Philmont Trek 806-F 1999
Part of Troop
104's 1999 Philmont Trek
August 13, Day 7
Layover in Apache Springs
We got up at 1 am to watch for meteors. They were supposed to be at their peak last night at Comanche Camp, but we were in the trees. It was chilly, but absolutely clear and dark. The stars were incredible. We stayed out for about a half hour, watching the stars and the meteors. It was hardly a meteor storm, but there were a number of good ones. Don said that he counted six, tripling his lifetime count.
I pointed out the Andromeda galaxy to the Scouts. It is the farthest thing that can be seen with the naked human eye. I have only seen it without binoculars once before.
We slept in this morning, not getting up until 8:30, and had a hot breakfast. Sleep is good.
This camp has lots of red squirrels. Several of the Scouts were complaining about the birds that woke them up this morning, but it was really the squirrels. I had forgotten about all of the different vocalizations that red squirrels make. A regular (once/second) chipping. A long trill. A kind of random squeaky chirping. It reminds me of our family vacations in Michigan.
At 10 we went to try grinding corn using stone tools modeled on those used by the Jicarilla Apache Indians. It was a lot of work with very little outcome. (I think we ground the rock as much as the corn.) Then we tried our hand at flint knapping, making arrowheads and scrapers. We were much more successful than I remember the crew in '94. I actually was able to make several pieces that looked vaguely like arrowheads with edges that you could tell were supposed to be sharp. I wouldn't have wanted to depend on one for my dinner, of course.
After lunch, we went to the high point of Apache Springs, the sweat lodge. We built a big fire in a pit (it looks kind of like a volcano) and put rocks into it. When they were hot (glowing), we put them into buckets in a canvas hut, crawled inside, closed the door, and poured water over the rocks. Lots of steam and sweat. After about 20 minutes of this we ran out and dumped buckets of cold (well, cool) water over ourselves. It was incredibly great! Much better than a shower. It is too bad that so few itineraries make it over here, but doing the sweat lodge takes so much time that they couldn't handle a whole lot of crews. [An aside: We read later that Apache Springs was started as a camp after the 1965 flood washed away most of Fish Camp. It was intended to take some of the pressure off of that camp while the damage was repaired.]
We took some time to wash some clothes. Then we had a short Ultimate Frisbee game out in the meadow. This game was complicated by the local "cow hazards" that had been left in the field. We marked the mushier ones with sticks. Ultimate is a much harder game when played at 9400 feet than it is in Illinois.
Back at our campsite, Don started a discussion of high school life, including drugs, alcohol and dating. It was a very free exchange. Don is really great at drawing these guys out.
I would rate today a solid "10." The weather has been perfect, in the 70's, sunny (occasional broken clouds), clear air. Just one day like today makes the whole trek worthwhile.
And to make things even better, we are the only crew in Apache Springs today. We have the whole place to ourselves. There weren't even crews coming over from one of the neighboring camps to do program. Things are winding down here at Philmont, and fewer crews are on the trail.
This place is a gem.
From the Crew Journal
No hiking today! Oh yeah, fun.... Corn grinding, flint knapping and sweat lodge! (MD)
It was so nice to sleep in. The sweat and ultimate [Frisbee] made a great day.
Having Apache Springs all to ourselves was nice. Sweat lodges were nicer. Sleeping was nicest. (EP)
We played ultimate today on the field. We marked off all the fresh cow crap. (AS)
Apache Springs is a very nice camp. Lots of aspens. I think backcountry ranger is the only good job at Philmont. (MW)
Jet...low...moved...fast...military...no...big...missed it...loud...AHHHH!!! (CH)
Today was definitely a "10." Perfect weather. The sweat lodge. The camp all to ourselves. Perfect! Today would make the whole trip worthwhile all by itself. Ultimate at 9400 ft is a lot of work. (DW)
We had layover today. I can see why it is represented by a smile face on the itinerary thing. Today was really cool. (PR)
