Continue to Day 11
Day Nine, From Cyphers Mine to Cimarroncito Camp
This morning we were out of our sleeping bags quickly. Everyone
lent a hand in getting our gear together and breakfast finished.
We were on the trail well ahead of our sister crew, at 7:05. It
was very obvious that our problems at dinner time yesterday had
strengthened us.
We had received information from the miners the night before about
the trails out of camp. They indicated that the trail down the
North Fork was impassable due to several places where the trail had
recently slid of the mountain. They recommended we go back over
the ridge and take the trail down the Middle Fork. So that is what
we did.
That trail would take us back almost to Lamberts Mine where we
would pick up the trail going east to Waite Phillips Hunting Lodge.
We would be going back through an area where we had noticed many
dead trees the day before. We had asked Andy Lepp if he knew what
had caused the trees to turn brown and die. Jim Boyle, a Forestry
Professor at OSU, had told us that Andy was a forestry student so we
thought he might know. He told us he had seen the dead trees but
didn't know the cause. He did tell us to tell Jim that he had found a
likely spot up in the hills and would be changing his major to gold mining.
It sounds like Andy is having a good time at Philmont.
We passed through the area of the dead trees and took the trail
down the Middle Fork. This trail was easy going and after a
couple of miles we passed the spot where the South Fork joins the
Middle Fork. Shortly after that we rejoined the trail that comes
down the North Fork and followed that on down to the Hunting Lodge
and arrived there at 8:40.
At this point we took a brief rest and looked around the lodge. The
Hunting Lodge was a favorite spot for Waite Philips to entertain gueasts
to his ranch. It was closed up now, but we could see that it is in good repair.
We are told that it is used from time to time for training activities. We
are only a short way from Cimarroncito Camp so we push on and
arrive there in another 20 minutes.
Cimarroncito is a crossroads for many treks. It is situated just
about in the middle of the Philmont Ranch and is where we will do
some rock climbing this afternoon. But now we need to get to our
campsite and get set up. We are told to be careful in setting up
our bear bags because a bear had visited this area a few days
before, and surprised one of the Conservation staff. She had gone
for a shower and when she returned to her tent she found that the
bear had ripped it up looking for things to eat. She now hikes out
to a trail head and sleeps in her car.
Our guide had to wander around for awhile searching for a place for
us to set up our camp. All of the Philmont camp areas have a fire
ring, sump, and bear cable so each of those things must be located.
Many times, we are encouraged to pick a site that has not been used
recently in order to limit the impact.
We soon find a beautiful spot under some Ponderosa Pines where
the needles have provided a soft cushion for our beds. This will
be much more comfortable than the miners shed from the night
before.
It is still early and we need to go over to the Ute Gulch
commissary to get our food for the next few days. I also want to
see if they have film for my camera so that I can continue to
photograph our trek. I will accompany Jon and Ted on this hike.
They empty their backpacks so they will have room to carry the
supplies back to camp and we set off.
Cimarroncito is on a wide grassy saddle where, at one time,
international scout jamborees have been held. Our trail to Ute
Gulch takes us down off of this saddle to the north then cuts east
through Grouse Canyon. This is a very narrow canyon with a quiet
stream running through it. It was warm up at Cimarroncito, but
nice and cool in here. Ted and Jon are jumping from rock to rock
down the trail ahead of me. I pause to take in some of the cool
canyon air and to let my eyes climb the rock faces that reach into
the sun light above the trees. This is a very peaceful spot where
Grouse Canyon joins Sawmill Canyon. The stream is small but from
the looks of the weathered rock, it carrys a lot more water in the
winter.
I meet a young ranger on her way up to Cyphers Mine where we just
came from. She had the weekend off and tells me she is taking
advantage of the time to explore some of the Philmont back country.
I hurry to catch up to Ted and Jon. We make good time and reach
Ute Gulch commissary in just under an hour.
Picture Post Card of Challenging Rock Climbing, post mark June 29,
1992.
