Stampy Crew
At
Philmont Scout Ranch

July 27, 2002

Three and a half hours out of St. Louis, rockin' and rollin' along-literally!

Sally and I arrived at SWIC at 11:15a. She got on the Metrolink to Busch Stadium with a hug and kiss goodbye. Robert and his folks arrived at 11:30a. We looked at their pictures from Troop 30's trip to DC. Looked like a great trip! Others began arriving at 11:45a. Looked like all were ready. Shakedown at 12:15p, shed a few small items but not much-everyone brought pretty much what they needed and didn't bring extra. On the Metro about 1:00p-I dropped my crew hat but before leaving Jim retrieved it-then we were off.. I was carrying my big pack, a day pack, lunch bag, and hiking pole-too much stuff! Finally slimmed it down on the Metro and disposed of lunch bag in St. Louis. About 1-block walk from Metro stop at Savvis to Amtrak. Phil's and Robert's families rode on Metro with us to see us off on the train. Everyone's excited and eager to get going. We pretty well filled the station. An hour+ later, the train arrived. We boarded together on 1 car-the "sauna" car (no air conditioning). Packs went into overhead racks. Five headcounts later, we were sure we had everyone. We shucked down to t-shirts, then the train pulled out shortly after 3:00p.

It was a pretty train ride along the Missouri River. After Kirkwood Station, everyone bailed out of the sauna car to one of the other cars with working air conditioning. Denny gave me the Stampy Crew's food money in $5's and $10's-glad I didn't have to get that one from the bank! I filled out our crew roster, then sat down with Jim and Claire to confer in the cool dinette car.

We shared what we knew about events and money. We each reviewed all med forms and confirmed that all had whatever meds were needed. We discussed leaving crew in campsite while we went to advisors' coffee in evenings and agreed to try it. If we have a problem, we'll adjust accordingly. We discussed the route and programs at length.

Phil assembled a duty roster, and Karla and Phil decided to do devotionals each morning before we start. I gave her my copy of "Eagles Soaring High," and she decided we'd do interfaith devotionals. I suggested they consider adding a Muslim, Jewish, and Christian prayer each day just for a little diversity exposure, but I wasn't hard over on it. They'll consider it.

Pretty sunset tonight as we head west. I hope it's a harbinger, a good omen. If not, it's still a very pretty one. All kids are behaving well and mixing well-so far, so good.

Dear Lord, help me have the patience, the wisdom, and the emotional strength to guide these kids. Help me have the vision to see what I need to do at the right time. Help me learn to delegate to Claire and Jim, to be able to build all 12 of us into a team. Amen.

11:30p CT--on the Southwest Chief, westbound from KC to Raton NM

Denny had fun trying to get pizzas ordered, but finally got it done after 30+ minutes on the cell phone. Arrived Kansas City about 9:30p. Pizza arrived 15 minutes later.

Stationmaster gave us a plan for loading bags. Two different plans later, we each loaded our own gear into a baggage car then headed forward two cars to our traveling car, up the steps and all aboard. I'm seated with Claire. Lots of leg room in these coach seats-better than the St. Louis-KC run. Wide seats, leg rests-not too bad. Some kids are falling asleep already, but most are reading, chatting, settling down. Claire's reading-it's lights out time for me!

July 28

Some sleep, but it was like a long, loud, bumpy plane ride. Took a while to fall asleep, so I read for an hour, turned the light off at 1:00a CT. Glad I brought long pants and fleece to sleep in-a bit chilly! Next time, carry ear plugs. Also made an eyeshade from a bandana-too much light every time someone changed cars. Not a sound sleep at all. Some of the kids were able to squeeze under the coach seats and slept that way.

Later That Day...

Ate breakfast with 3 gentleman headed further west-1 bound for home in Albuquerque, 2 for LA. Nice chat about Scouts, travel, trains, etc. Stopped in the Observation Car after breakfast-watched more of Kansas and Colorado pass by while chatting with Claire, Jim, and another family headed west. These other folks have a daughter who wants to camp and do high adventure stuff, but they hadn't heard about Venturing. Their son is a Scout. Read a little, watched a little, chatted some more. I went back to our coach car after a while and read most of Ghost Soldiers, munched a little, chatted some. Jim and I reviewed Backpacking MB requirements and Venturing Ranger Award requirements, seeing what we can complete for these kids. A few Stampies ate in the dining car, but most ate in the snack bar, saving money. We hit a couple of short stops enroute, then went dead in the water in La Junta CO with locomotive brake and power problems. Amtrak took about 2+ hours to get a freight locomotive hooked up and working, with a long line of freight cars in trail. I stayed aboard till Brian wanted to get off to sightsee. We took a little stroll up and down the train along the Amtrak platform, then reboarded. Eventually we got underway, arriving in Raton NM about 3:45p MT.

Arrival At Philmont Scout Ranch

We left the train station about 4:00p enroute to Philmont, arriving there about 5:00p. Got tents assigned, dropped packs at tents, then hustled to make dinner before 5:45p with Advisor's, Crew Leader's, and Chaplain's Aide meetings to follow at 6:00p. Our plan: meet our Ranger (Gavin), get Tent City assignments, eat dinner, get lockers for all food, attend meetings, attend 7:00p worship, 8:35p opening campfire, do laundry so we'll have clean clothes when we get off the trail.

Bolted dinner (can't even recall what it was) and hustled off to Advisor's Meeting. Jim and Claire made sure Phil and Karla got to their meetings. I don't know what rest of the crew did.

Notes from Advisor's Meeting:

• Be at bus for trailbound pickup about 30 minutes early
• Leave permission list for who can get valuables envelope out of security
• Head's-up for Day 3 Syndrome-the day the Ranger leaves the crew is historically the day crews have the most problems, injuries, morale challenges, etc.
• Drink lots of water
• Filter water after purifying may take some of the iodine taste out.
• If we need an injury pickup, the entire crew stays together until after the pickup. Send best four hikers with map, compass, and exact map location.
• Chaplain Rodney spoke briefly
  • Chaplain's Aides will help us with "meaning"-"we had the experience but missed the meaning"
  • Intentional effort for grace, devotionals, Roses Thorns and Buds, etc.
• Bears
  • Smellables up whenever we aren't walking or tending to our packs
  • Cluster tents-keep them together
  • Report all bear sightings
  • If one comes into our campsite, get big to scare the bear away
• No night hikes, except Lamberts-Cyphers Mine Camps after Stomp and Clarks Fork-Upper Clark's Fork after Chuckwagon dinner

I hooked up with Gavin again-we got lockers, though Security was closed during its advertised open hours and it took some doing. Tomorrow's schedule:

• 6:20a Breakfast in tan shirts with med forms/meds, maps, other forms, etc.
• 7:30a Register entire OVC contingent-turn in all forms
• 8:00a Logistics-Crew Leader and me, while rest of crew goes to draw equipment and food. Bring map and notepad.
• Crew photo to follow
• Crew med checks to follow
• Shakedown to follow
• 11:30a Lunch

I stopped at the Jewish chapel while the rest of the crew went to their respective services. The chapels are all open air, covered areas with benches under the sky for the "congregations." The rabbi did a nice short service-I like the way he tied our worship to the Philmont experience. I was the only trailbound attendee-there was an entire crew homebound and another person off the trail for a day or two with a sprained knee.

