum and shopped a little.


The rattlesnake museum was really cool since we got to see all this kinds of, well, snakes. Also there was like a Gila monster and some other stuff, pretty interesting :). The guy who owned the place was really smart too, he told us all about them.




Later on we just started going shopping in the district, looking at the buildings etc. We saw the old church and city square, and some PRETTY interesting stuff in the shops. I found the Jesus Action Figure and Dashboard Jesus, enlightenment on a spring to be kind of hilarious. Anyways, some more stuff from the city square:






Once we had finished that, it was time to head to the last civilization we'd see in a long time, but boy was it civilized. For that night we stayed at the Marriott hotel @ Albuquerque after an all you can eat Mexican dinner at Pancho's. Most of it was ok, but the tacos were OMG good. I think it was because of the guacamole. I swear, guacamole comes straight from heaven. It doesn't even have to wait in line. Anyways, the hotel was really nice and we stayed 4 to a room, meaning two people had to share beds. Pushing and shoving people off the bed, falling between the bed and the wall, watching plastic surgery on TV, yeah those were some interesting times right there. And before we slept, the scouts enjoyed their time:


The next day we took a long bus ride from Albuquerque to Cimarron. It was long, so most of the scouts, including me, slept. Here you see JJ, Kristian, Eric, and Can dozing off as we continued on the way to Philmont. After a pretty damn long bus ride, we were there! There's alot of stuff to describe about base camp, but I'll just show you all some pictures instead.






Justin and our first home at Philmont, F37. We didn't have to put up tents for the first or last night, and how convenient was THAT. Once we had pretty much oriented ourselves with base camp, we met our ranger, Ben Gleeson.
So basically Ben is from Kansas, he loves to read, he's smart, and he wears the coolest hat in the world.

His girlfriend was taking Chinese, so he knew a sentence (not a very useful sentence, but still pretty cool). Anyways, he was really nice and helped us alot, so if you're reading this Ben, THANKS!!!!!!! So for the first day Ben basically got us familiar with how the Philmont system was going to work and how we would be working together. He also covered emergency procedures, first aid, etc.



Meal time at Base Camp was funny. Some rangers would get up at the bell in the middle and start a story then this chant which I still can not pick up. It was funny though :). The only part I really caught was "I want to go back to Philmont!". The actual food was alright, nothing compared to home but heavenly compared to trail food.

Taking a break in tent city:




I'm realizing my post as of already has seriously chronological order problems, but that's ok since it doesn't matter at basecamp that much. Anyways, later one I had to go with Mr. Chan (advisor) to Logistics. That place was actually kind of cool, I got my crew leader's copy (a sheet of paper with our itinerary, sign off areas, etc which came to be called my "life" because if I lost it, I was DEAD.), maps, etc. We basically covered our entire trip and planned it out. The guys were waiting for me outside and they weren't too happy :P. Our itinerary was number 9, approx. 60-70 miles with many events in between at the camps. And, as if to foreshadow what was coming for us, we had our first thunderstorm. We weren't really hit, but the next 11 days would see plenty of rain every afternoon. Some days were worse than others as you'll see soon enough.




My journal which I used to record this whole journey:

And my backpack which I used to carry all my stuff:




That night we went to the opening campfire to learn the history of the area and get some guidance for the next day.


The next day, when we went to go get our equipment, we met a guy working at equipment. This guy was downright funny. I dunno why but he sort of reminded me of Tomasz's brother, sort of. He was explaining the equipment, telling us how dangerous frisbees were in the area so they were shot with shotguns to produce the holes we see. They were NOT to be used as frisbees, however, as the whole camp would become a smellable (bear attractant). Yeah, he was RIGHT (not that we did it, but the frisbees got SO disgusting). Also, he told us how rope reproduces asexually and if we saw one start to fray, we had to get to to a staff camp to be incubated. Yeah, funny guy. We basically got and distributed all of the crew equipment and got ready to set out for our first day on the trail.


Justin and I looking over stuff:


That morning was a mix of excitement and lethargy. We would have to get used to it though, because from then on we got up 5:30 almost EVERYDAY. We had two exceptions, one where we got up at 4:30 and another where we got up at 6:00. The 6:00 wake up felt heavenly. We as a crew kind of suck in the morning :P. No one feels like getting up. It's so hard to force yourself out of a warm, comfortable sleeping bag and put on clothes that are pretty cold and then (god forbid) STEP OUTSIDE INTO THE COLD. Not fun.



