Preparation:
This being my second trip to Philmont, I had a good idea of what to expect, but it still goes without saying, proper preparation is key to a successful Philmont trip. Preparation includes:
1: Practice Hikes: Load up your backpack to 30lbs, wear the clothes, shoes, socks etc, you plan on wearing at Philmont, take enough water.
2: Trek Selection: Sit down as a crew and decide how challenging you want your trek to be, and if you want to take the optional “side hikes”.

For this Philmont trek, we decided to go on a Rugged Itinerary with optional summits at Trail Peak, and Black mountain. Horse riding at Beaubien was of high interest to the crew too.

Day 0: Drive to Amarillo, TX 
6:30 AM, we assembled at AMC, ready for our trip. We were all quite excited to go to Philmont. There are 10 of us, we rented a 15 seater van. We going to take a an overnight stop at Amarillo. Phillip is our first driver, and I’m navigating!


The drive progressed smoothly, crossed College station, drive going smoothly so far. We stopped at Czech Stop, West, Texas for our first break, and also to grab a bite and fill up gas. My daughter and I shared kolaches. 
Back on the road. Next stopped is Braum’s in Decatur for lunch … icecream and a smoothie. 

I took over the driving responsibilities after Braum’s, and drove to Amarillo. It was a good smooth drive with one gas/restroom stop. We reached the “Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian”. This will be our stop for the night. We were given a tour of the museum, and a brief history of the museum, following which we set up our stuff in the keva. There was another troop in the museum, these boys were returning from Philmont. The girls had picked up some neckerchiefs from Walmart, and spent some time customizing them.

We had dinner at Cracker Barrel. Dinner was quite good.


Back at the museum after dinner, we called it a night!

Day 1: Drive to Philmont base camp 

We woke up at 5:45AM, showered, got ready, headed to Buc-ee’s for breakfast, which was a breakfast burrito and a yogurt parfait. Katy took over driving, and we had Cristina navigating. We are going thru some verry sparsely populated countryside. Stopped at Love’s just on the border on NM for a pit stop. Now the final leg of this journey. We are driving past Urraca Mesa, Tooth of Time and other landmarks, and before we knew it, we were driving into Philmont. Once at Philmont, we got our stuff out, lined up our backpacks and are going thru orientation. Once orientation was completed, we were assigned tents to keep our stuff in. We need to get out by 8:30am.

Next, we met our Ranger, Lily, completed our registration, and headed to lunch, which consisted of beans, portabella mushrooms. After lunch, we went and got our photo taken.

Katy made reservations at the Villa Philmont’e. We took the tour at 1PM. The villa tour was really nice. Was good to hear the history of the Philmont and the various families, especially the Phillips family, and how they contributed to the creation of Philmont as a place for scouts. 

While at lunch, my daughter took the opportunity to play on the piano. She played her favorite tune, the Interstellar theme.

Once we were done with the tour, we headed to the Drs for checkup. All normal! Excellent. 
We got back to the tent, and spent some time re-organizing and removing duplicate items, to make our packs lighter. I think we did a good job. Let’s see.
We showered, got our phones charged. and headed to the campfire. It’s 8PM.
After the campfire, we went to bed, excited about tomorrow…

Day 2: Trek begins, Zastro Trailhead to Abreu
Hike: 2.1 miles, Gain:334 ft, Loss: 47ft

We woke up early, eager to start our trek. I showered, had breakfast did the final shakedown, put the extra gear in the car, weighed my backpack, which is now approximately 30lbs, cleaned up our tent and got ready to take the 10am bus.
We were dropped off at Zastrop at 10:21am. Glad we took the earlier bus. We will have the whole day to ourselves to do activities. I’m looking around and am flooded by our memories from our previous trek, when we were dropped off here, and hiked to Backache Mountain in pouring rain. 

The Ranger Lilly is giving us the orientation talk. When I mentioned the route we took last time, Phillip mentioned it was headed towards Urraca Mesa. Anagha is going to take the first shift navigating. The scouts have oriented themselves, their maps, and we are now headed to Abreu. It’s a nice smooth trek, and we made it to Abreu in good time. Advisors coffee and snacks is between 7-8pm.  

We had lunch by the creek. Spent some time to relax. Scouts spent some time on crocs, with their feet in water. We are at campsite 5. Taking out all of our smellables. We will put them all up on a bearbag. Then we head into Abreu for activities. Interestingly this is the same campsite we stayed when we were here last time! The scouts learnt how to do bearbags now. It’s an interesting process. Scouts are taking turns doing this. 

Once this was done, we headed to have some of the famous Abreu rootbeer. Rootbeer was very refreshing. I walked around, sat on the porch and read a book, while the girls did some arts. They had fun. 

