Originally published November 14, 2012 Like most people (adults?) going to Philmont, Julie and I spent a lot of time exploring strategies and tactics for equipment. Much of our equipment was close to twenty years old (pre-kids backpacking days) so we knew a major refresh was in order. We leaned towards the ultra-light approach and…
Originally published November 12, 2012 We did all survive the night in the haunted Dean Heck trail camp. Matthew's first words when he woke up: "I'M ALIVE!!" Kyle admitted that he was exhausted after a long night of protecting us from various threats. To make up for our night-time trauma, we were rewarded with beautiful…
Originally published November 9, 2012 This is our last full day of hiking and program at Philmont. For breakfast, we had the hot skillet scramble. Texture a little odd, but still good and a nice change of pace from cold breakfast every day. The boys were all in great spirits as we left Elkhorn with…
Originally published November 7, 2012 With a final close-up look at Baldy and farewell to the Baldy Town kitten, our crew departed on a downhill descent to Pueblano where some spar pole climbing awaits us. We had a fantastic porch talk at Pueblano with a friendly staff that stayed in character (much like the Black…
Originally published November 6, 2012 We departed camp with our light daypacks on at 6:45am to begin our Baldy ascent. We screamed up the mountain, passing four other crews along the way and reaching the summit at 8:30am. The climb was not at all technical but did get steep and rocky at times. The weather…
Originally published November 5, 2012 Leaving Baldy Skyline we had a choice -- swing by the Miranda camp for some program time, or high-tail it to Baldy Town to try and get an early slot for our required conservation project. Each crew is required to complete a three hour service project while out on the…
Originally published November 2, 2012 On day 6 we departed Deer Lake Mesa at about 6:50am and began our gradual climb down towards the Cimarron River. We saw a buck on the way, keeping our deer-spotting streak alive at 7 straight days. After crossing over the river and under the highway we took a break.…
Originally published November 1, 2012 As I said in the last post, day 4 was our last easy day. Day 5 would be a true test for our crew, and not in the ways we expected. The day opened with a steep ascent from Black Mountain Camp to the summit of Black Mountain, about a…
Originally published September 21, 2012 Day 4 would prove to be our last "easy" day as we casually sauntered from Agua Fria to our first food resupply at Phillips Junction. We departed our campsite at 7:05 and arrived at Phillips in exactly 2 hours. Now this wasn't necessarily an easy hike - the climb was…
Originally published September 6, 2012 We woke up about 6am at our Carson Meadows camp and started our hike towards Fish Camp at about 7:30am. We signed out at the cabin and started our relatively flat hike along the Rayado River canyon. The views were spectacular through the canyon, with rock formations on both sides…