PHILMONT EXPEDITION 719G5 2011 Trek 10
 

                                                                                                                      PHILMONT JOURNAL
                                                                                                                              by Danny Burke
 

Introduction:
Another odd numbered year, and once again another Philmont trek for Troop 50,
thanks to the Council Contingent. We once again fielded two crews, I was asked to
take on the role as the Lead Adviser for this crew. Would I? You bet I would. Even
though each time I come off the trail I always say "never again, thats the last one."
But the lure of the backcountry and the total enjoyment I get from seeing boys turn into young men on the trail, is to much to turn down. If you are lucky enough to have been to Philmont, then you might remember some of the places I mention in this journal. If you haven't been, hopefully someday you will have the pleasure of hiking these trails. You will once again find typos in my journal, thats because I typed it exactly as I wrote it down when I was in my tent after a tough day on the trail pushing shear exhaustion at times. Once again, the following is my personal journal from my 6th trek at Philmont.

Crew 719G5
Adults:
Danny Burke
Matt Menger
T.D. Smyers
Brent Somers

Youth:
John Menger - Crew Leader
Nick Alonso
Dalton Brannan - Radar
Cody Eubanks
Michael Fazi
Collin Ferguson
Shyam Shah - Chaplin

Our Sister Crew was

Crew 719G12
Adults:
Steve Day
Charlie Dierker
Jim Gensheimer
Dean Ross

Youth:
Chase Gensheimer - Crew Leader
Josh Davis - Chaplin
Connor Day
Ben Dierker
Jordan Harbour
Will Ross - Radar
Austin Somers
John-Paul Watson

July 17th - Fort Worth to Cimarron

Didn't sleep to well last night, maybe it was the excitement of going on my 6th trek.
Rolled out of bed at 5am, showered, packed the truck then Wendy drove me to the
SAM building. We packed the trailer and were on the road at 6:35. Arrived at the Jolly
Truck Stop at 8:30, Steve "Yoda" Unger was there to meet us for breakfast. I had the
usual, a Western Omelette. Good food as always. I loaded the ice chest while the
troopers took different pictures of themselves "Planking," which is the new crave. Back
on the road again, just outside of Childress, Charlie had a flat tire. We unloaded the
vehicle and made a quick tire change. Back on the road we stopped in Childress for
gas and other stuff. We stopped for lunch at the Pilot Truck Stop in Amarillo. I called
Wendy while waiting for everyone to finish with their lunches. On down the road we
stopped at the Walmart in Dumas to get Charlie's tire fixed. In and out in about an
hour. Back on the road, while we were driving through Dumas we passed my best
friend's widow Denise as she was driving home to Taos. She was sure surprised to
see me as I hung out the window waving while Matt honked his horn to get her
attention. We rolled into Ponil CG at about 6:30. The mosquitoes were terrible so after
a pretty good dinner of sandwiches and chips (no open fires allowed). We moved up
to the screen shelter. The stars are once again fantastic, as always here. Made my
way back to my tent at 10:30, it sure is warm and I sure hope it cools off here.
 

July 18th - Layover Ponil

It cooled off last night, I rolled out of bed at 5:30, went up and got a shower. Most of
the adults sat and talked until we left for Heck's at 8:00. Heck's was waiting for us,
which makes it easier. The food was once again good, but the service was lacking.
We hit Base Camp and spent the day touring the Villa, the Seeton Museum, Waite
Phillips gallery, and the Trading Post. I'm not a happy camper, they do not have any
Philmont bull hat pins this year. We came back to camp and I spent the late afternoon
at camp catching up on my journal. Since there are no cooking fires allowed, we
changed tradition  and packed ourselves in cars and went to Simple Simon's Pizza.
The pizza was great. Since the mosquitoes were so bad at camp, we stayed at SS's
for a while. About 8:30 we headed back to camp, and spent the rest of the evening at
the gazebo. I had a slight scare this evening, I thought I had lost my wallet while at the
pizza place, luckily I found it in my chair back at camp. The stars are once again
spectacular tonight. Off to bed for now, Base Camp tomorrow and the journey begins.

