Friday, July 20
We started today by hiking to Miner's Park to get re-supplied with food. We all both like and dislike re-supply days. We like them as we all get a choice of flavored milk and fresh fruit (apples, oranges, and pears). We dislike them as we now carry heavy packs for 1-1/2 days with all the extra food...
As we were filling up with water, several mule deer came for a visit. We were within 3 to 4 feet of the deer and sharing the same water with them. All the boys really enjoyed the visit....
As we were leaving Miner's Park, most of us got to witness a World's Funniest Video perfromance by Jared. Who else, right? He took off to throw away some trash, jumped over a rock, tripped, bounded to the left, adjusted and bounded to the right, adjusted one more time and bounded to the right and landed on his backpack. A scary sight until we saw that he was ok, and then all laughed including Jared. A sight we will never forget for sure!
As we left Miner's Park, we took a side hike that added to our hiking mileage for Rock Climbing before heading to Shafer's Pass for the night. All had fun climbing except for a couple who were not feeling well that afternoon... The side hike was mostly uphill to the climbing site. Luckily, our crew did not have to wait too long to climb as we had a pretty long hike from there to our campsite.
We got back on the trail for a bit and then stopped for lunch. We ate lunch, filtered water and topped everyone off, and took a little break. Several of the boys took a little nap. Sean slept so sound that a mini bear ran across him looking for food, and it did not even wake him up...
We headed to our campsite after lunch. The hike was long, hilly, rocky with a lot of switchbacks that took us over 8,000' for the first time in our trek. We camped at Shafer's Pass, and were one of the last into the site, so had to hike toward the end of the site for our spot.
We took a quick breath, set up our tents, and then ate dinner as the sun was setting. We saw another small group of mule deer that strolled through our site at dusk. This was our longest day on the trail to date (around 9 or so miles including the side hike), which was followed by a very early and long day.... All were wore out from this long day, knew they had another long one ahead that was to start very early, so all adjourned to their tents for a good recovery night and slept well!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Tooth of Time at Sunset
The field we set up camp, played ball, saw wildlife, etc.
Rabbit
Setting up camp
Saying goodbye to our Crew Guide on the 3d morning. Madeline helped us the first 2 days with correct Philmont protocol. Every Crew has a Ranger go along with them for 2 days and 2 nights on the trail as well as getting them checked in when they arrive at Philmont. She was very good.
Tooth of Time the morning of our 3d day on the trail. We are making our way toward the Tooth and will climb it tomorrow....
Porch talk at Miners Park
One Scout napping beside another...
Thursday, July 19
We hiked about a mile before checking into Abreu on this morning. The crew made bricks to start. Some scouts dug dirt, others sifted the dirt to separate dirt worthy of a brick and that not worthy. Once they had enough good dirt, they added water and mixed by hand. The one thing they would have added in the old days that we did not was straw. Once they mixed to the appropriate consistency, they put the much into molds. They molds were set aside to dry and then recycled later...
Next we got to enjoy Root Beer. You have never seen boys and men stand in a long line craving Root Beer until you go without soda for some time. Everyone bought and enjoyed 2 - 3 glasses...
While we were enjoying our Root Beer, we caught a chicken and let the boys pet the chicken and allow others interested hold the chicken.
The Grand Finale at Abreu was a Goat Race! We raced our sister crew... Our goat (Jimari) coupled with our team of scouts, was awesome! Our Crew worked together working to get Jimari to run, walk, and basically moving forward continually while our sister crew tried pushing their goat. Our Crew and Jimari won by a LONG shot!
After all our fun at Abreu, we hiked on to Bear Caves. Along the hike we learned that the native Ponderosa Pine have distinct and pleasant aromas. The female Ponderosa Pine smells like Vanilla, and the male smell like Butterscotch! All were smelling the trees for the next 10 days! Although we saw no caves with bears, we camped in a nice field that lended itself for great sunset views, mule deer, rabbits, and jack-a-lope at dusk. We saw no jack-a-lope, but Ruffles has been looking very hard... We also got some time to play football! Right before the sun set, we had a nice heard of Mule Deer that came through our site and grazed in the open field. We all were quite excited...
During our Rose, Thorn and Bud session, we talked about choices around alcohol and tobacco, and then did some star gazing. All were amazed at the amount of stars and shooting stars that we saw! No light pollution nor haze and pollution lends to a very dark and clear sky at night!