It’s getting dark now, girls have to learn how to set up the rain fly and then we cook dinner. Chicken with mashed potatoes. We will boil water and add the mashed potatoes and seasoning to it. Then add chicken to it. Dinner was good. 

We cleaned up, did thorns, roses and buds, prayers, oops bags and then went to bed. 

Day 3: To Crater Lake
Hike: 5.9 miles, Gain: 1696 ft gain, Loss: 488ft

Woke up at 5:45 am. Changed. Used the red roof, and now we are getting ready to get on the trail. Packed. Ready. Heading out at 7.21am. Had a breakfast bar. Ah before we hike out, we will learn water purification first.

With that done, we now we hike on. Today is our first challenging day. We have a significant elevation gain. Took a few water breaks. Half way up, we took a break. We are going up pretty steadily. It’s 9:15am. Checked the map. Looks like we are on track. Another troop passed us by as we took the break. We continue to drink water. The ponderosa pine smell around us is pretty amazing. 

Close to the top, as we were done with our switchbacks, we took a 20min break, and had the wilderness pledge talk. We will reflect for a few minutes. It’s 10:30am. We are doing good on time, and the girls are quite motivated.
The hike continues to be strenuous, by 12:53pm we are eating lunch at Bear Caves. Spicy Tuna, cheese-it’s. 
After lunch we hiked out. Its a relatively good hike. Walked on the trail that we helped clear 3 years back. Reached Crater lake in good time. Got the orientation at the Cabin and headed to campsite 15. It’s beside the tree climbing activity place. After dropping off our backpacks at the camp site, the scouts headed to the tree climbing activity. 

It’s 3:35pm, and the rain comes in. The activities have to be stopped unfortunately, for safety reasons. The rain stopped at 3:55pm, but we still hear some thunder. Unfortunately they had to cancel the activity. Only one of our scouts was able to climb.
Pretty soon, it turned bright and sunny. In short time, we had dinner, which was curry chicken with a tortilla. After dinner we walked up to the staff building for Advisor coffee (7-8pm). After Advisor coffee, we headed to the campfire. The Campfire is really fun. Amazing show put together by the staff. We were here till almost 9:30pm. 

Day 4: To Beaubien
Hike: 7miles, Gain: 1470ft, Loss: 588ft

We are up at 5:45am. Cleaned up camp. Said our goodbyes to Lily. We headed out around 8am. All of us used the red roof and then we hiked on. It was a pretty strenuous hike up to Fowler pass (9000ft). We took a 20 min break.

After some deliberation, we all decided to go up to Trail peak. This will be a harder challenge than we what we faced the previous days. As we started hiking up the mountain, it got steeper… I decided to count steps to keep me distracted, and also to estimate how far up we reached. Trail peak is 10,250ft. I’m estimating 3000 steps to the top. Im at 1500 steps. It’s 10:46 am. Strenuous, but glad we are doing it. It’s 11:26am. Taking a bit of a break. Getting some sugar in the system. I’m at 2200 steps. 11:40am. Taking a 20 min break to let one of our scouts catch her breath. We are almost at the peak. We can see it from here. I’m at 2600 steps. After the break, we hike on, and reach the peak at around 12;30pm. Awesome! We made it!

We took a nice break for lunch, and after lunch, we started our hike down. But first, we went to the site of the B24 crash to pay our respects to the brave soldiers of our airforce and also took some time to enjoy the amazing views. 

Half way down Trail Peak, it started to rain, and then we got some hail too. Hey, it’s all part of what is expected and what we prepared for, right? We quickly put on our raincoats, oh, now the rain stopped, it was warm, we took off our raincoats, oh, now it’s raining again, we put our raincoats back on! I’m really tired. The hike took us thru some really pretty scenery. Got off the trail and couldn’t locate the continuing trail to Beaubien, plus with the rain, we decided we would walk into camp using the service road. Not recommended, but we did it as a last resort. Finally got to Beaubien.

The rain cleared away and we were back to sunny once again. We lined up our backpacks in front of the staff office and spent some time doing our religious prayers. After this we are going to have our chuck wagon Dinner at 5PM.

Appreciate that they had a vegan option for us. We had a vegan chilli, corn bread and cobbler. After dinner, some of us, myself included volunteered to do the dishes, while the others went to set up tent and bearbags and the oops bags. We are at camp site 12. It is a nice spacious camp site. 7:05pm: we are at the  Advisor coffee. Catching up on the gossip, discussed trek options with some of the advisors and rangers. 

Following the Advisors coffee, we head to the Company meeting 8pm. The program is beginning. Beautiful singing. They sang A boy named Sue, Ain’t no rest for the wicked. It was a really awesome program. Came back to the camp site once the program was done. Cleaned up and went to bed.

