Daylight broke cool and clear, but we had been up almost an hour. Our goal is to usually be on the trail by 0630 so we can get our hiking done in the cool of the morning. By 1100 or so, the sun starts baking the mountain trails, and if you're not under the trees, the hiking quickly gets miserable.
Breakfast is a pretty spartan fare: granola, gorp, beef jerky, and tang. Yesterday we had oatmeal and we boiled water to heat it up, but boiling water for 12 people takes time, and after reviewing the trek menu, we'll only do that one more time. For the rest of the mornings, its something dry and quickly consumed so we can get out on the trail.
We hike down the path back to the road and find Enos waiting right where we left him, munching on hay and flicking his ears around chasing away flies. This is a big test: will the boys remember how to re-saddle the burro so that everything stays safe and secure for the hikes ahead?
It turns out that it takes a couple of tries, but they get it much faster than I thought they would. Apparently it's impressive enough for Ranger Greg, because with that task complete, he wishes us good luck and takes his leave, heading back to base camp and a few days off. We're pretty impressed because the rumor we'd heard was that most rangers stick around for 3 full days. Either Greg has a hot date waiting, or he's satisfied we'll survive out on the trail on our own. The way the boys are working together leads me to believe it's the latter. Which is a good thing for us, because without "Administrative" supervision, we can relax a bit and enjoy the trek a lot more. And, we decide to put ALL of our remaining food into Enos' saddle bags... a bit more than the 25 lbs. we were limited to by the Wrangler, but probably not by too much: we've consumed three more meals since yesterday morning.
Our goal for this morning is to get on the road and back to Pueblano early enough to take advantage of the activities there, and then move on to our overnight camp, Head of Dean, in time to do some activities there too. Having already been to Pueblano the night before, it's a quick march for both us and Enos, and we arrive right around 0830.
As I mentioned before, Pueblano is a Lumberjack-themed camp, so the boys get to do some spar pole climbing. Spar pole climbing is how lumberjacks, (and probably some early telephone linemen) climb the tall trees and poles using the waist strap and spur-anchors hooked to the sides of their boots. The safety equipment is quite a chore to don, with a fairly complicated waist harness, safety rope, and tightly cinched ankle spurs. The ankle spurs take some getting use to, because you have spikes coming out the INSIDES of your ankles, and you have to drive them sideways into the pole, then put your weight on the spikes as you step up, moving the belt as you go to keep you in position. It takes a few tries to get the rhythm right, and it's a lot of work, but once you figure it out, you can quickly move up the pole.
Our task was to climb up far enough to kiss the eye-bolt at the top that the safety rope was fed through. We had a couple of boys who were a little skittish about the height thing, but after several boys scrambled right up, everyone else figured it had to be a safe operation and gave it a try. There were some very big smiles upon reaching the top!
From Pueblano we took Enos, left the roads we'd been hiking on the last day and a half, and headed out overland via trail. We encountered some rather steep hills, but with Enos marking the pace, it was slow and steady going and no one fell behind. I found that a periodic poke in the rear by a hiking pole kept Enos at a pretty constant pace. He turned out to be a good hiker and never really slowed us down.
After a stop along the trail for lunch, we rolled into Head of Dean around 1330, with lots of daylight left, and the hope that the boys could get the camp's activity, the Challenge Course, out of the way today so we wouldn't have to wait till the morning. As it turned out we were in luck, there were still a couple opening available, so we got our name on the schedule for 1500, and then went down to our camp site to set up for the night.
Set up by now had become pretty routine: identify the bear bag hanging area, the sump, and the cooking area, and then pick where we would set up our tents. Hang up the food, set the dishes and cooking gear over by the sump, set up the dining fly in case of rain so we had a place to keep the packs dry, and set up the tents. Oh yeah, figure out where we could get water, and most importantly, the location of the nearest latrine! Priorities, priorities, priorities!
The Challenge course was a typical team-building course that almost everyone in some organization or other has been through. I've done them a couple of times in my Air Force career, and as a ground school instructor at US Air. They are a lot of fun, they make you think, and you really do bond a bit more as a unit as you make your way through each challenge finding that everyone has different strengths and insights and all will eventually come out if you stay open to hearing everyone's ideas.
The Challenge course was a typical team-building course that almost everyone in some organization or other has been through. I've done them a couple of times in my Air Force career, and as a ground school instructor at US Air. They are a lot of fun, they make you think, and you really do bond a bit more as a unit as you make your way through each challenge finding that everyone has different strengths and insights and all will eventually come out if you stay open to hearing everyone's ideas. The activities of the course consisted of a series of senarios requiring the boys to use their problem-solving skills. They ranged from passing a hula hoop around a circle of bodies, to
climbing a ten-foot wall and getting everyone over it without use of tools, props, or other people. To make it interesting, the instructor levied penalties and handicaps on the boys, including making some of the participants mute, some blind, and some forced to say exactly opposite of what they intend. From an observer's standpoint it was very entertaining. From a leader's viewpoint it was extremely impressive that no matter what the obstacle, the boys doggedly worked their way through every problem and succeeded in conquering all their challenges. Again they demonstrated what a strong, cohesive unit they've become.
After dinner we had another Advisor's coffee.
climbing a ten-foot wall and getting everyone over it without use of tools, props, or other people. To make it interesting, the instructor levied penalties and handicaps on the boys, including making some of the participants mute, some blind, and some forced to say exactly opposite of what they intend. From an observer's standpoint it was very entertaining. From a leader's viewpoint it was extremely impressive that no matter what the obstacle, the boys doggedly worked their way through every problem and succeeded in conquering all their challenges. Again they demonstrated what a strong, cohesive unit they've become.
After dinner we had another Advisor's coffee. Once again the adult leaders took over the porch and enjoyed cookies, coffee and camaraderie. Unfortunately for some, the staff, which contained several girls, had decided to improve the traditional coffee recipe and actually added cinnamon to the brew! I thought it was a good move as the coffee was brewed pretty strong. Some of the really old-timers thought it was a sacrilegious desecration of some ancient outdoors tradition. Apparently camp coffee can only be made with the stalest of coffee and MUST be steeped in an old used sock. Finally, when ready to pour, it is filtered through an old pot scrubber to filter out the grounds. Any other method is new fangled, weak and contains shades of Brokeback Mountain... who knew?
Head of Dean camp sits at the very head of Dean Canyon. The staff cabin overlooks a long, open valley to the west where we watched the sun slowly set turning the sky all sorts of shades of oranges, reds and purples. It is said to be the best view at Philmont, and on the night we sat and watched the kaleidoscopic changes dance across the evening canvas, not one of us would argue the point.
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