| Troop 3 Boy Scouts
from the 2001 Brumby expedition to Philmont Scout Ranch in
northern New Mexico invite you to enjoy this pictorial record
of their hike. In official jargon, Crew 702-H did Trek
31, a 77-mile "super strenuous" hike with about
half the distance in the Valle Vidal region of Carson National
Forest. Click the pictures for
bigger versions with captions. They'll pop up in a
new window. You'll need JavaScript turned on and any
"pop-up stopper" disabled. |
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The trip began on little
sleep at 2:30 am July 1, 2001 with a van trip to the Seattle
airport for a flight to Phoenix and then on to Albuquerque.
A charter van carried the sleepy crew up the interstate and
down the back roads to Philmont, with a leisurely stop for
late lunch at the Santa Clara Cafe in the booming metropolis
of Wagon Mound, New Mexico where the food was excellent and
the portions humongous. |
| We arrived at Philmont late
afternoon and checked into luxurious base camp tents, complete
with cots and concrete floors. |
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Our expedition was officially scheduled
to begin the next day, so we had an evening of leisure to
explore the trading post and snack bar and adjust to the
elevation and heat.
Philmont is a highly-organized affair,
so following breakfast the next morning we met our Ranger,
Doug Meffley, who guided the crew through the official check-in
and orientation maze. Arriving the day before allowed
us to get started early and have a fairly leisurely experience
getting through the routine.
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| Advisor
Mark took care of finalizing the payment paperwork in the
business office. Crew leader Daniel & advisor Marc paid
a long visit to logistics to review the trek route, camp sites,
and programs. Everyone received a medical recheck at
the health lodge and reviewed first aid knowledge with Ranger
Doug in the shade of a big tent. Daniel signed for crew
cook gear and a dining fly. Ranger Doug had us empty
our packs and remove a modest amount of "unnecessary"
clothing and equipment. We'd done pretty well with our
own pre-trip shakedown so we didn't have a lot of excess to
put in the storage locker. Daniel signed for our first
two days' rations and divided the food among us. |
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We knew about bear
bagging our food on the trail, but no one told us to skunk
bag it in base camp. As a result we had a smelly visitor
raid a tent in the night and pass through others.
The skunk only bit into a couple of lunch items, but Doug
rangled an extra lunch as compensation -- food we put to
good use on the trail.
In the evening we
practiced the 12th point of the Law and went to Protestant
chapel, passing up the opportunity to sample the Catholic
or Jewish services.
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| The opening campfire program (without
benefit of a real fire) told the story of the Philmont country
from the time of the Native American residents to the present
through a series of skits. |
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The Brumby crew included seven scouts:
Daniel Creech, Andrew Lydiard, Nick Jipson, Zach Turner,
Marcus Brotnov, Matt Brotnov, and Blake Johnson. The
advisors were Mark Turner and Marc Creech.
Why Brumbys? That's an
Australian wild horse. Brumbys gave the crew
a strong identity that helped build team spirit. And
it was a heck of a lot more fun than being called 702-H
or some such bureaucratic nonsense.
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Brumbys' Trek
31 Itinerary
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Six-Mile
Gate to Anasazi Camp |
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Anasazi
Camp to Ponil |
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Ponil
to Dan Beard Camp |
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Dan
Beard Camp to Seally Canyon |
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Seally
Canyon to Whiteman Vega |
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Whiteman
Vega to Iris Park |
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Iris
Park to Greenwood Canyon |
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Greenwood
Canyon to Pueblano |
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Pueblano
to Cimarron River |
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Cimarron
River to Harlan |
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Harlan
to Turkey Creek Turnaround |
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Tooth
of Time Day Hike |
