Sad Day At Philmont

[jpstodwftexas 72]

Condolences to the Family and Friends of the Scout Lost 

 

 

News Release - 6/27/2015

 

This is a very difficult time for our entire Scouting family. During the early morning hours of Saturday, June 27, Philmont Scout Ranch was hit with significant rainfall that resulted in elevating stream levels and some flooding in areas across the property. The health and safety of our youth members is our top priority and our staff immediately began making contact with all crews and participants throughout the backcountry to offer assistance and assure the safety of all participants.

During that process, our staff was unable to account for one youth participant, who we have since confirmed passed away. We have notified the family and are supporting them in any way we can. We are also mindful of the Scouts and adult volunteer leaders present on the trek, and we are also working to support those affected by this tragic incident. All other participants have been accounted for and there are no additional injuries.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and we are supporting them in any way that we can.

Philmont Scout Ranch is comprised of 214 square miles in New Mexico. Each year, around 20,000 Scouts visit Philmont for backpacking treks and training and service programs. At Philmont we strive to provide a safe and inspiring setting for Scouts to experience the natural environment of northern New Mexico and seek to protect both Scouts and wildlife.

Please keep the family and those involved in your thoughts and prayers.

 

URL:  http://www.philmontscoutranch.org/~/link.aspx?_id=829043D2C6F54040B330C6D8D1FE4C6B&_z=z

Edited September 28, 2015 by John-in-KC
link added

[qwazse 4342]

Tragic.

[RememberSchiff 3662]

One report said North Ponil Canyon.

 

Scout salute and farewell

[packsaddle 753]

Very sad, I can't imagine the grief that his family is suffering.

[desertrat77 1144]

Thoughts and prayers....

[Gone 435]

...and more heavy rain today too. Appears the flood swept the canyon early in the AM.

 

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/

[TAHAWK 1420]

Camped in a canyon with a Ranger present.  "Heavy rain."   4:30 AM the flash flood arrived, sweeping away several Scouts.  One was found dead a mile away.

 

 Per the only statistical studies that I can find, about 25% of all wilderness deaths are from drowning.

 

Edited by Packsaddle: I have merged TAHAWK's thread into this pre-existing one on the same topic. Mostly I did this to see how the 'merge' function works but it was good opportunity to try it out.

Edited June 28, 2015 by packsaddle

[Gone 435]

Thread here

http://scouter.com/index.php/topic/27338-sad-day-at-philmont/

 

Edit by Packsaddle: See my edit comment in the previous post by TAHAWK. I left this one intact with this explanation...in case it doesn't make sense sometime when someone is reading these two posts in the future. Both posts were 'merged' from a later thread that duplicated this one.

Edited June 28, 2015 by packsaddle

[jpstodwftexas 72]

So Sad that they will be forever burdened with his lose when looking back at their Philmont Experience..I hope that some may be able to return to Philmont and not have the Sadness overshadow the Fun and Beauty of Philmont...Thank God the Worst I experienced was blisters and people making fun of me because I was from Texas.. I admit it would be hard to continue a Trek and I doubt I would want an Arrowhead to remind me of the Tragedy. 

[qwazse 4342]

@@jpstodwftexas, having a troop of boys who endured a loss on the road to camp, all I can say is boys are resilient. I never really understood hope until I saw how each of our lost scout's buddies grew up strong and good. Not denying that they go through life with a new burden, and many of them won't be able to face a flood without bitterness. But courage wells up, and they overcome. That arrowhead might recall a tragedy, but it also is the last happy memory of their friend. At least, that's my prayer for them.

 

...and for the parents and scouters. This is a very hard walk, requiring tremendous grace.

[Stosh 3452]

There are many times as boys grow up that tragedy plays a part.  I lost my best friend who died of encephalitis having been bitten by a mosquito while camping in a cabin in the middle of winter at a By Scout Camp.  There is NO WAY one could have avoided it.  He was an only child and his dad was a 1936 Eagle Scout, his mom is my God-mother.  I still visit his grave to this day.

 

My sympathies go out to the family, I know the pain they are going through.  One never forgets and that is a good thing. 

