This morning we went back to the campfire
ring. The
staff had the branding irons heated red hot and were branding boots,
shoes,
and packs. One kid even tried having his hat branded. The Scouts were
allowed
to try branding their own equipment. Meanwhile, while the brands were
in
the fire being reheated between brands, the staff told stories of the
history
of branding and what the different markings meant.
Several of us tried our hand at lassoing a steer.
Of course, we did not try to lasso real cattle. We tried to rope us
some
metal practice steers which were pivoted on a post in the ground.
We left Clark’s Fork after lunch. Today’s hike would
take us to Window Rock, down into Hidden Valley, and end at Ute Springs
Camp. The journey would take us by one lowland area and by the
Cimarroncito
Reservoir. At least, that is what our map told us.
I do not recall any lowland area that day.
I do recall the reservoir quite clearly though.
The trail did not go through the clearing as the map had shown. It
wound
its way just inside the tree line that surrounded the clearing.
The Scouts looked over the grassy meadow that lay
between us and the reservoir. Suddenly, the trail which lay ahead us us
was forgotten as the water to our right seemed to cast a spell upon the
crew. They seemed to have forgotten about the camp’s rule (always use
the
trails) as they took off running across the meadow with forty pound
packs
on their backs. I tried to tell them that the trail would take us to
the
water, that we did not have to cut across the meadow, but it all fell
on
deaf ears.
The sight of a body of water larger then a cooking
pot seemed to be too much for the five boys from the land of 10,000
lakes,
who have not seen so much as a pond for the picture of my over joyous
crew
before I joined them in their mad race toward the water.
The reservoir water level was quite a bit lower
then it had been two years ago. I had passed this very spot on my
way to the hunting lodge when I was in Philmont for training in 1984.
By the time I caught up with the crew most of the
packs were paying on the ground. One scout wanted to know if he
could
go swimming but I vetoed that idea. We rested for a while before
we began the climb up Cathedral Rock, which sat on the other side of
the
reservoir.
Window Rock is just around the bend from Cathedral
Rock. Window Rock received its name after Waite Phillips built
the
Villa Philmonte. This lofty peak could be seen from the circular
window of the Villa library, thus giving it its name. The view
from
Window Rock was another surprisingly beautiful one. Before us lay
the plains of the House Ridge, upon which the Philmont HQ and tent city
were built. Our crew joined the PA crew in a break to rest and
explore
the nooks and crannies of the rocks. Then it was a couple miles
through
Hidden Valley until we reached our next camp, Ute Springs.
Ute Springs Camp was the smallest of the various
camps at which we stayed. The site we chose was quite
small.
A little trickle of a stream bordered the east side. The south
and
west sides were rimmed by steep hills. The sloped gradually
upward
toward larger site which the PA group was using. The stream had
to
be crossed to get back to the trail from the site.
Ute Springs was so small that we decided to leave
the tents packed and sleep under the dining fly. By adding a tent
fly to each end of the dining fly we increased the sheltered area
enough
for everyone to sleep under and have enough room left to store out
packs.
It was pretty nice little idea.
A commissary and trading post was located a half
mile down the main trail from the camp. We collected our next
four
day s worth of trail food there. Most everyone also stocked up on
batteries and junk food.
The scouts had a surprise for me when we got to
camp. The commissary had a “swap box,” placed outside the
door.
Crews could swap food they did not care for for foods that other crews
had left behind. When I was not watching the Scouts traded some of the
food we didn’t like. In the trade they picked up a couple of boxes of
tomato
flavored cup-a-soup since they knew there were some meals coming up
that
I did not care to eat. I thought to myself that this act of
consideration
was quite thoughtful of the guys. It also restored my confidence in
them
regarding thinking about others.
The campfire program we held at Ute Springs was
quite unique from others we had held. We set the stage for a reunion of
our crew members which was to be held in twenty years at this very
campsite.
Each person would give an account of the last twenty years of his life.
All life accounts had to be fairly believable.
Scott volunteered to be the first Scout to arrive
for the reunion. According to the scenario, he had already made camp by
the time the rest of us had arrived, one by one.
The guys were a bit confused as to how they should
enter camp as if twenty years had past so I set the stage by entering
the
campsite “first”. Brian came in next. Jeff and Robert came in together
having met along the way. Gerry was the last to arrive. When he walked
into camp we all busted out laughing. He looked and walked exactly the
way his father does. It was uncanny. We exchanged greetings and
handshakes
as each person arrived. Each of us found a place to sit around the
campfire.
Then the stories began.
Gerry was the first to tell about his life “since
he left the troop.” When his wife received the invitation in the mail
regarding
the reunion she had had to contact him at his archeological dig in
Africa.
He left the dig site, and the 500 workers, in the care of his
assistants.
Gerry’s wife had already written two lusty novels and was currently
working
on a third. Her first novel, Sex Under The Eucalyptus Tree, was a
bestseller.
They have son, who they have named Gerry.