We regrouped about 8:15p for Opening Campfire. Off we went to hear the Philmont Story, covering the Anasazi, Spanish conquistadores, trappers, Wild West gunmen, through cowboys and Waite Phillips. It was a good show, setting the stage for our adventure. With a total fire ban in effect, it was a stage-lit show but still good. I watched Venus in the sky to the west as the sun set-it was so bright I thought it was an airplane landing light! It didn't move at all, so I realized it was a planet. I've never seen so many stars in the sky-I even got a good look at Scorpio in the southern sky, first time I've ever clearly seen that constellation. We strolled back to Trailbound Tent City, gathered train travel clothes, and went to the laundromat. While the washers ran, Gavin briefed us again on bear procedures and covered some other items, including the next day's schedule. Finally got to bed close to midnight.

July 29

Rush rush rush through the morning. At registration, I was glad I'd filled out my crew roster on the train-one crew hadn't so was further delayed while the Advisor filled it in. Notes from registration:

• When we come off the trail, Crew Leader go directly to Welcome Center for mail, checkout sheet, and tent assignments.
• Received wildlife census card. Jodie emphasized that the cows, bulls, and calves listed were elk cows, bulls, and calves, not beef!
• Fill out deposit list for safekeeping envelope.
• Be at Cimarroncito by 9:30a for morning rock climbing.

Jodie was very methodical and efficient, getting us through all check-in stuff quickly.

Phil and I went to Logistics while Gavin took the rest of the crew to draw equipment. At Logistics, Steve spoke directly to Phil, only addressing me when I asked a specific question. He gave Phil our itinerary, better known as Phil's Life. Phil marked the map. Horseback riding was full at Clarks Fork, so no go-don't think anyone will mind too much. Sounds like we'll have a good time, lots to do enroute and at staffed camps. Water looked pretty plentiful. We'll have a few dry camps, but there appears to be water available nearby. Staffed camps seem to have purified water. Elsewhere, we'll have to Polar Pure and maybe filter it. Phil marked the map and wrote down in his notebook all possible water sources along our route. He also noted dry camps and dried up water sources, too, so we'd know where not to expect water, rather than leaving us guessing. Steve emphasized bear and mountain lion precautions again, then we went to Equipment to meet the rest of the Stampies.

When we got to Equipment, the draw was pretty much complete. Gavin was working a few food details to make sure we had suitable non-meat substitutes for Karla. She and Kristy were going to eat a lot of macaroni and cheese!

We carried all gear to a central point in camp under a shade tree. We put all food in the lockers. Then we posed for our crew photo. Following that, it was med check time. That takes about an hour, no way to cut it back. Claire had a blood pressure hold, the rest of us got through with no problems. After an hour of rest, breathing exercise, and retakes, she passed and joined us at lunch. I don't recall what lunch was, but we bolted it to allow time for a Trading Post run. I dashed through, grabbing 20 postcards and 2 Central Country maps (TP was out of South Country). We began shakedown about 12:20p, all except Robert who didn't seem to understand what "be at gear at 12:15p" meant. He finally wandered in about 12:45p, when we were mostly done. Gavin did a very thorough shakedown. We left a few things behind as a result, but not too much. Everyone did a good job shedding excess stuff before we left home. In fact, when we left base camp for the trail, each locker was only about half full-and that included our homebound clothes. Gavin strongly recommended everyone carry 4 quarts of water and recommended against the four 1-gallon water jugs Jim had brought along. Some of the kids had only brought 2 bottles and so bought one or two more. I stayed with the three I brought (thank you Dave Loyet), and we ended up carrying the 1-gallon jugs. They worked out very well (and stayed at Philmont after our trek).

Following shakedown, it was time to pack everything back up again and add our share of crew gear. This took us awhile. I carried the tent-Jim carried the poles and stakes. I also had plenty of food, as did everyone. John wasn't aggressive about assigning stuff to people, preferring to let everyone take what they wanted on their own and then reminding everyone that "we still have some things to be carried." Everything got packed this time, but I expected this approach to cause problems down the road. However, with this crew it never did. (More on this later.)

We finally lined our packs up at 2:00p at the Welcome Center, awaiting a 2:30p bus. Most of us weighed our packs-mine was 53 lbs, several pushed 60 lbs. We filled all our water bottles, loaded the bus when it arrived, and headed out to Lover's Leap turnaround.

When we arrived (about a 10 minute ride), we made a pack line and Gavin began our training. He taught us about rocks and the Red Roof Inns, more about bear safety, some basic map and compass work with the map, showed us how to do grid coordinates (something new to me), and covered some other stuff. All made a rock stop, then we saddled up, posed for a picture with Tooth of Time in the background, and headed out at 3:40p with our first navigator of the trek looking for our trail. Claire was up front with the nav, and she took off leaving us in the dust. We caught up and shifted around to get slower people up front. We reached Lovers Leap at 4:30p, took a short pack's off break and enjoyed the view of base camp. We continued on, reaching the water trough near Lovers' Leap Camp at 5:15p. We filled up the 5-gallon water bladders and started toward camp only to get caught in a thunderstorm/hailstorm at 5:55p. I was glad I'd kept my rainpants-I was getting cold and wet. We took shelter under some trees to break some of the rain and hail. It continued about 1/2 hour or so. About 1/4 mile short of camp, Robert suddenly stopped, put down his load, and said, "I can't feel my legs." He was getting cold and hypothermic. We took his pack and got up to camp quickly. Jim took charge of Robert while Gavin taught us how to pitch the dining fly and the tents, set up the cooking area, how to use the sump, and how to hang bear bags and the oops bag(s). He also showed us how to purify water using Polar Pure. It didn't taste as bad as I'd expected it too-just a mild and not too unpleasant iodine taste. After getting Robert into dry clothes and getting some hot fluids into him, we put him into his sleeping bag in Claire's tent. We awoke him when dinner was ready. After dinner, Karla led Roses, Buds, and Thorns (to be referred to as RB&T henceforth), and then we went to bed. All were wet, cold, and tired. I didn't realize how significant it was at the time, but we were already seeing Stampies picking up Stampies who needed help.

July 30

Up about 6:00a, dried out wet tents and groundcloths, ate breakfast, packed up, and headed out for Urraca Mesa at 8:45a. Gavin guided our break camp routine. We saw a couple of mule deer and some burros on the trail out of Lovers' Leap Camp. I tried to take pictures but my camera lens was wet, so the pix didn't turn out. We had a steep climb, and Karla and Ray were having difficulty keeping up. We redistributed some of the load when needed. Gavin talked to Karla about setting a target of 100 meters up the trail and stopping to catch her breath, then picking another target of 100m, etc. Mike began having problems with chafing, which became sort of a running joke as we went along. At our first pack break, Karla was preparing to lead our daily devotional when another crew came by. She invited them to join us, which they did. We reached the top of the mesa and found a scenic spot for lunch, looking southwest. We had canned chicken, and Gavin showed us how to sprinkle some dirt in the bottom of the can to absorb leftover water, then crush the can for trash compaction. We learned a lot about compacting trash, and some of the Stampies got very good at it.

