PHILMONT EXPEDITION 720C4 2003 Trek 5
                                                                                                                    PHILMONT JOURNAL
                                                                                                                             by Danny Burke

 

 

Introduction:
This is the journal of my second trek to Philmont. We were not able to get in on the
phone lottery, however we were lucky enough to secure a Council Contingent Crew
made up of boys from my own troop. We took a full crew of 12 with only 2 boys who
had been to Philmont before, the rest were all first timers.  On our first day we arrived with 19 other crews from our Council, talk about a bunch of Texas crews taking over. I was excited about getting to see the South and Central areas of Philmont, and hopefully had found a cure for all the foot problems I had with my first trek.

Crew 720 C4:
Adults:
Danny Burke
Charlie Dierker
Len Prisco
Steve Unger

Youth:
Cody Burke ~ Crew Leader
West Allen
Eric Darsey
Andy Card Jr.
Jake Hammons
John Laird
Nathan Nash
AJ Prisco

July 18 Friday ~ Fort Worth to Cimarron

Finally the day has arrived after a little over a year of preparation we leave for        
Philmont. Out of bed at 4:20, Cody and I moved all our gear out of the house waiting on our ride. Len, AJ, & Steve arrived at my house at 5:00, we loaded the vehicles with our gear, said good bye to Wendy and Cassie and left for the Scout Hut. Everyone arrived on time with all their gear, no need to return back home like last trek. We loaded the troop trailer and were on the road by 5:50, spirits were high and everyone was ready to get on the road. Breakfast was once again at the Jolly Truck Stop outside of Wichita Falls, get the Western Omelet pretty good chow, the boys all went into the store there and bought some food for the road, however this trip we had brought an ice chest filled with water and soft drinks for us. We made a couple of gas stops, we think we got bad gas in Steve's Trail Blazer in Vernon as we didn't get very good mileage on that first tank and the car wasn't running right. Lunch stop in Amarillo at McDonalds, I called home just to check in and say hey to my daughter. We drove north up Hwy 87 to Clayton NM where we stopped for gas and to stretch our legs. Some of the boys went over to the Dairy Queen for ice cream. We followed Hwy 56 west out of Clayton towards Springer and eventually Cimarron. We arrived at the Ponil campground about 5:30 and checked in. We once again camped along the creek, nice campsite, the mosquitoes and flies were a little worse this time around and we warded them off as we cooked steak dinners on the fire. After supper the boys went and played frisbee and basketball, the adults stayed at camp and relaxed and enjoyed the stars and satellites. Another beautiful and cool New Mexico evening, I turned in early as it had been a long day.

July 19 Saturday ~ Cimarron

Didn't sleep very well last night, but then thats typical, not quite used to my Thermarest (haven't got my sleep number adjusted just yet.) I woke up early and decided to go ahead and get up and take a shower. When I got back from the showers Steve was up and had coffee going at the picnic table. We sat and talked about the trek and enjoyed the brisk morning. At 7:00 it was time for wake up, Cody got up and woke the rest of the crew up, everyone rolled out and we loaded into the cars for a breakfast trip into Cimarron at Heck's. After a good breakfast we drove out to Philmont, we started off the day with a tour of the Villa Philmonte, this was a better tour than last trek. We walked over to the Trading Post and the Museum, they had an interesting exhibit on the Philmont fires of '02, then back to the Waite Phillips Gallery, we missed this last trek, but I highly recommend it, its located behind the Villa Philmonte. We left Philmont about 2:30 and went back to camp, the afternoon thunderstorms were building so we decided to put up the dining fly. We fixed cheeseburgers for supper and ate as the rains came blowing through. The strong winds blew over most all of the packs and tore the fly on West and AJ's tent (wheres the duct tape?) As the storms grew and the evening wore on we all decided to head to bed as all were tired and it was time to get dry. Philmont Tomorrow!!!!

