Official Philmont Alumni Roll Call - Sign In

Daniel Koster

Daniel Koster

www.kosterknives.com
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
20,978
(anyone is welcome to post...but more interested in alumni responses)




If you've been to the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico....in ANY capacity....for ANY length of time....


Time to Sign In. :thumbup:



If you can spare a minute or two...please add your answers to the following list:

1 - Year attended
2 - Capacity (scout, leader, adult assistant, employee, etc)
3 - Activity performed (12 days, week-long, horseback riding, etc)
4 - A piece of gear you consider an ESSENTIAL Top Ten item.
5 - Something you wished you would have left home (if any)
6 - YOUR best tip/suggestion/guidance/advice for someone preparing to attend.
7 - Last but not least...share with us a story from your adventure...any length...any subject.



I'll add mine when I get back (6/19-7/3). ;)


Thanks!!


Dan
 
Hey Dan! I did the Tooth Of Time exposition in my scouting days. Spent many weeks there while my parents did their leader training. Mother is a Bear and step father was a Fox. I had the wind breaker with the rampant steer and its tail is over the shoulder. ;)

Good to see Philmont still on the "Must Do" list! :D :D :D

Last note, I did these hikes back in the day of aluminum frame back packs and HEAVY leather hiking boots. When men were men and the wildlife was scared. :p

If your going to be at Blade I look forward to meeting you,

EDIT: A thing I would have taken would be a NON stick frying pan, Boy Scout mess kits really suck at cooking in those days. yea, 1970's were the golden years......
 
Never got to go. We moved right after I got my Eagle, and just never got to Philmont.
 
Yep - will be at Blade. :thumbup:

Andy...we have an opening...paid for and everything...just can't find somebody that can get the time off....*shrug*



For those responding...if you can number your answers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7) - would be great - thanks!

Dan
 
Late June 2004

I was a Star scout

I believe our trek was about 10 days and covered over 100 miles. We went to Baldy and a cantina on the 1st and last days...best rootbeer i've ever had!

Essential gear: Rainclothes or clothes that dry very quickly. It rained every day around noon so we would always wake up very early so we could hike to our next camp and setup before the rain. Even though the air is dry and hot, it still takes a very long time for things to dry. NO COTTON! I also highly suggest pants with a zipper so they can convert into shorts. It gets cold at nights and in the morning, but warms up in the day so it makes it easy just to take them on/off.

Nothing I wish i didn't bring, but there's a few things I wish I DID! I wish I brought just some loose, comfortable shorts...it wasn't fun sleeping in the same underwear for 10 days. I also wish I had simply brought a pillow case so I could stuff it with clothes and use it as a pillow.

Make sure to bring a camera that can take lots of pictures. Philmont was one of the most beautiful places I've been to and everything is worth shooting!
 
June 1995

Eagle Scout

50 mile trip and horseback riding/stayed there a week

Good rain gear, Good comfortable boots, clothes that will handle extreme highs and some very cool temps as well

We had several boys in the troop that went and bought brand new hiking boots for the trip and did not break them in. I remember our guide taking their boots and soaking them in water (boiling I think) and putting plastic bags on their feet and making them hike around trying to get their boots broken in before we left on our backpacking trip.

Take lots of pictures and of course take a good blade with you.
 
Didn't get to make it as a Scout.. However, this is my Son's last year as a Cub, and he is looking forward to Boy Scouts. Philmont, here we come!

Thanks for posting this, getting some great ideas!
 
1 & 2. 1988 - Crew Advisor

1989 - Contingent Advisor/substitute Crew Advisor when CA flunked physical.

3. 12 day treks (10 on trail)

4. Brought our own big pot with a tight-fitting lid. Used less fuel and hot/boiliing faster.

Brought light plastic tub for final, cold sanitizing chorine rinse. No "gastric disturbances."

5. Second year I tried a single wall tent = bad condensation.

6. Check to see if food situation has improved. Both trips, everyone lost at least a pound a day - unhealthy/reduces energy. This was due to inadequate and, second year, some spoiled food (like three year out-of-date mac and cheese). We supplemented with 8 qts of veggies (abandoned at "swap boxes") from Day 3 on but still wasted away. I sure hope this has been corrected. (Check with recent attendees.) If not, bring lots of potato flakes and learn to love veggies.