Day 5: Conservation followed by horse riding at Beaubien then hike to Porcupine
Hike: 2.5miles, Gain: 413ft, Loss: 643ft

Woke up at 5:30 Am. Slept ok. It felt cold and slightly damp. Moreover the mummy sleeping bag made it a bit restrictive… will have to make some changes. Will pack up, grab breakfast and head to conservation. How far is our conversation site? Well, straight out, towards the left and then hike a ranger mile! 😜
We are at the conservation site by 7:30am. We are going to clear out, prune, and move the dry wood and other stuff 50ft from the trail. They will have controlled burns later this fall. We used the bow, triangle, clippers and cleared, moved tree stumps and pruned branches. We also collected a few cookies so we could get them branded. Took a mandatory break midway, and were done by 11am.

We are now heading back into camp. We should be back in camp by 11:30am. Oh what a fun and busy day. After having our lunches, we headed to the showers. Our time slot is between 12:30pm to 1pm. It was good to take a shower. Got into clean clothes, and got a bit carried away and washed our used clothes too! Our shower was followed by a rain shower. The usual, no surprises here. Horse riding in the PM. We are looking forward to it. Hoping there is no rain or thunder during our time slot. Luckily for us, the weather stayed clear, and we got to do our horse ride! My horse is Amarillo. The horse ride was amazing.

It’s 4:56pm. With the horse ride done, we must now begin our hike to Porcupine. But first, we need to stop by Philip’s Junction to pick up the food for the rest of our trek. The hike to Philip Junction took us on a narrow path, thru the hillside. It was really nice.  

At Phillips Junction, we took delivery of our food, sorted them and divided them in pairs. Did a bit of swapping, and then sat down for a few minutes to have a patio chat. Nice clean bathrooms with paper towels 😁 Met Will Jackson, one of my former scouts from 1845, and also the crew leader of our sister crew, the previous time I came to Philmont. What a pleasant surprise!!!

It’s a short hike from Philips Junction to porcupine. Backpack was heavy due to us getting our new installment of food. It’s not a staffed camp, so we had the flexibility of picking up our campsite. We picked one close to the creek and with a red-roof and bear-bag cables near by. Its an interesting camp site, with mounds. Not sure what they are. Have to be careful at night. 


Piched tents, boiled water got dinner ready. It’s ramen. Since it comes with beef seasoning, we decided to boil the ramen without the seasoning and each individual could add either that or Tony’s as per their preference. Dinner was good. We did roses thorns and buds. Philip did the cooking. I did the cleaning. Everyone helped. Decided scouts can sleep in a bit to give everyone a bit of time to recuperate. 

Day 6: To Red Hills via Crooked creek
Hike: 4.5 miles, Gain: 1295ft, Loss: 78ft

I think I slept well… it was cold overnight. Woke up at 6:10am. The crew is performing exceptionally well. We packed up, had breakfast and are ready to hike on. The plan is to go to crooked creek, check out the campsite, use the swap box, see if we can do any activities and then hike on to Black mountain. Not yet sure if we will hike up the mountain or go by the creek. 
Headed out around 8:45am and we are now hiking along. Terrain is relatively flat with a slight inclination.Took a few breaks and soon we are at Crooked Creek. It’s 9:25AM. We did good time.
We had our porch talk, they have chicken, goats burrows. Got my passport stamped, just like I had at the other locations. We also spent some time to take a tour of the staff cabin. Interesting history of the cabin, how/when it was built and how it’s being maintained. It’s 11:03am we are ready to hit the trail, hiking out to red Hills. We expect it to be moderately challenging, fingers crossed.
Got some water from a creek, and are now headed to Comanche creek, which is on the way. We will stop there for lunch. We reach Comanche Creek at 12:45pm and take our lunch break. We are taking an extended break today. At 2:20pm, we start hiking out. The crew got a very nice break.  

Its a pretty strenuous hike up red hills. It’s 4:15pm, I think we are close by. I filled in water from the creek and sterilized it using the tablets. 
Hike continues to be strenuous. We finally reached Red Hills by 4:30pm. Slight drizzle. Layout of the camp sites a bit confusing. Finally found out a good campsite. Camp site set up. We are cooking! I have cleaning duty today. 

We thought Red Hills would be quite empty, we were the first crew here. But turns out there are four other crews that came here and it was quite a packed campsite. No latrines or red roofs though. Catholes it is…
After making plans for tomorrow’s hike, we all went to bed! Probably the earliest we are going to bed. It’s 8:06PM

Day 7: To Black Mountain 
Hike: 7.1miles, Gain: 591ft, Loss: 1863ft

We are up around 5:30am. It’s Pretty cold. It’s 7:25am, we are all packed up, about to head out. We head out at 7:50am. It’s a pretty strenuous hike up the hill thru some beautiful countryside. First we head to Divide, which we cross at 8:15am. From here we hike on to Red Hill. Yes! We can do it. …We did it! We are at 10400ft. Amazing. It’s 9am. We will take a well deserved 20 min break now. 