July 19th - Base Camp - Day 1

I woke up early, went up and got a shower, I slept much better last night, my new
sleep pad is awesome. We broke camp in great time, ate a quick breakfast of Pop
Tarts and Nutri-Grain bars. Got the cars loaded and left Ponil CG for Philmont. We
arrived early, about 8am and our check-in started. We got really lucky, G-12 ran into
their Ranger "Swede" from last trek in '09, and he asked to be thier Ranger again for
this trek. He also was able to get my crew a great Ranger named Andrea Marcin, she
is from Baltimore. She seems to know what she is doing as this is her 2nd year as a
Ranger and has been leading Rayado Treks. She is aware of our Philmont readiness
and has been very good at our first day of training. In fact we were able to finish all
our check-in procedures except shakedown by lunch. After lunch we met Andrea with
our packs and did a quick shakedown. When shakedown was complete we divided the
food, stripped it down and the rest of the afternoon was ours. I spent the afternoon at
the Adviser's Lounge charging my phone. At 5 we went to dinner, then to the Adviser's
meeting. This years meeting was much longer due to the drought, fire, and bear
conditions. Directly after the Adviser's meeting we went to Chapel, I always enjoy
Chapel at Philmont, it is so peaceful. Just as Chapel ended a beautiful sunset was
seen with the suns rays beaming down on the large cross. Opening campfire was
pretty bad. After campfire I called Wendy and talked to her for a while, it gets harder
each trek to leave my family, but I really do enjoy these challenges. A quick shower,
then off to bed. We hit the trail tomorrow.

July 20th - Day 2 Lovers Leap Turnaround to Lovers Leap

Woke at 5:00, not to bad of a nights sleep. Breakfast is at 6:30 with an 8:00 bus. I
packed my personal gear in the truck, then called Wendy and Cassie and told them
both goodbye for the next 2 weeks. They are having a good trip in Galveston. G-12
has a 9:30 bus so we probably won't be seeing them much today. At Lovers Leap
Turnaround we did some training then finally hit the trail. The troopers made a couple
of wrong turns but we made it to camp and set up in site #12, the same site we used
in '03 & '07. The troopers had a little trouble getting the bear lines up but Dalton got it
over the line finally. We got camp set up and finished our Ranger training as an
afternoon thunderstorm moved in. I do like the sound of thunder rolling in the
mountains. The crew is really coming together. We fixed turkey and dressing for
dinner, it was great. Even though it sprinkled on and off, it didn't cool off much and it's
still warm here. After dinner we went out from camp and did our devotional and Thorns and Roses. Shortly after T & R, Shyam got sick and is not feeling well. Its started  to get dark, everyone has finally headed off to their tents. Bedtime.

July 21st - Day 3 Lovers Leap to Aguila

It was hot sleeping last night, I woke at 5:10, the crew was up at 5:15. Shyam still is
not feeling well so the troopers stripped his pack for him. G-12 rolled out just as we
pulled our packs on so we waited for them to go on down the trail. About an hour
down the trail we stopped for breakfast and to let Shyam rest. We moved really slow
but finally made Crater Lake about 9:15. We checked in and got a 10:00 Spar Pole
climbing time. I walked over and watched G-12 on the Spar Poles, Matt and Shyam
stayed at the cabin and Shyam slept. After climbing we decided to eat lunch and wait
for Shyam. I went up to the cabin and set with Shyam in the cabin. The Crater Boys
were really awesome, and I got to hear them practice and play their music for tonights
campfire. Base Camp (Health Lodge) determined Shyam did not need to come off the
trail. While we were in the cabin a thunderstorm rolled over with a couple of lightning
strikes on Tooth Ridge. We finally left Crater Lake and made a slow hike up and over
to Aguila, there were some really great views of the Tooth along the way. We got into
camp about 4:30 after hiking in and out of small showers. We set up camp, then sat
under the fly while it showered on and off. It looks like its only G-12 and us in camp
tonight. There is a great view from G-12's camp out over the canyon. We decided to
eat a lunch for dinner even though the spring is running. After dinner we went to a
different site where we could look out over the valley below and did our devotional,
Thorns and Roses and our final Ranger talk. We presented Andrea with a Troop coin
then made our way back to camp. Matt and I stopped by a visited with G-12 for a
while, then back to camp and finally off to bed.

