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As expected, the night's sleep was not very sound. Part of this was due to the fact that our section of Tent City was near the shower houses, and as such, it saw a lot of traffic. Part of this was because I simply have never slept well when awaiting something. In this case, I knew we were about to begin on something great. The sun began to rise shortly before 6 a.m., as did my Ranger and my crew, and we hurried to get our gear ready to go. After breakfast in the Dining Hall, we cleaned up our tent sites and headed off to pick up one day's worth of food from the Base Camp commissary, which comprised lunch and supper for the day. Packs were then checked one last time for proper contents and packing. Knowing how to carry things inside of other things was essential. Clothing packed better when it was folded or rolled. Items were wrapped in ziploc plastic bags when possible, most importantly the All-Purpose Paper. Clothing items were placed inside smaller cooking pots, and smaller cooking pots inside larger ones. Everything was systematic. We assembled at the Welcome Centre, a big, open, wooden structure near the road on the edge of Base Camp, where we again weighed our packs and checked to make sure we had the itinerary and all other essentials.
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I lagged behind to get the picture (seen above) of my crew as they hiked forward. This is one of the better pictures taken with my Kodak EktraLite 110. In fact, I was taken slightly aback when I saw it again after many years when first compiling this web page. Greg and Claus yelled at me to hurry up. Hey, guys, there's a big landmark in front of us! Don't you want a picture?
You may notice that the trees in the background are red.
I had forgotten why when compiling this journal, but a helpful
former 1984 Ranger, David Harris, reminded me that a tree disease
(actually, an infestation of pine beetles) had
swept through Philmont in 1984, and rendered huge swatches of
forest a rusty hue.
I only wish we had actually chosen to hike around the southern tip
to get a real close-up. That's where the most visible portion of
Cathedral Rock sits, the part from which it gets its name.
At right is a very fine picture taken by
Mitch Lampkin.
Even on this first day, Claus's knee began to bother him. I hoped that he would make it for the remaining three days that he'd be with us. He managed.
Although we were starting in what is known as Central Country, we were headed into the lush, green hills of South Country. Either way, this would be a much warmer trek than I had experienced in the previous year. Philmont is big, but not that big. So, it is surprising to discover that it contains several different micro-climates. Most of this is due to the different elevations throughout, but also due to the way the weather patterns interact with the shape of the terrain. North Country is prone to cold, rainy weather, while South Country is warmer. Rain is pretty much a contant throughout, a product of the monsoon moisture of Arizona and New Mexico. But, being in a warmer climate, we rarely wore long pants throughout the entire South Country (though they came in useful for spar polling).
| UTE SPRINGS |
We came up the Jeep trail and soon reached Ute Springs, our first camp,
by about lunch time.
The aspens were very tall and beautiful. They grew tall, with most of their branches nearest the top. This is because they do not do will in shade, and need to rise above other trees. A grove of aspen trees is actually a single organism. They grow from a common root, and are connected in this way. This gives them a double advantage over the other trees. When forest fires come through, the aspen leaves are high enough that they often escape untouched. Even when the tree does get damaged beyond revocery, the network of roots below the ground survives and can sprout up new trees.
There were no activities here at Ute Springs, and it was Greg's chance to do his Ranger training with us. Derek and I had already been here the previous year, but for the other seven of us -- including our two adults -- everything was new. Lunch consisted of a macaroni product, requiring only the boiling of water. This was the beginning of our starchy trail diet.
Greg's Ranger training included the usual advice on dealing with
bears, stringing bear lines, the rules of the trail, the rules of
keeping camp, etc.
I recall Greg giving me a hard time about the label on my Nalgene (water bottle). I had affixed plastic stick-on letters reading, "DI-HYDROGEN OXIDE". I figured this was a technical term for water, H2O. It was the best my rudimentary high school chemistry knowledge could do, and was technically incorrect. Even being an Aggie, Greg suspected this was not the proper name. Anyone out there know if there is a technical chemical name for water?
Regardless of the correct name, water mixed with powdered Philmont grape drink filled my Nalgene bottle about half the time. We would even find a rather unorthodox use for it atop Mt. Phillips. But, more on that when we get to that point.
This day was spent at a slow pace -- no activities to demand our time. We cooked our dehydrated noodle meal and got into the swing of things. Cooking would rarely require more than boiling water and adding something to it. I think that perhaps the only exception to this was the egg-product or pancake breakfasts, which we would have on lucky, rare occasions. Still, if one got desperate, I suppose that you could prepare these with just boiling water.
Mr Max, the scoutmaster, had brought along a couple of bottles of what appeared to be PABA concentrate -- a straw-coloured goo applied directly to the skin. In the 80s, PABA was a chemical popularly used in sunscreens. Today, PABA itself is suspected to cause cancer! I, myself, did not use sunscreen much except on the tips of my ears. I hiked with a maroon cap (which can be seen in several of the pictures in this journal) that had a bill wide enough to protect my face.
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DAY 1: BASE CAMP |
| DAY 3: SAWMILL |  |
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