7. The first year, the crew was a dream. Had to hold them back from starting out when it was still dark. Twice times we were sitting on the porch of the staff cabin in the program areas when the first staffer wandered out to greet the day. Boy were they surprised. No problem participating in "program."

Best additional tip. The maps were not accurate and the distances were air miles. Plan accordingly. (This too may have passed.)
 
I was there back in either '73 or '74. Pretty sure it was around 10 days on the trail. I remember it was one of the longer routes; where you hit the Tooth last; it might have been the Northern route.(???) Spent a lot of time around Baldy.
Anyways, bring a spare tarp so you can make an overnight shelter for yourself, in case you want to sleep alone. I wound up going with some rich, snobby Troop, because my Troop wasn't going that year. Didn't know anyone, almost came to blows with a couple of the snobs. I slept by myself under a tarp lean-to for about half the trek; was very cool.
Bring more pairs of socks than you think you'll need.:thumbup:
I remember one experience that will always stay with me....I remember we hiked a long day one day, near the end of the trek...around 25 miles. I was near the end of the single-file of hikers. Well, it was near the end of the day, and up ahead of me, everyone was stopped, now fanned-out along a ridge line. Everyone, including the adults, were staring at something with mouths hanging opened, with dumb looks on their faces. I'm thinkin', "What's the matter with these guys?" "What are they looking at?".
Well, I made my way up to the ridge. I then saw what they were staring at.
The sky was literally on fire! (It really looked like it.) To this day, that was the most beautiful thing that I ever saw. Everyone had tears in their eyes, including me. Reds, oranges, yellows, purples...over the Sangre de Christos range. But, the sky was fire.
I cannot describe it adequately. It was the most moving/"spiritual" experience. I still have dreams about it occasionally, if I'm lucky.
When I die, that's where I want to go....that's Heaven, for me.
 
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I think i went in 2003 - maybe 04?
Eagle (but was a life at the time i think)
12 day trip (? I have no memory for dates) with a day hike over baldy and coming back over the tooth.
Most essential gear -- 2 Nalgenes and a bottle of polar pure
Best food -- jalapeno cheese!
As for advice, make sure to do shakedown trips to get in shape, and have the scouts lead 'em, and navigate.
My best memory from it was standing at the top of baldy with my dad, just like he did a long time ago when he was a scout. Also, standing on top of a big rock somewhere at dawn, buck naked, just enjoying the morning. That'll wake ya up.
 
Guess I'll be the "Ol' Scout" here.

I attended Philmont in 1950, Star, as a regular Scout. (Later achieved Eagle rank. Still have my Eagle badge and sash.)

Hiking trip of about ten days. Had a great time. Things and equipment were a lot different then. Not too many Scouts there at any given time, either. Trails were rough and remote. Packs were either the heavy Boy Scout canvas packs (no frames), or Army surplus packs. Sleeping was under Army surplus wool blankets on top of a surplus Army shelter half.

No matter what, take good hiking boots, plenty of good wool socks, and two canteens or that Camelback water jug thing, whatever. We drank from the creeks in 1950, but I'd not want to do it today.

Also some underwear changes. A good poncho or rain suit probably will come in handy.

I carried my Camillus Boy Scout four bladed folder, and that worked fine for me. (Still have it, too.) Others carried the same. Some Scouts had four inch fixed blade knives on the old Marble's style, and a few Boy Scout hatchets, but those hatchets were pretty heavy out on the trail. Not much use for the hatchets, if I remember correctly.

Had a great time. As I haven't the faintest idea how Philmont treks work today, not much I can say about that.

One memorable experience that stood out. At that time, there was a fairly substantial buffalo herd on the ranch. One afternoon at the main ranch building, some wranglers were trying to round up some of them to place in a heavily built corral in order to spray them with an insecticide for parasites.

One huge bull got loose, damned near gored a wrangler's horse, got away and then charged headlong against the rear bumper/fender area of a yellow school bus parked nearby. That bull literally turned the bus around 180 degrees. Made me know never to get in the way of an angry buffalo! :eek:

Fifty eight years is a long time and many things of that trip have faded away, but overall, I remember having a magnificent time.

FWIW.

L.W.
 