July 22nd - Day 4 Aguila to Abreu

 

Slept pretty good last night, we got up at 5:30 today and the boys and Brent serenaded Andrea. We had camp broke down but absolutely could not find the trail out of camp. After going back and forth a couple of times we got on the right trail. We stopped for breakfast on the trail, G12 passed while we were eating, a deer also passed behind Matt and I as we ate. We loaded up and beat feet down to Abreu where we checked in and then took the cabin tour. It is a beautiful cabin with a tin ceiling, beautiful wood accents around the windows and doors. I really liked the wood stove and the copper counter tops in the kitchen. After the tour we set up camp in site #7 on the trail to Rayado River Camp and Zastrow. After we set up I went down to get a shower (hot water here). I also washed my shirt. A thunderstorm moved in and caught us in the bath house, (forgot my rain gear-rookie mistake). When the downpour let up T.D., Matt and I hooked it back to camp. Most everyone were in their tents. Matt, T.D. and I ducked under the dining fly with John, Cody and Michael. We had decided to cook a dinner for lunch so we had the beef, potatoes and onions. (Primo stuff I had 2 helpings) The sun came out and dried my shirt and Thermarest for me. The dining fly ripped where the pole pushed thru it. I was able to put a makeshift fix on it, hope it makes it through the trek. We've had it since '03, so this is its 5th trek. The crew went up to the Cantina for Root Beer and other stuff. Matt and I stayed back in camp, I'm in my tent now as another thunderstorm is rolling outside. Writing in my journal and listening to my ipod, WOW!!! lightning and a BIG blast of thunder, wrote a postcard to mom, will post it tomorrow at Fish Camp. Decided I would write postcards to Wendy, Cody and Cassie while I was at it. At 5:00 we went for the Mexican dinner which was awesome, unbelievable it was real food. I had so much I thought I was going to pop, but of course I had dessert too. G5 & G12 Advisers stayed at the dinner pavilion and had a good time (Brent and I both planked). At 7 went to Adviser's coffee, then we went back to camp, rehung the bear bags, then did Thorns and Roses. Finally off to bed.

 

July 23rd - Day 5 Abreu to Fish Camp

 

Rolled out of bed at 5:15 and got out of camp in 1:08. We trudged through the mud from yesterday's t-storm, pretty messy. We stopped for breakfastthen pushed on past Carson Meadows. We stopped at Split Rock and took crew and adviser photos. G12 came up behind us and we took their photos and a combined adviser photo. On up the trailI noticed Matt seemed to be having a hard time, when I questioned him, he told me he was having a difficult time breathing like last summer in the Sierra's. We took it slow for him and after 6 1/2 hrs on the trail and 7 mileswe finally made it to Fish Camp. I still can't believe I'm lucky enough to be here for the 5th time. I really enjoyed the trail today, a few wildflowers, saw wild strawberries & choke cherries. We had our porch talk, signed up for program, then hurried to set up camp before the t-storm caught us. The troopers threw the camp together in less then 10 min. OUTSTANDING!! I went back to the cabin and stayed with Matt, we decided for his own god and safety he had to go off the trail. It was a difficult decision, but it was the right decision. I stayed with him for a while until we all got together and had a crew meeting. The staff were gracious enough to let us have the place to ourselves, Matt told the troopers his condition and why he was coming off the trail. It was of course very emotional as it always is when you lose a crew member off the trail. We then all stood, laid hands on him and said a prayer. We took the cabin tour, and the troopers went and tied flys so they could fish. I sat on the porch with Matt, Charlie and Brent and enjoyed the beauty of this my most favorite camp of all Philmont. Matt's ride to Base Camp arrived at 6:30 and we said our farewells. The troopers fixed a fine dinner of Beef Stroganhoff, excellant. The boys are now off to the cabin doing the staff funtime. TD, Brent and I stayed in camp. Brent is serenading us with his wood flute, really nice. Guess I better stop for the night, its about to dark to see to write. Apache Springs tomorrow.

