Aiden and I completed a 12-day backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch. This was my second time first time visiting the ranch. (read about details of previous Philmont Trek in 2024 here) These are very special trips, as you get to experience dramatic and beautiful view, be a part of an adventure with your crew, and observe young men grow and gain confidence.
Day 0 (6/12) -Travel to Philmont
Day 1 (6/13) -Camping Headquarters
Day 2 (6/14) – Zastrow Trail Head to Abreau staff camp (homestead demos, animals, cantina) to Old Abreau trail camp
Distance: 3.3 miles, Ascent 1155 ft, Decent: 663 ft
Tour of the Abreau house included a foot-pump operated organ that we got to try, a coal powered heater. The kitchen featured a wood-burning stove, and an ice box, and a hand operated water pump.
The cantina experience was a lot of fun: we drank home-made rootbeer and several scouts participated in the pickle challenge, which was a timed contest requiring eating a huge pickle and all the juice too.
The rain made the hike up to Old Abreau very muddy. Our tents were set up right next to the river, which made for a near-perfect space.
Day 3 (6/15) – Old Abreau to Fish Camp trail camp (via stairmaster trail, Lookout Peak)
Distance: 10.7 miles, Ascent 5302 ft, Decent: 4005 ft
Today was a tough day! The crew made the choice to take the scenic (and difficult) trail to Fish Camp (against my advice). The ranger stayed silent also, even though he later said he knew we were making the wrong choice. We lost one adult on the trail about 2 miles in… we had to wait for a hurry crew to hike to us to rescue him. We continued, eventually making it to lookout peak and then on to fish camp as the sun was setting. We ate tomorrow’s lunch so we didn’t have to cook, since everyone was completely drained and had no energy or daylight left.
Day 4 (6/16) – Fish Camp to Beaubein staff camp (mountain ranching demos, branding, chuckwagon dinner, campfire show, showers)
Distance: 5.3 miles, Ascent 2009 ft, Decent: 1195 ft
The trail leaving fish camp was my favorite trail of the trek. It was a scenic combination of trees and prairie with over 10 river crossings. We stopped at Phillips Junction and visited the trading post. Due to crew’s lack of planning and time discipline, we wound up skipping lunch completely. Beaubein was a huge camp, with lots of nice facilities, including a shower. They served chili (from freeze dried packets) for chuckwagon dinner, which was pretty decent, and we were all happy to not have to cook. They performed a campfire show with live music and told stories of life of a cattle rancher in the 1875 time frame. Deer roamed through our campsite, sometimes passing within 10 feet of us.
Day 5 (6/17) – Beaubein to Porcupine trail camp (food pickup at Phillips Junction)
Distance: 3.6 miles, Ascent 976 ft, Decent: 1243 ft
We slept late, then participated in branding and roping at camp before making the easy hike back to Phillips Junction for our food pickup and water resupply. (camp had no water available for us!) We wasted a lot of time and water treatment tablets– as soon as we were done treating our water, they announced that the water from the pipe was finally potable. The food pickup presented a challenge for us, it was so much food! We wound up returning a portion of it that we thought was in excess, but we still had a hard time carrying it all to our next camp. We had some extra meals of “rice and curry”, which we cooked for dinner. We had enough food for fourths! The scouts played the most lively and loud card game (mao) tonight— really happy to see them all getting along and having fun.
Day 6 (6/18) – Porcupine to Crooked Creek staff camp (pioneer homestead demos) to Clear Creek staff camp
Distance: 8.1 miles, Ascent 3118 ft, Decent: 1959 ft
We woke up early and packed up camp to get on the trail early to try to avoid hiking in the heat as much as possible. We toured a near cabin at Crooked Creek that had a dirt floor that was hardened using ox blood. Several scouts broke records for physical feats. Most of the adults are not feeling well due to the altitude. We got to shoot black-powder rifles at Clear Creek, and some scouts put hats and pants downrange so we shot holes in them. It turned cold and rainy later in the day.
