Philmont TrekAugust 10th – 18th 2008

Crew 810 – A – 2

Notes by crew advisor:Chris Miga

Saturday – August 9th, 2008Franklin MA to Colorado

Did not sleep well, I guess it’s all the excitement in preparation for the trip. Plus I was up a little late going over my gear, making sure I was all packed. 0300 hrs comes quick, man this is going to be a long day!In the parking lot at Bob’s Store by 0330 hrs, it was great no traffic (I wish it was like this during the work week!) Wow, the Gerber’s beat us here, what time did they get up? Finally everyone else showed up, everyone was all busy with greetings, and taking photos. Mr. Vankevich took a group photo of us to be placed in the local newspaper, I guess we’ll never see that picture again. The bus ride into Logan, and the flight into St. Paul were pretty uneventful. It’s nice and bright at St. Paul, and we’re all hungry. We find a McDonalds, no seats available, Coolie finds some empty tables at the Chinese restaurant, so we all go there. “Mr. Miga!” someone yells, whose calling me now? It seems that some of the local wildlife found its way into the dining room of the Chinese restaurant… a mouse. Mr. Miga, you’re an exterminator, do

something…. Ughh! I just want to get to Philmont. The flight to Denver was quiet, thank God. We get our bags without much trouble and finally we meet Sarah from Blue Sky Adventures. She gets us loaded onto the bus and we meet Woody, our bus driver, what a character. Well, the first stop on our way is a local “Country Buffett”. This place is awesome, and most of the boys think so too! Next, we’re off to the United States Air Force Academy. Of course by this time the sky has turned from fantastically bright blue sky and bright puffy white clouds to the darkest grey skies. As we step off the bus the sky opens up. Holy crud! I’m

completely soaked, the last time it rained this bad I was in Panama, at least it was warmer there. Well we toured what we could of the campus, the Cathedral seems to be the main focus here, quite an astonishing looking building. Next we see the athletic center which houses the school hockey rink, basketball court, indoor football and lacrosse field, a very big complex. Dan Steiner, Bob Coullahan and I are all rolling our eyes and making little comments under our breaths, we’re all Army men and this school will never, ever, measure up to the “Point”. Hey staff, what’s the point? Oops, wrong trip!Back on the bus, now we’re off to see the ‘Garden of the Gods’. Quite an unusual place, it is a series of unique rock and sandstone formations created thousands of years ago when the tectonic plates were shifting, causing what was once the ocean floor to rise to a vertical position. Next we were taken to the visitor center at ‘Garden of the Gods’ for dinner, just as we were finishing, a couple of the local Native American Indians came in to treat us to

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some celebration dances, I think five or six in total, but abbreviated. Most everyone enjoyed the hoop dance, but my favorite was the Eagle dance. Finally we all did a friendship dance, it kind of resembled a conga line, but felt more symbolic of how each person can visit the same place but leave his own identity for others to experience.To wrap up the day we were off to the University of Colorado Springs at Colorado Springs. Most everyone went to the fitness center to play hoops and swim, I found the computer center and logged on to send an email to Joanne, I had no phone service, or so I thought, until the next morning and want to let her know we were still alive.

Sunday – August 10th, 2008Colorado Springs

Another lousy night, the darned mattresses were hard as rocks… I can only imagine what sleeping on a lousy foam pad all week is going to be like…

Up early again, I grab a quick shower and fiddle with my cell phone. We’re two hours behind Franklin, and I did something to my phone so now I get service, I’m glad I’m not an IT guy like Mr. Pollock. “How’d you fix it? I don’t know, I think I pushed that button…” Anyway, I digress, I call Joanne who is happy to hear from me and I’m happy to hear her voice. I haven’t experienced this emotion since I was in the Army. So we go off for a quick breakfast, the chef I think said he was from Mass., this is the last good food we’re going to

