[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 - Sawmill was first used as a camp in 1965.  It is located at the west end of Sawmill Canyon and is rather remote in that there are no trail camps within its area of responsibility.  The name derives from the fact that a logging operation once operated in this canyon prior to Waite Phillips purchase of the property.  The program was originally Forestry.  In 1971, it was changed to Lumbering Days.  In 1972 the 30.06 Rifle Shooting Program was set up.  At various times Sawmill also featured Shotgun Shooting and the Philmont Story Campfire.  Reloading was offered til 1990, then was reinstated in 1995.  Sawmill has long been known for having the best sunrise of any staff camp on Philmont.]

Up at 5:15, after a halfway decent night’s sleep for a change.  52 degrees, clear skies, “It’s Perfect Again”.  Hugh also up early, and we woke the Crew together at 5:30.  Very fast breakdown today, and we circled up just before 6:00 (our best assembly to date).  We again discussed the day while stretching and camelling up:  Fairly long hike to a good breakfast point overlooking Window Rock, then up to Ute Gulch Commissary for resupply, then on to Sawmill.  Gone at 6:07, Drew leading (one other Crew directly across the trail was also up and getting ready to depart).  Up over the little ridge trail we came in on yesterday, and back down to the cattle pastures.  Nice sunrise in the meadow.  We hiked on the southern Deer Lake Mesa trail (towards Ute Springs) for 40 minutes, finally reaching the open meadow on the southwestern corner that offers a nice view of the central part of the Ranch.  While we were eating, I used my hiking stick as a pointer and did a quick review of the peaks, from the Tooth of Time to Shaefers Peak, then Black and Bear Mountain, and finally Cimarroncito Peak, all beautiful in the bright sunshine.  We left for Ute Gulch at 7:30, getting right into the last, sharp uphill (deceptively easy on the map, not so easy in reality), then downhill to the Ute Gulch road.  There’s allegedly a parallel trail to Ute Gulch Commissary (east of the road), but if so we missed it, and so just went ahead and used the road; it’s no fun in the heat of the day, but it was still cool enough for now.  We caught a co-ed Crew just as we reached the right hand cutoff up to the Commissary, arriving 8:40.  Surprisingly very crowded (6-7 Crews) - certainly the most people I’ve ever seen here.  Luke grabbed his Crew Leader’s Copy and got in line immediately.  I headed back to the Trading Post to buy film (we were running low) and to buy some junk food for the Crew.  Saw the repair job on the eastern wall of the building, where (according to Rene) a bear had torn a good section of the wall out getting inside several weeks before (one of the Philmont Bear Staffers shot him right inside the commissary).  The whole commissary was now clad in very heavy-duty wire mesh, and interestingly there was an electrified “ribbon” running around the outside, currently turned off of course (first time I had ever seen this particular form of electrified fencing).  Inside the Trading Post (located on the back side of the commissary), I ran into members of Troop 51 and John Ruppel’s Crew III, and we chatted as we waited in line.  However, there was no 35 mm film (or any junk food of any sort), so I asked the other two crews if they had any extra I could buy.  Lucky for us, Troop 51 had quite a bit extra, so we went back outside and I bought 4 rolls for $20 - they protested the price, but I insisted (and was plenty grateful, too!)  After giving out some more trail advice about their last few days, I thanked everyone and headed over to talk to John Ruppel and Crew III’s Leaders for a few minutes, dispensing some final trail advice there as well.  Finally back to the Crew, where a major meal stripping was in progress (them’s my boys!), and Luke and Drew were reviewing the map.  