All in all, we hiked about 6 miles, and then ran a bit while playing football...
We hiked about a mile before checking into Abreu on this morning. The crew made bricks to start. Some scouts dug dirt, others sifted the dirt to separate dirt worthy of a brick and that not worthy. Once they had enough good dirt, they added water and mixed by hand. The one thing they would have added in the old days that we did not was straw. Once they mixed to the appropriate consistency, they put the much into molds. They molds were set aside to dry and then recycled later...
Next we got to enjoy Root Beer. You have never seen boys and men stand in a long line craving Root Beer until you go without soda for some time. Everyone bought and enjoyed 2 - 3 glasses...
While we were enjoying our Root Beer, we caught a chicken and let the boys pet the chicken and allow others interested hold the chicken.
The Grand Finale at Abreu was a Goat Race! We raced our sister crew... Our goat (Jimari) coupled with our team of scouts, was awesome! Our Crew worked together working to get Jimari to run, walk, and basically moving forward continually while our sister crew tried pushing their goat. Our Crew and Jimari won by a LONG shot!
After all our fun at Abreu, we hiked on to Bear Caves. Along the hike we learned that the native Ponderosa Pine have distinct and pleasant aromas. The female Ponderosa Pine smells like Vanilla, and the male smell like Butterscotch! All were smelling the trees for the next 10 days! Although we saw no caves with bears, we camped in a nice field that lended itself for great sunset views, mule deer, rabbits, and jack-a-lope at dusk. We saw no jack-a-lope, but Ruffles has been looking very hard... We also got some time to play football! Right before the sun set, we had a nice heard of Mule Deer that came through our site and grazed in the open field. We all were quite excited...
During our Rose, Thorn and Bud session, we talked about choices around alcohol and tobacco, and then did some star gazing. All were amazed at the amount of stars and shooting stars that we saw! No light pollution nor haze and pollution lends to a very dark and clear sky at night!
All in all, we hiked about 6 miles, and then ran a bit while playing football...
Goods packaged on a store shelf from the mid 1800's
More goods in barrels. Not quite packaged the way they are today
This is one HEAVY safe and extremely tough to bust open...
Tomahawk or "homatoawk" throwing. The instructor was able to throw 2 at a time and stick them into the target!
A kids game that was played in the 1800's
We are finally on the trail...
Time to get in the rain gear for late afternoon showers. We got in and out of our rain suits twice on our first day on the trail
One of MANY "mini bears" that we saw on our trek. They are NOT afraid of people and like to chew on smellables and water hydration pack....right, Cody? One chewed the bite valve on Cody's hydration pack. Luckily, we were able to replace within a day at a trading post.
Wednesday, July 18,
Our first day on the trail was eventful. The boys got to put on their rain suits twice, saw wild turkey, Longhorn Cows, other cow varieties, chickens and a goat!
The hike today was not very hilly nor long, but we made it longer. Our scouts read the map incorrectly and we did not take a turn into the campsite when we were supposed to.... A lot of our hike was through pastures today. We hiked down a very steep and rocky gully at the end of the day that dropped us straight into the camp site. All was well and we figure that we added 1.5 - 2.0 miles to our hike making it about a 7 mile day.
Prior to hiking, we took a tour of Kit Carson's site, which was quite nice. The boys got to see how people lived in days of old and how they protected themselves against enemies. They later got to see how people traded for goods with money and bartering. The got to see and sit on beds made of wheat straw. We ate lunch after the tour and played a few games and threw tomahawks or "homatawks" as Cody referred to them. Everyone stuck a couple into the wood targets!
As we set up our first camp, we enjoyed a nice spaghetti dinner (re-hydrated of course)!
Our first day on the trail was eventful. The boys got to put on their rain suits twice, saw wild turkey, Longhorn Cows, other cow varieties, chickens and a goat!
The hike today was not very hilly nor long, but we made it longer. Our scouts read the map incorrectly and we did not take a turn into the campsite when we were supposed to.... A lot of our hike was through pastures today. We hiked down a very steep and rocky gully at the end of the day that dropped us straight into the camp site. All was well and we figure that we added 1.5 - 2.0 miles to our hike making it about a 7 mile day.
