June 25th, Day Five – Getting Dirty in Service

Packs scattered throughout the campsite.

We awoke to another cold morning (there seems to be a pattern developing here) of about 35 degrees. We got dressed into our work clothes and feasted on hot oatmeal for breakfast. The one thing I dislike about mornings is that there is no coffee. Perhaps this is good for my fellow crew mates, as it kept my usual overly perky attitude in the morning at bay. I managed to wake up by taking in the brisk cold air and breathtaking sights of Philmont.

OATC622: trail building at its finest.

We headed back to the work site. We filled up our water supply at the spigot and got up to the tools area. Today, each participant explained the functions and safety features of the tools. The crew was getting the hang of things. We were praised by our forman for doing a good job and started clearing more trail.

Loosing up dirt to make the trail level.

There are five stages to trail building that we learned: surveying, pioneering, rough cutting, finishing and maintenance. I was pioneering and rough cutting which consisted of cutting down trees, branches, bushes and removing earth to make way for the trail. Another crew was working on finishing a platform for a switch back while another was making water diverts. Everyone was busy with hard trail work. A great sight to see!

After lunch, we took another short siesta and then continued with more work. The weather changed to thunderstorms which resulted in heavy hail (size of peas) and rain. It was COLD! Regardless, we pressed on with work. For the next couple of minutes, we heard the constant tapping of the hail bouncing off our work helmets. Ice falling on us in the middle of summer in New Mexico? At this point, I think its safe to say that I am in a new world. In fact, I learned that Philmont is the only BSA high adventure camp that offers winter camping year-round.

Chris, Forman of OATC622A, holding his hail-made snowball made.

Today, I was selected to be a cook with Steve for dinner. If you are selected to cook, you leave the work site slightly early with a foreman to get a start on preparing dinner. For dinner, we had Beef Stroganoff with Buffalo meat. Delicious cannot fully describe this meal for champions.

OATC622B planning out their trek week.

We cleaned up dinner and circled around the campfire. It finally stopped raining and hailing. We separated into our two crews and planned our treks that we would take in the next week. Our foreman let us pick places we wanted to go. Then they mapped out the exact itinerary without our presence. During our trek, it was to be a surprise on where we were going each day. After trek planning, we gathered around the fire to finish Personal Introductions, ending with thorns and roses. It was another cold night. For a summer night in New Mexico at an altitude of 10,000 feet, it was down to 30 degrees before we hit our sleeping bags. Most of everyone was expecting low temperatures in the 50's and 60's for the trip.

Today, we cleared about 60 feet of trail.

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Revised 6/02/2006