Philmont Adventure - Day 9 - Ute Meadows to Santa Claus

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Was awakened at 6:00 AM with the rest of the crew. Cooked breakfast. Saw two deer by our camp site. Broke camp and hit the trail back to Miranda. Threw tomahawks again. Had a tournament which Brian won. Hit the trail again to Head of Dean. Ate lunch there. Reserved the 2:00 PM Challenge Events slot which was rained out again. Caleb was nice to a female staffer who rewarded him with snack packs for the entire crew. Left in the rain for Santa Claus. Hiked through a large, burned out forest. Got to Santa Claus and set up camp. Boys found Garrett with another crew. Went and talked to him. Boys filtered water. Late dinner. Two of our snack packs were given to Garrett. To bed at 9:20 PM.

Philmont Adventure - Day 10 - Santa Claus to Upper Bench

Monday, July 25, 2011

Up at 6:00 AM with the crew. Broke camp and hiked to the Cimarron River. Carl was having trouble, so the boys took a lot of his weight from his pack. This sped Carl up quite a bit making me the slowest of the crew. My feet were really hurting. We got to the river and soaked our feet in it while filtering water. The coldness on the feet felt wonderful. We ate dinner for lunch knowing our evening camp had little or no water. It was mostly downhill to the river. It was mostly uphill from there to our camp at Upper Bench. We probably hiked 9 to 10 miles total for the day. We set up camp pretty quickly. Dr. G had medical consultations with each crew member. Advisors meeting to discuss how things were going. Lunch for dinner. Keegan led a devotional. Used a latrine (no walls) for the first time after our sister crew showed me where it was. Walked around the dry lake bed and found a fairly fresh deer leg. Also found a log that had been rolled and lots of animal droppings. Saw a deer and fawn walk through the lake bed. Boys climbed the rocks at the end of the lake bed. They then showed the deer leg to our sister crew. This camp had the first mosquitoes that I saw.

Philmont Adventure - Day 11 - Upper Bench to Cimarroncito

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Up a couple of times in the night and the stars were incredible. Unfortunately my findings the previous evening prevented me from going too far from my tent to look at them. Up at 5:00 AM with the crew. Left on the trail at 6:15 AM. Carl was rattled by a rattlesnake along the trail. We had to hike around it. Ate breakfast on the trail. Got to Ute Gulch Commissary pretty quickly for our last food pickup. Had another pear. At the trading post, bought a Philmont Nalgene for Christian to use, some more fuel, and sock liners and foot powder for my feet. The last two items seemed to help a lot. Hiking through Grouse Canyon was very nice with lots of interesting rock formations. Quite quickly we were at Cimarroncito. We had our porch talk while Christian defended our packs from mini bears. We set up camp and had lunch. Lots of laundry was done. We did our conservation project at 2:00 PM. First we moved their equipment from where it was to the Hunting Lodge. It took two trips. Then we pulled up Musk Thistles and pulled off their seeding heads. This is an invasive species. Ironically it is also on the Philmont staff badges as it has a pretty purple flower. It was a long way back to camp and Carl hit his limit. Therefore we made the long, slow walk back together while the rest of the crew went on ahead. We took a very nice shower on the way. Dinner was pretty late and Christian missed it because he had to attend a Guia meeting. He wound up eating quite late. Carl went to bed quite early and we were all in bed by 9:00 PM.

Philmont Adventure - Day 12 - Cimarroncito

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Got up at 6:00 AM before the crew got up at 6:30 AM. Did my laundry. Slightly late for breakfast. Rock climbing. All climbed up and rappelled down. There was a race to see who could climb up the fastest. Chris won and got a Snack Pack. Back to camp for lunch. Took a side hike to the Hunting Lodge and Window Rock. The Hunting Lodge was interesting in terms of construction and items in it. The tour itself was a bit long and hot. Getting up to Window Rock was very slow as Carl was really struggling. The view from the top rewarded our efforts. You could see the Tooth of Time Ridge, the Philmont Training Center, and I believe Baldy Mountain. Keegan led a very good devotional while we were up there. I was very impressed hearing how the Philmont experience had drawn everyone closer to God. Had a talk with Carl about his pace and dealing with adversity. I told him we would need to send him to base camp if he could not pick up his pace, that I would have to go with him, and that I did not want to go. Carl flew so fast back to camp that I had a difficult time keeping up with him. Got back and took a shower and washed the clothes that I had been wearing. Dinner of chicken and rice. Got somewhat organized for the next day. Watched the boys try to conquer the climbing wall challenge without success. They could have earned a dozen donuts. To bed at 9:00 PM. By the way, no significant rain today – a first for us on the trail.

Philmont Adventure - Day 13 - Cimarroncito to Ponderosa Park

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Got up at 6:00 AM before the crew at 6:30 AM. Got a few things done and watched woodpeckers peck. Had breakfast, broke camp and hit the trail. Tried a group picture beside a lake. We hiked through the Demonstration Forest and saw a number of turkeys. Quickly got to Clarks Fork. Had our porch talk and decided to hike onto our camp at Ponderosa Park. We quickly set up camp and went back to Clarks Fork. We ate lunch there and headed to our horseback ride. We were getting our horses when lightning struck. We were delayed for 30 minutes and tried again. Unfortunately there was more lightning and the ride was cancelled. We then got things branded. I got the horse brand on my hat. Most of us then waited out the rain on the porch. Some of the boys played horseshoes. I played Moose Farkel with Carl, and then most of the others joined us. Brian won that game twice as he gambled and lost after reaching 10,000 the first time. We then went to the chuck wagon dinner. We were one of the last crews to get to eat. The beef stew tasted quite good. We then had to wait quite a while to leave as Keegan and Christian helped with cleanup. We loaded up on water on the way out since it was the last water until base camp. Chris carried the 2.5 gallon jug filled with water. We arrived back at camp and prepared for the next day. Some of the boys made large quantities of hot apple cider. Keegan cooked a spaghetti dinner he had found. Most of the boys ate the extra pound cake they were given at the chuck wagon dinner. To bed at 8:30 PM.

Philmont Adventure - Day 14 - Ponderosa Park to Base Camp

Friday, July 29, 2011

Got up at 3:45 AM before the crew at 4:00 AM. Ate breakfast, broke camp and hit the trail at 5:15 AM. Started the hike using my headlamp to see. Up through Shaeffer’s Pass. Then every rock formation was the Tooth. This happened many times. Finally we arrived at the base of the Tooth of Time. We made a pack line keeping our smellables with us. It was a difficult rock and boulder scramble up to the top. The views were great. Took a lot of pictures. Getting down was a bit difficult. Carl’s hip bothered him on the way down, and he took quite a while. We hit the trail again. It ended with a series of switchbacks that were hot and dusty. Made it back to base camp about noon taking a group finishing picture. Checked in at the Welcome Center getting our tent assignments and list of things we needed to do. Went into Cimarron for pizza at the St. James Hotel. Came back to take showers, to do the advisors survey, take care of trail charges, and get our arrowhead patches. Hit the Tooth of Time Traders for souvenir purchases. Got the mail. Dinner in the mess hall at 5:45 PM – Asian food. Chapel at 7:00 PM after dealing with sons’ SEEK classes. Chapel was pretty good. Closing campfire at 8:15 PM – Home Bound! Caleb was awarded the “We All Made It” award. To bed at 10:30 PM after some packing.