6/26/92 Ute Gulch Commissary 11:00AM |
Marian, At last I found |
some film. This afternoon |
at 1:00 we will be doing |
some rock climbing. We |
seem to be able to hike | Marian Veley
pretty fast compared to | 1639 Bullevard
many other crews. The | Philomath
weather is clear at 70. | OR 97370
Very comfortable. |
Love from both of us
Bill & Zach
They have the film I need, We pick up our supplies and head back
up the trail to camp where we arrive at 12:10 for lunch. After
lunch we re-hang the bear bags to be safe and then start for the
climbing area to try our hand at rock climbing.
At about 2:00 it threatens to rain but blows on by. We wouldn't
want to get caught out on the rocks in a lightening storm. The
rocks stay dry so they are safe to climb. Zach had a good time on
the rocks. He climbed with a staffer, also named Zach which seemed
to please the staffer. They got along well. One of the staffers
was from Oregon. He and the guys talked Portland Trail Blazers and
Phoenix Suns with some of the other staffers.
When we got back to camp some of us went for showers. Cimarroncito
is somewhat civilized in that they have propane heated showers and
electricity in the staffers cabins. In the old days, Waite
Phillips would entertain friends here and the electricity was
brought in for them. I also took the opportunity to wash some
clothes.
Both of our crews have completed the available program here at
Cimarroncito. The rock climbing was good. There was an
environmental program that was not up to our expectations. A
ranger told me that Cimarroncito is more laid back than other
staffed areas.
It's getting close to dinner time but most of the guys are asleep.
Ted and Zach are chattering and making odd sounds. I guess they
are communing with nature or something. It's kind of nice to be
off of our feet for awhile.
Picture Post Card of Summer Dawn on Baldy, post mark Jun 29, 1992.
Marian 6/26/92 5:30PM |
It's time for dinner, but |
most are sleeping or off |
somewhere in the area. We |
have some free time now. |
We saw a scene like this |
a few days ago from the | Marian Veley
top of Trail Peak. The forests | 1639 Bullevard
and trails are just as | Philomath
beautiful as I remembered | OR 97370
them from last time. Our |
trail meals are satisfactory, |
but we are all looking forward |
to a "reward" meal at home.
Love, Bill & Zach
The setting at Cimarroncito Camp is much like the area around
Sisters in central Oregon. The major trees are Ponderosa Pines,
but there are other small needle evergreens intermixed in the
forest. Where ever there is moisture there are Aspen. In the
meadows the grass is green, but not real thick. We have seen Mule
Deer in many of our camps and there was one here just a few minutes
ago. They seem very tame, but are still wild animals. Always in
the distance is the afternoon thunder. It is a pleasant day.
Before I drifted off to sleep I gave a thought to the story of
the bear that surprised the staffer. I slept very lightly this
night. But it was a quiet night and I heard no visitors.
Day Ten, Through Hidden Valley to Cathedral Rock Camp
We were out early again today. Our sister crew decided to sleep in
and will take a different route to the next camp. They will do
their conservation project then hike to Upper Clarks Fork Camp
which will put them closer to Tooth Ridge the next day. Our crew
has chosen to take the scenic route around the Cimarroncito
climbing area through Hidden Valley. That trail is supposed to be
very beautiful and mysterious.
The trail begins by going northeast up through the pines then
turning south to pass through the valley. The valley is a string
of small meadows circled with a variety of pines and spruce with
interesting rock formations all around. We had seen some of the
rocks on our rock climbing the day before, but the valley itself
was truly hidden. Except for the map it was a total surprise and
more beautiful than was reported. It was easy for me to imagine
native Americans coming to the valley for spirit quests or perhaps
a honeymoon. Every turn of the trail found us entering perfect
park like scenes. This is a very special place.
We paused often to admire the beauty of the place, but eventually
climbed up and over the Cathedral Rocks area. This was the spot
for which Waite Phillips had a picture window placed in his home so
that he could view this special scene. We didn't know this at the
time and were looking for a rock with a window in it. Later at
base camp we would get the correct story. There were many good
view points and photo opportunities. I took advantage of the
scenery to use my lightweight camera tripod to get a picture of
our whole crew together.
