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Up at 6:00 this AM. We actually had some free time this year. Our equipment shakedown was rather laid back. Gloria, our ranger, wasn't as strict about what to take as the others I've seen.
Matt had a scare today. He tried to check for mail, and was told that he was supposed to have his check sheet. He didn't have it, and didn't know where it could be. He looked all over, and finally was told that he would get it when we come off of the trail. [Normally, you don't check for mail until you get off of the trail. When Matt asked for mail, they thought that he was homebound and asked for the sheet that the homebound Crew Chief carries around.]
At 1 pm, we caught the bus to Cimarroncito Turnaround (7160 ft.). We shared the bus with an OA trail crew on the way out to do their trek. They didn't know where they would be going. They each had listed three camps that they wanted to visit and their crew leader had laid out a trek for them. They wouldn't find out where they would go each day until that day, for ten days. That sounded like a neat arrangement to me.
It started to rain just before we got into the bus. The daily 2 pm rain was early. It was still raining pretty hard when we got to the turnaround. Since we were getting a late start, Gloria had us hike up the 4WD road to Ute Springs instead of the nicer, more scenic pack trail. It's more direct. The road was really muddy in the rain.
As we were leaving the turnaround for the road, we started walking along a little stream that was coming down from the hill. Gloria informed us that that wasn't a stream at all, but the trail, and we needed to walk in it.
Just out of Cimarroncito Turnaround we met a crew on itinerary 11 coming down the trail. They were on their way from Sawmill to Harlan camp and asked how much farther it was to the trail to Harlan. We had to break the news to them that they had missed the trail a couple of miles back; the trail to Harlan leaves the 4WD road not far from Ute Springs. In 1997, as we rested at the junction after hiking down from Harlan, we had seen another itinerary 11 crew make the same mistake. There are signs at that junction pointing to a bunch of places, but not to Harlan, so it's easy to miss. (Sawmill to Harlan is a pretty long day's hike, even without the unintended side hike.)
So we hiked more or less in tandem with them up the road toward Ute Springs. We noticed that one of their advisors was lagging back. We caught up to them, and it was clear that he was not doing well. He was out of breath and could barely stand up. We weren't sure he would even make it to the trail junction, let alone up around Deer Lake Mesa to Harlan. (We knew that trail having hiked down it two years earlier.) One of the crew members said that the advisor had been to Philmont 11 times, but he was 57 years old and hadn't done much conditioning. He had been pulled from the trail earlier in the trek due altitude sickness. The crew was just about to distribute his pack among them when he fell over. Definitely not doing well. Somebody was watching over him, though. About a minute later a camp truck came down the road, hauling garbage from Ute Gulch Commissary. The advisor got a ride back to base camp where he waited for his crew to finish their trek. (They only had two more long days to go.)
Several of our Scouts have less than adequate rain gear. I hope that we don't have too much rain. We need to think of some way next time of making sure that they have decent rain gear.
It had stopped raining by the time we got to Ute Springs (7660 ft.), and it never got terribly cold. The boys scouted the camp sites and found a fairly nice one.
A deer walked through our camp while we were setting up. It pretty much ignored us.
We finished our training for today. No more rain, but it's cloudy. The crew has been doing a good job of getting thru the training that Gloria gives us.
This campsite is actually quite nice. We are on a ridge between two streams. There obviously was an old cabin here. There is a chimney and the remains of a foundation. There are plenty of nice places to put tents. There is a Red Roof Inn (an enclosed latrine), new since our '94 stay.
The two Matts and Colin have all been having stomach problems to one extent or another. I wonder what it is that got to them. The hot dogs in the dining hall lunch were icky, but not that bad.
The chemistry of the crew is really good this time. They are loud and boisterous, but obviously enjoy each other's company. Andrew says "We did all of that training for this?" (Today was a pretty easy day.) We told him that no, he didn't do it for this.
I remember remarking in '94 at how dry and dusty Ute Springs camp was. If you stamped your foot you'd disappear in dust. That definitely isn't a problem this year. Now, if you stamp your foot you'll probably cover your crewmates with mud.
Good Job Matt!! Mazeltof! (AS)
Train sleeping isn't fun. Base camp tents harbored my first night's sleep where I got 8+ hrs in 3 nights. Can't wait to get on the trail. (EP)
I forgot, always use your sleeping bag. I did not use mine in base camp and I froze. It was so cold I had ice on my nose. (AS)
Andrew is an idiot! (PR)
Negativity is bad (AS)
A great night's sleep - ready for the trail.
Rained, but not much. Awesome campsite. Longer hike tomorrow. (EP)
We did our first real hiking day today. It was short, flat and pretty easy, but it still took a while.
We got trained, too, which was pretty lame because most of us know everything already. We had pound cake with apples for breakfast. (PR)
We set off on the luxurious trail/road path thingy. 3 of us experienced stomach trouble. Those hot dogs weren't really cooked. We hiked onward arguing over where to set up camp. Finally we arrived. We went through a [frustrating?] lecture on proper camp etiquette, then we settled down. (MD)
I'm cold. Good night. (CH)
Our campsite at Ute Springs is really nice. The old cabin fireplace s interesting, and there is a bubbling stream at the bottom of the hill right by camp. (DW)
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