Anyways, it was finally time to set off. We took the bus over to six-mile gate where we would begin our trek.


Trek Day 1: Six-Mile Gate to Anasazi Camp

Easy hike, used to get us familiar to how we would be doing things for the next two weeks. A few pack adjustments helped people shoulder (or I guess hip) their weight better.

Before we started though, Ben took us through the basics to make sure we could orient maps, use compasses (we'd be doing it alot), properly cross rivers and fences, etc. Ben would stay with us for 3 days and then leave to return to base camp. After that, we went on the trail. On the way we stopped by the world's only undisputed T-Rex track. It's not really that impressive, but you can say you've seen it and that's sort of cool! To imagine something's foot being that big is kind of hard to do, but dinosaurs are extinct so we don't have to worry :).







So afterwards, we continued the hike until we reached Anasazi. This part of the trek was fairly dry, but later on we'd see alot more green. Once we did get the camp, Ben basically taught us the Philmont procedure: dining flies, bear bags, bearmuda triangle, cooking, etc. Our meals everyday were dehydrated and we always cooked in the same pot. It was kinda weird. The first day's food was gross, but it actually got better after that. Some pictures from Anasazi:







And of course, some pictures of Anasazi towards the evening. Dinner, bearbags, poles, and thorns and roses. The bearbags looked really creepy at night, almost like someone being lynched. Also, we'd always attach an "oops" bag that could be lowered easily. This was to put stuff that we forgot and found out about later.

We were supposed to put all smellables in the bag so bears wouldn't attack us, but sometimes we'd forget stuff and put it in the oops bag instead. I think I was the first to say oops, I left sunflower seeds in my bag. We got pretty good at putting the bear bags up in a day or so and from then on it was more a chore than a challenge. Ben even taught us the ghetto hitch, and it was pretty cool.





Trek Day 2: Anasazi to Indian Writings to Hart Peak to Old Camp


This day was actually one of our longest since we took a detour to climb Hart Peak. It started off easily as we traveled to Indian Writings, the staffed camp where they gave us a tour on the petroglyphs in the area. The tour guide gave us an introduction to the drawings on the walls of the canyon first, and then took us over to the excavation site of an ancient Native American dwelling. Afterwards, she gave us a quick look at remains of an old homesteading site. We took a break there since there was water and we ate lunch. I even got a chance to "wash" my hair.








After Indian Writings, we crossed the river and started hiking up towards Hart Peak. It actually was a pretty steep climb on the way up with a ton of switch backs. We kept climbing and climbing until we reached the ridge, and from there we took it up to Hart Peak. Up on the ridge we could see Mt. Baldy (picture), we would end up climbing it about a week later. The views on the way up were really nice as we could see ourselves basically be pulled up out of the canyon onto the ridgeline. One we reached the top, we found out that Sam's backpack hip buckle broke. Ben, the ranger, being the hero :P decided to hike down to Ponil, a staff camp on the other side of the ridge to pick up a new one while we continued past the peak to Old camp. He'd meet us there, he said.


Can and his EXTREMELY BRIGHT shirt...


On the way up you can see Indian Writings in the canyon below...


Then we arrived on the peak itself.





Afterward, it was time for the descent. It started raining again, as it would pretty much everyday without fail. Who knew raingear could be so important, especially in New Mexico? I ended up using my raingear more than I used, heck, my hiking boots. Almost. But yeah, rain gear and pack covers were lifesavers.


At old camp we set up and did the normal routines. We were really starting to get a hang of it by now, just in time too since Ben was going to leave the next morning to get back to base camp. I think JJ shot this video of them just relaxing under the dining fly:



[Edit] I just realized that the above video is SEVERELY misplaced. This actually happened at Rich Cabins I believe. Oh well, it's too much of a hassle to move and it's still Jimmy being Jimmy.




In camp, we always have to filter some water. After all, we drink liters upon liters everyday. And we pump ALOT of water. How much? About this much:

"Drink up!" says Ranger Ben


That night Ben went over some last preparations. We all went over the procedures in case of someone getting injured on the trail, and also we practiced triangulation with maps. Luckily, we never really got lost (we got semi lost bushwhacking one day but it was only a few hundred feet before we realized it and were able to get right back on the trail, we didn't even need triangulation). Triangulation was easy, everyone was done practicing in almost no time at all.



That night, since Ben was leaving the next morning, he made a deal with us. He challenged us to put as much trash as we could into a small can, and he would take it back to base camp for us so we wouldn't have to. Well, we sure took his challenge and we did a good job I think. I had no idea that that much trash could fit into something that small.