July 20 Sunday ~ Base Camp

Early wake up today as we will break camp and head to Philmont. We arrived at
Philmont at 7:30 and checked in. We got our tent assignments (Steve and I are tenting
together) and put our gear inside. We waited at the Welcome Center for our Ranger,
Skye Schnell from Fairfax, Virginia. Skye took us through the normal rigors of check in,
Logistics (Cody, Steve & I all went), Medical, and Services. We had our pictures made
then went up to the Dining Hall for lunch. After lunch we did our shakedown and then
had the afternoon to do as we please. I decided to take a shower but there was no
cold water, talk about a quick shower and all of it pretty durn hot. Made a trip over to
the Trading Post and then found Cody and we made our phone call home. The boys
had bought a hackey-sack at the Trading Post and were playing baseball with it over by our tents. Cody attended the Crew Leaders meeting, AJ went to the Chaplin's meeting, while Steve, Charlie and I attended the Advisors meeting. Evening chapel services were held with on and off sprinkles of rain. We all gathered under the Welcome Center and walked up to Opening campfire, which was pretty good this year. After campfire I went back to my tent to check and re-check my pack, the evening is cool with the stars brilliant as ever. I bought a new Therm-a-rest chair at the Trading Post didn't trust my other one since it had been repaired a couple of times. Journal time and then to bed. The Trek Begins Tomorrow!!!

July 21 Monday ~ Base Camp to Lovers Leap

An early rise this morning, breakfast at 6:30. Packs were finalized and day bags put in
the trailer. Went up to the Welcome Center and weighed my pack, once again I carry
54 lbs out on Day 1, well at least I'm consistent. We boarded our bus with our sister
crew from Arlington, Texas and set off for Lovers Leap Turnaround. Orienteering was
done there then on the trail, FINALLY!!! We climbed the trail to Lovers Leap with beautiful views of the Tooth of Time and Tooth Ridge to our north. Cody spotted a deer resting on the trail. Lovers Leap is a breathtaking spot, we climbed out on it and took some photos and enjoyed the view of the canyon. We rolled into campsite #9 and set up camp. The bear cable was really high and after a few tries the crew got it right. It was a warm afternoon as we sat and watched wild turkeys criss-cross the meadow below as a red tailed hawk soared overhead. Naps were taken and cards played. AJ & Eric fixed a dinner of spaghetti & corn, it was okay. After dinner and cleanup we watched more turkeys in the meadow below us. (My bear head came off of my walking stick today, hopefully I can repair it.) Skye introduced us to a new game called Mafia, a pretty good game and everyone had fun. Cody and I got killed several times. Around 10 pm we did Thorns and Roses and then off to bed. The stars seem like I can reach up and touch them, I'm glad I came back. No foot pain at all today, this is the way it should be.

July 22 Tuesday ~ Lovers Leap to Crater Lake ~ morning low temp 57*

I was sleeping really good when around 2 am, Eric woke up with a nose bleed, all the
camp was in a buzz what with all the bear precautions. Finally back to sleep around 3
am, but 5:30 came way to early. Out of camp in 50 minutes, great time. About an hour
into the hike we stopped for breakfast looking over another valley, Cody spotted some more turkeys, so we ate and watched the turkeys again. We hiked into Crater Lake about 9 am. I guarded the packs from mini bears while we checked in. Since we were the first crew in today we went straight up to the spar poles, we had the whole place to ourselves and were able to use all 3 spar poles. After the demo, I climbed first, WOW, a lot harder then it looks, I made it to the top but not after a huge effort and I was pretty worn out when I got to the top. Everyone climbed except Steve & Len. Cody, Nathan, and Andy all climbed even though they are all a little nervous of heights. West had the fastest time of 22.83 seconds, AJ's best time was 30.98 seconds (ah youth). I think everyone really enjoyed the climbing. Skye climbed the spar pole without gaffs and a belt. After we had finished climbing we went up the mountain side to our campsite to set up camp. We broke out lunch and ate as we fought off the hordes of black flies. As suddenly as the flies appeared they left, and we had a nice afternoon of relaxing. The crew, Len, and myself went back down to the cabin and did the double-jack saw, and the log toss. We spent the afternoon doing this then back to camp for supper (black beans and rice), I've definitely had better. Skye had a pound cake & cherry icing for desert, really tasty. After supper and clean up we went back down to the campfire ring and did our Wilderness Pledge, then up to the cabin for the 7th annual "Toughman Competition". AJ won by taking off his shirt and telling the story about when he saved the ladies from killer sharks, he showed on his rear end where the sharks bit him and also picked the guys nose next to him, what a laugher, his prize was carrying the bucket of water up to the campfire ring for the campfire. Campfire was the best I've ever seen with lots of music, songs, stories (like the worlds biggest lumberjack BIG DOUG), and of course the true Philmont story of Waite Phillips. All of this with Tooth Ridge and the Tooth of Time in the background back lit by a huge thunderstorm with lightening. I could get used to staying here. After campfire we went back to camp for Thorns and Roses, we presented Skye with a troop t-shirt then everyone headed off to bed. Almost forgot, the staff had some wood glue for me to fix my hiking stick. The bear head is mounted and ready to go.