At one point we found a huge Bristlecone Pine with a trunk that had
to be 3 feet in diameter. There was no telling how old that tree
was. The view from the rocks that protected the tree was awesome.
We could see the Villa at base camp. Far below we could see
Webster Lake which is used to water some of the crop land on
Philmont as well as providing water for the Buffalo Pasture north
of base camp. The boys wanted to stay there for a long time, just to
take it all in.
A little later we came to a cliff that let us look down over the hunting lodge
and the Cimarroncito Reservoir, which is a water source for the town of
Cimarron. With the sun at our backs the evergreens below seemed to
glow with the reflected light. Far below we could see that our sister
crew had finally hit the trail and were passing through the trees past the
reservoir. We would not see them again until the next day because
they would be camping at Upper Clarks Fork while we would camp at
Cathedral Rocks Camp. We yelled at them, but the distance was just
too great for them to hear us. Again, the boys wanted to stay here
for a long time just to look at the view. This is a trail that I
would definitely like to return to some day.
From this spot we immediately began to descend through switchbacks
to the Cimarroncito Reservoir. From there we hiked around the
reservoir and took the steep trail down to Cathedral Rocks Camp,
just below the reservoir dam. We had the campsite all to ourselves
as usual, but had difficulty finding the bear cable. We got our
camp set up then headed back up to the reservoir to find our
conservation project.
There was obviously some mixup, because the project was not where
we thought it would be. By this time, Ted was complaining of an
ankle problem which was giving him lots of pain. Because of these
two problems we decided to walk back up to Cimarroncito to talk to
some staffers. On the way we found the conservation project. It
was a trail building activity just south of Cimarroncito. Ted was
having difficulty walking and could not place any weight on his
foot with the sore ankle. I left the rest of the crew to work at
the conservation project and Ted and I continued up to the staffed
area to get him some help.
It took us some time to get there even though it was a very short
distance. We talked to the medical team at base camp by radio and
decided that there was no way he would be able to hike over Tooth
Ridge the next day. So the decision was made that a truck would
pick Ted up and take him back to base camp for medical attention.
We would meet him there later.
I left Ted in good hands at Cimarroncito and returned to the rest
of the crew who were finishing their trail building project. They
were kind of upset that Ted would not be able to finish the hike
with us. This spoke well for how tight our crew had become. As it
turned out, Ted had a great time in base camp. He was able to get
around a little and when a vehicle was headed into the back company
they took him along with them. He may have seen more of Philmont
than we did.
For the conservation project, some of our crew had to excavate a
source of clean, rock free dirt near the construction site. Other
scouts were clearing the new trail area of large rocks and roots.
When this was done, the clean, rock free dirt was used to fill in
any holes and make a nice smooth trail. By the time I had returned
from Cimarroncito the work was nearly completed.
We finished the project and went back to our camp below Cathedral
Rocks. Arrangements had been made for a staffer to pick up Ted's
pack and take it back to base camp. We took advantage of that to
get rid of all our excess gear. We did not want to pack anymore
weight than we had to on our climb up to Tooth Ridge. When the
staffer arrived to pick up the pack we thought he was going to die
getting it up the hill to the vehicle. It must have weighed 75
pounds. Ted told us later that he was real surprised when he
opened his pack to get something out. He did not know why he had
all that gear and for a while he thought it was someone else's pack.
Stewart and I took some time away from camp to explore a trail and
open area across the creek from our campsite. The map showed a
trail coming up from the Cimarroncito Turnaround, which is one of
the drop off points for crews beginning their trek. There were
more Mule Deer over there as we frequently saw all over Philmont.
We also took time to marvel at the spires of rock that was called
Cathedral Rocks. It is easy to see why the name is so appropriate.
It appears that the spires are ready to fall at any moment, but
have probably stood like that for many years.
Back at camp things had quieted down. This was good, because we
were going to need our rest for the next days climb to Shaefers
Pass and the Tooth of Time Ridge. We wanted to get an early start
and perhaps catch up to our sister crew again.
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