[Oldscout448 697]

It was 40 years ago that I lost a fellow scout and friend to a lighting strike at Philmont.   I was 16. Untill then death was something that only happened to old people,  It was a cold slap in the face to find it could happen to anyone in the blink of an eye..

 Prayers to his family, friends, and the ranger who was with them who is certain to be saying " If I had only...."  over and over

 Oldscout

[jpstodwftexas 72]

 

 

Montana Council, Boy Scouts of America shared Troop 380's post.

28 mins Â· 

 

 

Troop 380

 New Mexico on Saturday, June 27th. Alden and his fellow scouts and leaders were on a 12-day backpacking trek at this 250,000 acre Boy Scouts of America High Adventure Base. At 4:30 AM a flashflood swept through their campsite near Indian Writings staffed camp. The surge of water moved equipment, tents, and scouts and leaders from their site. Four of our scouts and a staff member were swept away in the rushing waters, mud and debris. Three of the scouts and the staff member were found safe. Unfortunately Alden did not make it and was found a significant distance from the campsite. Our hearts go out to the Brock family during this difficult time. Roger and Cindy are in Alburquerque to bring their son home. Last night Troop 380 held a special Troop Meeting to help us all through the greiving process. It was attended by over 200 scouts, parents and the scouting family. It was truly a moving evening. The troop has established a Brock Family Fund to help out with expenses. If you would like to donate to this fund please send them to Troop 380 (Brock Family Fund), C/O Don Dier, 9216 Starina Way, Sacramento, CA 95826. I will post funeral services locations and times in the near future. Please join us as we send our thoughts and prayers to this wonderful Scout family, Roger, Cindy, Russell and Alden.

[HICO_Eagle 93]

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/149525-Big-Weekend-In-Colfax-County-Floods

 

 

We had what we call a significant flood event down here over the weekend. The news is covering the boy scout ranch and the kid that was killed in the flood. What they are not covering is that HWY 64 between Cimarron and Eagle Nest was closed all weekend from the same flood. Rockslides and overflows took out half the highway, complete sections were under flowing water. Several hundred folks were trapped in the state park and the village of Ute Park. This ontop of the flooding at Philmont that took out a huge amount of trails, cabins, equipment and displaced hundreds of boy scouts. Plus the secondary and tertiary SARs that took place throughout the weekend. I could go on, but you get the point.

 

We lost a kid, which words fail me even now. (I'm pissed, I'm heartbroken, I'm many things) On the good side, our other casualty figures are light. Some bumps and bruises, and emotinal trauma, but all survivable. Sadly the scouts that were swept away were camping well away from the river, in what can normally be considered a safe area. It just shows how this flood was signifigantly larger than anything we have experienced in our recorded history. We had a flood event in 1904 that was everything the equal of this, but most of the effected areas from this weekend were unoccupied back then, so data on what happened in those areas is nonexistant.

 

 

The high water mark at the campsite was 16 feet. Their tents were 60 feet from the normal stream side. If you do the math, you'll realize just how much water there was. Way outside the 100 year flood chance. At another camp, a 16x25 foot cabin was lifted and moved 20 feet. It was only 20 because it got wedged in between a large tree and a sunken propane tank. The single occupant gave a very interesting account. The devastation from this event is astounding.

 

I've also spoke with the staff at the camp with the fatality. Say what you want about the BSA and their recent policies, but those young men and women are prime examples of the caliber of individual that scouting can produce. Those college kid performed some amazing acts of heroism that saved dozens of lives at that and other camps during this flood. Many times I'm pretty pessimistic about the future, but those kids moved me to tears as I listened to their accounts of their actions.

 

FYSA.

[Gone 435]

We were always taught to stay 200 feet or more away from the known high water mark of any stream bed. When that's not known, go 40 ft in gradient above the obvious high water mark of the stream bed.

 

Edit: In case you're heading to Philmont any time soon, here's a good site that has the historic precip for the region by month. Helps to give you an idea regionally where the rain falls. That area has gotten a large amount or rain during monsoon season. Helps to understand how much rain we are talking about for flood potential. Figured this might help.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Bad Wolf