Brian is a staff sergeant in the army. He is
currently
stationed in West Germany. He has fifteen years of military experience
and plans to retire from the army in other five years. He hopes to
receive
a government job after his stay with the army. Brian has remained
unmarried
and has no children.
I live in California with my wife and four children,
three boys and one girl. My sons, ages 15, 13, and 9, are all involved
with Scouting. I hold the committee chairperson position of their
troop.
Several years ago, I sold my shares in the three lumber years I had a
partnership
in, and started producing movies. My first films, Rocks Of The Piedmont
and The Red Bandana, broke even at the box office. The next project I
will
work on involves the adventures of a troop of Boy Scouts.
Robert has chosen Montana as his home. He and his
wife are raising two children, and boy and a girl. Robert has always
been
interested in cars. His automobile collection includes fifteen cars,
one
of which is a Lambourgine(?). His three auto body shops keep him quite
busy.
Jeff is still unmarried. Ann, his girlfriend while
he was a Scout, dropped him in his senior year for a basketball player.
Florida is were Jeff calls home. He works at a school for handicapped
children
where he receives a lot of pleasure from working with the kids. He has
adopted two children, one boy and one girl. Both kids are handicapped.
Jeff spends as much time with them as he can. They often go to
amusement
parks, museums, or other fun places in his 1986 black Jaguar.
Scott, his wife, son, and daughter have made a home
in Texas. He owns his own architectural firm which is doing quite well.
It will be interesting to look each other up in
twenty years and see how close these predictions came to real life.
Tonight it was Jeff’s turn for the first bear watch.
Robert agreed to stand watch with Jeff if Jeff would do the same for
him.
They woke me up at 11:00 for my turn. I was tired, and did not want to
get up, so I traded watches with Robert as long as he was already up
anyway.
Thirty minutes later our camp was hit by a downpour.
Jeff and Robert scrambled for shelter under the fly. Within minutes
small
streams were flowing down the hills, and we were in their paths.
Everyone
was moving gear and sleeping bags to drier spots. The plastic ground
clothes
were repositioned to to keep the water from flowing over them.
Gerry missed it all. Once again he was un-wake-able.
He never saw the rivers of water as they past below our plastic sheets
on their way to the stream on our east side.
Fifteen minutes later I too was asleep. Needless
to say, bear watches were canceled for the rest of the night.
August 10
As we expected, Our gear was drenched in
the morning.Within
a few minutes over two hundred feet of rope was stretched between the
trees.
Sleeping bags, foam pads, clothes and ground clothes were hung on every
available foot of line. We waited as long as we could before repacking
it, but it was not long enough to dry everything completely. There was
a good chance that we would be sleeping in damp bags tonight.
The itinerary for today will take us from Ute
Springs,
to the Ute Park Pass, by the Devil’s Wash Basin, and into Upper Bench
Camp.
Near the Devil’s Wash Basin the trail split into
two directions, one going north, the other east. A short distance down
the east trail was a camp called Deer Lake Mesa. Near this camp was a
spring,
according to the map. Since we were in need of water, Jeff and Robert
volunteered
to run to this spring to fill our nearly empty canteens.
While they were gone, the rest of us decided to
eat lunch. The crew from Pennsylvania joined us when they arrived. By
the
time our two water boys returned we were nearly finished with our meal.
During this time we had noticed that the sky was becoming darker with
storm clouds. After a brief discussion, we decided that Scott, Gerry,
Brian,
and I would would head out, try to arrive at Upper Bench Camp before
the
storm, and get camp set up. Jeff and Robert would catch up with us when
they had finished eating.
We marched as fast as we could along the rough
trails,
but it was not fast enough. Within thirty minutes of leaving Jeff and
Robert
behind the downpour began. By the time we reached camp we were soaked
to
the skin. At one point when the rain let up a bit we quickly pitched
the
dining fly so we would at least have someplace to stand and sit out of
the cold rainfall. Jeff and Robert joined us just as we finished
setting
up the fly.
So there we were, sitting on our packs and gear,
cold and shivering, waiting for the rain to subside. I had to admit
that
we looked pretty pathetic at the moment.
No one wasted any time setting up the tents when the shower became
a sprinkle. Within minutes we were all in our sleeping bags which, of
course,
were still slightly damp. After a few more minutes we were all sleeping
peacefully.
At six o’clock we got up to make supper. The rain
had stopped but the sky still threatened to drench us again. We hung
some
clothes line once again in an attempt to dry some more gear. We went to
bed at 9:00.
The first bear watch shift for the evening was mine.
Brian shared the watch with me. Scott was next in line but when we woke
him up at 10:30 he decided to exchange shifts with Brian. Brian and I
stayed
on shift until midnight.
While we stood around the campfire I put on my damp
jeans and stood next to the fire in hope that they would dry. The sky
cleared
up around 11:00 and the cold air moved in. This night was the coldest
night
we spend on the trail. Most of us shivered in our sleeping bags as we
slept
in the damp things.
End of Page 5.
Note:
This journal was written by Steve Borgerding and
is his property.
No part of this journal may be used without his
written
consent.
He can be reached through the web master of this
site.