We will now go downhill for a bit and then back to hiking uphill to Black a mountain via Comanche pass. 9:30am, we begin our hike to Comanche pass. Some places are too rocky to have a trail. Those parts the trail is marked by a stack of rocks. Good to know. Hiked all the way down the first side. Now we hike up and down another hill. After that we should be at Comanche pass, as per our estimates. 
It’s 10:55. Hiking down red hill was tough! Very rocky terrain. Once we reached Comanche pass we took a 20 min break. I had a power bar, and finally got to the water that I had collected at crater lake. 

It’s 11:45. A couple of hills ahead of us before the mountain. On top of hill one by 12:15pm, and on top of hill two by 12:45pm. We are finally on the ridge. We are taking a break for lunch here. Need the break. Next we walk for a while on the ridge and then make a final push up black mountain. It’s 1:35: we will head out shortly. Walked on the ridge. 

It’s 2PM. Now we are at the base of black mountain. about to head up black mountain. Tried the caterpillar method the first 100 ft or so. Didn’t work out, as one of our scouts cramped out. We are giving everyone some recovery time. Will go back to the original method of letting two of our scouts lead. Really strenuous hike. We are now on top of the first hump or black mountain. It’s 3:30 now. We are taking a 20 min break. Hike on the ridge for some time to the second hump and then hike down to black mountain camp. Probably another 1.5 miles. Or 2-3 hours?… let’s see. 

Black mountain is very rocky and the rocks are black, hence the name! Lots of good views from here. 4:13pm we are on top of black mountain (10,889ft). Yaay 😅

Hike down was really steep. I fell down a couple of times. I suppose partly because my shoes were worn out and I wasn’t getting much grip, and partly because my legs were quite tired and felt like jello! Powered thru it and reached our camp at 6:15pm. Getting our campsite now. Site number is 5. The hike was so strenuous that my Merrells broke! That’s a first!

Set up camp, few of us had blisters on our foot, so we tended to them. Had chicken pasta for dinner, which was good. Mixed feelings at camp, as we are really enjoying, but also ready to get back home! Filled up on the water and called it a night.

Day 8: To Shaefers pass
Hike: 5.6miles, Gain: 922ft, Loss: 1218ft

Woke up by 6am, packed, had dinner for breakfast, as Shaefer is a dry camp, and hiked out. We decided not to do the AM activity which would have either been blackpowder rifle or blacksmithing. The hike today took us along a creek. Lots of river crossings. We are keeping track, we are at 48 River crossings so far. It’s 1:05pm and we are stopped for lunch. I’m done with my lunch by 1:30pm, and am now getting the blisters on my left foot taped up. Also taped up my right shoe, which broke yesterday! Hiking on… filled water at 2:45pm. Had an interesting encounter at 3:21pm… see if you can spot it (image on the left).

Normal strenuous hike, 17 switchbacks, and we are finally at Shaefer. It’s 4:45pm.  got some water from the creek. The plan is to wake up really early tomorrow so we can watch the sunrise over the Tooth of Time. Sounds tough, let’s do this!

Day 9: hike into Camping HQ via Tooth of time

Surprisingly, we all woke up at 2am, got out of campsite by 2:30am. Hiked in the dark all the way to the Tooth of Time.  It was quite challenging especially since my headlamp stopped working, and I had to hold the rechargeable light on one hand and the hiking stick on the other. Lots of rocky terrain. We had switchbacks, then we were on the ridge for a while. Navigating was especially difficult in the dark. Nonetheless, we hiked thru and made it to the base of the tooth by 4:45am. Took a bit of a break and then headed up the tooth. In the dark we couldn’t see a trail (we found out later there was one) so we hike up boulders. It was tough. Sat on a boulder and watched the sun rise. It was beautiful. 

After sunrise we started our journey back to base camp. Initially we got a bit lost. The first time this trek… but the girls figured out the way pretty soon. My daughter’s foot was really raw and sore, but the brave girl hiked down without complaining. It was a long hike down. I had a few sores but hers was worse. We finally made it into base camp by 10:30am. Good thing we started out early. 

Once at basecamp, we checked back in, showered, packed and got ready to check out. For our crew, they were going to drive back to Houston tomorrow, while my family and I decided to stay in Colorado for the next week.

Overall this has been an amazing trip. We did things we wouldn’t have thought we could have accomplished. Amazing crew, amazing leaders, amazing staff. We had a splendid time.

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