A sort of luxury, the red roof inn:



Trek Day 3: Old Camp to Dan Beard

This was a fairly easy hike, except for one factor. THE WEATHER. We were having a really nice hike and bam we get hit with the most intense lightning/rain/hail storm ever! But the first half of the hike was really nice and easy. Here are some pictures from the sunny side:






But on the way back up the canyon side towards Dan Beard, the weather started to turn foul. Very foul. When we reached the top of the ridge, we had to go into the "lightning crouch" since there was lightning that was so close there was no distance between lightning and thunder. Then the rain and hailed poured down, creating puddles everywhere and turning the whole trail into a big mud slush. And for the unfortunate ones of us who had no rain gear on when the rain suddenly torrented down, it was not comfortable. No sir. We all dropped our packs and ran away from each other, distancing ourselves so that if one of us was hit it wouldn't spread from person to person. Then we all crouched and connected our heels.


When the storm had finally passed us over and we recovered from the shock, we headed down the ridge through the mud and groggily slumped into Dan Beard. The way down was steep and slippery with the mud but we had a clear view of Baldy.



By then, after a quick porch talk and lunch, we were in no mood to do an "obstacle course", so we just napped in our tents to warm up and dry our clothes. It felt, SO good in that sleeping bag.

While we were warming up after that ordeal, why not dry cloths while you're at it?


We woke up later in the afternoon to finish up the nightly chores of dinner, cleaning, sumping, bear bagging, etc. That night we slept and relaxed. It had been a long, cold, wet, muddy, and just plain miserable day. But before we slept, it seemed my crew had gotten drunk on tea. For about two hours that night, there was nothing but singing...and singing...and singing. We sang on the trails too, but nothing like this.

Trek day 4: Dan Beard to Rich Cabins



After our standard wake-up/get-up procedure, we packed up and went down to the fenceline. This fence marked the boundary between Philmont property and a national forest area. Deciding to cut down on our route, we decided to bushwhack along the fenceline until we reached the canyon on the other side of the plateau (well, sort of a plateau). In the distance, Mt. Baldy was getting closer and closer everyday.





The hiking itself was pretty steep and we moved slower than usual, obviously due to the fact that there wasn't really a trail. We hiked along the fence (although we got lost once because we followed the wrong fence) until we were on the ridge. By taking this route we expected to cut off around 5 miles from the trek. On the way we saw some animal bones and flowers and, yeah, basically alot of stuff. The view was really nice from up there.






Once we had arrived at Rich Cabins, man oh man WHAT A CAMP!!! It was a staffed camp styled as a homestead from the early early 1900s. The staff there was friendly and they had several animals as well at their homestead. We even got to do laundry, albeit the old-fashioned way. We had a ton of fun at this camp since there was just so much to do. We learned alot about how they lived out there in the late 1800 to early 1900s and got to see how they "roughed it". We told jokes with the staff and went outside to play with the animals.

Chillin' on the porch:



Trying to catch chickens. This sort of became a game. I didn't play myself much, but it was sure fun watching my crew play it :P:



And now, the infamous see saw:




Now, the guys at the porch (staff) had warned us about this thing. It had no handles and basically rested on two carved logs. In essence, it was pretty dangerous. Now for us, it just seemed like a crazy load of fun. I mean, who'd expect to find a see saw in the backcountry? So we played on it. I became the first casualty. Justin and Eric piled on one end and me on the other. Since this thing has no handles, when you hit the top you fly up a little. And now you have TWO people on one end pushing me up. Yes, I fell off, and yes, IT HURT. I had a bruise on my buttock for the longest time. I'm on the left and Eric and Justin are on the right.

Other things about this particular camp, it had the BEST RED ROOF INN EVER. Smell-less, comfortable, and just wonderful. Eric, Justin, and I had a fun time enjoying this baby. I even took a picture of Eric while he was taking a dump through the cracks in the door. Don't worry, I only got his face :):

Inside was written a fabulous poem:

"Here I sit, all broken hearted,
came to shit, but only farted."

And of course, while we had some time, why don't we cool down a little in the river? There were even some fish. Eric and I tried to catch some...without success. Later on we followed the river downstream until we got to a place behind our site. It was kind of cool :).



Silly scouts.


At the cabin, we also met two burros, a mama and a baby. Jackie was the mom and Burrito (bubba) was the boy. Apparently, he was only 13 days old! He was so soft and curious. While we were washing our clothes he came over to us and we got to pet him and everything. Who knew an ass could be so cute? Well, it wasn't that cute when he was smelling his own crap though. But no matter, they didn't really bother us while we were washing.


