Philblog #9: Days off, or “Why I’m Here”
I am having an incredible time. I’ll try to pick up where I left off on the last post and cover everything… if I can.
My last set of days off was spent up at Rich Cabins. Rich is located just off of Philmont property in the Carson National Forrest. The program there is interpretive homesteading, which means everything (or everything visible to campers) is “period.” The staff there this year is pretty incredible. They portray a family of Austrian immigrants from the 1800s, and while none of them are Austrian (or immigrants), they do a great job of staying in character. What really sets this camp apart from all others though, is the music. I’ll get to that later.
The road up to Rich Cabins is an adventure in itself. It is one of the roughest “public” roads I’ve ever seen. You may be able to get down it without 4wd, but if you don’t have good clearance you can forget it. I was a little apprehensive about this drive as you may remember that I’m not behind the wheel of my Explorer anymore. I bought an ‘04 Honda Pilot right before coming down to Philmont, and had never taken it off-road before. I was very cautious on that first drive up there, taking the stream crossings very slowly and getting out to take stock of any difficult looking parts. I ended up being pleasantly surprised with the Honda’s ability off road. It certainly isn’t as rugged as the ’splora, but it was able to get four of us up the road to Rich Cabins effortlessly.
Upon our arrival at the parking lot, we didn’t immediately hike into the camp. Our first destination was the top of Wilson Mesa. This is a fairly remote part of Philmont that not a lot of people get the opportunity to see. It is also known as a pretty steep and strenuous hike. Our band dropped our big packs, threw some essentials in daypacks, and headed up. The top was lovely. I really thought for a while just now in an effort to come up with a more apt word than “lovely,” but you’re just going to have to take my word for it - if I resort to using the word “lovely,” it must have been. The top of the mesa is large - several square miles. There are a few small lakes scattered about as well as some very old farm equipment. It also presents one of the best views of Mt. Baldy on the ranch.
After some lunch and some exploring, we started back down. A while later, hiking into the camp presented quite the the welcome sight. The cabin, barn, corrals, and windmill are all really picturesque. We were greeted warmly by the staff, and immediately invited to dinner. I’ve always loved large “family style” meals, mostly for the socialization opportunities that they facilitate. Being in the backcountry makes this kind of meal so much more enjoyable. It’s really hard to describe to those that have never been there, but there’s an “old world” kind of feeling there. I’ve spent the last several minutes trying to put it into words and it aint’ happening. You’ll just have to get out to Philmont sometime in order to understand.
After an incredible “campfire” program on the front porch of the cabin, we hung out with the staff for a bit then went to bed. We crashed on the floor of the Rich Cabin, and awoke early the next morning. Bryce and I packed up our daypacks once again and headed out up the other canyon wall this time. Instead of taking a trail, we shot straight up the wall in a river washout. Once we reached the top, up into the Valle Vidal, we were greeted with a strange sight.
Laid out before us were miles and miles of hilly land that was covered with burnt tree trunks. There were no leaves, no shade, and only a little green spread across the ground which consisted mostly of scrub oak. This was all leftover from the Ponil Complex Fire of 2002 - the largest fire in New Mexico state history. Most of the trees were still standing, but quite a few had fallen down. It was impossible, over the next several hours, to go around them all and Bryce and I ended up climbing over several hundred fallen trees during the next leg of our trek. Our destination was Beatty Lakes, up in the Valle.
Despite being in the middle of a thought, I’m going to post this. I’ve been writing this one entry for over a week now and it’s getting a little ridiculous. Many more adventures await our hero - stay tuned!
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