have for a while, so everyone ate hearty. Woody was here on time, and so we loaded up and were on our way. Woody had put on a movie for the boys, but I think most of them just slept in on the bus ride. I didn’t catch how long the ride was, about 3 or 4 hours. The ride was kind of somber, like waiting for the worst. The sun disappeared quickly and we appear to be driving through a storm, very dark and rainy. Before long we come clear of the rain and the sky becomes brilliantly bright again and remained so all the way to Philmont base camp. Well, we unloaded the bus and stood around waiting and waiting… finally our crew Ranger, Greg Davies came over and introduced himself. Now things will get moving. Crew 810-A-1 had their Ranger now, and off we went as separate entities, now we will continue to see each other, but in all essence, we are separate, and this is my clan and no matter how much a friend you are, my guys come first. Needless to say, the remainder of the day is spent going through the drudgery of check in stuff, walking countless miles between tent city and various places, getting itineraries, medical checks, equipment and food allotments, gear shakedowns etc. oh yeah, the rain we passed earlier in the day seems to have caught up to us, once again the skies opened up as we were lining up for our medical checks. During the medical checks Marc Maietta disappeared, it seems there was a problem with his weight or

his medical form?? Not really sure, all I know is the medical staff flagged him and was set to send him home. Don MacClellan and Mike Barry went off to find him, and figure out what was going on. When they came back Marc was with them. They had arranged to contact his doctor back home and have him clue in the med. staff regarding his medical situation, however Marc’s doctor wasn’t answering and they had to leave a message, hopefully he’ll call back in the morning before we leave for the trail.Later in the evening the staff put on a cool campfire show to welcome back, and send off crews. It was very enjoyable, but the walk back from it in the dark was making me very nervous. All I needed was to turn my ankle again, (I did this about

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2.5 weeks ago on a practice hike, and thought I was going to have to forfeit the trip.) and I might be going home with Marc, not very desirable, but at least we could go together. Later back at tent city, Michael came by, he was visibly up-set, it seems that all the excitement was proving too much, and anxiety was playing havoc with him. I spent some time consoling him, and walked him back to his tent, I think he’s going to be ok, this was not expected, and now I have to worry about him…. A nice cold adult beverage would be good right about now… and we have to get up early again, who said we were on vacation????

Monday – August 11th, 2008Philmont Base Camp – Six Mile Gate - Anasazi CampClear Temp - 83°

Have you ever heard the phrase hurry up and wait? Well, we’re living it now.We had our breakfast, our last decent meal for a week, when did we eat at Univ. of Colorado Springs? Oh yeah, yesterday. It seems like a week already. This place runs like an oiled machine and makes the Army look lame. They really know how to cram in a lot. Marc’s doctor called the doctor at the aid station and cleared him, this is very good news and all are happy! We had our official group photo’s taken with the back of the Tooth of Time in the back ground, too bad we weren’t going there, it doesn’t look that high, how high was Mt. Baldy again? Anyway, we stripped right down to our hiking clothes after the photo, and proceeded to wait for the bus. This time the bus is an old school bus, I don’t remember the seats

being this cramped! So, we get all loaded up, and the two crews are together one last time, the two rangers for each crew start going through some goofy shtick when all of a sudden the bus driver turns on to a dirt road. He never slows down, actually I think he speeds up, does he do this to possibly frighten someone? Maybe he’s just sick of driving us miserable Yankees from the North, or maybe he’s on a time crunch to pick up the next crew, either way I think he’s going to kill us. Finally we pull into Six Mile Gate, our designated starting point for our TREK, FINALLY! We’re here! Not so fast buddy, now, since our ranger Greg has met up with us he’s been very quiet, very much the opposite of crew A-1’s ranger. Now, NOW, he wants to talk, c’mon, lets get moving!!!! Greg talks to us about a lot of the things we overheard the other ranger talking about, pack-lines, staying hydrated, and that funny looking building over there… otherwise known as a REDROOF. Basically that is, in its purest form an outhouse, most as we will find out are for two people, and seat side by side with no wall between seats, but occasionally they seat back to back with a wall between otherwise known as a “pilot to bombardier”. These are rare and much preferable, oh, and don’t forget to bring a stick to wipe the underside of the seat... for spiders and bees etc.After a while of this we set off for our next destination, Anasazi Camp. It’s a short walk, mostly flat terrain, probably about three miles. The views here are amazing, I feel like we stepped back in time by a million years, at any moment a dinosaur could come running by us. We stop for lunch a short while later at the T-Rex footprint. I agree with Don, not worth the extra effort of getting there, however, it is the only known documented footprint of a T-Rex. After we eat, we make good time getting to Anasazi Camp, it’s an un-staffed camp so it’s just us and our ranger. The boys decide we should get the conservation project out of the way now, so since we are going to head off for this, we don’t have time to hang the bear bags. This means we have to walk almost all the way back to the T-Rex site without backpacks, but with the bear bags. The conservation project was a