After a prolonged lunch, we saddled up and hiked down the northeast side of the mesa into Urraca Camp, arriving about 2:00p. When we reached Urraca, down a series of switchbacks, Phil checked us in and Gavin took us around to our campsite. The Stampies came back to the cabin for the team-building events. I took some pictures as they had fun working together and solving problems-sort of like low COPE, which most of them had done. Claire stayed in camp to write in her journal. Jim stayed back and did some laundry. We went back to our campsite at 4:00p to start dinner and prepare for the evening show. The weather was nice all day, a little warm and very sunny. I felt a little dehydrated by the time we reached Urraca Camp but nothing bad. Jim cooked dinner (beef stew) and left the beef bits crunchy-they definitely need to simmer for a bit (we didn't make that mistake again). With Phil's 15th birthday the next day, Gavin brought out a pound cake and cherry pie filling for topping to celebrate. Claire had the candles, so we lit 3 of them in the cake and sang Happy Birthday. Phil blew out the candles in one puff. Phil's mom had given me a birthday card for him, and Claire had one from his girlfriend. Jim, Claire, Gavin, and I went to advisors' coffee at 7:00p while the Stampies cleaned up the campsite. They did a really good job-one of my highlights of this trip was the cleanliness we maintained in all our campsites. I've never camped with Scouts who kept a campsite so clean! That coffee tasted great, and so did the brownies! I met a nice kitten, Armejo, a little gray furball. I discovered later that most staffed camps had cats. Phil had the crew at the evening campfire on time, 8:00p-something else I'm not used to. The Urraca Camp Staff opened the evening show with a round of Happy Birthday to Phil and another birthday boy (Eric, I think). I watched a small bat flitting around overhead during the show-all kinds of wildlife, if you know what to look for! The show repeated some of the Waite Phillips story and also had some good old songs that most of the advisors knew and sang along with-Ballad of Spider John, Rocky Raccoon, Fire on the Mountain. We closed with the Philmont Hymn and returned to our campsite. We were allowed to pitch tents in the meadow, even though there was known to be a rattlesnake living there somewhere. We walked out into the meadow after the program to look at the stars, to admire nature and the wilderness, and for RB&T. Mike fell over backwards looking up at the stars. Once again, there are more stars out here than I've ever seen in my life. Then we went to bed, planning a 4:30a wakeup to see the sunrise on Inspiration Point, on the east end of Urraca Mesa.

July 31

4:30a MT

Got everyone up and dressed, then headed to Inspiration Point arriving there about 5:20a. One other crew was already there when we arrived. Another crew came up later. I wrote Sally the first of several postcards. It was a gorgeous sunrise. We were on a rocky point with steep rock cliffs behind us. I alternated looking at the sunrise and the cliffs, taking pictures of both and of some of the crew. The sun rose about 6:00a. After it was up, Gavin again talked about the importance of observing nature and seeing the wilderness. Karla led a round-robin to describe the sunrise. Lots of different descriptions-Ray said "beautiful as a rainbow," a phrase that stuck with him throughout the trip. To me, it was God's paintbrush, palette, and canvas.

We returned to camp to eat and break camp. We said goodbye to Gavin in the campsite before the Challenge Events. We gave him my Taleka Lodge flap, an OVC Contingent ballcap, and a travel alarm clock in thanks for all he did for us and taught us. I hope he'll be at our closing campfire. Claire and I also asked Gavin about having Jim speak briefly at the closing campfire, relating the Philmont experience to what he saw and did September 11. I gave Gavin a brief write-up of Jim's award and experience with the request-he'll see what he can do.

We walked down to the staff cabin to continue/complete the challenge events. Jim and Claire went with the crew while I sat and made notes in my notebook. I also chatted with Gavin a bit. He's been in Scouting a long while, working mainly with the English equivalent of Cub Scouts. He's Wood Badge trained (or Wood Bead, as he calls it) and attends the Gilwell Reunion each year. I'll have to go to that some time. We compared training requirements for adult Scouters here and there-they're required to do basic and Wood Badge training in England, something they sign up to in their warrant as a Scouter. I wonder how that would work here?

Some notes while awaiting Stampies to complete Challenge Events:

• It takes us a long time to get rolling in the morning.
• Phil is a terrific leader. Last night he got the campsite squared away and the crew to the campfire program on time with no adults in camp-we were at Advisors' Coffee.
• I'm not sleeping enough at night. My ThermaRest air mattress works well, but I really need something for a pillow. Last night I used my raincoat and it was better.
• This is my first down time to sit and write in my journal. What a whirl this has been. I thought we'd have a little more down time, but...
• It'll be hot heading to Backache Springs. We'll have to do laundry again there, and every or every other day, I think.

Sunrise at Inspiration Point was magnificent-God's paintbrush, palette, and canvas.

At Backache Springs Camp

We left Urraca late morning, filling all water bottles and the four 1-gallon jugs before we left. At the top, we started topping off everyone's individual bottles from the gallon jugs. Inched up the switchbacks to Urraca Mesa. We stopped for lunch again at the overlook, enjoyed if for most of an hour. Then we headed down the steepest trail I've ever been on straight down from the overlook. Glad we didn't have to climb that one, especially with packs! I'm also glad I brought my hiking staff-I needed it badly to make sure of my footing on the way down. It was not only steep, it was very loose footing on large (4"-18") rocks. We found a stock tank with a fill pipe coming from a spring on the way down and refilled everything so we'd have water in Backache. From there on, the trail was fairly level. Backache Springs was a large meadow/cow pasture southeast of Urraca Mesa. We took a site near the entrance, but all sites were far from the bear bag cable, which was suspended between two collapsing 12x12 posts. We had a pleasant afternoon fixing feet, playing football and frisbee, and taking it easy. While our Nav was looking at the chart, a dust-devil picked up the ziplok bag and orange map-grid card, carrying it aloft. We watched it blow north of us about 50 feet high. As it moved along, the orange card fell out. Mike, Brian, and I went to look for both up in the scrubby trees and bushes. Mike found the card, but the bag was gone. The Red Roof Inn had no roof or walls, rather was a Pilot-Bombardier in a clump of bushes. Kristy had a visitor while using it-a cow pastured in the area wandered by, stopped about four feet from her, looked at her, and continued on. There were about a dozen or more cattle pastured there. They wandered around near the camps but didn't enter any. Brian called to one and it answered. He and Phil came across a bull elk while looking for a spring (which the found and brought back a 5-gallon bladder full). Neither had cameras on them so missed that opportunity, for which they're still kicking themselves. All did some laundry, and we hung it on tents and under the dining fly overnight. Some was dry in the morning-that which was damp we pinned to our packs to dry while hiking. Ray needed a minor pack repair, and Brian quickly did a very professional job with safety wire and my Leatherman pliers. I was a cook tonight, and Claire asked if she could help. We added two tubes of jalapeno squeeze cheese to the macaroni and cheese-I thought it would add a little zip and flavor, and it did just that. It was our cook's secret-we told no one until after dinner. Few of us had liked the jalapeno squeeze cheese at lunch the previous day, so we had several left over. After dark, Phil and Claire went to hang an oops bag and got lost on return-they forgot to take a flashlight and headed off down the middle of the pasture. They realized they'd missed our campsite and made a hard right turn to find us. Next time, they'll take a compass!

August 1

On a long, steep, poor footing downhill trail (not as bad as yesterday's down from Urraca Mesa), I had an epiphany-"This is what I've been destined to do-to be a Scouter-to help guide, coach, lead, teach, and encourage these kids to believe, achieve, succeed, and exceed their goals." I suppose I've always known it, but today it hit me full force that this is my purpose in life-this is what God put me on Earth to do.