July 23 Wednesday ~ Crater Lake to Black Mountain ~ morning low temp. 55*

We once again left camp in an hour, great time, went down to the cabin and signed out, and headed for Miner's Park where we stopped for breakfast. Skye was there so we ate breakfast with him, then refilled our canteens said goodbye again and left for Black Mountain. The trail up the North Fork of Urraca Creek is really nice, there really are 52 creek crossings. We saw beaver ponds, rainbow trout, wild strawberries, and aspen all along the creek. After about 6 1/2 hours on the trail and about 7 miles we arrived at Black Mountain. We were assigned campsite #7 (on a slope, imagine that). As we set up camp the rain, thunder & hail started. We had just gotten the dining fly up, the bear bags were hung and we all crowded under the fly to ride out the storm. The temperature dropped and everyone broke out the cold weather gear. When the rain let up the troopers and I went up to the forge, we made a J-hook, and presented it to Cody our crew leader. We ran into Skye at the cabin again, he had brought us donuts, really cool. We went back to camp and ate lunch for supper under the fly while it rained on and off. After we finished treating our water the rain stopped, we heard the staff fire off the black powder rifles so we all went up to the rifle range. Everyone shot and had a good time, we saw a deer over by the burros. It was getting dark as we finished shooting, most everyone shot at Andy's cap, some even hit it. I nicked a coffee can and buried a mini ball in a pie plate after Andy bet me I couldn't hit it (pay up kid). We went back to camp and did Thorns and Roses then headed off to bed. What a great day no foot problems so far, damn I'm havin' a great time. Tomorrow Beaubien.

July 24 Thursday ~ Black Mountain to Beaubien ~ morning low temp 45*

Broke camp and headed up out of camp toward Beaubien. This was a fairly easy trail
up and over and down to Beaubien, as we came into Beaubien Charlie sang our favorite trail song "Sterilize".  We checked in at the cabin and had our porch talk from a young lady that Charlie referred to as "the mousy blonde." Beaubien is a beautiful camp in the middle of a long meadow. We hiked up to our campsite #10 and set up camp. We have a Belgium crew next to us in site #9. After camp was set up the crew and I headed down to Phillips Junction for a food pickup. We were able to pickup our 5 days of food, instead of the 2 days for now and stop back in 2 days and pick up 3 more days worth of food, should help us cut down our time on the trail. I also picked up some fuel, duct tape and post cards. We divided up the food and crammed it into 2 backpacks, 2 daypacks, and 1 rain jacket. We double timed it back to Beaubien for lunch, while we ate lunch we were hit head on by a full frontal assault of mini bears. We finished lunch and went up to the cabin but unfortunately did not make Conservation time, so went back and relaxed around camp. Charlie, Len and the boys went up to play horseshoes, and do some roping while Steve and I stayed back at camp. I rested a little while from the quick food hump to PJ and then decided to go up for activities. Cody and I took on West and AJ in horseshoes we beat them 23-12. Charlie and Len also played a horseshoe grudge match, I think Len is a former horseshoe professional from the now defunct Professional Horseshoe League. We took some pictures and the boys tried their hand at roping, then back to camp for a fine supper of chicken, gravy and mashed potatoes. The evening was pleasant and not to many mini bear attacks. Andy entered the "Toughman Competition" but didn't take the win this time. We had a toe injury today, Eric cut his toe on a stick, nothing serious, which is good. Campfire was great, lots of singing and stories. After campfire we walked back to camp under a beautiful star filled sky, they seem so close you can touch them. We gathered around the dining fly and did Thorns and Roses and then went to bed. Tomorrow we climb Trail Peak.