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three hour service project mainly consisting of trail work, clearing and widening a portion of the trail we had just walked. When we were done it was back off to Anasazi Camp to learn about hanging bear bags and eating dinner. Dinner consisted of dehydrated mac & cheese, I think. And, we had to ration out portions for equal share. I’m going to be eating pinecones before this week is out. Once that sun went down the temps went too, boy did it cool of quick. No fires tonight, most everyone was tired and ready for the old fart sack, I hope I sleep better tonight. Funny thing, it never rained today, did this mean we were in for it tonight? Lord I hope not, that would make for some miserable hiking tomorrow. Vince pointed out our tent was set up on a slope, by morning, Vince had slid to the bottom of the tent.

Tuesday – August 12th, 2008Anasazi Camp – Ponil (horse) Camp By way of Indian writingsClear Temp - 85°

Well, once again we’re up early, I guess this is going to be the routine. It’s mainly to beat the expected heat. Before we left for this trip it was agreed upon that everyone needed to bring four Nalgene bottles because of the prospects of dehydration. Although it was more weight, it was part of the gear that was a necessary, as the week progressed every drop in all four bottles were needed. I really hate my foam pad, it offers no comfort sleeping, I would have rather given up something to have my self inflating pad. My back was bothering me, I just need some Aleve and I’ll be ok. Breakfast was less than appetizing, it didn’t help that my stomach was all queasy. I think there was some granola mix and beef jerky? I really hope the

food gets better…. Oh wait, the Lara Bars are pretty good! The boys won’t even look at them, they think I’ve lost it because I like them. Got to the redroof this morning just in time, the line formed behind me, and look, it’s a pilot to bombardier!Got off to a slow start, a little confusion about who does what this AM, not to worry though, things work out by the end of the week. The hike to Indian Writings was relatively flat, and the pace was quick. Hey slow down, I’ve got short legs ya’ know! We stopped at the Indian writings camp, but it was almost an hour before we could go through, the boys decided to push on to Harts Peak and Ponil.Our first encounter with an up-hill grade in elevation with elevation, does anyone have an oxygen mask?The boys are flying up the hill, and I’m sucking wind within a couple of steps… what the h@$% did I get myself into? Maybe Don was right about going to the White Mountains of N.H. So we are supposed to be climbing switch backs with a gradual rise, not straight up, GASP.Well, before we knew it we were at the top and I was sucking wind like a mad man. As we closed in on

the peak of Harts Peak the view was getting better, as we made the peak the view was spectacular! In the not so far distance, we could see Mt. Baldy. Boy, do I wish we could have gone up Baldy that day, but more on that later. While we took a break at the peak, ranger Greg spoke to us about our stewardship of

the outdoors and the wilderness pledge. Everyone received a Philmont Wilderness Pledge card and a short time later we resumed our hike. Fortunately we were as high as we would go today so the remainder was all downhill, which brought us right into the middle of Ponil Camp.

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We set up a pack-line and went over to the camp lodge for a “porch talk”, this is where we find out about the camp, and the activities they have for us as well as other useful news like if there were any bear sightings. Which by the way, I really hope to see a bear so I can try to get a few pictures of it. After the porch talk, we head up to the Cantina and camp store and break open our lunch bags with re-processed cans of ham and saltines with mystery nature bars. Well at least they sell root beer in the cantina, ice cold root beer in a 20oz. cup, and only for $1.00. As I found out $3.00 later, if you save your cup, it only costs you $0.50 to re-fill it. NUTS!After lunch all of the boys went on the horse back riding activity. Don and I stayed behind to relax, I had a blister on my left foot that needed tending to. Don and I took advantage of the showers while they were available, and cleaned some dirty, smelly clothes. While the boys are riding horses a bear was sighted at the far end of camp, pretty much everyone saw this bear except for Don and I. Earlier, the crew leader selected our tent site which happened to be on a rock out-cropping high above the camp, the view was nice, but miserable to climb in the dark. It was not some place you would want to get down from too often. The staff of Ponil provided a chuckwagon dinner in the form of beef stew. We didn’t know it then but the next warm meal would be back at base camp. The beef stew seemed to be a hit as everyone went back for seconds when announced. After dinner, but before the show Don, Marc, Vince and I managed to squeeze in a quick game of horseshoes. Some of the boys found the branding irons, and branded practically everything they had. As it got dark, the staff put on a show in the cantina, this was without a doubt the best show of any of the camps. When the show ended everyone went back to their tent sites and hit the hay. There hasn’t been a lot of chatter between the tents as one might expect, we’re all pretty tired.

