A Ranger Strike!

As in, 10 crews down! Not that I'm on strike. Actually, it's been way too long since my last crew, and a bit longer from that when I left Philmont and even longer from my last post. Sorry. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, so let me see if I can get everyone caught up. You probably thought I was on strike. Fair.

Ok, so I had one last crew, which brought my summer total to 10! I was originally scheduled to be at Philmont until 8/6, but I learned that the last crews start on 7/30. So, I checked with the scheduler (Big Joe!) and he was able to connect me with one last crew on 7/28. There was a very remote chance that I could get back into basecamp and maybe get an 11th crew, but the odds were so low that I requested a change to my end date, and it was granted for 8/2. So, this would be my last crew.

And it was a great last crew!

A fairly easy crew, based out of San Antonio and the Alamo area council. A smallish crew as well with only 9 participants (4 adults, 5 youth). An odd number of participants meant that I didn't need to carry food, so my pack was probably the lightest it had been all summer, even with my Ranger Axe (more on that later!).

My favorite was an advisor that had NEVER camped or backpacked previously. At least according to him, and I had no reason to doubt him. However, while they were all very positive and flexible with the weather and the hike, he was SO positive for someone who had never done this before. I would have totally thought he would be the worst, not knowing what to expect, not knowing how to manage all of the challenges, complaining about the weight or the elevation, but he took it all in stride! No doubt, if every participant had his attitude, there might be much less need for Rangers, and certainly less drama!

That's a BDA being constructed. Eventually it will flood over the banks and restore the land.

In order to earn the coveted Arrowhead Award (patch), every crew is required to participate in a conservation project. Besides the award, this is how they ask scouts to give back to Philmont (besides all the money they spend getting there and in the Tooth of Time Traders store!). It's a great program and really helps to connect them to the wilderness and all things Philmont. In this case, the project was wetlands restoration on the Cimarron River, right near basecamp, and was before we hit the trail, so I was able to join them! Whatever the project, it's usually several days into the trek, long after the Ranger has left, so it was great to be able to help out. In this case we were reinforcing some artificial dams (called "BDAs", "Beaver Dam Analogues") that are being built to return this area to the wetlands/marsh that it once was before they drained the land and cattle ranching took over.

Rough start, but it cleared up for a bit later. Several large peaks in the background.

A short initial hike to Hunting Lodge, which I had stayed at during previous treks where I was the Lead Advisor, and which I had visited during my backcountry explorations. It's right near the Demonstration Forest, which is a great stopover, but it's also just below Window Rock, which is one of my favorite spots at Philmont. We did wind up hiking mostly in the rain, which made some of the training at the trailhead tricky, but we got to the camp and setup without too much trouble. Not to say we weren't wet, we were, but it could have been worse, at least there wasn't any hail! I did push the Red Roof Inn talk (all about how to poop in the woods) later than I'd hoped, but no one seemed to have the immediate urge, so I held the line and all stayed good. I could have done an abbreviated training, but this is one of my favorites. I know, weird, whatever.

Just one of a flock (?) of turkey cutting through camp. They can be as bad as bears looking for food!

Break camp early and reasonably effectively, a quick tutorial on treating water in the backcountry (which was somewhat useless since they were mostly at staff camps or could get water from them, so I doubt they treated any, but my role is to prepare them!), and a fun introduction to the Red Roof Inn. Yeah! Then, a short hike to Lambert's Mine campsite, which is the less exciting smaller brother of Cypher's Mine. That is, the actual Lambert's mine is kinda nearby, but all of the excitement, including a staff camp, tours, activities and a "campfire" show, are up the hill about 1.5 miles at Cypher's Mine.

After setting up camp, we did make the hike to Cypher's Mine to take the mine tour, pan for some gold and attend the blacksmithing session, but the crew decided they didn't want to wait around for the campfire show. It would start at 8p, run maybe an hour, and then the hike back down. They had one of their more aggressive hike days next, and decided a relatively early night was a better choice. Turned out to be prescient, as the rain came in overnight and would have made the hike down treacherous (or at least miserable) and made the following day more challenging.

A very strange looking bee that has defied identification.

What's crazy is that they were headed to Sawmill camp the next day, which would take them through Cypher's Mine anyway! Not sure why the itinerary didn't just have them say there, it would have been nicer and more convenient. Crowded? Who knows? Cypher's Mine camp is one of the two camps where you don't pitch a tent. They have 3-sided shelters, similar to what can be found on the Appalachian Trail, and you just lay out your bags under cover. Would have been MUCH nicer given the rain.

As for me, I was headed right back the way we came to get into basecamp. It's always a little weird to tell the crew that you are going to hike back in under 2.5 hours what they just spent about 2 days hiking. Not a fair comparison since we stopped to camp, eat and do activities, but always seems to freak them out. Part of the Ranger mystique.

This was the toughest group to leave because I knew I would depart Philmont before they returned to basecamp. While I wasn't always able to meet crews as they came off trail or at closing campfire, this was one time I knew for certain it wouldn't happen. The best I could do was leave a personal note, congratulating them and wishing them well, at the mailroom, and hope they remembered to check there before they left. No way for me to know.

Maybe not the best way to end, I'm still curious how they did.

I'm sure they did great, after all, they had an awesome Ranger.