Evening-Abreu Camp

We had a fun day here. First, we were assigned a nice campsite and pitched camp. We ate lunch and returned to the staff area for adobe brick making. Squishing the mud, water, and straw around with our feet felt good. We had 13 people in the mud-tub, a new record! We got some pictures quickly, before everyone fell out. We adobe-squishers then had the privilege of washing and soaking our feet in the cold stream. Man oh man, did that feel good on the wheels! All Stampies except Robert got into the tub. We then walked back to camp and on to the showerhouse for our first shower since basecamp. Lot's of hot water-felt great. The air was a bit cool, and I dried quickly, almost not needing a towel. We also washed our clothes again, this time in a real laundry bin rather than a camp cookpot. On our way back to camp, we saw a mule deer munching grass and leaves. It would turn to look at us, then go back to eating. It didn't seem to fear people, at least not from 100 feet or so. We returned to the staff area for dinner, a large flour tortilla with seasoned ground beef, a small splat of beans, and fresh chopped lettuce and tomato, with a cookie for dessert. We sent two cooks to help serve and had one stay afterward for cleanup. A plate or wider bowl would have been nice-all we had was our cups. It worked, barely. While we ate in the shade, the local goats wandered by and inspected us and our food. Jim shoved one away from him very forcefully. It circled around, backed up to Jim's back, and began to pee. I've never seen Jim jump so fast! We all had a great laugh-I think the goat missed, but I'm not certain. I didn't smell anything unusual in the tent that night-and we'd just showered earlier. Later, Jim and I took a picture with an old goat-the three "Old Goats." Brian also made a special friend, Puma the kitten. He carried that kitten around all over the staff area, and I was sure I'd find Puma in Brian's pack the next day! At farm chore time, we watched some of our Stampies milk the goats. Phil and Mike even drank from the udder! Claire had goats once upon a time, so she was very familiar with it all and very comfortable. Jim got some goat's milk for his coffee later. Karla and Kristy carried water into the burro and sheep pens. Claire, Jim, and I went to Advisors' Coffee that night and enjoyed the brownie cake with the coffee. We sat on the porch and chatted about Scouts and family time, and how hard it can be balancing the two sometimes. We watched the chicken chasing event-"catch the chickens and put them into the chickenhouse. We don't practice catch and release with the chickens-too much mental cruelty." Phil, Kristy, and Karla each caught one, and I got a picture. Puma had to go home at dark, into the staff cabin. We all went back to camp for a good night's sleep and a planned early wakeup. Tomorrow we'll cover about 13 miles, about 10 to Fish Camp and then on to Phillips Junction for food and Agua Fria to camp, so it'll be a long day.

August 2

We awoke at 5:00a and were out of Abreu by 7:00a. We expect to do our conservation project at 2:00p today at Fish Camp. We have a long hike ahead of us-not much time to dally or sightsee. Too bad, this is supposed to be one of the most scenic trails at Philmont.

It turned out to be a long, hard, fast hike. The trail was pretty level, running along a contour line on the south side of the Rayado River. We were well above the river, so we had some terrific views looking east, west, and north. We left Abreu with all water full (including the 1-gallon jugs, which we drained as we topped off all personal water bottles). We stopped at a scenic point for our morning devotional, and were preparing to sing the Philmont Hymn when a staffer came by enroute to Fish Camp. We invited her to join us, which she gladly did. Saying, "Wow, that was awesome, thank you!" she headed on out ahead of us. We passed some downed trees that had fallen across the trail until a trail crew had sawed out sections to clear the trail. Phil said he was glad he hadn't had to backpack a chainsaw in to cut those logs. I told him that it wasn't done by a chainsaw, but rather was chewed out by a Northern Rockies beaver. He bit, so I explained that the Northern Rockies beaver has its cutting teeth on the sides of its mouth rather than in the front. This lets it cut trees cleanly across, rather than the scalloped chewing around the tree we see with regular beavers. It was a two or three days later that I found out Phil and Karla had both bitten on that story really hard-I couldn't believe it. They were both good sports when they found out the real story. We also walked through some mini-rain forests, with different vegetation, about 30'-50' either side of water runs down the slope-very small streams or seeps. Mostly we saw aspens and pines. We reached Fish Camp about 12:15p and ate lunch. A momma and baby skunk were snooping around, but not by us. I didn't see momma but did see the baby. An advisor on another crew almost stepped on it, not watching where he was going. Its tail went straight up and the advisor jumped back in a hurry when he saw where he was walking. Fortunately, no one got sprayed. At 12:30p, a staff member came out and told us the 2:00p conservation project was full, but we could sign up for conservation at 8:00a tomorrow (which we did). If I'd known we had to sign up for the conservation project, we could have taken a little more time to enjoy the Rayado Trail. Well, a note for next time. We picked five people to make the food run to Phillips Junction (Phil, Jim, James, Brian, Mike). They unloaded their packs completely and headed out about 1:00p. The rest of us tried to get all the gear to Agua Fria Camp to pick a good campsite, but we had too much to carry and too little to carry it in. Clair, Kristy, and I continued on to Agua Fria Camp while Ray, Karla, Robert, and John carried some stuff back to Fish Camp. Ray, Robert, and John tied fishing flies and Karla watched the gear while the three of us claimed a camp, pitching the dining fly, dropping two tents, and hanging a couple bear bags. We then returned to Fish Camp with emptier packs to help carry the rest of the crew gear and the food. We arrived in time for the 4:00p Fish Camp Lodge tour-very interesting, especially the fire screens with silhouettes of Waite Phillips hunting, riding, fishing, etc. One set of andirons had R and L on it. None of us guessed that it stood for Rayado Lodge. There were lots of hunting trophies on the walls. The food crew returned to Fish Camp about 4:10p and joined the lodge tour or went to tie flies. Brian wore his two flies in his hat bill the rest of the trip. After the tour, we reloaded and returned to Agua Fria. We had a great campsite, under trees on the edge of a meadow. Great tenting sites. We got the tents pitched while the cooks prepared dinner, then we all enjoyed a nice sit-down. We had another early evening to bed-all were beat from the Race through Rayado.

August 3

We broke camp and left Agua Fria about 7:15a to be at Fish Camp by 7:45a for breakfast before our 8:00a conservation project time. We listened to two very funny young men entertain us for about an hour, explaining the names of the tools we'd use (such as the pick-o-mattock, the spoon, the Pulaski, etc.). They put on quite a comedy routine. Brian gave them some straight man material, explaining how digging with a spoon will "dullen" it. I'm sure that one will last for a year or so! We then grabbed "brain buckets" and gloves and headed toward the bridge across Crooked Creek with the tools, where we were to build a rock approach to the bridge. Mike, Phil, Brian, James, and I spent an hour 45 minutes wrestling some big rocks into place, fitting them to each other, removing them and resetting them, etc., while Jim, Claire, Karla, Kristy, Robert, Ray, and John brought small gravel up from the stream for bedding. At 10:45a, our staffer promptly stopped us. We took a couple of team pics, gathered all the gear, and returned to the conservation shed. Our two funny men talked about the different ways to do Philmont (OA Trail Crew, ROCS, Cavalcade, Rayado, Autumn Adventure, staff, etc.) for 15 minutes. Interestingly, they said that anyone who had done Rayado or was an Eagle Scout was almost an automatic pick for staff. After signing off Phil's Life, they sent us on our way. (Of three crew leaders, he was the only one who had his Life in his pocket and not in his pack.) We then ate lunch under the trees, dried out some wet clothes, and headed out to Phillips Junction. We stopped at the PJ Trading Post about an hour later, where I bought and wrote two postcards and a few of the crew bought other souvenirs. They also raided the swap boxes for peanut butter and squeeze cheese. We continued on to Crooked Creek Camp, arriving there about another hour later. After a tour of the homestead cabin, featuring hunting trophies and skins, including minibear skins, an oxblood and dirt floor, and a woodburning cookstove, (Claire took a good look at it as she had at Fish Camp-she used to live in a house with one and so was very interested in them), staff took us to our campsite where we pitched camp and cooked dinner. We saw a raven here, the first I've ever seen in the wild. Its features: 21 inches long; entirely black plumage; larger than crows; wedge-shaped tail; relatively short legs. Jim, Claire, and I headed back to the staff cabin for advisor's coffee after dinner but were too late. We arrived in time for the storyteller, who told some real groaner run-on stories after spending five minutes swearing us in to the Crooked Creek ..., ..., ..., Storytelling Society. The crew helped bring the burros, cow, calf, and sheep in to their pens. Deciding on our schedule for the next day, the crew decided to forego black powder shooting for an extra hour of sleep. All were in bed and asleep early.