July 25 Friday ~ Side Hike Trail Peak ~ morning low temp 51*

Awoke early at 5:30 and we were on the trail at 6:15. We carried water, breakfast, and
rain gear. About an hour out we stopped for breakfast, Charlie and Steve stayed back
at camp. After breakfast we started the long climb up Trail Peak, after about 2 hours
we reached the site of the plane crash at about 10,200 ft. This crash happened in April of 1942, all aboard were killed including a crew member Roland Jeffries, who was an Eagle Scout. As we arrived at the crash site I asked the crew for a moment of silent prayer in memory of the crew that lost their lives in that crash. There isn't much left of the crash site, part of the fuselage and the wing, with a lot of the debris still strewn down the mountainside.  We climbed on the wing (never been on an airplane wing at 10,000 ft before) and took some individual and crew photos. We then climbed to the summit at 10,250 ft., there was a tree near the top that was covered at the base with lady bugs. On the hike back down we could see Baldy off in the distance and to the north once again the Spanish Peaks in Colorado. We hiked back down and back to camp, where we fixed a supper for lunch, chicken with rice and raman noodles. At 2:00 we went up to the staff cabin for our conservation work. We put in 5 diversion dams along the trail to Trail Peak that we had just hiked. Putting in the dams consisted of tearing out the old log that had been there and replacing it with a new one along with some fill of gravel that we had to push up the trail in a wheelbarrow, I spent most of the time driving the wheelbarrow up the trail filled with gravel. The work was hard but once again we were able to knock out our conservation work and get this part of the trek finished. AJ & Eric left to help cook at the Chuck Wagon dinner. We finished our cons work and went back to camp, I opted for a shower and clean clothes. Wow that felt great, hot water from the woodburning stove and me the only one taking a shower so I was able to enjoy the water without being rushed. Supper was great, beef stew, biscuits, and peach cobbler. After supper West and Andy stayed behind and helped clean up. Back at camp we relaxed and enjoyed the evening, it was a good day. Charlie, Steve, Nathan and Jake all went to campfire while the rest of us stayed in camp and went to bed early. Tomorrow Wild Horse.

July 26 Saturday ~ Beaubien to Wild Horse ~ morning low temp 51*

We were out of camp in 45 minutes this morning, fantastic. We hiked down to PJ and
stopped for breakfast, after breakfast we divided up our meals and loaded up on
water. As we headed up the trail many crews were starting to arrive, good thing we
had picked up our food 2 days ago, put us that much further ahead on the trail. We
pushed through Porcupine camp, and on up the trail. The climb up to Crooked Creek
was a good one and we arrived in camp early enough for the boys to let out the
animals. The program here is homesteading, the boys put the burros, sheep, and cows out to pasture. It was fun to watch a bunch of city boys put out some farm animals. After that everyone helped clean out the manure in the cow pen. We then took the cabin tour, while on the tour the girl cooking and on staff there turned out to be the young lady we had given a ride home back to Texas 2 years ago. While we were setting on the front porch and watching the boys swing in the big tree swing our sister crew arrived and couldn't believe we had once again beaten them out of camp. Guess they are going to have to get up earlier. We left Crooked Creek and hiked up to the 4 x 4 road and ate lunch, it was starting to get warm and the sun was starting to really beat down on us. We hammered on into Wild Horse camp at 10,400 ft. This is a trail camp with no staff, we set up camp in site #6. The troopers got water from the spring using bandannas to keep as much silt as they could out of the water. We all put on mosquito repellent as the little critters were just starting to come out and take a few bites out of us. Supper was pretty good except the mashed potatoes were again to dry, wished we wouldn't have mashed potatoes with every supper. After dinner and clean up we played a few games of Mafia and then went to bed about 9:00, today was a long hard day, and so to will tomorrow be.