Wednesday – August 13th, 2008Ponil Camp – Pueblano (Continental Tie & Lumber) Camp Clear (some clouds) No recorded temp (estimated about 80° - 85°)

Brrrr! It’s freakin cold! Up on this rock formation is no place to be, it feels even colder up here. This is where I earn my trail name “The Bugler”. Mike Miga and Ryan Maietta tented right next to Vince and me, and were awakened by my bugle call this morning. Everyone packed up fairly quickly and headed down to set up a pack-line, and grab some grub from the chuckwagon breakfast. Pancakes and sausage, yum!Not too many people showed up for this as most had left early to get a jump start on the day. After breakfast, we received our food rations for the next few days said goodbye and good luck to ranger Greg as this was as far as he would go with us as he proceeded to head back to base camp, and then on to home to start

another year of college in a couple of weeks. We’re on our own now, left to our own devices. We set out for Pueblano, about fifteen minutes in to the hike we stopped for a moment, and people noticed a bear foot print in the dried mud, grabbed a quick picture or two, and we set out again. The going was fairly easy initially, and then we turned off the main trail and started our incline up to the Wilson Mesa. In 2002 there was a massive fire in the Ponil complex that wiped out acres and acres of ponderosa and pinion pine trees, this is where we initially walked, most of the time was spent clamoring over downed trees crossing the path, slow going. Because most of the trees were destroyed in the fire there was not a lot of shade, ironically, if you did stand in certain places, you could get just enough

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shade from the trunks as they lined up to form a blind. This is when the four Nalgene bottles were needed most, however, we still had a ways to go, and water conservation needed to be observed before too long. Along the way, Don suggested the drag step to keep my breathing controlled, this was extremely useful as I got better with it as the week went on. Finally we came to the property boundary and stopped for lunch, but not before we took some group photos with a magnificent view of Baldy in the background. We must be making progress, baldy seems to be bigger than the day before. After a quick lunch of Lara bars and gorp I checked on a new blister on my right foot and reluctantly got ready to go. Not long after crossing out of Philmont territory we found ourselves in the Wilson Mesa. My words will never adequately explain this place, all I can say for this was that this was a much unexpected highlight of the trip, climbing and achieving the summit of baldy was fantastic, but the mesa was my highlight that week. It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful there. As we descended through the mesa we passed along a small lake or pond with Baldy as the backdrop, absolutely picture perfect! Another treat!We crossed back in to the Philmont territory and down a stone covered trail which dropped us right into the Pueblano Camp. Here we watched the boy’s spar-pole climb and play logger ball, a similar facsimile of baseball without the rules, oh, excuse me there is one rule, the staff always wins! Well, it’s been a long day and most of the adults can barely keep their eyes open so we head off to our tents while the boys stay for the campfire show.

Thursday – August 14th, 2008Pueblano Camp – Miranda CampClear (light rain for 20-30 minutes in am) No recorded temp (estimated about 75°)

Got an early start today, was cold again and a slight rain/drizzle to think about. My lower back is really bothering me this morning. There is a picture, I think Vince took, of me sitting in the dark against a tree on my rolled up sleeping pad, this was the only relief I could get until the Aleve kicked in. Breakfast was beef jerky and a beef stick, well at least I like the beef products. Has anyone seen a Drunkin Donuts yet?The boys seem to be much better coordinated in getting ready to leave, everyone seems to know what to do.We’re heading to Miranda Camp today, it’s a short walk, and our trail goes straight up this hill, and gains a quick 1,000 feet altitude. I am using the

drag step today with much success, I’m keeping my own pace, and my breathing is controlled. Before I know it we’re at the top and I’m feeling pretty good. The weather cleared out nicely and it feels more like a crisp autumn day. The view of baldy is right in our face, and seems closer than ever. I am starting to feel the excitement of going over the top of Baldy, we are actually here doing this trek, at Philmont. The rest of the trail is essentially down this dirt logging road in front of us, how easy can that be! Have you ever heard the phrase “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”?Well, in my opinion, we got off the road too soon. We had to bushwhack a short ways around this burrow pen, and picked up the trail again shortly thereafter. As we cleared ourselves of the burrow pens we came into this wide open clearing of a field going uphill. It was large enough to be an airstrip. Way up at the top just before the tree line was the lodge for Miranda Camp. After all we had been through this