August 4

After a couple of very full days, and with an expected short day before us, the crew elected to sleep in till 6:30a. We took our time breaking camp and eating breakfast and finally were out of Crooked Creek by 9:30a. The trail ran a long gradual uphill, as we climbed from about 9,000' MSL to 10,400' MSL. It ran along Clear Creek in mostly wooded areas with occasional small open glades. We hoped to see some wildlife in the clearings, but other than birds we didn't see anything. It was a pretty trail paralleling the creek. We saw some evidence of beavers having chewed on trees (not the Northern Rockies beaver, but rather the conventional kind). We also saw trees that bears had chewed on, trying to get to the bugs inside. We stopped at a nice spot for lunch and then continued on. About 1:00p or so, it began to rain. We all donned our raingear and covered our packs. Shortly, it began to rain hard and then hail, with thunder. Lightning remained several miles away. With the hard rain and hail, we stopped, dropped our packs, and sheltered under trees for awhile. The rain and hail got harder, so we pulled out the dining fly and huddled together under it. Jim and I strung a bear rope between two trees and we draped the dining fly over it. Using hiking staffs, trekking poles, and other ropes and lines, we had the dining fly up and spread with room for us all. Claire got very wet through her rainjacket, and she let us know when she began to get cold. The entire crew huddled around her, with Claire in the middle, to keep her warm. And they figured out to do that on their own. These Stampies are a great crew! I found out my rainjacket doesn't have Gore-Tex down the sleeves-my arms were wet but by trunk was dry. My legs were damp from sweating inside my rainpants and gaiters, and I began to get a little cold. I jumped up and down on my toes to warm up. All stayed in good spirits despite a good hour and a half or more in the rain with passing pea-sized hail. About the time I sensed that everyone was getting a little cool and bored, I broke out the bag of Werthers hard candy I'd been saving for a tough night. Spirits jumped seeing something that would taste good and warm everyone up. We ate most of the bag standing there in the storm. A crew passed us by, but I'm glad we stopped-water was running down the trail pretty fast at the height of the storm, and I didn't want to fight that slick footing and water. The storm finally slacked enough for us to break our little rain shelter down and head on out. We still had a ways to go. We hiked on in light showers the rest of the way. It stopped about the time we arrived at our campsite in Clear Creek, about 4:30p. The staffer who checked us in needed to check his attitude at the campsite boundary-what a snot. To Philmont's credit, he was the only unpleasant (or even semi-pleasant) staffer we met the entire trek. Phil tried joking around with him, as he'd done at several other camps, but this idiot wasn't interested. The program here was black powder shooting and tomahawk throw, but our crew skipped both, too wet, tired, and cold. We were now at 10,400' MSL. None of us were out of breath, but we were tired. We pitched camp, cooked, ate, cleaned up, and went to bed. Tomorrow would be an early wake-up for our toughest day yet-ascending Mt. Phillips from the steep side.

August 5

11:07a, atop Mt. Phillips, 11,721 ft MSL (written on the train enroute home)

Just arrived. We departed Clear Creek about 8:15a this morning. We left Mt. Phillips about 1:15p. I put our crew song together enroute (sung to tune of "We Will Rock You"):

We are Stampies, Stampy crew-
We will Stamp all over you.
We've got sweat on our faces,
We beat the aces,
We've been hikin' all over these places.

We are we are Stampies.
We are we are Stampies.

We caterpillarred most of the way up. We had a short practice run leaving Clear Creek to make sure everyone understood how. It's a good thing-we needed to start within a mile of camp. Mike suggested extending the caterpillar length from 2 paces to about 5 paces. This worked out great, moving us along a little quicker and giving us each a little longer to catch our breath. No one complained about the pace being too slow-I think the altitude was starting to reach us all. I did a lot of cheerleading keeping everyone headed up the mountain. Every time we took a break, we sang the Stampy song. Half way up, I started asking everyone as they passed while caterpillaring, "What's the word?" The answer I gave them was, "PMA (for Positive Mental Attitude)." They all got into the drill. Jim threw back at me the slogan on his hat: "Attitude-Gotta Have It!"

We took lots of pictures on the top. What a great view west and north where there were no trees. We could see Mt. Baldy to the north and Taos to the west-south-west. What a great sense of accomplishment and achievement for all to make this climb-Clear Creek Camp at 10,200' MSL to the top of Mt. Phillips in about 2 1/2 miles. We ate lunch, spread out wet clothes and dining fly to dry, and chased minibears. I wrote postcards. We also shared some camera time with another crew on top on a side hike, sharing cameras and taking each others' pictures. I thought about Harold Gaubatz, remembering the photo I'd seen of Harold on the final trail up to the peak of Mt. Phillips. I shared these thoughts with Brian and Claire, and what Jane had told me about Philmont being Harold's favorite place.

When we left, we missed part of the trail and started heading north down a washout. When we realized we were headed the wrong way, we swung back to the east to find the trail. We headed down another wash that petered out. After a little consternation, we continued searching southeast until we found a well-defined trail. The way down was much easier and we made good speed. Not as good as the crew on the side hike, though-I heard a clicking sound coming up from behind. I turned to see the crew flying along our left side, each with trekking poles and with only daypacks. They blew on by as we paused, then we resumed our travel. We had a long gradual downhill run with some switchbacks around Comanche Peak giving us a view of Mt. Phillips' east side. We eventually reached Cypher's Mine Camp about 4:30p. Phil checked us in and asked if we could modify our itinerary to camp there rather than continuing on to Lambert's Mine Camp. The young lady checked with Philmont Logistics, who disapproved the change even though Cypher's had campsites available. We headed on out to Lamberts, leaving Cyphers about 5:00p and arriving Lamberts about 5:30p. Lamberts Mine Camp was almost full when we arrived-we got the last campsite available. The tenting area was rocky, but we were near the pilot-bombardier and the bear cable. We dried out rain flies and tents while pitching camp and cooking dinner, then finished pitching tents. Everyone was really beat when we arrived, so we pitched camp, cooked and ate dinner, did RB&T, and went to bed.

August 6

We slept in till about 6:00a, with a short day before us. While sweeping the campsite for our own trash, we found a lot of older trash from previous crews (which we cleaned up). I must compliment the Stampies on cleanliness. This is the cleanest bunch of Scouts I've ever camped with. I've never found our own trash leftover in the morning, only old stuff from previous crews. These guys and gals are very careful with their food and litter. I'm giving everyone an extra hour of service time toward their 50-miler award for picking up after our predecessors.

We were last crew out of Lamberts Mine Camp, leaving about 8:30a. It was a short run down to Hunting Lodge, good trail, slight downhill. We arrived at Hunting Lodge about 10:00a and took the tour. Linda Cummings and her husband (none of us can recall his name-Steve, maybe?) live in Texas and come to Philmont each summer to live in Hunting Lodge and give tours. Interesting tour-Waite Phillips really enjoyed entertaining people out here at his ranch, between here, Fish Camp (formerly known as Rayado Lodge), and the Villa. We heard a couple thunderclaps during the tour, so Jim, Claire, and I went out to cover packs while the Scouts finished the tour. We rejoined in time for an apple each in the kitchen. The Hunting Lodge complex had been quite large at one time, with stables, servants quarters, etc. Most of the buildings are gone now. We concluded the tour with some photo albums on the front porch while we finished our apples. It had begun to rain, so it was nice to sit under cover for once. However, before we finished, we got chased off the porch to make room for some kids of PTC attendees who were in for their tour. We put rain gear on, saddled up, and headed up the road to Cimarroncito, about 20 minutes away.