1 - 1994
2 - Life Scout (made Eagle the next year)
3 - 16 days total. 13 days in the back country 11 of them on the trail and two rest days covering 110 miles. I beleive it was a Super Strenous itinery. We climbed Old Baldy, Mt Phiilips, Big Red and the Tooth of Time. The Tooth was our last day and we left camp well before sunup. We ditched our packs at the base and made a mad dash to the peak in the pre dawn light so we could watch the sun come up. Very cool.
4 - High quality boots that are comfortable, well broken in and offer plenty of support for climbing mountains. Also good pack that rides well and does not leave you worn out at the end of the day.
5 - My trip was before digital cameras exsisted. Our troop took a camera but I have very very few pics of the trip. A good but light weight digital camera would be high on my list. It is very easy to make a CD or email the pics to everyone else who was on the trip.
6 - Lots and lots of conditioning hikes. We did several 20+ mile two day trips and a 50 mile trip in the 12 months leading up to the trip.
Also raid the swap boxes as much as you can. We burned an insane amount of calories on that trip. I started out the trip as a very fit 122lbs 17 year old and buy the time we got back to the Main camp I had lost an inch off my waist. We raided them shamelessly to get more food then was issued to us and all of us lost at least an inch anyways.
7 - I don't remember which camp we were in but it was towards the end of our trip. I think it was the camp that did panning for gold. Anyways we spent the night in the oversized Anorandaks instead of our tents. The one we where in was set up off the ground and we were able to rest our packs up against the floor edge. Now as most people know Philmont has a bad bear problem and we had been through a camp a few days prior where a bear and shreaded a kids pack. As best as the rangers could determine the bear was after his fresh laundry. Needless to say we were a bit on edge for several days after that. So here we were sound a sleep in the Anorandak when my friend pokes we in the ribs and says very quietly that he thinks there is a bear going through his pack. He was on the very outside and I'm the next one in so we are very close to the animal. Eventually we had our entire group awake and one of the adults decides to see what we are up against so he pulls out his flash light and illuminates the area that the bear is in. To our surprise and relief our "bear" turns out to be a racoon standing up on the top of the packs. We all breathed a sigh of relief and our bandit friend sucuried off.
 
Frank, here - attended the training center three occasions - once as "
train the trainer" course in 1983, and again in 1990 and 1992 as participant and leader in couse "scouting and the Church's Ministry" (I'm on National Council Religious Relationships Committee currently and a 50 year veteran scouter.) what to take - all the common sense you can cram in.. what not to take -any "attitudes". Yes, I'm really tempted to go again - I have this friend in Texas - Longhorn Council - who keeps bugging me to come back and help him with the Protestant section of the course.
I still silently say"For Food, For Friends, and For Rament, we thank you Lord"!
Peace and safe treck!

Frank (Revvie)
 
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Good topic idea. I worked at Philmont for ten years, starting in 1987.

Two years at basecamp, one year at Philmont Training Center, and the rest in the backcountry:
Sawmill (30.06 rifle range and reloading): 2 years Camp Director, 1 year staff
Harlan: 1 year Camp Director, 1 yr staff
Ponil (Western lore, horses, burros, etc): Camp Director
Iris Park (outpost camp in the Valle Vidal, mtn biking): Camp director

Wife also worked at Philmont, seven years. Cimarroncito, Dan Beard, and Abreu.
 
1. 2004
2. Adult advisor
3. 12 day trek
4. Probably hot sauce and Old Bay - that food can get to you after awhile. I think good boots would be my second choice.
5. There is nothing that strikes me as something I regreted bringing. Probably because the staff went through our geer and had us leave stuff they didn't think we'd need at the base camp.
6. Conditioning. Philmont is a trip of a lifetime. But you have to be in shape to enjoy it. Join an adult backpacking club and trek with them in addition to the scouts. It'll be a huge time committment, but worth it.
7. I went with my son and we have a photo of the two of us on top of Baldy. To this day, he says that was the highlight of his life and that photo his favorite. It's all about building memories.
 
