[From the Philmanac - Devil's Wash Basin is located midway between Deer Lake Mesa Camp and Ute Park Pass.  Although there is a good-sized pond, the camp is considered to be a dry camp because the pond becomes a stagnant quagmire during the summer.]

[From the Philmanac - Ute Gulch is located just off the Sawmill jeep road between Ute Springs and Ute Park Pass.  It was established as a Staff Camp in 1979.  Previously, the Commissary and Trading Post for the central region had been located at Cimarroncito.  Moving it to Ute Gulch relieved much of the pressure on Cimarroncito.  Ute Gulch has no campsites, but many Crews camp at nearby Ute Springs and Aspen Springs.]

[From the Philmanac - A worthwhile side trip from Aspen Springs, Ute Springs, Cathedral Rock Camp, or Cimarroncito is Hidden Valley.  This small, scenic valley leads to Window Rock, which opens towards a spectacular panorama of mesas and prairies on the eastern horizon.  Waite Phillips installed a circular window in the study of Villa Philmonte that directly faces the formation (thus the name "Window Rock.")]

[From the Philmanac - Clark's Fork is the Western Lore Camp for the Central Country.  It is conveniently located between Cimarroncito and Schaeffer's Pass.  Crews often either stay at or pass through this camp near the end of their expeditions, as they prepare to hike into Base Camp via the Tooth Ridge Trail.  The program includes Horseback Riding, Branding, Chuckwagon Dinner, and an Evening Campfire.  Just to the northwest of Clark's Fork Camp is a burned-out area resulting from a camper-started fire in 1978.  An enlargement of the Clark's Fork Cabin was completed in the fall of 1995.]

Woke at 5:45 am; "It's Perfect Again!"  45 degrees, no clouds, and a light breeze.  Got everyone up at 6:00.  Good packup today; we were gone by 6:25, with a parting wave to one of the Adults in the Sterling Crew.  Returned to the (unmarked) trail intersection for Devil's Wash Basin, and turned left.  Quickly past the camp and pond, which (like Upper Bench) was nearly full.  No well there either (or it was out of sight if there was one), but this water looked considerably cleaner than Deer Lake Mesa Camp's reservoir - something to remember if future need arises.  10 minutes past the camp we came to the edge of the mesa, and stopped for breakfast at a nice rock overlook - great views of Shaefers, Black, Bear, etc., plus we could see the spires of Hidden Valley/Window Rock edge-on, a unique perspective if you know what it is you're looking at.  Proving that Scouts were fairly common visitors to these rocks, several mini-bears approached and demanded food with loud chirps.  All that got them was increased competition, since a few more mini-bears appeared, having been attracted by all the loud chirping!  Well, I'm sure we'll leave a few crumbs to fight over....  Off at 7:20, down a surprisingly steep downhill from the overlook, with only a very faint trail at the bottom.  Obviously, we were supposed to backtrack to the better trail (to Ute Park Pass) that we had passed just after exiting Devil's Wash Basin Camp.  The trail we took actually faded to nothing in a meadow, so we did a circuit hike around the lower perimeter, and Chris picked it up again after a brief search.  This rejoined the main - or if you prefer, actual - trail a few minutes later, and we pushed on into Ute Gulch Commissary at 7:55.  The commissary opened at 8:00, but the Trading Post was already open and finishing up with a Crew from Ute Springs.  The early opening was good news - I had been afraid we were going to have to sit here til 9:00 am.  The Ute Springs Crew had picked up their food the previous night, so we were first for the day.  The commissary guy was "Dave;" he was fast and efficient, and we were into meal stripping in short order.  We had a 4 day pickup here, so we were pretty meticulous about weight reduction.  Once that was done, we cleaned out the swap box, sorting all the useable food and tossing the trash, then doing our own swaps for better meal sets.  As a thank you for doing this nasty job, Dave also gave us some extra beef jerky and Oreos.  Returned to the food pile just in time to save a dinner package from an overly aggressive mini-bear - I guess he figured if he could pull this down his hole, he'd eat like a King for the rest of the summer!  Got everything packed away, with everyones' weights hovering between 38 and 40 pounds each, not bad considering how much food we had just picked up.  Allowed everyone to get 1 item from the Trading Post "on the Crew;" some guys bought a few more things on their own, but no-one got silly.  Exited to find 4 guys from the Indiana Crew outside; they were the "early" contingent, here to grab and sort their food pickup before the rest of the Crew arrived.  We bolted just before 9:00, taking the parallel trail to Aspen Springs to avoid the road.  Another great trail!  Getting hot quickly, with a blistering sun rising in the clear blue sky.  No one at Aspen Springs as we passed through.  Took the left turn at the trail intersect for Cimarroncito, and headed up through Hidden Valley.  