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...

We will update from here on as signals and batteries allow.  Enjoy civilization while we are gone....

It's Baldy Mountain or Bust time.....

Oh....we saw a small Elk herd yesterday as well.

Stopped in Raton, NM for our last meal in civilization.

Here is a good mistake we made yesterday....a video clip as opposed to just a picture!

Comments from here may be few and far between as we don't know what signals we will have down there.  We are heading out to New Mexico in 30 minutes...

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 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

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!

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!

For Catholics

For Buddhists.  Feelin' Zen?

Standing by one of the replica planes.  Notice Liam Brown to the far right.  He and his father, Darren Brown, joined us for the day.  It was good to see them.  They are doing well and loving living in Colorado Springs.

Stunning view of the Cross.  Camera does not do it justice, but the glass behind is translucent, which gives you views of the mountains.

More stained glass that goes up to the peak inside the Chapel

New Cadets learning how to march

Getting ready to enter

Beautiful stained glass throughout

That is some kind of pipe organ

Air Force Academy

The boys loved the Air Force Academy. Here are some things they saw:

Enterance to the Chapel.  Construction started in 1959 and was completed in 1962.  It cost $3.5 million.  Can you imagine what something like this would cost today?

Made it to Denver, and all packs made it! The boys are in awe of the mountains. First stop is the Air Force Academy. Mrs. Powell, Your cookies are awesome!

All Happy campers...

...just doin' a little cool runnin' mon!

Early rise, packs are checked, scouts are fed, and we are all on the plane headed to Denver. Thomas Brown's father is helping with shuttle service when we get there.

After a busy day of gathering last minute items and packing, our Crew is ready and will be on the way to the Rocky Mountains in just a few hours...

Our journey for Philmont started in earnest in January.  Since then, our 24 tired feet have hiked well over a thousand training miles primarily on the trails of Kennesaw Mountain, and the Appalachian Trail.  Our longest trail day as a Crew was 11 miles from Woody Gap south to Horse Gap and then back up to the top of Sasafrass Mountain.  That is one Sassy mountain, and a tough one to finish our 11th mile!  We have endured cold weather, rain, hail, wind, heat, humidity, and pleasant weather alike.  Our crew has learned a LOT about backpacks (some of us have gone through 4 or 5 packs before we found the right one), light weight gear, hiking boots and the importance of boots that are well broke in and that fit correctly (blisters are no fun...).  We have also learned a lot about proper hydration, how to hang bear bags, setting up a fly for backpack storage and protection from the elements if needed, filtering water, map reading, proper pacing as a crew, importance of fitness, and communication to name a few.   As far as the adults go, we have been putting in overtime for our fitness to try and keep up with our Scouts.  We have learned one thing for sure....you just cannot replace youth....no matter how hard you try. 

We hope you enjoy the rest of our journal and photos.

From atop one of the many peaks we have climbed on the AT

Native Rhododendron in bloom

Native Azalea in bloom

Atop Sasafrass Mountain finally!

Outta water, so filtering to fill everyone's bottles and bladders.

Self explanatory...

Almost as high as the clouds

Atop Blood Mountain looking down on the rest of the mountains!

The  top of Blood Mountain, the highest point on the AT in Georgia!  We started at 3,109' and gained elevation constantly until we reached the top at 4,461'.  We took a well earned break at the 'ol Rock Shelter.  The shelter was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  Click here for a little more information about Blood Mountain and Neel Gap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa5_WJI5Oj4&feature=player_embedded 

We actually started the hike from the parking lot as opposed to the trail across from the store (we did indeed visit the store though...), which added a little more length and elevation.  We hiked 10.5 miles this day.