Now, onto the laundry. Doing the laundry the old fashion way SUCKS BALLS. It's tiring and incredibly nasty to see how dirty the water your clothes his sitting in can get. For ours, considering how little clothing we actually brought (3 shirts, 2 pants, 3 pairs of underwear, 3 pairs of socks, etc) IT GOT REALLY BAD. Like, pure brownish. Really, really disgusting. But afterwards, it felt good that it was at least a little clean again.










While everyone was mingling around either doing laundry, drying laundry, catching chickens, playing on the see-saw, or back at camp preparing what we would need for that evening, a storm started to roll in. It was very slow and it wouldn't hit us until much later that evening, but it eventually set us into a panic when we need to clean up dinner and get the bearbags up.




Philmont and the drying laundry:

A gopher:


Earlier in the day while setting up tents, Justin and I found some strange entertainment in, well, dueling with those oh-so-flexible tent poles. It was actually amazingly fun...kind of weird yes, but amazingly fun. We were going to take some water from the cabin to use for cooking, but even after filtration it tasted SO BAD! So instead we decided to get our water from the nearby creek instead of the cabin. We did briefly have an opportunity to milk the cow, but we didn't due to time concerns. Besides, the cow looked SO scary. After dinner, the storm was really coming in so we had to rush to clean up the mess kits and put the damn bear bags up. There was no bear cable so we improvised our own between two trees. It took a while to get it right, but we ended up successful and ran to the tents. Almost as soon as we got in the thunder started roaring overhead. Not that much rain though, surprisingly. I think the brunt of the storm just missed us.



Trek day 5: Rich Cabins to Greenwood Canyon

Probably one of the longest hikes but also possibly the most scenic, this one took us basically up our current canyon and then into another one. The whole way was heavy with vegetation and flowers and we were never far from the stream. We were headed to a trail camp, meaning not really a camp at all, so we decided to push this day as far as we could so that we could cut some distance off of tomorrow (which was the hardest day).

But before we left, I had a bit of a "serious" talk with everyone to talk about how slow we took that morning to get up and ready. It was the only serious talk that I as crew leader really had to give. Otherwise, the crew functioned very well and I definitely want to give praise for that.



The initial part of the hike took us through a fairly flat route following the stream. The whole area was very heavily vegetated compared to the parts of the park we had seen earlier in the trip. On such good trail the crew was able to cover a larger distance every hour and we definitely were moving along quickly.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'm just going to post some pictures of stuff along the route. This part of the trek is definitely better expressed in images than words.












Me taking a water break:

Me and JJ:


Finally, we reached the end of the valley at the intersection with Greenwood Canyon. We decided to push deep into the canyon so that we could cut some mileage off from the next day so we continued at a still brisk pace. The climb was definitely starting up more but we didn't let it deter us. We did briefly stop when it began raining intensely, but the rain was short lived and nothing we needed to really worry about. Not until we were almost at the end of the canyon did we stop to camp and we picked a really nice campsite.




A bit of relaxing after a long hike? Well deserved.


Now, I don't have any pictures, but this is when I had probably the biggest laugh fest of my life. While Can was trying to beat his ego and get our bear rope up a particularly large tree, Phillip, Sam, and I absolutely DIED of laughter. What were we laughing about? Everything. Especially Can's later techniques of getting the rope up (*cough* bow and arrow *cough*). Regardless, I almost died. But it sure was fun :). Afterwards we went back to sleep since we had a LONG day ahead.


Trek day 6: Greenwood Canyon to Copperpark

By far the longest, hardest day of the entire journey. This one would take us from the base of Greenwood canyon up to the base of Mt. Baldy. We were almost there! That iconic mountain that we've been spotting along the trail since Day 1 has gotten closer and closer, and now this last hike will take us up the 4000 feet to get to the mountain. It was long and up up up. But we did it anyways.


No one was in a mood to take pictures on the way up, seriously it all looked the same. Up. And up. And up. Not a pretty sight. But when we had a chance to take a break to fill up water, I guess we had time to whip out the cameras. On the way up we were sort of playing leapfrog with this crew from Indiana, we ended up bonding with them alot. We talked to them on the way up and at camp the next day. As we continued, it got pretty cold which helped prevent us from sweating like faucets (well, I almost sweat like a faucet anyways).





Oh yeah. That's FOB for you.