Day 7 (6/19) – Clear Creek to Comanche Peak trail camp (Mount Phillips, Comanche Peak, extra trip for water)
Distance: 11.4 miles, Ascent 3733 ft, Decent: 3006 ft
The trail started off nice and scenic out of Clear Creek, but wound up being the hardest day of hiking. The trail up to Mount Phillips was difficult and very rocky. The view at the top was amazing, and I got emotional from happiness. Everyone turned on cell phones and called home to talk to their families for a few minutes. The trail down the mountain was again very rocky and difficult to navigate. We got to Camanche Peak camp at about 1:30pm and sent a group of 4 back down the mountain to get water. There were 3 water sources within 2 miles on the map, but each one was dry, so the group wound up hiking all the way down to Rayado creek to get 11 liters of water, which was enough for dinner and the next day’s hike.
Day 8 (6/20) – Comanche Peak to Cyphers Mine staff camp (mine tour, campfire program)
Distance: 4.7 miles, Ascent 570 ft, Decent: 2188 ft
We left camp around 7:00am and arrived at Cypher’s Mine at 10:00am. We toured a gold mine and learned the stages of work. At the end of the mine, we all turned out our lights while the guide told us a story in the complete darkness. After the mine tour, the crew made a butter knife out of a steel rod at the blacksmiths. We all slept in a muckshack, where a lot of wrestling and and laughing occurred. There was an evening show in ‘the stomp’ which was an enclosed log cabin structure that made me feel claustrophobic.
Day 9 (6/21) – Cyphers Mine to Sawmill staff camp (rifle reloading and shooting, conservation project)
Distance: 7.6 miles, Ascent 2075 ft, Decent: 2171 ft (+ 4 miles + 600 ft for conservation project)
We left early in the morning to get to Sawmill in time to make the programming plus our conservation project. Aiden served as our navigator and made a wrong turn, taking us most of the way up Cimarroncito Peak. As we were backtracking down the mountain, we were being stalked by a very large animal, most likely a mountain lion. We never saw it, but heard it following us! Aiden was very mad at his wrong turn, and went into “Angry Aiden”mode, and led the crew on a very fast-paced trip into Sawmill camp, where we reloaded 30-06 rifle cartridges, then hiked over the the range (too far away!) and shot them. After that, we went to our conservation project, which was constructing a new trail from Sawmill to Cimarroncito Peak.
Day 10 (6/22) – Sawmill to Ute Gulch commissary to Devils Wash Basin trail camp
Distance: 9.9 miles, Ascent 2165 ft, Decent: 3022 ft
We work up early to get to the cabin to watch the sun rise over Sawmill Canyon. It was cloudy, so the sunrise was less than spectacular. I was confused about the trails leaving camp, so that delayed us leaving. We hiked to Ute Gulch where we had a food pickup and visited the trading post there. We ate lunch (cooked our dinner) there, and then hiked through more burn area (blazing hot sun) to arrive at Devils Wash Basin camp. This was Aiden’s favorite camp site. We climbed up on the ridge and watched the sun set over Sawmill Canyon.
Day 11 (6/23) – Devil’s Wash Basin to Harlen staff camp (shotgun reloading and shooting)
Distance: 4.7 miles, Ascent 458 ft, Decent: 1561 ft
We had to bushwhack out of Devils Basin due to poorly marked trails and overgrown new growth. It was a hot, dry, dusty hike out of the area, and several people ran out of water. We were able to share water among the crew and made it out without incident. We arrived at harlen around 9:00am and reloaded shotgun shells, then shot them at the range. We hung out at the campsite all day, with nothing much to do and little motivation. We all just wanted to stay out of the sun and relax. We climbed up the ridge and watched the sunset.
Day 12 (6/24) – Harlen to Turkey Creek Trailhead to Travel Home
Distance: 3.8 miles, Ascent 206 ft, Decent: 1283 ft
On our last day, we made it to the trailhead and waited for our bus. Once back at basecamp, we turned in our gear, stopped at Tooth of Time Traders again to get our special patches, and took much-needed showers and changed into street clothes. We opted to skip the closing campfire back at base camp and drive home instead. We stopped at a few shops in Cimarron for souvenirs, then made the drive home, arrive back in Allen around 2:00AM.
