The Phil-list Jun_2008: [philmont] Just Returned from Trek 11 61

From: Gary Stanley <stanley@myvine.com>
Date: Wed Jun 25 2008 - 22:21:48 CDT

Great write up!

I'm envious!
Gary Stanley
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Tom McClintock
  To: philmont List Member
  Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 6:08 PM
  Subject: [philmont] Just Returned from Trek 11 612-M

Great write-up! I'm ready!

Regards,

Tom McClintock

Crew 712-K

  From: philmont@troop47.com [mailto:philmont@troop47.com] On Behalf Of Kirk McClure
  Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 5:28 PM
  To: philmont List Member
  Subject: [philmont] Just Returned from Trek 11 612-M

Just got back last night, we had a great trek, a couple quick notes about Philmont 2008. First, our crew was 10 scouts 14-16 years old and 2 advisors, one early 30's former Philmont Ranger and Ranger Trainer and myself, 47 and 32 years since my last trek. We are all from Troop 1001 in Richardson Texas.

In no particular order:

-Welcome Center was ready for us and we got to spend our early arrival night in tent city tents. When we returned on Monday, all early arrivals were sleeping in pitched tents between Trail bound and Home Bound tents.

-New staff building is still under construction.

-Arrived with the Fire Level at High and a burn ban in effect. When we came off the trail on Monday the level was extreme. There was a small fire on Monday in the Miners Park/Uracca area, we could see/smell the smoke in the late afternoon. We heard from several staff members that it was contained quickly.

-There has been little rain recently and the trails are very dry. There were high winds in base camp (> 50 MPH) and it occasionally resembles a dust bowl.

-We had no rain on the trail until we got to Beaubien on 6/20, a few sprinkles in the afternoon. The next day we got caught at Trail Peak by a hail storm. That was all the precip we had during the trek.

-All Streams/creeks we saw in the south were flowing well due to snowfall this winter.

-Speaking of snow, we saw 3 foot drifts on Commanche and several large areas near Mt. Philips peak.

-The bugs are pretty bad at Commanche Peak, Mt. Phillips and Clear Creek - everywhere else was OK.

-Shafers pass spring was reported as dry by logistics, so we carried water from N. Fork Uracca over the Tooth on our last day.

-All staffed camps were very accommodating for us:

--Harlen - Shotguns were in good shape and they have some automatic launchers that are solar powered now. Burro race was a classic.

--Cito, climbing was good, I felt like I was climbing before we got to the climb area and the crew almost beat the staff at volleyball after dinner.

--Hunting Lodge - staff was having some trouble staying in character - only time we saw this.

--Cyphers - Staff was fun, Jebidiah did our mine tour, and Charlie Cyphers did the forge. Stomp was a lot of fun and the staff stayed for an hour afterwords to jam and play requests.

--Clear Creek - Black powder was fun, everyone hit their target.

--Beaubien - Campfire was actually better than the Stomp (IMHO), CD, Warren's dry sense of humor was perfect and the long story by Derrick was hilarious (and I knew the punch line). Chuck Wagon dinner following the hail storm really warmed us up. Did cons here, meadow encroachment = cutting up trees into firewood.

--Black Mountain - This camp was the best at playing their role, Civil War era soldiers. Be prepared to enlist and be called Bob. They shoot the big guns here, not like the sissy's at Clear Creek who wear tassels and trap beavers.

--Miners Park - we only made it in for the advisors coffee and to water up on our last night on the trail so I can't speak for the program, but we were made to feel at home. Couple of our guys earned pudding in their climbing wall contest.

-All the advisors and staff I spoke with at coffees and along the trail were very friendly.

-We saw a bear and rattlesnake on our first day, after that just deer, squirrels and mini-bears.

-Got to meet Shane Hoffman face-to-face for the first time on the trail between Beaubien and Black - the information on his site about checking in was very helpful.

-Opening campfire was good, closing campfire was great!

-Finally, we saw the Philmont emergency response in operation while we were there. About a half mile from the peak of Phillips one of our guys started to complain of chest pains when he inhaled. After about an hour of checking vitals while he rested and watching his pulse rate remain high, we sent 4 scouts to Clear Creek for help (they got there in just over an hour). Soon after they left, a crew coming down off Phillips lent us their cell phone and we contacted logistics. To make a long story short, by the time we reached the peak of phillips a couple hours later with the scout hiking on his own (without a pack) there were 9 Philmont staffers with us to provide assistance. After getting checked out at Clear Creek by the medic, the scout decided to stick with us and made it to base camp on his own power.

That's all for now, hope this is helpful for Crews getting ready to go.

Kirk McClure

Troop 1001

Richardson, TX

Philmont 612-M 2008

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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     Subject: unsubscribe
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Received on Wed Jun 25 22:20:18 2008

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