Me using Eric's emo glasses (he says they're fob glasses) and being emo. Don't you see my sad face?

Let's raise the fob level a little bit:



Lunchtime on the way up.


The view on the way up was spectacular

Finally, after like 6 hours of hiking (we woke up at 4:30), we reached the ridge! Man were we glad. We took a decently large break and took plenty of pictures to make up for the ones we had slacked on earlier. As you can see, we weren't alone up there, we actually saw like 2 or 3 other crews up there taking a break as well.





You might be wondering if we can get more fobby. The answer? YES.


The Fusion dance! It's super awesome!





And of course, the blooper. The quality isn't great, but oh well :P.

I tripped over a rock

A crew we met on the way up and down.




BALDY! IT'S RIGHT THERE!


The way down was REALLY steep. We had to engage in tree hugging practices.



Once we reached Copperpark, a good portion of the crew was really tired. We had the option of going a little further down to do program and then come back up (it was really steep though). About half of the crew stayed at camp while the other half left to go to French Henry. I believe it was worth the hike.


Once we reached French Henry, we checked in with the staff. She called me Cleedis. So I played along with it. It was sort of funny. Anyways, we went straight from the check in to the forge to do our blacksmithing. The guy showed us how to mold the metal with tools and reheat it etc. We made a lantern holder.




Once we had finished blacksmithing, we headed up to the Aztec mine, an old, abandoned mine shaft going into the mountain. After some quick orientation, and learning that we were to play the part of the "mucker", we donned our safety gear and headed in. Now at first I was thinking, why would we need helmets? I found on within seconds. The beams are about head level and I slammed into the first one. From then on I hit plenty. She took us about 200 or 300 feet into the mine (I think) and it was pitch black and so cold!



What remains of a big cave-in:


Now remember, this cave was PITCH black. Like, blacker than if you closed your eyes. It was DARK. So the staff member explained how we would escape a cave in. We, the muckers, would get on the left wall. Normally, if there was a cave-in, there would be a stream of rats heading towards the exit. Follow that. Otherwise, put your left hand on the left wall and your right hand on the mucker in front of you's shoulder. The mucker in the very front would feel for beams and warn the others in the back. So, in this pitch black darkness, we had to find our way out back to the exit with only the sense of sound and touch. It was an interesting experience. It took like 20 minutes to move 200 feet or something. And once I smacked my forehead 'cause I stood a little to high to check something out.

We all made it alive :).

From there, we moved back down into French Henry to try our luck at gold panning. I used to think this could be interesting. I learned that gold panning is one of the most TEDIOUS things you can do, ever. You have to have patience like no other. It's layer by layer by layer. And it takes SO LONG. The guys told us that the Spanish did it as a relaxation time, you just do the panning while you sit and contemplate. We didn't find anything except for a piece of ancient coal.


Afterwards, we headed back up (and UP and UP) to copperpark.



That night I had another deadly laughing fit. Phil, you know what I'm talking about. It's all your fault.



And that night, we had the strangest experience. While eating dinner, we were surprised to see a bunch of (I think they were staff) dressed up in Christmas apparel charge into our camp screaming "Merry Christmas!". "Merry Christmas!". They ran into our camp, promptly dumped three gifts into our hands, and then were out of there about as soon as they had entered. It was a crazy experience. Christmas? It was July! They gave us two cans of canned fruit and one small box of frosting. We ate it the next day :).

Trek day 7: Mt. Baldy


Finally, the day had come. Mt. Baldy had been looming in the distance since the first day of our journey. From every ridge, we could see it, the highest point in all of Philmont and the surrounding area. At 12,441 feet, it was not small, even compared to many Californian giants. We had climbed over 3000 feet the day before to get us to the base of this mountain, and now we were going to finish it off. A heavy fog rolled in early in the morning, and briefly we had to consider going up, but as a crew we voted to continue. I believe we were all glad we did.

The hike started off fairly easy, it was steep yeah but the fog covered everything so we ended up not being able to see HOW steep. This probably worked to our advantage since we just kept climbing and climbing. Thanks to the fog, it was amazingly cool as well, and this definitely made the hike easier. There was no wind until we reached the ridge, and then there was PLENTY.






Finally, we reached the top of Baldy! The view at first was nothing special since everything was COVERED IN FOG! And it was windy up there. Super super cold. Well, what can you expect at 12,441 ft? But miraculously, minutes upon our arrival, the weather started to clear! We could see the sights below and wow what a sight it was! We took plenty of pictures.



