Arriving at `Cito, we learned we could climb at 3:00p or the next morning at 10:00a. Having a commissary run to make to Ute Gulch, Phil opted for the next morning. We ate lunch and showered (cold showers, but better than nothing), then Jim, Robert, John, Phil, and I unloaded packs and headed up to Ute Gulch nearly empty. Everyone else remained at `Cito to do laundry, including ours. We made the trip empty in 30 minutes. Bears had raided the commissary sometime earlier this year, evident by the new boards on one wall and the electric fence attached all around the building. We raided the swap boxes for trail mix, gorp, squeeze cheese, squeeze peanut butter, Boulder Bars, and Gatorade. We also brought back a dozen apples for the crew. After a quick stop in the Trading Post (I bought a Philmont mini-`biner and a Philmont whistle), we saddled up and headed back to `Cito.

We arrived in Cito 35 minutes later. It was a pretty walk up and back. We returned to find laundry drying and strung from tree to tree to tree all over. What a picture! We repacked, took down the laundry, and headed to Webster Parks. We started in the wrong direction, then got straightened out and found the right trail. It took us about 35 minutes of gentle uphill to get to Webster Parks, then another 10 minutes of meadow walking to find the campsites. We had our best campsite to date, right on the edge of a meadow that sloped down to the east. What a sunrise we'll have! After supper, I went out to look at the stars. I'm glad I did-it was the last night I'd have that much open sky to gawk at. We hung damp laundry on tents and on a line well across the meadow. Most of it dried, but what didn't we hung on packs the next day. Ray and I cooked Tooth of Time Chicken (with noodles) and Green Beans for dinner-adding some Mrs. Dash for seasoning. One of our best trail meals! After dinner, in addition to RB&T, we did a "What you did for the crew that I appreciate" whip-around, telling the next two people in the circle what each had done for the crew. It worked very well, and continued to bring the crew together into a team. Talking to a couple of our crew members, I'd discovered that they didn't feel they were part of the team. I think this helped.

August 7

With a 10:00a rock-climbing time, we awoke at 6:00a and left Webster Parks Camp at 8:00a. The sunrise was beautiful, and I took a few pictures of the Stampies silhouetted against the sunrise. I hope they look good. This has been such an amazing experience for me-these are a great bunch of people. They've come together as a team better than I ever could have expected-awesome, amazing, inspiring.

We meadow-walked across the meadow to find the trail out, and came across three mule deer, two males and a female. The two males didn't get along too well, but all of them weren't too shy of us. We were about 50 yards away at our closest, I think. I took a bunch of pictures while Brian stayed back with me to watch. We then rejoined the rest of the crew and were on our way to `Cito. It only took us 25 minutes, so we had plenty of time to fill water, etc. At 9:45a, the staff briefed us on what we needed to take (water, rain gear, and change into climbing shoes). A few minutes later, we and three other crews headed up to the climbing area. It was quite a climb just to get to the rock face. We got hardhats entering the climbing area, and staffers briefed us on procedures, including fastening on the climbing harnesses, the two faces we could choose between, and the rappelling area. We were the first crew to climb. All Stampies but Claire, Ray, and Karla climbed. I've never done any rock climbing before, so I took the easier of the two faces, called Turtle. Each face was bout 40 feet high. About half the Stampies took the Turtle, the other half took the more difficult Klingon (Cling-on). Turtle still called for pretty good leg, hand, and arm strength to pull myself up. My Converse All-Stars seemed to be just the right shoes to climb in. I never could have done it in my hiking boots. I reached the top, hooked up to the safety line, and went to the rappelling spot about 50 feet away. When it was my turn, over the side and down the face I went. The staff asked us not to do the big jump rappel thing, as it wears the ropes too much, so I took it easy and walked down the face. Talking to those who had done Klingon, they found few foot or hand-holds, mostly hanging on with finger grips in rock holes. It was fun, but not something I'd like to make a hobby of. If our troop wants to do any climbing and rappelling at the YMCA or elsewhere, I'll be up for it, though.

It took about an hour for us to get through. We headed back to `Cito, watered up and snacked, everyone finished carving initials into my hiking staff, and saddled up for Hunting Lodge, where we planned to eat lunch. It took about 20 minutes to reach Hunting Lodge. We took a couple picnic tables for lunch-what a treat to eat lunch sitting at a table rather than on the ground! While eating, we saw a Stellar's Jay and a Clark's Nutcracker. Stellar's Jay has a black head and shoulders with bright blue, almost irridescent blue, back and wings, and is a large bird. Its features: 11 inches long; black sturdy bill; black crest and head; forehead and throat may have some white flecks; dark blue body; wings and tail have dark bars; dark legs. Clark's Nutcracker is all gray, a very soft and pretty shade. Its features: 11 inches long; long, pointed bill; pale gray plumage; white around base of bill and undertail coverts; black wings with white patch on secondaries; black tail with white outer tail feathers. When we left Hunting Lodge, we had a downhill trail to Clark's Fork Camp. We hit rain on the way down, and the trail/road was very muddy. I think by the time we reached Clark's Fork Camp my boots had doubled in weight from the mud! We arrived at Clark's about 2:00p, getting the schedule and the campsite pitch from a staff member. Branding was on the hour, next session to start at 3:00p, so we elected to hang out at the staff cabin area, where there was a chessboard, checkerboard, and card table under a large covered porch. Brian and John went to rope some wooden cattle, while Phil and I teamed up to beat James and Christy at horseshoes. Mike pitched by himself at the next horseshoe pit while the others played chess or sat and relaxed. At 3:00p, most of us brought boots, hats, and hiking sticks over to get branded with the Bar P Crazy S (cattle) [INLINE: barPCrazyS] or Bar Crazy S (horses) [INLINE: barCrazyS]. Phil also got the Clarks Fork brand on his boots. The female staffer explained branding to us, describing the difference between hot branding (as they do in the west) and cold branding (more prevalent in the east). She also explained that brand location was critical-brands were registered by location as well as symbol. Philmont horse brands are on the right shoulder and cattle brands on the left hip. She had a hot propane stove heating the irons, and she gave us each the option of doing the branding ourselves or having her do the brand. I asked her to put both on my hiking staff and to put the [INLINE: barPCrazyS] on one of my boots. I watched carefully and branded my other boot myself. Claire had the cork grip on one of her trekking poles branded with the [INLINE: barPCrazyS]. Brian branded a pair of leather gloves and his hat bill.

After branding, a staff member took us to our campsite, a nice one under the trees, flat with good tenting sites. He hung around with a few of the guys for a good half hour or so, chatting about Philmont, staff jobs, our trek, and whatever else. We sent John to the chuckwagon dinner site to help prepare our dinner (nice to not have to cook that last night on the trail!) and went there ourselves about 5:00p. We got a good explanation of chuck wagons (having been invented by Charles somebody, hence the name "chuck") and a display of a replica chuckwagon, including the chuck box organization of drawers and cabinets in the rear-leading to what we use in Scouts, a chuck box for cooking supplies. We then had a great beef stew dinner with crackers-John first brought us Club Crackers, which everyone was so sick of that he took back and brought saltines, to a round of thanks and applause! We also polished off a large can of peaches, then lined up to wash all our dishes and utensils. Karla got her two grilled cheese sandwiches (we'd arranged for them before going to our campsite), so all of us ate well. After dinner, we returned to the staff cabin for advisors' coffee (with chocolate chip cookies) and then the Hootenanny. Great instrumentals, fair vocals. It's the first time I ever heard a Rolling Stones song sung by a cowboy band-as they sang "Wild Horses," I strained to remember the title of the familiar tune and words, until they got to the chorus. As they sang "Wild, wild horse couldn't pull me away..." I chuckled and shared my thoughts on Rolling Stones and cowboy bands with Claire. After an hour of music, we were all pretty beat and they wrapped up the show. We headed back to camp for RB&T. I asked how many wanted to return to Philmont, how many had achieved what they wanted to by coming to Philmont. All had accomplished their goals and all but two said they wanted to return, either on a trek or on staff. We hung our last smellables for the last time and went to sleep. Phil slept under the dining fly, hoping to see a bear sniffing around our camp. No such luck, though.