July 27 Sunday ~ Wild Horse to Mt. Phillips ~ morning low temp 42*

This morning we were out of camp in 40 minutes we think that is a new Troop 50
record. As we left camp our sister crew was just getting up and around and we could
hear their grousing as we once again smoked them out of camp. We climbed up and
over and down to Clear Creek where we shot black powder rifles and threw
tomahawks, and also learned about the beaver trade with AJ wading out to set a
beaver trap. We were hoping for the cabin tour but we never got it because an all girl
Rayado trek was in and the staffers (all male) were taken with the young ladies. While
we were shooting black powder rifles there were 4 crews waiting, ours, our sister crew and 2 other crews. Cody drew low so we had the last shoot along with our sister crew. While we waited for the first 2 crews to shoot our sister crew decided they wanted to get ahead of us and beat us up Mt. Phillips so they left without shooting. When it came time for us to shoot the staffers let us shoot our rounds and then let us shoot our sister crews rounds since they pulled out without shooting. What a great time, I do like shooting that black powder rifle. We cooked dinner for lunch as our next camp is dry. Beef stroganoff and once again super dry mashed potatoes. What with the noodles and the potatoes not being well hydrated most of the meal was crunchy, it was all I could do to choke down my helping. I was feeling a little woozy, I hadn't been eating enough as I do not like the food and was starting to feel pretty bad. I broke out my M & M's with peanuts, that hit the spot, I finished my helping of food and we refilled all our water and cleaned up. The next part of the trail was very steep and at times almost straight up as we climbed Mt. Phillips elev. 11,711 ft. What a climb, unbelievable, cannot believe we made it in full packs with extra water in about 2 1/2 hours. We picked campsite #1 right near the peak, what a view. We had rain threatening the whole climb so we set up camp quickly as a thunderstorm was heading toward us. After camp was set up we ate lunch for supper then went to the peak for individual and crew photos. Wow what a view, it was well worth the climb. As the temperature dropped and the rain fell we went to our tents and to bed at 7:30. Damn it felt good to lay down, today was a very tough day. Off to sleep listening to a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm, tomorrow will be another long and hard day to Cimarroncito.

July 28 Monday ~ Mt. Phillips to Cimarroncito ~ morning low temp 38*

10 hours of sleep felt really good, it was cold and windy as we broke camp, we were
out of camp in 45 minutes. We had great views on the way down, stopping along the
trail for breakfast. Our sister crew raced past us, once again we beat them out of
camp, and without even trying. We stopped at Thunder Ridge and enjoyed the view to the east, this would be a great spot to watch the sunrise, try and remember that
for a future trek. Downhill and more downhill, oh for some uphill my toes are screaming. We made Cyphers mine in 4 hours and checked in, they invited us inside their new staff cabin for our porch talk. We all went down to the gold panning demo, I threw in my two cents worth. The crew and Charlie went over to take the mine tour, I stayed back at the cabin and sat on the porch and talked with the camp director about prospecting at his request. He asked a lot of questions and I enjoyed sharing my 10 years of prospecting knowledge with him. He was grateful and shared some lemonade with me. After the mine tour the crew decided not to do the forge work as we had done that at Black Mountain. We filled our water bottles and again started the long downhill to Hunting Lodge. We stopped along the middle fork of Cimarroncito creek and ate lunch and then continued on to Hunting Lodge where we stopped for the cabin tour. Not as good as our last trek but still nice. Steve the tour guide gave us all cookies, there was a bear skin rug on one of the tables and Steve told us it had been a trouble bear from a couple years ago that had been hanging around Ponil camp. This had to be the same bear we had seen at Ponil in 2001. We loaded up our packs and headed up the Cimarroncito Super Highway to Cimarroncito, after 9 1/2 hours on the trail we arrived and checked in at 'Cito. Very tired and very sore, feet hurting terribly. We were given campsite #20 and set up camp, then started supper. Supper really sucked (chili and, dammit, mashed potatoes again) didn't eat most of it. We sat and rested and relaxed, it was much needed after todays long hike (14 1/2 miles), downhill all the way, my feet and toes are very sore. Thank goodness tomorrow is a layover day we can sleep in.

