Trail mileage and estimated time to traverse?

[AT Grimaldi]

So in digging a little deeper into our trek (10), I have a few questions for veterans or those who might be in the know.

Our itinerary is as follows:

1. Camping HQ
2. Vaca – trail camp
3. Deer Lake
4. Upper Sawmill – trail camp
5. Whistle Punk
6. Clear Creek
7. Porcupine
8. Beaubien
9. Beaubien
10. Aguila
11. Zastrow
12. Camping HQ

Here are my questions:

• After pouring over the maps, I cannot find any mileage on any of the trails.  While there are rough estimates at the bottom of page 46 of Philmont Treks:  2018 Itinerary Guidebook, there are no specific mileages for various legs of a trail.  Do those even exist and if so, where can I find them?
• It seems to me, there are several ways to get from camp to camp or site to site.  While there are general routes, there are options.  Who decides what trails we take?  Does PSR tell us or is that up to our Scout Crew Leader?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

– ATG

[Roger Caffin]

Mileage does not matter.
Hours of walking is all that matters.

Cheers

[Franco Darioli]

There is just over 1 mile from camp IV to the MT Everest Summit.

If you can do it in less than 7 hours you are doing well.

OK, that is an exaggeration (but a true one..) the point is that yes you need to know the average time not the distance.

[TAG in AZ]

You can download the geospacial data for all the itineraries here: http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/TrekPreparation/PhilmontSpatialData.aspx

Load into your favorite mapping program and go to town.

You won’t be able to understand your crew hiking speed until you’ve been on the trail for a while. And, crew energy will vary by day. So, our primary focus during our training hikes was getting the crew out of camp in the morning. Being able to get moving in the morning is a really big deal.

[David Y]

The only requirement is you camp in your designated campsite each night. How and what time you get there is up to you. Study your map each evening and plan the next day’s hike/route depending on things you want to do or see on the way to your next camp.

It is best to get out of camp each morning at the crack of dawn so you can hike farther and faster in the cool of the day before mid-day and afternoon heat with the sun beating down on you. Getting on the trail early takes practice and discipline.

[Jeffrey Peters]

If you go to the Phimont site and look at the itinerarys they offer a map page. At the bottom of the map page is a elavation and mileage chart. I know that from the Turkey Creek turn around to Vaca is 4 miles. Most day 1’s are low mileage days.  From Vaca to Deer Lake is another short day at 4 miles. From Deer Lake to Upper Sawmill is an 11 mile day.  The only reason I know this is because we did trek #14 and the first three days are the same.  Your Crew Leader and scouts decide what route  to take you are on for the ride. My crew usually hiked at 2 miles and hour.

[Edgar M]

Turkey Creek to Vaca may only be 4 miles, but its not an easy hike, especially for legs and lungs that aren’t yet acclimated.  Vaca to Deer Lake is also short, but unless they completed the trail we worked on in 2013, the hike up to the Lake can be tough.  This will be exacerbated if the lake is dry, because you will be bringing your water from Harlan.  If Deer Lake does not have water, eat your dinner meal in Harlan so you can carry less water.  There are a couple of different routes you can take from Deer Lake to Ute Gulch.  If Deer Lake is dry, you  may be able plan your route to pass by a water source.

[Charles L]

Edgar wrote:
“Turkey Creek to Vaca may only be 4 miles, but its not an easy hike, especially for legs and lungs that aren’t yet acclimated.”

That’s a no-kidder.  Going up-hill above 8,000 ft, I slow way down.  Mt Baldy is gonna be a day.

Tag wrote:
“You can download the geospacial data for all the itineraries here: http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/TrekPreparation/PhilmontSpatialData.aspx”

Thank you.  I was able to import the klz file into Google Earth, export just trek 11 as a klm, and import that into google maps.  Pretty sweet.

-Charles

[Joe S]

If your group is anything like the crew I went with you will probably get a little lost every couple of days so you will never end up doing the exact millage you calculate out.  I am with Roger on this one, its the time that matters more than distance.  All sorts of things can effect how long you are hiking for, how flat the trail is, how technical it is, the weather, elevation, everyones fatigue level and motivation.

[Roger Caffin]

Walking along a fire trail: 6 km/hr
Walking the bank of Colo R: 1 km/hr
Bashing thru SWTassie hori: 0.3 km/hr

Cheers

[M B]

Our crewleader and advisors woke at 330 am.  Rest of crew at 4. On trail at 5-530.  Hiking in cool of morning is best . Get most done before it warms up.

 

And yeah route you take is up to you. Nobody’s going to tell you which way to go unless you ask. You can make side trips to camps that are not on your itinerary if you want to, if they can work you in you can do the activity there too.

[Phillip M]

Don’t think of it as getting lost. Think of it as going to a secret destination.

 

;)

 

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