August 8

We awoke at 5:00a for a long day before us. Jim wrapped both my ankles to provide additional support, since we'd be hiking over lots of rock fields and I was concerned I'd turn one or both. Our packs were very light, since the only food we carried was lunch, leftover breakfast, and any extra stuff scavenged from the swap box. We filled up all personal nalgene bottles and our four 1-gallon jugs with potable water at the staff cabin, carrying the gallon jugs inside our packs. We walked out of camp at 6:45a, our fastest getaway of the trek. We had tough going right out of Clark's Fork, good trail but steep uphill that we weren't used to after two days of level or downhill trail. Claire had a tough time on the initial climb, but Phil and I took some of her load, she took a short break and hit her inhaler again, and we were soon underway again. Clark's Fork is about 7,000' MSL, and we climbed to 9,200'MSL in about 2 miles. With light packs and 10 miles to reach home, the crew took off like they were jet-propelled. We finally levelled off, but then hit the rock fields, which slowed me down a lot as I was being extra careful about my footing to make sure I didn't lose a wheel. Brian stayed back with me to observe the scenery and to make sure I was doing OK (he did that throughout the trip, for which I'm very grateful-he hung back with whoever was Tail-End Charlie to make sure the last person didn't get lost). We had great views of Mt.'s Phillips and Baldy as we walked along Tooth Ridge. We passed our sister crew enroute (they were on a pack break), and they never caught up with us. We broke for lunch on Tooth of Time about 11:15a reaching it in 4 1/2 hours, ahead of the 5 hours expected. Most of us sat on the side, but a few walked up to the top. I stayed low. The kids saw their first rattlesnake (only one rattle). They asked me to come see it, but I told them that if I saw a rattlesnake I was too close (of course, I saw so many growing up Scouting in Florida that they're not a novelty). We saddled up and left about 1:00p, expecting about a two hour descent, but it took us till 3:15p to reach the base camp gate. We walked through a beautiful rock garden with some crisscrossing trails that confused us for a few moments, with no trail signs, but we figured it out and continued on. Next time through, I'll try to remember to go straight ahead. I'd have liked to examine the rock garden and take some pictures, but the crew was in a hurry to reach home, and so was I. Someday I'll take the time to explore. Out of the rock garden, we started the endless switchbacks down the ridge. A couple of Stampies got impatient and began to cut the switchbacks. I had to tell them twice that we weren't going to do that-the first time a gentle reminder, the second time a full blown lecture on why we stay on the trails and don't cut the switchbacks. No one wanted to hear it, but they needed a strong reminder to do what's right for all who will follow us, not just what feels right to us. At a pack break, the crew voted Phil and Claire the honor of leading us through the gate into base camp. I gave Phil my hiking stick and tied the US flag to it to carry the last mile.

We posed for a crew picture outside the "You Made It" gateway, then walked back into camp. Phil went to the Welcome Center to get his check-in sheet and our tent city assignment, I went to Registration to get our valuables, crew photos and patches, and Jim and John took the rest of the crew to Equipment to start turning in our stuff. After completing gear turn-in, we went to our lockers to get personal gear we needed, then to our tents, then to the showers-nice, long, hot showers! Dinner at 5:45p-hamburgers, tater tots, corn on the cob. We were so hungry that Jim, Claire, Brian, I, and another Stampy or two ate while standing in line for salad and silverware! After dinner, I made a Trading Post run, getting my leather belt, brass buckle, South Country map (they now had some!) and 12 plastic patch protectors for the Arrowhead patches. Religious services for all at 7:00p. Went to Jewish service as before. Same rabbi, slightly different message, only 3 of us in attendance tonight. Not sure exactly what his message was tonight-sort of meandered, or maybe I was just too tired to follow it.

I'd like to regress for a moment-every day we were on the trail, indeed every day since July 27 (and even before), I'd prayed to God for the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength to see this through, to be able to guide these young men and women through this adventure and to help them successfully complete it together. I asked for strength, wisdom, and clear vision to properly advise our crew and our crew leader, to know what the right thing to do was and to be able to do it. Tonight, I thanked God for all He'd done for us as a crew and as individuals, for the strength to do what needed to be done, for bringing Jim to our team, for helping me know to build my physical strength and allowing me to do so properly, for bringing Claire to our team-everyone began calling her "Mom" about half way through our trek (everyone needed Mom sometime while we were out there). I also thanked Him for the epiphany I'd experienced on the way down from Urraca Mesa enroute to Backache Springs Camp. That will help me clearly see what I need to do as a Scouter-sort of permission to do the things I know must be done, while still keeping the balance with home life and my job. Finally, I thanked Him for all He'd done for us that we didn't see, that wasn't apparent to us, but that enabled us to meet the challenge and successfully complete the trek.

As we were headed to the closing campfire assembly, I handed everyone the Philmont Arrowhead patch in the holder that each had earned, so we could wear them to the ceremony. We ran into Gavin, who joined us, and we all sat together. Jim had reserved a row for us near the front, since he had to meet with the campfire MC at 8:00p to review his talk about September 11. A guitarist performed a few songs, we saw two hilarious skits (one about a young, nerdy Scout and a bear, with the Scout finally using a bear swatter to chase the bear away, the other entitled "Attack of the Mini-Bears"), and Jim spoke about his experience on September 11 and related his actions to his Boy Scout training and the Philmont experience. All Crew Leaders and Crew Advisors lined up in two lines facing the audience. Crew Leaders were presented with "We All Made It" plaques, and then they presented the US flags they'd carried on the trek to Crew Advisors (Jim told Phil and me to expect this). We were then told to present the flags back to the Crew Leaders, which we did, Phil remarking, "Now I'm really confused." I replied, "So am I." We all stood to sing the Philmont Hymn, very moving, and then they closed the program. Phil turned to me and said, "I'd really like you to have this flag-thank you for all you did." That flag is now one of my prized possessions-one I'll carry with me on all my Scout outings and events. (I folded it and put it into my left shirt pocket, to carry it near to my heart. Everything that had been in that pocket went into my right one.) None of the Stampies seemed in a hurry to leave, though most crews bolted. Everyone wanted to hang out and talk with Gavin. We gathered everyone together for a Stampy Crew picture in front of the big "We All Made It" plaque on the backdrop, including Gavin, and I had Gavin take a picture of Phil and me in front of the plaque. Our next time to be somewhere being breakfast at 7:00a, Claire, Jim, and I took all the Stampy trail clothing to the laundry and had coffee at the Advisor's Lounge, beginning our After Action Report and Lessons Learned. The Scouts were on their own, but all were in bed by 11:30p or so. What a day it had been!

August 9

3:25p MT-thoughts on the bus from Philmont to Raton:

Left Philmont on the bus. One last look at Mt's Phillips and Baldy as we drive down the highway. Over my right shoulder is Urraca Mesa. I feel tired, empty, drained. Too much in too short a time. Ran from event to event. Not enough time to think, to reflect, to appreciate what we did and saw. Too much like the other world-run run run. This is too beautiful, too awe-inspiring to rush through, yet that's what we do. I feel I missed something-but I don't know what.