July 29 Tuesday ~ Layover at Cimarroncito ~ morning low temp 50*

After yesterdays tough trail down off Mt. Phillips we got a much needed layover.
Everyone slept in until 7:00. Steve and I got up and had coffee and hot chocolate, while the crew got ready for a food run to Ute Gulch. The crew left about 7:15, it was a quiet morning, Len and Charlie got up and had tea and coffee with us. The boys returned about 9:45, we all kicked back, played cards, read, or just relaxed. I caught up on my journal. We decided to cook dinner for lunch, macaroni and cheese, not to bad, and finally no mashed potatoes. We made a quick clean up as it was time for climbing. As we walked up the trail, I could see the rain moving up the canyon behind us. The crew went to the climbing wall but had to hook em back down as the heavy rain finally came, they were all soaked. That was okay with the boys though as they wanted to climb the indoor wall anyway. They climbed for a while and when their time was up the rain had stopped. Again the afternoon was just to rest up for tomorrows hike to Tooth Ridge. Supper wasn't bad, chicken teriyaki, after supper we played cards and Charlie sang a couple of his new songs he had written which we all enjoyed. We did Thorns and Roses and then off to bed at 8:45.

July 30 Wednesday ~ Cimarroncito to Tooth Ridge Camp ~ morning low temp 53*

We rolled out of camp at 6:15 and started the hike down past Hunting Lodge to Clark's Fork. We stopped for breakfast at Cimarroncito Reservoir, 4 deer wandered past us. After breakfast we headed on down to Clark's Fork where we filled up with water, there were 2 bucks in camp. We had to set down while one of the staffers gave us a porch talk even though we weren't staying at Clark's Fork, talk about ridiculous. Our sister crew came into camp shortly behind us and believe it or not actually decided to do program, who would have thought, they had been trying the entire trek to stay ahead of us on the trail and skipped a lot of program but not today. After the porch talk we started the long slow climb up Shaefers Pass. At the pass we ate lunch, it was a good time for a stop, for the first time my feet and especially my toes were really starting to hurt. We had to make a repair on Eric's pack, one of his straps broke. A young lady who was a 3rd year medical student from the Health Lodge met with us on the trail and asked if she could tag along with us across Tooth Ridge trail, we said "come on, the more the merrier." We loaded up and made the climb up and around Shaefers Peak and finally the rough and dreaded Tooth Ridge trail. Man this trail is bad, but the views to the north and south are spectacular. Last trek my toes and feet were hurting so bad I didn't really get to enjoy the scenery so I didn't realize just how pretty the views are up here. As we reached the bottom of the Tooth of Time we came across a crew that had side hiked the Tooth, they had an advisor who was experiencing chest pains, luckily we had Wendy along with us and she was able to alert the Health Lodge, she stayed behind with the crew and we continued on to camp. Just before we hit camp we encountered a rattlesnake on the trail, we let him cross in front of us and moved on into camp. We made camp after 9 hours on the trail at camp site #8 where we camped in 2001 (isn't that where the Cougar den is they told us about in Logistics?) We set up the dining fly and tents and most everyone fell asleep, which made for a quiet afternoon, I guess all the hiking and climbing, and downhills caught up with everyone. The trail was dry and dusty and everyone was covered with a fine powder as was all of our equipment. After everyone had taken their naps, Charlie and I and the crew climbed the Tooth. What a view and well worth the climb. Took some crew and individual photos and sat and watched a hawk soar over head. What a great place to finish up our trek, to the south we could see Lover's Leap where we started our trek 2 weeks ago. We could see Base Camp off in the distance below us where we would be tomorrow, hard to believe its almost over. We climbed back down off the Tooth and went back to camp a little quieter than we were going up, maybe everyone was just tired or maybe like myself we were all caught up in our own thoughts about the last 2 weeks. We ate supper and I pulled out the 1 pound package of Oreo cookies I have been carrying the entire trek for this moment. Everyone seemed to enjoy the special snack. The evening was pleasant as the other campsites filled up. It has been a great trek, tomorrow we hit Base Camp. After supper we played several games of Mafia until it got dark. I went to my tent and caught up on my journal, bedtime came about 8:45.

