Day 2

Day 2 - Base Camp to Bent Camp

Day 2 – 7-6-99 – Tuesday

The rain continued to fall heavily until around 2 AM. There was lots of thunder and lightning – so much, in fact, that it started two small forest fires. One on Urraca Mesa, and one near Miner’s Camp. Both were put out before dawn.

I woke up at 5 AM, and found the weather to be very cloudy, cool, but not raining. There wasn’t much mud, but everything was wet. Sometimes Tent City can turn into a sea of mud, churned up by all of the Scouts and advisors.

Everyone in both crews was up by 6 AM, and headed over to the dinning hall for breakfast. We had biscuits & gravy, eggs, sausage, and fruit. It was very good, and the last “real” meal we would have for close to two weeks. We headed back to the tents, and loaded up our gear. We said our goodbyes and good lucks to the other crew, and headed over to get our crew photo. By now, the clouds had burned off, and it was sunny and warm. The sun wasn’t very high, though, and it was a real killer to look into. We’ll see how bad it was when we get our photos back after the trek.

Then it was back to the tents, and the dreaded “pack check”.

Rob had us pull the cots out of our tents, and we pulled everything out of our packs and laid it out on the cot. Rob then read through the Philmont list of gear. If there was anything else that we had in our pack, Philmont suggested strongly that it be left behind. We were in pretty good shape, but there were a couple of things that I had added to the list, as we were heading into the “Val”. We had an extra stove, extra water filter, a water bladder, and some extra rope. Rob OK’d these items, and we re-loaded our packs.

After cleaning the tents, we headed to the welcome shelter to await our 10 AM bus. Rob worked with the guys on map and compass skills, and Darryn and I went back to logistics to check the water status map. Darryn looked over the list of areas that we would be in, and was ready to go. I asked him if he wanted to write this information down, but he assured me that he would remember it. Big worry! But he’s the Crew leader. We’ll see if this information is still in his head in a week.

Back at the shelter, we weighed our packs, now with food and water in them. Most weighed in at 40 – 50 pounds. My pack was 45 pounds. Heavy, but manageable. The heaviest pack was Matt M’s, at 56 pounds, and the lightest was Cory’s, at 35. We were all set to go. So the waiting began.

The bus pulled up at 9:45, and we loaded our gear on board. Our sister crew was also there, and some of the guys greeted them. Our bus driver was Peggy, a local lady that drove bus for the school system in Cimarron during the school season. She knew a lot of information about the area, and seemed excited about taking us to the drop-off point. We did a last minute check to be sure that everyone was on board, and then we were off!

Ponil turn-around is north of Cimarron, and it took us about 45 minutes to get there, driving along state highway 214. In New Mexico, almost any track can be a state highway, and this was no exception. A narrow, curvy dirt road, complete with huge chuckholes and mud puddles. Peggy piloted the bus around and through the obstacles with great skill and panache, simultaneously regaling us with reports of the mountain lions seen in the area; the number and size of rattle snakes, and stories about the history of the ranches in the area. Rob attempted to read the travelogue from the “Ranger Handbook”, but was too busy listening to Peggy and trying to take in the scenery.

Soon we arrived at the turn-around, and departed the bus. There was a crew waiting for the return bus. They looked tired, wet, and dirty. Some of the guys in our crew mentioned that we might look like that in a few days.

We shouldered our packs, and after a few last minute remarks from Rob, we crossed the river, and at 10:43, headed up the trail! It took us all of 30 minutes to reach Ponil. The guys decided that after this long hike, root bear was in order! So the twelve of us descended upon the Ponil cantina. While the rest of us where spending our meager funds on drinks (.25 a cup, $1.00 for a water bottle full) Rob was making time with Kim, the barmaid! But he did get a free drink out of it, although I understand that ALL rangers get that.

Back on the trail, the guys were navigating. They took several wrong turns, and had to backtrack a bit. But it was good practice in map reading. We will really need these skills in a couple of days!

We reached our Bent Camp at 1:15. Rob had the guys set up the dinning fly and their tents. Then we could eat lunch. Our first trail meal – cheese, crackers, sausage, fruit sticks. Very filling, if not very tasty. Then we spent the next couple of hours working on first aid, bear procedures, hanging bear bags, etc. At 4 PM most of the guys played Frisbee. I spent some time cleaning up, washed my hair, and read. Dinner was at 5:30. The fare for tonight was beef stroganoff, corn, and soup – all mixed together. Not bad! Everything was cleaned up and in bear bags by 7:30. We hung the bags, and I taught the bear chant that I’d learned at Philmont in ’96:

Oh great big bear,

Please don't eat our bear bags.

Instead...

Eat THEIR bear bags!

At which point, everyone would point in a different direction away from our spot. I hope the "incantation" works!

The guys started another Frisbee game, mainly to keep the mosquitoes off. Tom and I got involved in the game, and Rob showed us some “trick” throws he had learned at the Air Force Academy. Just before dark, we did “Thorns and Roses”. Everyone joined in, and just as we finished, it started to pour! We raced to our tents and dove in. Tom went back outside to grab something, and before he got back, there was a brilliant flash of lightning, followed immediately by a VERY loud clap of thunder! I checked on Tom, and he was shaking his head, trying to regain his hearing! Everyone settled down, and we fell asleep to the sound of rain on the tent.