Philmont 727-E1-1994 – 4 August 1994
Philmont Expedition 727-E1-1994 – 4 August 1994: Spiked, Set, Bumped / Day 8: Eve of Baldy
Spiked, Set, Bumped
Our troop had never been very competitive at camporee events. We would usually go through the various stations just to make an appearance. The best finish I remember is when I won second place in firestarting at the 1992 Freeze-o-ree with a time of 12 seconds. We just couldn’t win…
Once, we tried our hand at the other side of things and ran one of the event stations at a Spring Camporee. Maybe we could finally win something… The idea was to build catapults out of log frames with inner tubes stretched across some of the uprights (yes, that’s not technically a catapult, but it was close enough as far as we were concerned). Tennis balls would serve as ammunition. Team members had to be on their catapult somewhere and points were scored for every hit on the opposing catapult or crew.
In theory, we should have had an edge. The problem was that we built the catapults for the first time on-site the night before. And the assembly did not go according to plan. While the design was essentially a reinforced tripod with short legs (making a rough tetrahedron), the logs were around 6 to 8 inches in diameter. We had never practiced making lashings on anything this big before and the sheer weight of the materials was a bit much for a bunch of little kids to handle.
Joe, who was overseeing the project, eventually gave up on trying to lash everything together and instead drove long spikes through the logs to join them. The sun had long since set and we had to be up early to set up for the competition. Which involved manually hauling these contraptions to the main field. At least we would finally get to use them…
For one round. We were quickly eliminated from our own event and made our way through the other stations. We just couldn’t win…
Day 8: Eve of Baldy
After another hour of conservation work in the morning, they let us go, giving us credit for the full three hours. Next up was a challenge course, which seemed redundant considering what we went through to get to this point. We did some of the course (or so my notes say, I don’t remember much of it) and departed early for Miranda, the staffed camp that would serve as our base camp for our Baldy ascent the following day.
The trail was fairly unremarkable until we got close to Miranda. The trail here was a deeply rutted road. And it went down steeply, water having worn down the ruts and turning it into an uneven rocky mess. We would be coming back this way in two days; the turn to pick up the trail to our final camp was at the top of the hill. Everything that goes down must go up…
Miranda was a flurry of activity. More than just a stopping off point for Baldy, it had a full program of frontier themed activities. After setting up camp, we tried our hand at black powder rifle and tomahawk throwing. Tom and Billy volunteered their hats to be used as rifle targets. While Tom’s took a hit, Billy’s bright green knit cap survived unscathed. As it also did at the tomahawk throw. We really hated that hat, but it just would not take damage.
Baldy Mountain in the clouds, as seen from the trail to Miranda
At the end of the day, we had time to relax and prepare for Baldy. It would be a long hike, but at least we wouldn’t have to bring our packs. Though one or two volunteers were needed to bring empty packs (possibly only day packs) for our scheduled resupply at Baldy Town on our return trip. We would also need to bring our lunch with us to eat at the top. And then there was our stop at French Henry for gold panning. It was going to be a long day, but it should be quite the experience. If the weather holds out…