Prior to hiking, we took a tour of Kit Carson's site, which was quite nice. The boys got to see how people lived in days of old and how they protected themselves against enemies. They later got to see how people traded for goods with money and bartering. The got to see and sit on beds made of wheat straw. We ate lunch after the tour and played a few games and threw tomahawks or "homatawks" as Cody referred to them. Everyone stuck a couple into the wood targets!
As we set up our first camp, we enjoyed a nice spaghetti dinner (re-hydrated of course)!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Long day... Drove down and checked in around noon. We all passed our medical re-checks...even us old adults! Got out tents here for the night, got the Trek plotted, went to meetings, first aid refresher, our first meal in camp, church service and opening campfire.
Tomorrow, we will get our crew picture, our final shakedown, A couple musu tours, a couple other things and then load the buses at 11am. The bus will drop us at our starting point on the Rayodo River, and then we will be on our way...
A little hike at 14,000'!
Very little vegetation at this elevation, but we did see some wildflowers in bloom
Weather can turn quick up here.... We saw sun, rain, hail, snow and sleet. Robby, Patrick, and Sean made snowballs and through them down a cliff. Snowballs in July....
Remnants from the original building
And YES, Big Foot is alive and well.... He has been spotted in the Pike's Peak National Forest!
Gold Min atop the hill on the left side of the photo in Cripple Creek, CO
Gold Mine from days of old... Notice the tracks coming out of the building.
Great day yesterday: Pike's Peak, Cripple Creek, one last visit to REI, and a nice visit with the Brown family. The boys enjoyed seeing and visiting Thomas and Liam!
We have seen some wildlife while here as well. Marmot up Pike's Peak, coyote, fox, and mountain goat. Here are some pictures from the day.
We have seen some wildlife while here as well. Marmot up Pike's Peak, coyote, fox, and mountain goat. Here are some pictures from the day.
We finally made it to the top
America the beautiful memorial. Inspiration came to write this while looking off ot Pike's Peak.
At cloud level looking down to a couple glacier lakes, mountains, and the cog railway track
Cog Railway....another way to get to the summit
Monday, July 16, 2012
The boys enjoyed a nice dinner of pizza and pasta last night and like the hotel. One suggested we just stay here in the springs and play outside for the rest of the 2 weeks....
They are slow to get moving this morning! I wonder if they played and horsed around until the wee hours of the night in their hotel rooms without adults last night???
We are heading out to Pike's Peak ("The Piker") in about an hour. From there, we are going to head down to Cripple Creek for lunch or an afternoon visit (depending on how much time we spend up on The Piker. Cripple Creek is an old gold mining town that will give them the flavor of the true old west.
One more thing.... a BIG thank you to the Brown family that left 1294 18 months ago due to a military change of station. They let us borrow their mini van, so we only had to rent one vehicle. That will save everyone some money. Their AC is out, so we will give them a donation to fix when we leave.
We were able to get the boys a full buffet breakfast at the hotel today. Mr. Powell and I were able to do some negotiating with our hotel stays, and got 8 free buffets for both days. It save over $100 for breakfast!
On to Pike's Peak!
They are slow to get moving this morning! I wonder if they played and horsed around until the wee hours of the night in their hotel rooms without adults last night???
We are heading out to Pike's Peak ("The Piker") in about an hour. From there, we are going to head down to Cripple Creek for lunch or an afternoon visit (depending on how much time we spend up on The Piker. Cripple Creek is an old gold mining town that will give them the flavor of the true old west.
One more thing.... a BIG thank you to the Brown family that left 1294 18 months ago due to a military change of station. They let us borrow their mini van, so we only had to rent one vehicle. That will save everyone some money. Their AC is out, so we will give them a donation to fix when we leave.
We were able to get the boys a full buffet breakfast at the hotel today. Mr. Powell and I were able to do some negotiating with our hotel stays, and got 8 free buffets for both days. It save over $100 for breakfast!
On to Pike's Peak!
On to the Garden of the Gods! Quite the stunning views...
A hole through the "Siamese Twins" with the boys. That is Pike's Peak looking through the hole.
Boys will be boys.... Climbing and exploring around the rock formations for a bit
Colorado is quite arid. Cacti pretty common out here.
The Balancing rock!
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