July 31 Thursday ~ Tooth Ridge to Base Camp ~ morning low temp 53*

Rolled out of bed at 5:30 everyone had decided instead of climbing back up the Tooth
we would watch sunrise from the ridge near camp. After the sun came up we went
back to camp and broke camp, we ate breakfast and bugged out about 7:15. The trail
down off the Ridge was dry and dusty, two or three crews passed us on the trail. Today was the only day our sister crew had beaten us out of camp on the entire trek, hope they were finally happy. I forgot how crummy this trail is, to damn many switchbacks. We hiked to the "Welcome Back You Made It" sign, Jake did 20 push ups in full pack, I was going to do them with him like I did last trek but my toes were hurting so bad I opted not to. Individual and crew photos were taken and then on into check-in. We got our tent assignments and then went to Registration, Logistics, Post Office, Security, Stoves and Gas and then to Services to complete check-in. We went back to our tents and finally it was time to hit the showers YES!!! Wow how good it felt to wash off all that dust. After cleanup we headed to the dining hall for lunch, great food - pizza. The afternoon was ours to do as we liked, most of the boys lounged around in their tents playing cards, reading, listening to CD's. Afternoon thunderstorms built up and a huge wind and dust storm blew across Base Camp (so much for the showers). Cody and I called home and talked to Wendy and Cassie. I spent most of the afternoon at either the Trading Post or the Advisors Lounge talking to other advisors who had just come off the trail, they were mostly advisors from our contingent but a few from crews just arriving to go out on the trail tomorrow. The advisors from our sister crew came and sat with us, even though the boys in the crew had acted snotty, the lead advisor was really a nice guy and we enjoyed his company. We met the crew at the bell for dinner which was pretty good - chicken fried steak. After supper we went back to the Advisors Lounge, another dust storm and then finally rain. A crew that had come in today decided to back hike Tooth Ridge and go up to the Tooth of Time, they had set up their personal tents but hadn't staked them down very good, with all the strong winds their tents were flying all over Base Camp. At 8:00 pm under threatening skies and a double rainbow we circled up as Cody gave out our Arrowhead patches, then we all went to closing campfire together. It was fun, good jokes, great slide show, the mini-bear attack skit had everyone in stitches. Rod Taylor who says he came to Philmont as a scout in 1972 and never left sang some of his songs, I really enjoyed his songs. As campfire came to a close, the light rain stopped and finally the stars came out for Len. Under a starry New Mexico sky with a thin crescent moon setting over Tooth Ridge we sang the Philmont Hymn, with tears in my eyes I came to the realization our trek was over. As campfire filed out Cody and I walked back to the Welcome Center to pick up some mail - 1 letter for Nathan. Then off to bed.

August 1 Friday ~ Philmont to Fort Worth ~ morning low temp 57*

We rolled out of bed at 4:30 and packed the overnight stuff. We had some trouble with the trailer lights. Cody went up and checked us out, we were on the road by 5:00 a.m. We stopped for gas in Springer, then on to Clayton for breakfast at the Hi Ho Cafe. We did get the trailer lights working. We pushed it down through the panhandle of Texas, the outside temps were getting hotter (Welcome back to Texas). We made a gas stop in Amarillo and then stopped in Childress at McDonalds for lunch. A final gas stop in Iowa Park, I took over driving, the outside temperature was 106*.  Phone calls home to let parents and wives know when to pick us up at the Scout Hut were made. We arrived back at the Scout Hut about 6:15 p.m. we unloaded the trailer, put up the crew gear, I gave out the individual crew photos and the boys physical forms. Everyone said their goodbyes and another Philmont trek is in the history books. Another trek in 2005? Who knows....