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was one heck of a walk up, it was a slow gradual rise that really put the burn on the thighs and calves. A little more than halfway up, the staff (aka. Mountain men) came to the lodge porch and welcomed us with a loud and thunderous RONDEVOUS! In which we in turn returned the welcome. After us old guys caught our breath, and the crew had their porch talk we set up our site, and hung our bear bags. We grabbed some lunch at a leisurely pace as we arrived at 10:30am. After lunch we went down to the rifle range to shoot some .50 cal lead balls from a couple of black powder rifles. When everyone had a chance to shoot some stuff we moseyed back up to the lodge to throw tomahawks. The boys really enjoyed these two activities, they played an elimination game with the tomahawk throw in which Chris Gerber split the difference to win against Phil MacClellan. Next we learned how the mountain men survived, and what they did from a historical point of view, this was very educational. After dinner the boys participated with other crews staying at Miranda, in mountain ball, similar to logger ball, but played with mountain men. Once again the mountain men never lose, and the mountain men make up the rules as they go along, mostly to help in their advantage. While this was going on there was the nightly advisors gathering on the lodge porch. We struck up a conversation with a woman from Texas who happened to be there because she was employed as an editor with Boys Life magazine. It seems that they sent her with a crew attending Philmont, to write about her daily experiences and post it as a daily blog on the Boy’s Life web site. (This blog is now available for review at: http://www.boyslife.org/about-scouts/philmont/ )Finally, as anyone would think otherwise the mountain men beat the crews playing mountain ball, and we all head back to our tent site for an early night, we’re going to need it. Tomorrow we go over the top of Baldy, and down the back side through French Henry (a mining camp) and then on to Baldy Camp for re-supply of food for the last two days. It’s going to be a long day, suddenly Baldy’s not looking so good. Side note; we haven’t had a single incident with any of the mini-bears (chipmunks), we’ve seen quite a few but no missing food or holes in the packs.

Friday – August 15th, 2008Miranda Camp – Baldy Mtn. – French Henry – Baldy Camp – Miranda CampClear – Fog/OvercastTemp - 52°

Another early morning, crew 810-A-1 came over to our site, we’re all going up together. Mike Barry and Bob Coullahan opted not to go up, but rather meet us at Baldy Camp later. No breakfast in camp today, we eat while we walk, so I pick out solid foods like breakfast bars and beef sticks. The trail up is right behind our tent site a mere 10’ to 15’ away, so we just amble over and start off, it’s 0630hrs. The beginning wasn’t too bad, we’re not carrying full packs, just day packs and two bottles of

water each, Ahhhh! This is a nice change. About half way there the incline starts getting steeper, and now I must rely on the drag step, this was a real life saver. Along the way up the boys are calling out names of one hit wonder music groups, anyone calling out a group name already mentioned has to come up with another name. Before we know it, all twenty two of us are calling out group names and having a ball. Without realizing it, we’re almost there, we stop at a small run down old camp that has a couple of buildings, as I would later find out this was a small mining camp that Philmont used to staff

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until just a few years ago. We take some group pictures here, as we are at the same level as the clouds now and then we push on. Finally we make our way through the tree line, it happens pretty quickly. As we stand in line waiting for the group in front of us to get a distance away from us, I notice the steep incline up. At this point it’s every man for himself, there’s no staying together in a group. My pace slows to a severe crawl, and I am concentrating on one step at a time. Most of our surroundings are directly in the open now, at one time the mountain top was mined, and all the stone rubble is what we now walk on, it’s loose and each foot placement needs to be secure. Don has been with me right from the start prodding me along with words of encouragement, it’s been very helpful. I also have my hiking poles that I’ve been using all week, I will never ever not use them again! If I had to pick one item that I could not go with out it would be the hiking poles.

