Philmont Adventure - Day 8 - Side Hike to Baldy Mountain

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Got up at 5:00 AM with the crew. Not feeling 100%. Hiked up the road to Baldy Town and had breakfast. Caleb learned that he needed “Onion” which he had not brought. He and Jordan ran back to camp and back to retrieve it. Used the delay to read the informational posters about mining and habitat change with elevation. Finally left for Baldy Mountain at 8:15 AM. Got lost once at the beginning of the trail. The trail was rocky and quite steep. We did 10 minutes of hiking followed by 1 minute of rest to drink – worked well. We actually caught up and passed two crews on the way up. The last part was straight up and very difficult. I found that taking short steps worked the best. The crew got separated for a bit, but Caleb got the crew to the summit together. It took about 2 hours from Baldy Town to the top of Baldy Mountain. We spent time enjoying the views and taking pictures. We ate lunch. Then we took crew pictures with Mr. H’s monopod trekking pole. The weather was great when we arrived – mostly sunny with a few clouds. When we left it was cloudy, cooling off, and it looked like it was about to rain. The trail down was quite steep with loose rock. We finally made it to a ridge which was very open when it started to rain. We hiked fast to get off the ridge with lightning in the area. Unfortunately Carl went too fast and had an asthma attack. We had to wait while he recovered. We were then on a very pleasant trail down with a lot of switchbacks. We then found the trail to French Henry and it was terrible – steep with lots of wet rocks as it was lightly raining. I was feeling miserable. Carl found a hot spot which we treated twice on the trail and once at French Henry. We wound up doing nothing at French Henry except sitting and resting. We took the road from there back to Baldy Town. At Baldy Town, we bought some things at the trading post. I replaced my broken spork and got another canister of fuel. Took a shower. Did not have a towel but dried off very quickly anyway. The shower really made me feel better. Boys got our food at the commissary. I got a fresh pear which was quite good. Hiked the road back to Ute Meadows. Was not feeling well again and neither did Carl. Ate dinner of beef and potatoes. Took care of things and went to bed at 9:00 PM.