With temperatures dipping like they were, it was time to go down. We quickly went down the opposite side of the mountain until we were again under cloudline. From there, it was a quick hike to Baldy Town where we would take a long afternoon break.




Wait! Could it be? Could this be real? Could those be... SHOWERS?! Can, Jimmy, Eric, and I took this opportunity to shower after more than a week without one. It felt so heavenly. We had a half hour slot and we took like twenty minutes of it just showering. Later, people went to the trading post too since there was one.





At the comissary, we picked up our food resupply and distributed it amongst the our bags. This would would last us the rest of the journey.


After we left Baldy town, Can realized he "lost" his glasses and had to go back. The rest of the crew went on ahead back towards Copperpark while Sam, Phil, Jimmy, and I waited along the trail for Can's return. While we waited, Jimmy and his wonderful imagination drew the teleportation rune in the ground so that we could instantly teleport back to camp. This is sort of a "you have to be there to get it" moment, but it was HILARIOUS.

We also drew Oprah and Mr. Chan (well, Phil did at least)



How do you use the teleportation rune though? Jimmy explained it to us very clearly:

1. Draw the rune
2. Take a dump on it
3. Lay some penguin beak on it
(alternatively, if you don't have penguin beak you can find someone who can pee VERY accurately. They can urinate on the rune and cover the entire run WITHOUT GOING OVER THE LINES OF THE RUNE)
4. Cut yourself and bleed on the rune
5. Whine about the blood and the distance to your destination

Finally, enter this stance and just point where you want to go. Upon closing your eyes, you'll be there!


Once Can returned, and told us that his glasses were in his jacket all along (-_-) we went back towards Copperpark. Some pictures of the route:




That night the troop from Indiana invited us over to their camp and we shared jokes. Originally, they wanted to learn the llama song (which we never ended up teaching), but somehow the conversation shifted to school and then to jokes. By the time we were done it was dark, so we quickly hoisted the bearbags and went to sleep. The next day would prove to be a long one also so we had to be ready.

Trek day 8: Copperpark to Miranda to Baldy Skyline



A long day both in distance and programs, this would be the day we picked up Jack and Max, our trusty burros. After quickly packing up from Copperpark, we began the trek down towards Miranda. Miranda is a staffed camp with the Mountain Man theme, and it was evident as soon as we arrived. But before we got there, we had to pass through Baldy Town and Ute Meadows, where we found many artifacts like old chimneys and car axles.


What remains of a V6 engine


Lol, JJ :)



After lunch, we went straight into Tomahawk throwing. A tomahawk is basically an axe. You throw them and try to stick them into logs of wood. It seems really simple, but it actually takes some technique. The guy who demonstrated for us was insanely good, getting like all of them in almost without looking. When we tried it out we certainly got in less than he did.











What happens when you succeed? You gotta do the victory pose! Duh! Peace out!



The mountain men quickly took us in for a tour of the rendezvous shop where we learned how they lived, worked, and traded. It was really interesting seeing the antique wares that they used. The whole room was filled with furs, tools, beads, staples, and even a few "luxury" items.



Also, the mountain men showed us a fun "game" they play. It's basically pass, but instead of passing a ball, they pass a set beaver trap. They asked if I wanted to join. I declined....


Afterwards, we headed over to the range to try our hand at blackpowder shooting. The difference between blackpowder and regular shooting is that in regular shooting, the gunpowder is loaded in the bullet and it's set off by a firing pin in the rifle.


Blackpowder, however, is different because the bullet is just a ball of lead. The gunpowder is put in first right into the barrel, followed afterwards by the bullet which is rammed down the barrel using the, surprise, ramrod.

We shot at hankerchiefs, a hat, and the text of Jimmy's scout's own.




Umm...yeah...something we just happened to come accross at the range...


After shooting, we posed for a few pictures with the teepee.




At Miranda, we picked up our Burros. Originally, we were going to call them Jack and Daniel (Jack Daniels), but Kristian and Phillip decided to change Daniel to Max. Anyways, we learned how to saddle them and put the weight on as well as the tarp. The guy explained it once and we caught on quickly, and once they were ready we set off to Baldy Skyline. Together, Jack and Max carried about 100 lbs of our stuff. The darker one is Jack and the lighter one is Max. Jack tended to be more cooperative, especially in the beginning.









Saddled up and ready to go!