We still had that extra meal, so we bagged one dinner in favor of a lunch (preferable for dinner at Tooth Ridge), and after asking Crew III and Troop 51 if they wanted anything (they took some stuff), we returned the extra meal and all the stripped-out food (sorted) back to the commissary staffer - who didn’t want to take it back until I pointed out that it was all pre-sorted and unopened (i.e., brand-new).  However, other Crews waiting in line immediately started cherry-picking items out of our returned pile anyway.  How come everyone is starving but us?  I checked for fresh fruit - no apples left, only unripe oranges, and I passed (it’s hard to hike in a squatting position).  After packing, we redistributed a little, based on the pack-scale; I didn’t keep exact track of our weights this time, but with less than 3 days worth of food we’re certainly averaging somewhere in the mid-30's.  We took a few minutes to fill our canteens and inspect the repair job on the commissary wall.  [Photos: 1, 2]  Finally hit the road at 9:40, Drew again leading.  Crossed the Ute Gulch Road and onto the Grouse Canyon trail - we actually had a three Crew traffic jam at the Grouse Canyon/Aspen Springs trail intersect (the other two Crews were heading to Aspen Springs, then Cimarroncito, and were carefully checking their maps versus the trails).  Grouse Canyon was interesting - rather narrow, dry, and rocky, with steep trail in a few spots.  Guys moving quickly now, and we soon intersected with the Sawmill Canyon trail - a little wider, with rock palisades on the right hand side, and a fair number of Douglas firs and some small meadows with yellow flowers (indicating a little more moisture here).  Another steady uphill - but the guys just pounded  it out with only a very few caterpillars, once again surprising me with their stamina and speed (especially as it grew hot).  This Crew is not quite my youngest ever (that was 1992), but I am beginning to realize that they are perhaps my fastest and toughest ever, top to bottom, despite their relatively young average age.  We passed Lower Sawmill and Upper Sawmill (both unoccupied), and it became clear that Sawmill itself must be near the top of the Canyon (by this point, all we could see was “up”).  The last third of the hike involved some serious switchbacks, edging onto the northern slope of Cimarroncito Peak.  We pulled in at 11:55, so excellent time from Ute Gulch.  We were the first Crew of the day.  The “camp” consisted of a single, two-section cabin, with a small cleared area in front.  Well over 9,000 feet here, so reasonably cool even in the heat of the day.  The “porch guy” (Dan) greeted us, and asked if we wanted to go directly to our site.  We said OK, and so headed immediately up a very steep trail (the most painful part of the whole hike!)  After about 10 minutes, we reached a bench with a nice set of fairly flat campsites.  After a quick orientation “in place” (including letting us know about the “campfire program” that night, and also encouraging us to see the sunrise the following morning), we were on our own til 2:00 pm - when we were scheduled for 30.06 reloading at the cabin, followed by shooting at the range.  The guys voted to eat lunch first (a rather odd combination of tuna and beef steaks), and we enjoyed the myriad mini-bears racing around (but the myriad flies less so).  After eating, we did a complete camp set-up, and organized our packs under the tarp - also re-setting some logs and large rocks as sitting rails under the tarp.  Headed down to the cabin at 1:50 (where there was a Rayado Crew there with a sick Scout - the staff was attending to him and discussing the problem with the Basecamp medical staff over the radio).  We sat in the reloading room for a few minutes, then got going at 2:00.  Each of us got a weird cartoon nickname for the reloading and shooting:

Luke- Rocky
Drew-Bullwinkle
Michael-Boris
Todd-Timone
Matt-Natasha
Will-Pumba
William-Dudley Dooright
Hugh-Animal
Thomas-Nala
Charlie-Snidely Whiplash
Neil-Simba
Mark-Scar
Myself-Mustapha

 “Rock Hound” (Jon Akers) gave instructions on the 30-06 reloading protocol, and we each loaded three bullets from scratch.  The steps were:

- Inspect (for cracks, case distortions, or flaws)
- Brush Out
- Lubricate
- Resize/De-prime
- Wipe off
- Trim
- Deburr
- Reprime
- Add powder (54 grains)
- Bullet seat (165 grains, Pointed Soft-Point/Boat Tails)
- Final Inspection

Lots of photo ops, of course.  [Photos: 1, 2, 3]  Finished at 2:45, and immediately headed up to the range (a good ways off) at a rapid pace, with Jon keeping the ammo in his possession.  Halfway there, Jon handed us (and the ammo) off to the rangemaster, Clinton Jernigan (from Pensacola, Florida).  We arrived at the range about 3:05.  After a brief orientation, the guys set up targets downrange (there were standard targets, and also some metal silhouettes, including rams, chickens, turkeys, and a pink pig (huh?)  Plus we were encouraged to shoot certain (marked) trees at the base, because they were going to be eventually taken down anyway (in fact, they were hoping for the Scouts to be able to cut them down with bullets).  The range had only three shooting positions, so we had five relays.  They also had one left handed 30-06.  Clinton then gave a fairly extensive safety talk, and we got going.  He used the cartoon names (from the reloading session) to call people up for the relays - that’s how they avoided losing track of whose bullets were whose.  Rather than have a relay with just one person, we had three relays of three, and two relays of two, three shots each (unfortunately, we couldn’t purchase any extras because more Crews were coming).  Everyone got headphones for ear protection - and we needed them too, as the rifle reports were earsplitting under the covered range.  Some of the guys spent time going after the formal targets, but most shot the non-traditional stuff.  Thomas’ bandanna got a workout.  But Drew was very upset because Will shot his bandanna (misidentification accident) before he (Drew) got his chance.  Most of us on the later relays went after one tree that Clinton wanted removed, and we got some serious wood splinters flying on a few well-placed rounds - but the tree survived another Crew.  A fun time, but more shots would have been better.  Done by 3:45, and headed back to camp, passing another waiting Crew at the halfway transfer point.  I thanked Clinton and followed the Crew back to camp, arriving at 4:00 pm.  Clouding up some now.  We decided to start on dinner prep at 5:30, so everyone had an hour and a half of free time.  Will, Matt, and Hugh chose to nap in their tents, but most of the guys played cards and discussed the next day’s hike.  I wrote diary (what else?)  Thomas chased mini-bears around, and later claimed to have captured and released one mini-bear in a “log cabin” style trap.  Lucky he didn’t get bit - rabies shots are no fun.  At 4:45 or so, we started hearing distant thunder, but to the east.  But at 5:15, one boom of thunder was pretty hard, and we spent some time gathering a few exposed items under cover yet again.  Dinner prep started on time, with light sprinkles starting simultaneously - but they only lasted about 20 minutes.  I was going to monitor stove lighting and dinner, but Hugh got up and took over, so I continued to write diary.  Once the sprinkles ended, I set up my tent with Mark’s help, on the last piece of decent, flat ground left in the site.  As dinnertime came, we got everyone up, and had them fill three canteens each, then moved all packs out from under the tarp in case we had to eat there (putting pack covers on them).  But the rain and thunder and lightning faded away, so we lucked out on that - at least temporarily.  Dinner was chicken rice and crackers, plus some kind of apple granola crisp; pretty decent.  The guys indicated that they had decided to forego Thunder Ridge, Cimarroncito, and Hunting Lodge in favor of Hidden Valley and an earlier arrival at Clark’s Fork, so tomorrow’s hike was set.  Per request of several Crew members, we also broke out two packages of beef jerky from our “home” supplies.  After dinner, we did a quick camp breakdown and got dressed in warm clothes for the program.  Got down there on time at 8:00, but then sat on the “porch” til 8:25 (at which point we were considering just leaving).  Finally the program started with some “selected quotes” from Mark Andersen and Rod Taylor, with various snide remarks (I’ll never tell!)  Then the Scouts did pull-ups to rock music on a CD player, all dedicated to girlfriends.  The staff asked personal questions of each Scout, and again offered snide comments on the answers.  [Note - This sounds dumb and insulting, but it really was weirdly fun, and no one took it personal.  But I could see where people could get upset; the staff was walking a very thin line here, and had to hit just the right note to make it work.]  After a while, they got going on the Advisors, starting with me.  The staff was fascinated by the fact that I worked for the DEA, so I was questioned a little more intensely than anyone else.  But I only got 7 pullups in before gassing out (first time I’ve done pullups in many years).  Later Hugh got 9.  The best Advisor was a DoD man; I think he got 19, and won a can of cake frosting for his Crew (thereby making him an instant hero).  After that, the program broke up.  We chatted with the staff for a few more minutes (talking about dope, what else?), then we walked back up the hill by flashlight.  There was distant lightning to the east, but clearing skies overhead - and we saw a satellite and one meteorite in about three minutes of watching, but it was too cloudy yet to be worth trying for too long.  And we have another early wakeup call too, to see the highly recommended sunrise down Sawmill Canyon.  Hit the tents at 9:25; I wrote diary til about 9:45 and crashed.  Lots of wind and some light sprinkles from 1:30-1:45, and it was pretty windy through the rest of the night.  I slept fitfully - too much racket!