 

July 24th - Day 6 Fish Camp to Apache Springs

 

Up at 5:15, the troopers did a great job this morning, as we left camp at 6:30 after we filled our water bottles. We headed up the Agua Fria past our '05 campsite. This is such  a pretty hike with lots of wildflowers. We stopped for breakfast where we ate in '05. Not to much further and we hit the switchbacks that we helped build in '05. I showed the crew the boulder Cody, the crew and I rolled down the mountain. I know its the same boulder as you could still see the damage it did to the tree when it hit it. We pressed on in to camp, did our porch talk, signed up for Cons and Archery. We had just enough time to set up camp before we started the 45 minute hike up the Boundry Trail to the Cons site. We made the site and after a little delay waiting on John and Shyam who had gone back to camp to cover his pack. We started the Cons talk which lasted about 30 minutes. We could see the storms building, but we headed up the trail to the work site. We started working removing stumps and digging the new trail. About an hour into work it started to rain (our Cons directors were Nick and Lisa). Lisa told us to go ahead and eat lunch and maybe the rain would pass. Big negative, it started to hail, then lightning. We took the lightning position and held that for about 15 to 20 minutes. The rain and hail did not let up, it only got harder. Charlie told me that Nick had given his rain coat to Shyam, because he didn't have his. The time was now to move off the mountain. We abandoned our tools, grabbed our personal gear and started the 45 minute hike back to camp. The lightning hit again, we again assumed the lightning position and stuck it out for a few more minutes. Everyone was getting colder as the temp really dropped fast. We hooked it back to the cabin where everyone huddled  on the front porch. The staff was awesome, they fixed us hot chocolate, cider and coffee all nice and hot. They took Shyam inside the cabin and wrapped him in wool blankets and put him next to the stove to warm up. They also fixed him some lunch. We stayed on the porch for a while, then finished up our Q&A session and our Cons work was done. When the rain and lightning let up we came back to camp. I checked my pack, the bottom of it is soaking wet again and it was completly covered during the storm, not to happy. When I got to my tent it had rained so hard the water had splashed under my fly and almost got in my tent. The rain hasn't stopped yet, but not as hard as earlier. I'm sitting here in my sleeping bag writing in my journal. We are supposed to do archery at 4 and also get our food for the next 4 days, sure wish the rain would stop so it might dry out. Got a message from Base Camp, Matt is going to stay in Base Camp and attend the PTC. That's great, now he doesn't have to drive home. More thunder, I think this may be in for a while. The rain stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon. John and I went up to the cabin at 4 to let the staff know the crew had decided not to do archery. I presented our Cons guy Nick with a T-50 coin for going above and beyond by giving Shyam his own rain gear during the storm. We got Shyam back to camp so he could change into some dry clothes. I had him stay in his sleeping bag until dinner. We ate Mexican food meal, pretty good. The dinners this year have been great and I've been eating 2nds. The dinners to me are usually not good. After dinner we thorns and roses after TD and Brent got back from Advisers coffee. I stayed in camp with the crew. Went to bed about 8:30. Been sleeping really well, sure glad I got that Xped pad.

 

July 25th - Day 7 Apache Springs to Crooked Creek

 

Rolled out of camp at 6:30 this morning, we are taking a trail I've never been on. We stopped for breakfast just past Bear Canyon Camp. This is a nice trail that goes through aspen and pine forests and meadows. We continued on down taking a packs off break just before we Buck Creek camp. We pushed on into PJ where we stopped, filled up with water and got some pears. I bought some batteries, I found the batteries in my GPS. TD bought me a Toblerone bar, I shared it with the crew later when we got into camp. We pushed up the trail toward Crooked Creek. The troopers once again tried to take the wrong trail to Buck Creek, like they did in '03 and '07. We made Crooked Creekabout 12:00, with thunder rolling and rain threatening. We sat up camp in site #1 while it sprinkled. After camp was set up we made breakfast for lunch. It was really good an eggs, sausage and peppers meal. We hung around camp for a while some of the crew went to play horseshoes. We heard a gunshot this afternoon, found out later at Adviser coffee one of the cows had broken its leg and they had to shoot her. Pretty sad listening to her calf call for her the rest of the evening. The rain finally started again, I had just crawled in my tent when Charlie stopped by, so I crawled out and talked with him for awhile. G12 had seen 2 elk as they left Apache Springs. After Charlie left I went to my tent and wrote in my journal, then took a nap during the rain. I was really sleeping good as I didn't even know G12's entire crew came to our canp to visit. When I woke they had already gone. We cooked supper (veg lasagne) not very good. After dinner we did our chapel, wilderness pledge and thorns and roses. Brent, TD and I went to Adviser's coffee, then back to camp for some star gazing. Off to bed.