From Miranda, we headed out with our two new team mates towards Baldy Skyline. The hike was fairly easy at first but later on entered a fairly steep climb. It was made easier though due to the fact that we had burros carrying some of our weight :). We quickly learned the techniques to keep the burros going and not stopping constantly to eat. They were stubborn a few times but overall it wasn't too bad.





Finally, we reached the ridge. From then, it was an easy trek over to Baldy Skyline.





The view was spectacular!


Once we reached Baldy Skyline, we unpacked the burros, put them in the corral, cooked dinner, and basically did everything we needed to before sleeping. We were dead tired, but now we knew from then on out it was easy peasy lemon squeezy.


Trek day 9: Baldy Skyline to Pueblano


Not a challenging hike at all, but we had to hurry to complete all the programs that Pueblano had to offer us. We would also be doing our conservation project there, so that would take another three hours out of our day. When dawn broke, we packed up, packed the burros, and got moving. The dawn created a beautiful red glow over the camp as we began to set out.


That morning we did have to wake up a little earlier to pack up the burros. Getting them out and putting the stuff on was challenging without the wrangler's help, but we did a good job. By about 9 ish we were ready to hit the trails and be out of there on the way to Pueblano.




Sam and I getting Jack ready for the day.


Jack all packed up. Now he just needs the canvas cover.







Looks like someone caught a picture of me yawning.

Then, we reached Pueblano! The porch was larger than most, and the staff was all dressed up in the appropriate clothing. We came on for the porch talk like always, then they led us to our campsite where we could set up before heading over to the conservation project.




Our conservation project basically consisted of building a dam to raise the water level of a certain part of the nearby stream. Human activity in the 1800s and early 1900s caused the water level in that part of the stream to be dangerously low for the native fish, so we basically had to raise it while still creating a small drainage area in the middle that fish could swim up.





And the finished product ended up a huge success! We raised the water level of the designated area about 8 inches! Definitely a success. It even looked pretty cool in the end seeing how the water was kind of uneven around the dam. It was a ton of work though :P.


And that night, we were able to enjoy the wonderful Pueblano "campfire" program (we couldn't actually make a fire since the area was under heavy fire danger). It was amazing to enjoy some music after such a long time without it, even though it's not music I would normally listen to. Either way, they were really good! They played many songs but we recorded only a few. It was alot of fun though, especially the skits. The music and fun lasted until the late into the night.


This one you can't really see, but it's part of a skit (the one about snaggletooth :P). Listen carefully!


Trek day 10: Pueblano to Ponil


Ah, the home stretch, how sweet it feels. A few more miles and we're home free! This day proved to be one of the most fun, memorable days of the whole journey. It would take us from spar poles to the cantina, from burro packing to horseback riding. It would serve to top off our Philmont cake.

As soon as we woke up and got the burros ready (this took amazingly long since the Burros had no notion of moving that morning), we set off straight for the spar poles. The spar poles are basically 60 feet tall wooden logs that you climb. How do you climb it? Well, first you get a spike strapped to each boot and then you put on a hip belt that wraps around you in several places. Then, using a belt, you climb mulan-style until you reach the top! The guy demonstrating made it seem ridiculously easy, it was in fact ridiculously hard.





But before climbing, you have to know the rules!

1. Be sexy
2. Don't get hurt
3. If you have to get hurt, at least do it looking sexy






And mis amigos completing the pole too:











And again, making it look easy! He isn't using a belt OR a safety harness, in fact he's climbing to retrieve the harness itself. He's crazy. Fast and crazy.



And on the way out of Pueblano, we stopped by to check on our dam. Yup, it was still there, and it was looking as sexy as ever.



And with success in our minds, we set off for Ponil. We arrived soon enough. Ponil was the biggest camp we'd been to so far, as it used to be the base camp when Philmont was still Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp (or Ranch, forgot what the full name was). Anyways, upon arrival, we had just enough time to race over to horse rides! So we hopped to the stables and got ready to mount up.

My horse's name was Moody. I hoped that wasn't reflective of personality. I found out, to my relief, that it wasn't.



After the horse ride, which I found to actually be extraordinarily boring (so boring, in fact, that I was falling asleep while riding. The only thing that kept me awake was the fear that if I fell asleep I'd get trampled, and also that occasional horses would crap while walking.), we returned to Ponil where we then went to set up camp. Soon enough, we had to go to the chuck wagon for dinner (Yes!!! NO COOKING!!!!)