Was it fun? I'm too tired to know right now. I performed my mission-we started and ended with twelve. We succeeded. We and I met the Philmont challenge. It was hard. It was rewarding. It was beautiful to the eyes. It was beautiful to the spirit-when I could catch my breath.

Am I ready to do this again? Maybe-but not right now. I need to catch my breath-I want to go home and be with Sally, my Love and my Life.

6:35p MT

We're all aboard, underway eastbound, homeward bound. We had a couple hours to kill in Raton awaiting the train, so Claire and I walked 5 blocks to the grocery store to get some train food. I bought a block of cheese, package of tortillas, and three apples. We strolled back up the main drag looking for a bookstore, but the only place I found was a used bookshop with about 100 to choose from. I picked up a Paul Theroux paperback for $.25. Claire found a sandwich shop, and I left her there while I headed back to the station. Not much of a town.

I finished Ghost Soldiers and gave it to Jim-only had about 30 pages to go when we arrived at Philmont. Jim finished filling out the Backpacking MB blue cards which I then signed and handed out. We discussed how to fill Kristy's and Karla's Venture Ranger Award requirements. They did most of the activities, but they'll need to teach backpacking stuff to complete that section. I photographed a beautiful sunset behind what I believe to be Pike's Peak and Cheyenne Mountain. I stared out the window at some huge thunderstorm buildups beautifully reflecting the sunset, chatted with Jim and Claire, and ate a couple tortilla/cheese/apple sandwiches with water to drink. Didn't take much fat/protein rich food to fill me, after an all-carb diet for the last two weeks. At 9:30p I washed up in the restroom and bedded down for the night, with ear plugs and a bandana as eyeshade.

We'd awoken about 6:00a this last morning at Philmont without a crew wakeup call. I showered again (just because I could!) and we all met for breakfast at 7:00a. We moved all our gear into Claire's tent, then took the Villa Philmonte tour at 9:00a-the staffer running the tour had a real "take-no-prisoners" attitude, but she sure knew her stuff. Interesting tour, and Phil played the piano in the living room. Phillips sure did love his ranch and the mountains. We returned to catch the bus to Cimarron, where we ate Simple Simons' Pizza and Art Gallery ice cream (my treat for most of them). I found some turquoise/pink shell/silver earrings for Sally at Blue Moon Eclectics. We ran out of things to do a half hour before the bus arrived, so were ready to return. No bookstores in Cimarron. On return, we rushed through checkout, I made a mad dash through the Trading Post to get a ballcap for Steve, a t-shirt for Nick, and a coffee cup for PA Dizes. The girls behind the counter were flirting with the kids, so I couldn't get a staff shield (James made a run shortly afterward and picked up a Tooth of Time shield for me). The bus arrived, we boarded, and were on our way home.

August 10

I awoke about 5:15a MT, 6:15a CT (not sure when we crossed time zones). I slept much better than two weeks ago. Seems we'd hit a two-hour delay during the night, stopping to avoid severe weather across our path. I watched the sun rise and distributed the rest of the Stampy food money so all could eat breakfast. We arrived in Kansas City about 10:00a, unloaded our gear and stored it in the station. We shucked out of our tan shirts to our Hike Philmont t-shirts and headed out to the Hallmark Center mall. We toured the Hallmark Card display, talking to a craftsman who made the cutters for the cards. Back at the mall, Jim and I had a large Greek salad for lunch (still savoring fresh vegetables and non-trail food!), and we met all the other adults at the theater to watch Signs, a Mel Gibson movie (scary but not that great-an OK way to kill a couple hours). I bought Sally a couple birthday cards at the (huge!!!) Hallmark store and we all returned to the station. I called Sally before boarding to tell her to start the call tree with our estimated arrival time at SWIC to be about 10:30p. We boarded the train for St. Louis about 3:30p (late) and headed out across Missouri. We hit more delays and lost another hour, not arriving in St. Louis till 10:45p. We caught an 11:40p Metrolink to arrive at SWIC about 12:15a August 11. All were awaiting our arrival-a quick goodbye to each Stampy as I gave them their physical exam forms and crew photos, another thank you and hug from Phil and from his Mom, and then Sally and I headed home. A glass of wine, a little chat, then fell into bed exhausted about 2:00a.

Thoughts a few weeks later:

I'm glad I did this. Yes, it was fun-I was just too tired to know it at the time, especially coming right off the trail. The best part was watching these young men and women grow and prove to themselves that they could meet the challenge, watching them come together as a team and become genuinely close to each other, learn to count on each other. What a great crew to work with! I can tell I had fun-I have the biggest smiles I've ever seen on my face in every photo I'm in. If I had the opportunity to do it again next year, I'd take it. I'd love to come back out for an Autumn Adventure some time-maybe in a couple of years. I'm glad it all turned out so well for all the crew, the Scouts and Venturers and Advisors. Yep, I can be packed and ready to go back in a few hours. This was, for me, yet one more Adventure of a Lifetime-I'm a lucky guy.

• Gear-consider bringing the following gear
  • Cook aprons to keep food dust that floats around while pouring dehydrated food into pots off clothing
  • Flatter eating bowl-I took only a large metal cup. It worked OK but a bowl or dish would have made eating some meals a bit easier.
  • Trekking poles-I used a long hiking staff, but trekking poles would help me considerably on those rocky trails.
  • One long-sleeved t-shirt-sometimes a fleece or rainjacket were too much but a short sleeve shirt too little.
  • Sleep shorts-I carried 2 pair of trail pants and slept in underwear. A pair of loose shorts to sleep in would have been ideal.
  • 3 t-shirts-I carried 3 and am glad I did. I could have gotten by with 2 but 3 was much nicer.
  • Full-sleeve Gore-Tex rain jacket-I don't think mine was. My arms got wet in heavy rains.
  • Turkey bags for cookpots-we used them every group meal and are glad we did. Clean-up was much easier.
  • Body Glide and/or vaseline for chafe-some of our crew had problems and weren't equipped for it. One, the other, or both next time.
  • Camelback + 2 qts water = 4 qt.'s total. I carried 3 1-qt nalgene bottles. The camelbacks or platypus containers made drinking easier and faster.
  • Superglue. We used a tube gluing a sole back onto a shoe when Seam Grip wouldn't hold. Superglue held from Day 3 until we returned home.
  • Inflatable camp pillow-this would have made sleeping a bit more comfortable when I couldn't use my fleece or rain jacket as a pillow.

• Training
  • 2 10-milers back to back with 50# packs-Not knowing how much we'd have to carry at Philmont, we didn't train with needed weight in our packs. We'll definitely do that next time.
  • Hilly area-Giant City, Beaumont-We didn't train in a particularly hilly area. That's a must for next time.
  • Last practice hike 2 weeks before departure with final gear-our last practice hike was 2+ months before departure, due to schedule conflicts. I'd definitely have another hike closer in to departure date with full gear.
  • Check all rain gear in shower-One of our crew found out on the trail that the water-repellant jacket she wore wasn't waterproof.

• No kidding shakedown 4 weeks then 2 weeks before departure-we did a shakedown the day of departure but missed one or two items. I'd do two more hard gear shakedowns several weeks before, in addition to the departure day shakedown.

• Never send an all-rookie crew-Without one Philmont-experienced crewmember, we'd have been far behind while out there.

• Selden's Philmont,
• High Adventure and
• Scouting Web Pages

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This Web page is maintained by Selden Ball at Wilson Lab.
Please send any comments or corrections to seb@lns.cornell.edu