 

July 26th - Day 8 Crooked Creek to Mt. Phillips

 

Made it out of camp in a little over an hour. Hiked a new trail this trek, we followed Rayado Creek all the way to Clear Creek, beautiful trail. TD spotted a buck and a doe doe along the trail. We hit Clear Creek about 10:15 and it looked like Grand Central Station. I've never seen so many crews there at once. The earliest we could get black powder rifles was at 1:00. The crew decided it was to long to wait 3 hrs so we threw tomahawks then did the cabin tour. We dropped off our trash, filled all our water bottles and the bladder. John strapped the water bladder to his pack and we started the long, slow climb up Mt. Phillips. We went a little ways, then started the "Caterpillar" up. What great way to climb this rugged and very steep trail. We stopped for lunch along the trail, talked with a crew from Bejing, China that passed us heading down. Just as we neared the summit G12 caught us, they were really moving fast. We pressed on to the summit, after a super hard climb. TD and I came over and claimed my favorite site, #1. We set up camp with rain threatening. Brent, TD and Isat under the dining fly during the shower. I went up on the summit and texted Wendy and the kids.I also texted Matt, and TD's and Brent's wife to let them know we were all well and having a great time. Bach in camp we ate a lunch for dinner, then did T & R. Charlie stopped by for a while. Brent, TD & I went up to the summit and talked with G12. The Advisors of a crew from Lake Dallas who we've shared the trail with since Apache Springs, and a crew from Waco. All of them were taking crew photos with G12's Texas flag. G5 didn't get a crew photo with the Texas flag, but we took one earlier with a rainbow and also one with Baldy in the background. The rain was all across the valley, but missing us. However the wind is howling on the summit. In my tent now finishing up today's journal, its almost 9:00, some of the crew already asleep the restare in 1 tent playing cards. This crew has a super great attitude and we are really having a great trek. Very tired now going to hit the sack. Tomorr is all downhill, sure hope my toes & feet hold up.

 

July 27th - Day 9 Mt. Phillips to Sawmill

 

Slept in this morning, sure felt good. The wind was blowing hard as it had all evening and night. The sound of the wind thru the trees on top of Mt. Phillips always reminds me of the sound of the ghosts as they open up the Lost Ark of the Covenant in the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark". The crew worked hard and we made it out of camp in 45 minutes. We climbed back to the summit then started down. I had been looking for the benchmark on the mountain, TD found it for me. Climbing down the rocky trail I rolled my R knee, thats gonna hurt me now for sure. We stopped for breakfast at the trail intersection of Comanche Creek & Mt. Phillips. G12 was just finishing breakfast. The intersection was busy today with crews climbing and come down off Phillips. There is a crew from Lake Dallas we've been seeing for the last 3 days, great bunch of guys. We saw crews on the trail from Illinois, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California. After 6 hrs and 6.5 miles we made it to Sawmill. We dropped our packs and John went down to the cabin to check-in. After a while he came back up with a staffer. The staffer was a little sh#twho wanted to know who's feet hurt. He told me to take my boots off as he wanted to see my feet. I told him I wasn't taking my boots off for him or anybody else, if he wanted me to walk down to the cabin for a porch talk and then walk back up I'd do it. He asked if I had blisters and I said it was none his damn business. Again he wanted me to take off my boots. I told him no, that there was nothing to see, I had done this 6x and was not going to go down to his cabin. He then asked if it was internal and I said yes that I deal with it every trek. He calmed down then. I could not believe that this idiot got pissed because he had to walk up the hill and show us our campsite without us going down to the cabin. We just did as we were instructed at Logistics whe we arrived at this particular campsite. All his job, we inconveininced him, to durn bad. He still made us hike back up the trail we just came down to our camp. What an a-hole. I heard later that Jim chewed the same little turd out for being rude to G12. We set up camp then cooked last nights dinner for lunch - chicken and rice pretty good. I went down and took an ice cold shower, it sure felt good. The crew went to shoot 30.06's for program. Shyam and I stayed in camp. Shyam does not want to use weapons and my knee was still hurting. Luckily my feet aren't hurting now, I sure hope they don't tomorrow, but its mostly downhill again. Shyam and I talked a lot, we also both wrote in our journals. We can hear the report of the weapons up the canyon. Everyone is really tired today. After 2 hard trail days there have been a couple of blow ups, I think it will all come together again with a little rest. Everyone got a shower except Shyam and John. The crew came back for dinner - we had Chili Mac, again another good meal. Found out G12 had trouble with the idiot staffer I had it with. We will report him in Base Camp for sure. We sat in camp and joked around, Chase, John Paul, and Josh stopped by and talked with us. JP does great imitations. We did Thorns and Roses then everyone went to bed. I am really tired tonight. Almost forgot G12 saw a bear today.