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1. 2003
2. Adult leader
3. 12 day trek
4. First place: tie between excellent boots and a good, light sleeping pad. Second place: a pack that will carry your full gear + food + unexpected payload comfortably all day.
5. Nothing, because as someone pointed out, if you bring it to Philmont it'll probably get weeded out by the rangers before you leave.
6. Get your lungs, heart and legs in shape. Do aerobic/CV training. Do strength training. Hike with a load in your backpack to get used to how your balance will be different. Remember that hiking at 9k' will challenge most folks' oxygen needs. ;) If you aren't a regular hiker and backpacker, load up your pack with some decent weight (25+ pounds after whatever ramp-up you need), put on your boots and get out and walk around the neighborhood, do day hikes in the local park, whatever. Get in shape, and find out whether your core gear is going to help you or try to kill you.
7. Too many!!! I was a HUGE skeptic before. My wife literally pushed me into going. I will never forget it. The scenery...the achievement (and I am a lifetime backpacker, but of the Eastern sort)...but most of all the times with my older son. I will remember it until I die, literally.
 
1.1976
2. scout with council contingent. Made Eagle just before my 18th birthday.
3.I think it was 10 or 12 days on the trail. I remember the root beer and challenging ourselves. Rappelling and climbing the telephone poles.
4.camera would be number 11 after the top 10 that we all take.
5. Like jnewell said it will get tossed.
6. take lots of pictures
7. The story that I always think of is we all were scared of the bears. The ranger told us that if we peed around our tarps we were sleeping in it would keep them away. It must have worked we never saw a single bear.
That was 30 plus years ago and I am still close to one of the guys that was in my crew.
Looking forward to returning with my son in the near future.
 
I had the chance in 1964. I had to choose between Philmont or the World Jamboree at Valley Forge. I chose the Jamboree. Since it was an extended trip with stays at Boston, Philly, Washington and the World's Fair in New York before the week at Valley Forge, I couldn't pass it up. Philmont was about the only Scout experience I did not try.
 
I went out there twice once when I was 14 and once when I was 17

Both times I went out was in July-June

Both times I was a scout

An essential piece of gear we came up with were those big roaster bags, using these you could keep from cleaning your pots each night and use them to squeeze the food into the bowls, adds a little trash to your packs but you dont carry the trash for very long and as long as you vow to eat everything it doesnt really matter.

Another essential for me was a decent pillow and full size sleeping pad, it really helped me sleep much better the second time out.

One thing to leave home is all your mess kit items, I used only a little sierra cup and a spoon, that was it.

As far as stories the best one I can think was our last night we had extra stove fuel and we had dug a little trench to divert the rain water and we thought it would be a good idea to make a ring of fire around our site. Needless to say the leaders didnt like this idea and quickly woke up to me frantically trying to stomp out the fire and once they saw my shoe was on fire they figured we learned our lesson and went back to sleep. The next day someone dropped my tent poles into the river and away they went.
 
1 - 1999ish, in July/Aug...kids woke at 4am to get done before the heat of the day
2 - Leader of one of two contingenies
3 - back pack 7-10 days, pole climbed, shot gun, panned for gold, climbed Mt Baldy while we watched Cub scouts and 2 old timers beat us to the top; finished with the Tooth of Time and drank Clear Pepis, had the best pizza ever on the train ride back to Chicago and then there was the Kansas City Kid (10yrs old) I met on the train who beat me at cards and won my Canteen - wonder if he cheated?...man, wish I remembered more, need to dig out the pics and slides!
4 - Duck tape for those toes, feet took a beatin', mole skin works but duck tape is better.
5 - All my camera gear, 20#'s worth, total pack weight 63#, pare down you'll be taking more than you really need and your needs are not that's not much
6 - Have bedtime clothes that are worn ONLY when you sleep. Store the clothes in your sleeping bag, change into them before you go to sleep. Take the day clothes and put them into a waterproof duffle bag and toss out about 10 feet from the tent. That way, if your day clothes have interesting smells that might attract a bear will be away from ya!
7 - Don't leave your food/bear bag unguarded, even for one minute, thinking it will be ok to hang in a few minutes. We had some racoons try to steal the WHOLE BAG, nearly dragged the bag 10 so feet into the woods. Good thing Frank's hearing worked well! Chased them off but the coons still manage to take a meal pack. We heard them ripping the plastic bag open in the woods. Boys tried to track them down but they moved fast. We came up short on a meal but we shared to make up for the shortage. Good experience for the boys and me too!

God speed, be safe and have fun!!! And get up early to watch a sun rise. And keep a journal, now I gotta find mine! Still have an opening? What are those dates again?
 
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