Philmont Day 3

We got off to an early start today. We woke up at 5:30 AM and began our hike to Deer Lake Mesa. The hike was a little over five miles, uphill. We ate breakfast on the trail at Vista Grande camp. We made it to Deer Lake Mesa in time to eat lunch and dinner there.

Our activity today was a side hike to Harlan Camp for shotgun shooting. Only half of the crew
decided to go on this hike. John Michael, Brian, Grayson and Matthew V., along with Mr. Reyes and Mr. McDonald had a great hike to Harlan camp. This “side hike” was actually 4.5 miles, each way, with the return trip to Deer Lake Mesa being the toughest.

At Harlan Camp, we learned how to reload shotgun shells, participated in a safety briefing, and shot sporting clays.

Although the hike to Harlan was long, everyone thought that the shotgun shooting was well worth the effort. We made it back to Deer Lake Mesa by 6:45 PM and had a great spaghetti and meat sauce dinner. By 9:45 PM, we were all in our tents for some well needed rest.

Photos from Day 3 are here.















Mileage Count:

Cimarron River Camp to Deer Lake Mesa Camp – 5.81 miles
Side Hike to Harlan and return – 9.01 miles
Total Miles to Date: 15.72

Philmont Day 2

(June 27, 2011) 

This is it!  Ready or not, we hit the trail today.  We took a bus ride to the Cimmaron River turnaround, where we were dumped at the trailhead.  After the bus left, Ranger Joe immediately began "training" us in the backcountry ways. 

The hike to our campground was short, only .9 miles.  We camped at the Cimarron River trail camp.  Upon arrival at the camp, we learned how to hang bear bags and set up our dining fly.  This is something that we would do at every campsite for the rest of the time at Philmont.

After getting the camp setup, it was time for "fresh" water.  By fresh, I mean out of the Cimarron River.  After filling our water bottles, we had to treat the water with micro-pure tablets and wait for 30 minutes. 

We sat around the campsite and got to know our ranger better.  He then cooked dinner for us.

Overall, a great day in camp.

Philmont Day 1

June 26, 2011

This is our first "official" day at Philmont.  We woke up to a day with strong winds.  Since we got to bed late, we were all a bit tired.  After breakfast, we met our Philmont Ranger.  Joe Failla is a Louisiana native who attended college at Texas A&M.  He worked us through the registration process.

After getting completely registered, we decided to visit the Tooth of Time Trading Company.  Everyone decided to play it safe by getting souvenirs early just in case we are delayed on the last day of our Trek.

We also moved into the wall tents, which meant taking down our trail tents in the high wind.  We had sand everywhere in our gear.

We were given a departure time for the trail at 1:00 PM on Day 2.  Ranger Joe decided to do the gear shakedown on the morning of day 2.

Day 1 also saw us get our initial food allotment.  We got food for three days.  We could not wait to start eating dehydrated dinners.

At the end of the day, the crew headed off for chapel service.  The group attended the protestant and catholic services.  After services, we attending the opening camp fire program.

Our nerves were high as we closed the day in anticipation of hitting the trail.





Day 1 Photos are Here.

Philmont Day 0

June 25, 2011

We left for Philmont a little past 6:00 AM.  The mood was high and everyone was excited. 

We call today "Day 0" because it is not part of the 12 days of Philmont.

After leaving Austin, we experienced bus problems. There were four buses in the convoy, and bus one could not move faster than 45 miles per hour.  We finally made it to Abilene, Texas and ditched bus one.  The other three buses continued on to Texas Tech for lunch.

Our trip continued to Las Vegas, New Mexico for dinner.  For dinner, we ate at Highlands University.  By the time we arrived there, bus number one had caught back up to us.

After dinner, we hit the road again and arrived at Philmont at 12:00 midnight.  There were no wall tents available, so we had to set up our backpacking tents for a few hours of sleep.




Day 0 Photos are Here

Varsity Team 448: San Marcos River Kayaking Trip

May 22, 2011

This was a busy weekend for our troop with several different activities going on. For Varsity Team 448 we went on a kayaking trip down the San Marcos River between Fentress and Luling--a distance of about 20 miles.

 

We started our trip at the Fentress Bridge and went downstream for one hour arriving at the Leisure Resort Campground where we spent the night.

 

This was another trip to practice our kayaking skills in preparation for our trip to Northern Tier this summer.

 

A scout named Travis from Luling that is also going with us to Northern Tier came along and his parents had hamburgers and hotdogs waiting for us when we arrived---and we enjoyed our visit with them. Two weeks earlier they gave us a tour of Luling and the Zedler Mill and also treated all of our team members to a delicious BBQ lunch after that day's trip.

 

On Friday evening a big thunderstorm arrived with rain after we had gone to bed---but we were happy to finally have some rain to help with the area's drought conditions.

 

On Saturday, Mr. Wilder cooked eggs and pork chops for breakfast---and then we set-off down the river for our eight hour trip.

 

The first few hours were pleasant---although the kayaks bottomed out in some locations where the water was low.

The wildlife was beautiful including the turtles and fish, and the entire way down we seemed to be following a blue heron as it fished for its food.

Later-on there were more obstacles and debris in the river with many fallen trees in the way. Each kayak wiped out (tipped over) about three times, but the water felt good, and added to the fun. On one of the rapids I was coming around a corner, and didn't see a tree until it was too late. My kayak went into the tree sideways tipping me over---and I lost my glasses. Then my paddle started floating down the river. Fortunately some guys training for the Texas Water Safari retrieved the paddle for me---and I was back in business.

When we got to our stopping place for lunch our sandwiches were wet from the kayak tipping over but still tasted great since we were starving.

 

Finally around 4:30 PM we reached Luling, near the dam---and we were totally exhausted. It was a great day, the river was pristine and beautiful and we were very impressed with how well the river is being taken care of.

So we're looking forward to our next kayak adventure and also to our Northern Tier trip coming up later in the summer!

 

(written by Mr. Read, Varsity Team Coach)

Griffith League II

This past weekend, both of Troop 448's Philmont contingents participated in a joint preparation event at Griffith League Scout Ranch. We had a great hike of 9.37 miles (according to JMR's GPS). Most of the scouts camped out overnight and had great weather.  The highlight of this event was eating the food ordered from Philmont.  Everyone got a taste of the food and the reviews were high.  Let's see how they like the food after 10 days on the trail.  The Philmont will be heading out in a few montths and are working well together.

Philmont Packing List

Here is a packing list for Philmont provided by Mr .Covington.  Take a look at the items and recommendatins by Mr. Covington.

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Personal Equipment

This list of personal equipment is very carefully developed.  While at Camping HQ before leaving on your trek, your crew's Philmont Ranger will lead the crew in an equipment "shakedown."  In this shakedown, the Ranger will not permit you to take things that are not on this list.  The reality is that you really don't even need all of this!  Remember that you will be carrying this for 12 days -- watch those ounces.
The lists below are from the 2006 Philmont Guidebook to Adventure.  Comments in blue are those of the Contingent Advisor.

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