 

July 28th - Day 10 Sawmill to Cathedral Rock

 

We broke camp in an hour and headed down the canyon. Really pretty hike down, lots of aspen. G12 passed us while we ate breakfast. We pushed it down through Grouse Canyon stopped and dropped packs while John, Shyam, Collin and Nick went to Ute Gulch for food. G12 was there so we sat and talked. Chase, Jim, Austin and Ben came back soon. G12 divided their meals and left. We waited a few minutes and our food crew returned. A light rain started just as they returned. We split up the meals, then headed on to camp in a steady rain. We made camp at about 12:30 set up in a sprinkle then ate lunch. Sat under the fly for a little while. Everyone is in their tents now, its still raining, not hard, just steady. Saw 2 deer while waiting for the food crew. I caught up on my journal, took a nap then decided to get up. Collin was up so he and I went to find G12. Charlie came by so we all walked back to his camp. Brent came also and we stayed until they had to go for water. We came back to camp. The rain has stopped, I was taking pictures along the trail when a crew from Indiana walked by, they were on Day 2 and just were dropped off at the Cito turnaround. It seemed funny as they were all giddy to be on the trail, like we were 9 days ago. Now here we are on day 10, we are closer to Base Camp today then we were at the beginning of our trek. Yet we are all ready for this to end, but we aren't ready for this to end. We fixed spaghetti for dinner, good stuff. We all sat under the fly and talked about food, and movies. We finished with T&R and a devotional. In my tent now, writing, Brent is playing his flute, which he has done every night, really pretty. Always a great way to end another great day. 

 

July 29th - Day 11 Cathedral Rock to Tooth Ridge

 

We rolled out of camp at 6:20 and took the trail up above the Cito Resevoir and Cathedral Rock. We pushed it down the new trail into Clark's Fork. We decided to eat breakfast at the chuckwagon dinner spot. That worked out well as we also were able to fill up all our water bottles and the bladder. We also found a dumpster to drop our trash in. This allowed us to blow through Clark's Fork and bypass the line at the water faucet. We started the climb up Shaefers at 8:00. Shyam was having a tough go so we caterpillared for quite a while. When we stopped for a packs off break we divided up some of his gear. We pushed it up to the pass at around 10:00. We continued on up stopping on the S side of Shaefers Peak for another packs off break. We started out on the ridge with t-storms building behind us. The views to the N and S are spectacular. The thunder prompted us to keep moving. Rolled my knee a couple of times and of course my toes were screaming in protest. We made it into camp at 1:15 after the most difficult 6 miles you will ever do. We set up in site #8 once again, G12 is up in #10 as usual. Got the fly and tents up, then ate lunch. After lunch I went over to G12's camp. We were all sitting around talking when we heard Austin yell "BEAR!" We all jumped up and there it was going under G12's dining fly. We all started yelling at it, throwing rocks and sticks at it. Charlie hit it with a rock, Connor got it with a stick. We chased it off, but it almost got some of their food. There are a couple of Rangers here in camp, their purpose is to chase off the bears so they took over the chase and chased the bear out of camp. We were of course all excited after the adreniline rush of a wild bear not 10 feet from us. After the excitement died down I went and sat on the overlook and looked down on Base Camp. TD joined me, we sat and talked and marveled at the view below. The storms never did hit, they surrounded us and thundered a lot but no rain so far. TD and I came back to camp just in time for G12 to attack us with pine cones. The boys are off exploring now, TD and I are in camp writing in our journals. We talked with the Rangers who are here specifically to keep the bear out of camp. Evidently this particular bear is becoming a problem as they have a trap set for him at Shaefers Pass. The problem female and her cub have been trapped and moved out of the area. But this bear is obviously not afraid of us. The Rangers will be here through the night. We were attacked earlier w pine cones by the other crew. The troopers are back in camp playing cards. We dropped the bear bags and ate supper. After supper we did chapel, and then T&R. The troopers spruced up camp and rehung the bear bags. We walked up to G12s camp and everyone sang Happy Birthday to Austin, Connor, John Paul and Michael. We came back to campand the bear alarm sounded again. Another bear was rooting around the Rangers camp so we chased him off. He was a bigger bear then the one who rambled throughG12s camp. Hopefully thats all for tonight. The troopers are playing cards, I'm in my tent writing in my journal. TD is waiting on the Bear Rangers so he can report the latest sighting. Going to bed now very tired. Looking foreward to Base Camp tomorrow. As if seeing the first 2 bears in camp wasn't exciting enough after I went to bed the first bear returned and was spotted coming down the trail not 10 yds from my tent. A cacaphony of "BEAR!!!" arose from the camp as everyone chased it out of camp again. The boys were to scared or to excited to sleep so they set up a bear watch in our camp. Finally off to sleep.