Every once and a while Don and I stop to look around and take in the view, we are somewhere over 11,000’ and are now stand precariously on this steep face, above the clouds. We could be in an airplane right now, that’s how high we were. As I look around I notice if I moved to quick in any given direction I might actually throw myself right off the side of this mountain, not a good feeling. All the while, we start to notice some barking and yelping going on below in the tree line. Not sure, but we think it may have been a coyote, some of us feel like it was their way of wishing us well on our journey and

others thought they were telling us to go away, and get off their mountain. Either way, it was rather ominous. Don and I are still plodding along, we finally catch up to others in the group who now need to stop and rest, this makes me feel better. I am totally amazed that anything can live up here let alone flowers, but there they are. I stop briefly to take a picture of one, Dan Steiner must have thought the thin air was messing with me when I told him I was taking a picture of the flowers. Finally! At 0947hrs we reached the summit. (I looked at my watch after reaching the summit). The sun had given way to the clouds and fog. We all took group photos, then rested and reflected on the climb. It was exuberating and fulfilling to have achieved this climb. While we rested everyone ate, I decided that I needed to bring home a few small rocks to make as neckerchief slides and one larger one as a memento. I think this may have disturbed the natural flow and karma that had been with us all week, not sure, but I may know more in a day or two, we’ll see. The route down was treacherous at best, we were socked in by heavy fog, and we were in a thick downhill field of broken shale and mining debris. We have to side step all the way down until we get to more

solid footing, it was like this for over an hour. During this whole time I couldn’t have been more worried about re-injuring my ankle. During the descent, I think Vince was in his glory, it was like watching a young kid who had mastered snow boarding, he was jumping and sliding like a surfer who was not afraid, he’s got the right take on things.Well, finally we make it to French Henry, a mining camp, the boys spend some time panning for gold, touring an old mine shaft, and actually working with a blacksmith at his forge. It is at the blacksmith I manage to get a catnap in while leaning on my poles. Two bottles of water didn’t last long, and we cannot re-fill at French Henry, so it’s a quick 3 miles (I think) to Baldy Camp for food re-supply and water re-fill. Just as we get to Baldy Camp the sun pokes out, the warmth feels awesome, it’s

been cold and raw since the peak of Baldy. Baldy Camp has a camp store like Ponil did, and everyone

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makes their way to it for a quick snack. They have pickles! Just like at Ponil…. Or so I thought, CRUD! These are hot and spicy! Oh well, not one to waste food, I eat it and suffer, not once but twice as I will find out later back at Miranda. Thank God for the redroof's!After we re-stock our food supply for the next couple of days we head back to Miranda. From Baldy Camp you can see the field/clearing of Miranda which is about 3.5 miles away. We are walking on an old logging road and my feet are bothering me, it’s a long walk and an early night. I’ve just realized that I’ve been sleeping much better, I guess you really can sleep anywhere when you are that tired, but then I always knew that from my prior experiences in the Army.

Saturday – August 16th, 2008Miranda Camp – Head of Dean Cow – Upper Dean CowOvercast and RainTemp - 43°

Slept pretty good until I heard the rain fall, it was like someone playing a snare drum all night. Not to mention now I was thinking just how wonderful it would be to pack up in the rain, and carry a wet tent. Someone once said this is all part of the experience, and to rejoice in the rain as it makes for a more comfortable hike, BALONEY! There’s nothing worse than humpin’ through the mud all wet and covered in mud, your pack weighs more for all the absorbed water in the gear. Well, I’ve got to just suck it up and live

with it. Marc and I have been joking with each other all week that we were on vacation, sorry, Mr. Negativity here, this hiking in the rain stuff isn’t funny, Ughh!Oh well, we got to sleep in a little late which was nice, we were all pretty spent after yesterdays hike. The rain had let up but the clouds remained. We managed to make quick time of the hike to Head of Dean Cow, here the boys participated in a challenge course. They seemed to be enjoying the challenge of it all. Around 1230hrs the sky opened up and dumped bucket loads of rain and hail on us. Fortunately the staff at Head of Dean let us stay on their porch to stay dry. It must have rained for 45 minutes before letting up. At which time we ate lunch in place and saddled up for Upper Dean Cow. Once again we made good time, the terrain was mostly flat during both legs of the trip. Once we got to U.D.C. we set out to set up camp, within minutes of getting everything set up, it poured and hailed again, man this is getting old quick. We took refuge under the dining fly, all twelve of us, it was then that lightning began to strike… aren’t we supposed to spread out and assume a squatting position on the balls of our feet? Nope, it’s pouring out. Hey, two sites over, the crew with the pack mules all dove into their metal pole framed tents and assumed a prone position, 911 isn’t available if we need it. Finally the rain subsides and Jeff Maietta and I set out to start a fire, this is so not going to work, there is nothing dry anywhere to be found, the best we could come up with was a smoldering, smoke filled fire pit… not very warm. The advisors and some of the crew from A-1 came over, it turns out they came into camp a half hour ahead of us and witnessed a mother bear and two cubs crossing the road, and heading up the hill on the other side, NUTS! There’s not much to do here, so we’re all thinking about climbing in our tents for the night, the weather seems to be taking a turn for the better? There were some small patches of clear, someone noticed that