One of the more pleasant hikes in Philmont, even though it gets increasingly steep the whole way.  I stopped the Crew about 5 minutes before we got to Window Rock, and gave everyone my usual lecture about not walking up to admire the view and going right over the cliff (it slopes away at a rapidly increasing angle, so an exhausted hiker carrying a heavy backpack can literally sleepwalk him- or herself right over the edge.)  This is one of the few commonly visited spots in all of Philmont that is seriously dangerous if you're staggering with fatigue or acting foolishly.  Arrived 10:20, with a Mountain Man Crew (from Minnesota and Utah) already present and enjoying the view; it was their last day on the trail - and a great way to end it!  Since they were heading directly to Basecamp, I gave the Rangers a quick written summary on the water situation at all the stops we had made, so they could update the water board at trek planning.  We took the classic Crew shot with the Tooth of Time Ridge in the background with their help, then started in on the solo "mommie-shots."  After his picture, Dan managed to drop his water bottle and started to chase it `til I barked at him to "Let It Go!"  It exploded in a nice spray about 80 feet down.  [We didn't need Dan doing the same.]  The Rangers with the Mountain Man Crew both asked what was in it, and we had to assure them several times that it was just water, and that we never put flavored drinks in our canteens.  Lucky for Dan - that would have been a long hike to clean up that smellable!  Gave the guys their release, and they headed for the upper spires on the left for the view [Photo 2], carrying their last Ute Gulch Commissary snacks for company.  Hazy views to the east, but still only thin cirrus clouds above us.  At 10:50, we called it a done deal, and headed out.  3 minutes later, we came to the second overlook (towards the north and west), and I took about 2 minutes to roughly draft out the rest of the trek - to Clark's Fork today, then up to Cyphers Mine tomorrow, then to Mt. Phillips and back around Bear to Red Hills the next day, then up the back side of Black Mountain and down to Shaefers Pass the day after that, and finally over the Tooth and into Basecamp.  A "challenging" 4 days coming up!  With that, we headed down the switchbacks to the valley floor; nice trail but (as always) a long, hot hike.  At the bottom, we took a minute to admire the view of the Cimarroncito reservoir and Cathedral Rock, then continued on to Clark's Fork.  About 2/3rd's the way there, we ran into Ranger Rob and Sarah (a staff member from Clark's Fork) heading to Cathedral Rock before going to Basecamp from (I think) the Cimarroncito Turnaround.  He was very pleased to see us, and also let us know that he still thought he'd be free on the 10th for dinner in Cimarron.  Listening to our itinerary for the last 4 days, he again pushed us to do "Black Death;" I assured him that we weren't going to miss it.  He and Sarah were quickly off then, with clouds building above Black and Bear spurring them on.  No shade here yet, so still very hot.  On to Clark's Fork, arriving at 12:15.  The Staff was all inside eating lunch, but I was able to intercept a wrangler who said they'd take anyone who wanted a 1:00 horseback ride "if we have the horses."  Good deal!  We ate a quick lunch under some nearby trees, and Andy, David, Hank, Matt and Steven headed over to the corral just before 1:00 to try their luck.  The rest of us got a brief orientation from Pam on the porch, with 2 small cats underfoot the whole time; I got permission to play guitar from Matt, one of the head Staff guys, but he warned me that one of his strings was broken - I smiled and said "Got It Covered!" - explaining that I bring strings on every trek.  Pam led us down to Site 17, about 3 minutes below the cabin, a nice flat site; she helped carry Steven's pack.  Just after we arrived, a very distant boom of thunder warned us that the clouds of 11:45 were going to be the thunderstorm of 2:15, so we set up the tarp and put all our packs underneath it.  Just as we were about to return to the cabin to retrieve the last packs, David, Hank and Matt came down carrying them - unfortunately, only 2 last horses were available for our 5 guys.  [Photos: Boot Branding at Clark's Fork: 1, 2]  Well, them's the breaks - and at this point it seemed likely that Andy and Steven were going to get another Garden of the Gods type ride again anyway.  Everyone but David, Hank and I left for showers - David passed in favor of some extra sleep, and Hank and I had to wait `til 4:00 for "Adult/Male" shower hours.  After securing everything for the expected rain, I grabbed my sheet music, strings and picks and headed up to the cabin.  Matt brought out his guitar; string # 2 was indeed broken, but the others looked to be on their last legs, too, so I offered to replace the whole set.  He turned me down, saying he'd rather replace them as they broke - that way, he'd be able to stretch the new set as long as possible.  Started in on my repertoire, with half the staff out on the porch, listening and singing along on most selections.  