 

July 30th - Day 12 Tooth Ridge to Base Camp

 

The crew got up at 4:45 and went to watch sunrise with G12 on the Tooth. I stayed in my tent until 5:45. Luckily no more bear incidents during the night, I walked over to the ridge and looked out over the vastness in front of me, Dean had tried to climb the Tooth, but after all his falls and injured hamstring, he decided to come back to camp. We sat and watched one of the prettiest sunrises I've seen here. After sunrise I walked back to camp and started packing my gear for the last time on this trek. The crew started trickling back into camp about 15 minutes later. When everyone got back we packed our gear, ate a quick breakfast then joined G12 and started the 2 1/2 hr hike to Base Camp. I always enjoy hiking this last day as T50, not as separate crews with everyone wearing our blue t shirts. We hiked back and forth over the incessant swithcbacks, finally arriving at the We All Made It sign about 9:30. Matt was there to greet us with Gatorades. Crew and individual photos were taken, we then headed into camp. We stopped at Services, Charlie and I and the 2 Crew Leaders went up and checked in at the Welcome Center, got our tent assignements (A48). We stopped by Security, Registration, Services, Post Office. Then to our tents, and finally a shower. YES!!! Lunch was fish sticks, the best I've ever had. I called Wendy and the kids and talked for a while with them. At 2:00 Charlie, Matt, Brent, TD and I met at the Advisors Lounge and went to the St. James Hotel for a couple of rounds, to talk, tell stories and finish filling out paperwork. We made it back to Base Camp about 5. Dinner at 5:45, a huge rainstorm blew in just as we finished dinner. I have never seen it rain so hard in Base Camp. Everything was flooded, TD and I had to hotfoot it to the Advisors Lounge. After the rain let up we all met at the Welcome Center, we did our final Thorns and Roses, then handed out the arrowhead patches. We finiashed just in time for Chapel Service which was held in the Baldy Pavillion due to the rain. Closing campfire at 8:15 also in the Baldy Pavillion. I called Wendy after campfire, wished her a goodnight then headed to my tent. Finally a good sleep off the ground.

 

July 31st - Philmont to Fort Worth

 

Up at 5:00, well actually earlier as the wind picked up about 3 and slapped the tent around just like in '09. Packed the trailer and vehicles, off to the Din ing Hall for breakfast, and on the road by 6:15. Matt's a/c wasn't working right and the closer we got to home the hotter it got. Lunch stop in Amarillo then back on the road. Next stop Wichita Falls due to heavy traffic because of 4 separate wrecks on 287. Back at the SAM building ay 6:20 and my 6th Philmont trek is in the books. Great trek, lots of fun, will I go again - who knows???