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one of the clouds looked like a face, the face of the ROCK GODS! And they were not happy that I took their stones from atop Baldy Mtn. Everyone was sure that if I went right away back to Baldy, and returned the stones the Rock Gods would be appeased and happy and the weather would again favor us for the remainder of our trip. Um, this is too coincidental, really?? Nope, not going to do it, so I climb into my tent and go to sleep. It starts raining again around 0200hrs or 0300hrs, not sure and don’t care.

Sunday – August 17th, 2008Head of Dean Cow – Dean CowRain in AM, Clearing towards afternoonNo recorded temp (estimated about 55° - 60°)

The tent is really wet today, and all covered in mud and dirt, this will not be pleasant. I could really use a cup of coffee right now, but there’s no time and we concentrate on packing up. It’s raining lightly and I’m beginning to think the crews might be right about the stones, all of a sudden from the camp of A-1, I hear the whole crew in unison yell out “MR. MIGA! GIVE ME BACK MY STONES!” So this is how it’s going to be. Well now I’m just gonna keep these stones and accept my fate. According to the crew the Rock Gods were following me and would continue all the way home. Our next camp is a staffed one and it’s a brisk

walk of 6 miles or so. The terrain is relatively flat and muddy, this mud is thick, and quickly everyone relates it to glue. It’s just that once it gets on your shoes it’s not coming off, and it lends to additional weight as well. As we get closer to Dean Cow it seems to be getting brighter, maybe I outran the Rock Gods! Finally I see a deer grazing in the field just before the camp, it’s a big one too. It heard us long before we ever got to it and it took off. As we get closer to the camp lodge we cross through a dry creek bed which as we find out separates us from the lodge, redroof’s on one side and our tent site on the other. They have showers here but no-one really seems anxious to use them. We have our porch talk, and then go to set up our tents and dry out. By this time the sun is out the clouds are gone, and we have clothes lines running all over like booby traps and everyone has some article of clothing hanging on the lines. It was worth it to do this everything dried out so quickly, it was great. After lunch we went up to the lodge for a talk and a tour about the environment, the sun was out in full strength and it felt so good. During the environmental talk the staffer pointed out that if you sniff the

bark of the Ponderosa pines some will smell like vanilla or butterscotch, I thought how bizarre, but tried it, holy cow! It smelled like butterscotch, now that’s pretty cool, but unfortunately it has little meaning to me as I cannot use this knowledge in a lifesaving measure. After the talk the boys went over to the rock face behind us for some rock climbing, this was cut short as a storm was blowing in, and as was heard from the staff, Ponil

Camp was getting clobbered from it, so everyone was to get their rain gear and head over to the porch of the lodge to wait it out. While we were on the porch someone made us some coffee which was a treat! The storm intensified after a while dumping more rain and hail, then as quick as it came in it passed through. More jokes about the Rock Gods came, and I wasn’t giving them up now, not this close to the end of the trek, no way!

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With the passing of the storm came clearer skies, these remained for the duration of the time in New Mexico, I think the Rock Gods gave up!After it stopped raining we left the safety of the porch to go and check on our tents, remember that dry river bed I mentioned that separated the lodge from the tents? Well now it wasn’t dry anymore, this thing had swelled up in a matter of moments and completely cut us off from the tent sites! Eventually we did make it across by jumping from one side to another, and mostly getting wet in the process. It was after this a couple of the boys found an old tree further on down to cross with. This river ran the rest of the day, most of the night, and eventually became nothing more than a trickle by morning.Jeff and I tried to make another fire after dinner, but not with much more luck than the night before, everything was wet again and just wouldn’t light. Eventually we gave up, by then we were ready to hit the sack. Just one more fulfilling breakfast of beef jerky and gorp away from returning to civilization, boy I really hope it doesn’t rain tonight.