One of the female staff members said I played much more dynamic versions versus what most Philmont staffers play - I laughed and told her I was just an old-time rock-and-roller lost in a country and western world!  The promised thunderstorm finally moved in around 2:30, with some pretty spectacular thunder and lightning and heavy rain, and the porch started getting crowded with arriving Crews seeking some shelter.  The 2 cats had their work cut out avoiding getting stomped on.  Some of the riders also showed up - the rest stayed down at the corral `til the worst of the rain ended.  The Staff kept up a steady flow of coffee and hot chocolate for everyone who had gotten wet - which was much appreciated.  Some of the Scouts and Advisors joined in on the singing, which was pretty cool; the most popular song of the afternoon was not a Philmont classic, however, but rather the Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."  "Ghost Chickens" also got a lot of laughs.  Broke string # 4 playing "Ghost Riders," so replaced that one too.  Finally exhausted my voice and fingers (and my repertoire of sheet music) at 3:40, just as the rain finally faded, and Hank and I headed up to grab some showers and wash our clothes.  What can I say - it was wonderful!  Oddly, only 3 other Advisors showed up to take advantage of the opportunity; I guess the rest got a free shower hiking into camp.  Only downer was the state of the shower house; the last set of Scouts had left trash and clothes everywhere - so I spent about 15 minutes cleaning the place up before I left.  Hung the more expensive items in a nearby tree for easy viewing, and tossed the rest into a plastic bag.  Spent another 20 minutes washing (or rather rinsing) out my clothes - using cold water, thank you very much!  No need to repeat the sins of Baldytown, even if we were the last guys of the day.  Brad joined us to wash his own clothes, and we all 3 headed back together, making a brief detour to the Staff cabin to drop off the showerhouse trash.  At camp, we put the bear-bags up, grabbed our eating gear, and headed off for the Chuckwagon Dinner.  This year, they served the Crews by order of arrival on the Ranch - so all the 625 Crews got served first.  Since most of the Crews at Clark's Fork head into Basecamp the following day, there were a LOT of 625 Crews to wait through, and the 629 Crews were about ready to bull-rush the table by the time they finally got around to us!  Making up for the long wait, however, they served seconds in reverse order.  Then thirds and fourths for those who wanted even more.  Ended up being just about all the beef (or buffalo) stew you could possibly eat, plus Ritz crackers and canned peaches, and Gatorade.  Nobody went home hungry, and that's a fact.  Hank and I headed back to camp a little early, and Hank grabbed 2 of our large pots and returned to the shower house to grab some hot water - a lot easier than firing up the stoves.  Cleanup was therefore done in short order, and we spent a few minutes setting up our STILL! DRY! tents, even though some light sprinkles were falling.  Chris and I headed up to the Staff Cabin at 7:00 for the Advisor's Coffee to discuss the trail to Cyphers Mine with the Staff - we had been told that one of the trails on the map didn't actually exist.  Turned out our map didn't have the error, so we were good to go.  Chris headed back to camp, but I stuck around to chat with several Advisors from Clarksville, VA; they were on Trek 2.  The Crew showed up just before 8:00, along with about 5 minutes more of light rain - which, quite surprisingly, killed the attendance at the campfire.  They don't know what they're missing!  In all, only 10 Scouts were present (Clarksville and us), along with maybe 20 Advisors.  The Staff just shrugged and went with it, inviting everyone up on the porch for our own personal Hootenany.  Since this was always one of my favorite campfire programs, I decided to write up the songs during the show:  Fox on the Run, Mountain Dew, Night Rider's Lament, Ghost Riders, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Orange Blossom Special, In the Real West, Georgetown, Devil's Dream (an instrumental), The Gambler, "The Shetlander" (a joke), Southern Accent, This Cowboy's Hat, "The Two Things I Love Best" (a poem), and The Bear Song.  After a short break, they ended with In the Pines and Friend of the Devil.  Great Show! - very dynamic and fun.  Just as we were about to break, one of the 625 Crew Chiefs showed up looking for his "Life" - his Crew Leader's Copy (gasp!)  The Staff had it, of course, but made him do a rousing chorus of The Bear Song to get it back - which the rest of us enthusiastically joined in on.  9:40 at this point, so we said our goodbyes to Matt, Pam, and the rest of the Staff, and headed back to camp - a bit of an adventure in the absolute dark, even with our flashlights.  Bed by 10:00, with one Crew further down still yelling back and forth `til about 10:20, plus we could still hear the Staff jamming inside the Staff cabin `til even later.  Another great day!