Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una@lanl.gov>]

Doug Palmer is organizing the Philmont mock search on Saturday.
505-376-2281
work:  dpalmer@philmontscoutranch.org
home:  rdpalmer@cimarron.springercoop.com

Contact him for directions to incident base camp/staging area.
He wants people to arrive between 8-8:30am, ready to go at 9am.

Friday night:
We cannot arrive at base camp on Friday night because this is a 
mock search:  they will be planting signs, evidence and/or people
before we arrive Saturday morning.  We can camp at the Cimarron
Canyon State Park, which spans US 64 between Eagle Nest and Ute
Park, a few miles west of Cimarron.  Park super Marshall Garcia
(505 377-6271, fax 505 377-2297) says we can camp in the Maverick
Campground (overnight fee $10 per vehicle) and put the horses in
pens across the road or set up our own corral out of sight away
from any facilities.  Horses are not allowed in the campground.
Toilets are shut for the winter, and there is no water except in
the Cimarron river (it runs along US 64) and a natural spring on
the north side of US 64 east of Maverick Campground.  It would be
good to get there early Friday evening:  a 30-permit hunt starts
there Saturday AM and most hunters will arrive Friday night.

Weather:
A big cold front is expected on Friday night, so there is a chance
of considerable fresh snow on the ground on Saturday (no snow now).
The local elevation is ~8000ft.  Dress warmly!

SAR public relations:
This mock search is an opportunity for us to show our preparation
and skills...in general SAR terms.  Most SAR people know little
about horses (or they would be MSAR people!), so they are not well
equipped to judge us on *mounted* SAR terms.  I just took the New
Mexico PACE and ICS-100 exams.  The biggest issue the examiners
had was (1) you must not wear all cotton (they prefer NO cotton),
followed by (2) you must carry a full set of extra clothes.  They
don't care much what you carry on your person (backpack or fanny)
vs in saddlebags.

        Una Smith
        (Santa Fe County Sheriff's Posse)