Monday – August 18th, 2008Dean Cow – Turkey Creek Turn Around – Base CampClearNo recorded temp (maybe 70° – 75°)

We were up way too early today, but we wanted to catch the first bus back in to base camp so it had to be done. We needed to be quiet as we passed the camp lodge as the staffers were still asleep. The trail up went right by the lodge, and went straight up. The switch backs here were not that helpful, it would have been better if it was straight up like in New Hampshire.

After the last couple of days it was easily forgotten how hard some of the climbs could be, once at the top of the ridgeline though the views of the sun coming up were spectacular. Off in the distance you could see the tooth of time which kind of cemented the idea for me that this trek was just about over. On the way down the trail, which was a close second to any trail I’ve been on in New Hampshire, my little toe of my right foot was rubbing something awful, and the walking was extremely painful, but I wanted to finish this trip so I sucked it up and made the best of it. As we approached the end of the trail I started noticing foot prints in the mud which turned out to be freshly made bear tracks, I guess if I’m not going to see a bear these will have to do. Finally we made it to the main road at Turkey Creek Turn Around, we finished eating whatever we had left of food from the week, and waited for that crappy yellow school bus that would bring us back to base camp and civilization. We had a different bus driver, I forget her name, a nice older woman, it turns out she was born in Boston and lived in Waltham early in her life before moving to different parts of the country. I like her because she didn’t drive like an idiot like the first bus driver we had.

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Back at base camp we went through the ritualistic procedures of checking back in, and returning whatever gear we signed out. After lunch Marc and Don convinced me to go see the aid station about my toe which had turned purple, and was very painful to walk with shoes of any kind on. At the aid station they had me soak my foot, as a result I couldn’t move, so either Marc or Don, I’m not sure which, documented my visit with a photo of me with my foot in the tub/sink. The doctor took a look at my foot, gave me some flip-flops, and sent me on my way. I guess my toe isn’t going to fall off.Lunch and dinner was great, it was nice to have a meal that was warm

and resembled real food, not that I’m complaining… well actually I am. But I have had worse for longer periods, so all things considered it wasn’t too bad. Because we were back so early in the day most of the boys had time to take the bus into town, (Cimarron) and partake of the local cuisine, particularly the Burrito Banquet. I visited the store at Philmont, Tooth of Time Traders for a last minute item or two and went back to the tent for a little shut eye. Later in the evening everyone went to the closing campfire program, I stayed behind to rest and allow my toe to heal. After hearing the program from the tent I decided to go and find it and so I headed off in the direction that I could hear it coming from. Apparently noises in the night don’t always come from where you hear them, after this realization, and deciding I didn’t want to get lost in base camp or worse I went back to the tent. Along the way, I walked right by two deer grazing, not five feet from me. Not wanting to invoke some bad karma or the wrath of the Rock Gods I kept going but did notice that the two deer never once moved away from, but instead let me pass without incident. It wasn’t until later I realized how stupid this was and wondered what might have happened if….

Tuesday - August 19th, 2008Philmont Base Camp – Franklin MA

I slept very well considering we were no longer in the bush, those bunks are very nice after a week without. Had a quick continental breakfast, grabbed our gear, and headed over to the Welcome center where we met up with, of all people Woody! our bus driver from Blue Sky Adventures. For some strange reason, I was really looking forward to this bus ride to Denver, maybe because it was going to be quiet, and would have time to reflect on the trip, either way I was very happy to be on that bus. At Denver International Airport Don, Marc, Vince and I enjoyed a great lunch together one last time in this great restaurant. I think we all had the Buffalo Burger with sides, that pretty much held me until home. The flights from Denver and St. Paul were both uneventful and the baggage claim at Logan was also without incident. Both busses were waiting for us, but the driver of the smaller one at first said he was not for us, Vince noticed that the placard on the dash had Marc’s name on it. I guess this guy thought he would be getting a tip or something. We arrived at Bob’s parking lot around midnight, it was such a relief to see Joanne and Sarah again, everyone said their goodbyes, and left as quickly as we arrived. I had a Coor’s lite, but not until lunch the next day. Wednesday was spent cleaning and airing out gear and cropping photos on the computer, it was good to finally make it home, but a little piece of me still remains at Philmont waiting for me until I return again.

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Crew 810 – A – 2From left to right:

Vince Gerber Chris Miga Mike Ryan

Ryan Maietta Mike Miga

Phil MacClellan Philmont Ranger, Greg Davies

Chris Gerber Matt Dare

Kurt Gleichauf Jeff Maietta

Don MacClellan Marc Maietta

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