Itinerary 32
Super Strenuous 85 miles
Hiking time 48:43
Day 9 Details
Ewells Park to Ewells Park via Baldy and French Henry
13.4 miles Time: 8:41
Gain: 4,791 ft Loss: 4,791ft
This is a monster day - one of the most challenging Philmont offers.
Leave Baldy Town by 8 AM to ensure you can summit Baldy by noon - afternoon thunderstorms make a later summit too dangerous. The Baldy Town staff will likely turn you around if you don't get through there by 9 AM.
The south approach to Baldy is steeper and more challenging, but also much shorter - taking about 4 hours to cover the 5 miles as opposed to the nearly 5:15 it will take to cover the 7 miles of the northern approach.
The meadow walk on the far side of Baldy (between miles 5 and 7) is worth the climb - if the views from the top weren't.
Note the steep descent between Copper Park and French Henry. This is called "the wall" and you're definitely approaching it in the right direction.
From French Henry, head back to Baldy Town and pick up your food for the next few days. Remember you need to pick up your food by 6 PM or the commissary will close!
Destination Info
Ewells Park is a trail camp with good campsites and great views of Baldy Mountain to the west.
Activities Enroute
French Henry offers mining and blacksmithing. Baldy Town has a commissary to pick up food and purchase fuel and a trading post; geology staff are often on the cabin porch to talk about the local geology. Baldy Town has excellent showers.
Alternate Routes
There is no better route to accomplish all your itinerary suggests: summit Baldy, program at French Henry, and food at Baldy Town. However, you may wish to prioritize. The only thing you have to do is pick up food for the next few days, so if you need a rest, you can hike the 1-1/2 miles into Baldy Town and spend most of the day there. If you want to summit Baldy, but don't particularly care about the program and French Henry, the fastest route is to summit Baldy from the south - then return by the same route. Finally, the meadow walk off the north side of Baldy is beautiful - you can clip a few miles off the route by cutting more directly from Copper Park to Baldy Town and skipping French Henry.