Dinner was wonderful! Part of that may be from the fact that we could sit, part from the fact that we didn't have to cook, and part that it wasn't created just from dehydrated "powder" (well, I don't think it was...). Either way, we had alot of fun at dinner especially when Jimmy SUMPED WITH GATORADE!!! IN A BOWL THAT HAD BEEF STEW! It was gross, but when he finished everyone at the chuck wagon cheered.



After dinner, it was time to head for the famous Ponil cantina. It's basically a bar that serves rootbeer and snacks. The rootbeer was notoriously strong there, possibly because it was made of Ponil water. We started out just playing cards and relaxing. More and more people came in, and soon that place was PACKED. It's not a big room, only big enough for four square tables, a bar, and a piano but there must have been like 70 people in there! Even as jam packed as it was, most people were just waiting for the cantina show that was set up come later that evening. It was then that Sam made the challenge that changed the evening for me. He said if I could down 10 root beers, then it would all be on him. I wanted to make the trip memorable, so I took the challenge.

The bar was about to process a pretty big order

Servin' it up


and chuggin' it down


Needless to say, I didn't actually succeed in my endeavor. I got to 5 and by then I knew with that much CO2 in me that I was going to throw up. It was bound to happen. But some guys from Alabama had already bought me another one and I told them that this one was the last one. Checking to make sure the back door was open, with the whole cantina screaming "Chug! Chug! Chug!", I downed it, ran out, and threw up under a rock. It made for a memorable experience.

By the time I got back, the show was starting. I don't really have any good pictures, but I have a video of one of the songs we sang.



Sam and I also decided to take a shower in complete darkness at 10:30 that night. Why exactly? I'm not really sure. Sam thought it would be a good idea. We were spooked out when staff came in and told us not to use any soap lest we become an evening supper for bears. Sam and I agreed, took our shower, hiked back, and went to sleep. It was the end of our last full day.

Trek day 11: Ponil to Ponil Turnaround to Base Camp


Breakfast was served up at the chuck wagon, and everything in the morning was packed up and ready to go. We knew that all things must come to an end, and this day was the end of our trek. With the knowledge that we were going home, we all were ready to leave Ponil. But we had to get a last memento first. Why not brand our nalgenes, hats, and shoes? So we did.





It was finally time to go back to base camp from the backcountry.


Once we arrived back at base camp, Mr. Chan and I worked to finish the final paperword involving lockers, equipment, tents, etc. We all went to the trading post and went spending crazy. We wanted to find Ben (the ranger) and give a few gifts to him, but he was out on another trek, so we left it with the ranger office.



Everyone was enjoying the last day we would have together


And that night, we had our evening campfire






From then, it was all homeward bound...






And like that, we were back in San Jose



Memorable quotes:

"I couldn't get it out, and if you yell at me, I'll punch you, and if you tease me, I'll crap on your tent."

"Oh god"

"No, no. YOU sump. I'm going to go do Jack."

"But I don't want a fire rune! I just want to teleport back!"
"But we have to cook dinner!"

"You're making me PMS"

"It's a phallus with gigantic strands of hair"

"If you get struck by lightning, I'll laugh my ass off"
(Hit by lightning storm) "NO LET'S JUST DROP OUR PACKS AND RUN!!!!!!"

"Oh oh OH!!! 1...2....3....4...5...6...-....35. Hmm, must be heat lightning"

"OH MY GOD WHY IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL ME I WAS MUMBLING?!"

"Actually no, Ben, you'll like die"

"Oh I see, so we didn't have penguin's beak. No wonder it didn't work"

"EXTREME lack of FIRE DANGER thanks to this rain EVERYWHERE!"

"I'm tired. Why does everyone have to pee on me? Why can't I move?"

(Btw guys if you remember any others please tell me)

629-R1. A set of numbers and letters that has little meaning, yet for us is now symbolic of a journey we took together. Through laughs and through grunts we all made it. From the steepest drops to the hardest climbs, we made it. Pulling ourselves up those spar poles and firing away those rifles. Distributing equipment and preparing the burros. Filtering water and cooking our meals. Through all of it, we made it. And I think it's safe to say that we have all grown from it. From our daily bear bags to our worship of red roof inns. From the dining fly and from the sump. We've all done well and have come out of Philmont more complete as humans than when we went in. And our crew was unique in that we didn't all know each other when we became a crew, yet now we have new friends to help us along at home. As your crew leader, I'd like to congratualate you all for a job well done. Remember Philmont and what it means to you.




629-R1 Crew Leader Benjamin Lin







Please comment on my journal! This thing took me hours to make and I'd like to know what you thought of the post and the journey in general! Leave your name so I know who you are :D!