2003
2003
An
Advisor’s Journal
Expedition
702 C 2
“Trek
34’s More Strenuous Than Yours”
Andrew
Wright (Crew Leader)
George
Fuerst
David
Holodiloff
Michael
Pagnella
Nathan
Parise
Drew
Thayer
John
Tyndall
Bobby
Wright
Darby
Fuerst (Senior Crew Advisor)
Lance
Wright (Crew Advisor)
We
were met at the Raton Amtrak station by Linda in a yellow school bus, and then
had a quick meal at various fast food restaurants. Excitement built as we approached Philmont.
At the Welcome Center, we watched the sun set behind Tooth Ridge, as we
stood next to our pack line with a light rain falling.
We marched off to our assigned tents in “Inbound Tent City”.
Bobby wished me a happy birthday. I
am now 55 and facing the most difficult trek that Philmont offers – Trek 34.
Darby and I checked out the camp headquarters during the dark.
Later I hung out at the Advisor’s Lounge and was regaled with stories
of extreme difficulty and the need to use the “caterpillar” when ascending
the high peaks. After talking with
Darby, we decided to share a tent to save weight.
While listening to Darby’s heavy breathing when he lies on his back, I
had some second thoughts but concluded that weight reduction will be critical.
I had to make three trips to the restroom that night as I had
over-hydrated that evening.
We
met our ranger, also named Linda, and she took us through the check-in process;
pick up crew gear, first aid refresher, review itinerary at Logistics, medical
check, and pick up four days of food (a lot of space and weight).
I visited the Trading Post and picked up some souvenirs and had a cherry
slush puppy. That evening, we all
gathered at the Welcome Center for the opening campfire.
We gave a somewhat disorganized crew cheer, “Crew 34’s is more
strenuous than yours! Trailblazers!”
Crew 24 gave theirs, “Zoltan!” The
campfire was a history of New Mexico – Pueblo Indians, Conquistadors, mountain
men, miners, land-grant settlers, lawmen, and finally, Waite Phillips, who had
donated the land for Philmont to the Boy Scouts.
At the end, the crew leaders were recognized and presented with American
flags to carry during the treks.
We
packed our food and crew gear and set up a pack line to wait for the bus to the
trail head. I charged up the
batteries for my digital camera. We
weighed our fully loaded packs (5 liters of water and four days of food).
Most weighed 50-55 pounds! Mary’s
was close to 55 pounds, so she ditched her umbrella at the urging of her ranger,
a junior at the Air Force Academy. Before
we left, we had our photos taken as crews and then together as Troop 90. I amazed everyone by doing the Gumby with Dave Holodiloff’s
hiking stave. Crew 24 left first
and then we loaded into the next bus. It
was a short twenty-minute ride to the trail head.
After some map training we took off in the wrong direction.
Linda was very patient and let us make mistakes before stepping in.
We hiked the three miles to Vaca Camp.
It was hot and the packs were heavy but we set a good pace according to
Linda and got to camp quickly. We
passed several other crews on different stages in their treks. John did not bring chap stick so I gave him my extra.
John always travels light. Nathan
started to lag a bit. We told him
to drink lots of water, and he perked up. It
was hot! In camp, we first learned
to hang our bear bags and set up the dining fly.
Most did not bring extra tents stakes for the dining fly and George and
Michael’s tent had no stakes at all. This
lack of preparation irritated me, but the boys quickly improvise solutions to
problems. After we set up camp,
everybody chilled which was the favorite event of the day.
Some played Frisbee or braided necklaces with some string.
I had the idea to go to Harlan Camp to get fresh, potable water instead
of using the solar well water at Vaca, which would require purification. Five of us went but found out that the well at Harlan was not
working and they only had a little water left.
They had sent for a repair crew. After
returning from this “side hike”, we filled up with the Vaca water and used
Polar Pure (iodine) to purify it, which took several hours.
No one wanted to drink it, so we ended up using Darby’s purifier pump
to redo all the water. The water with the Polar Pure tasted like old Army equipment
– not too bad. The dinner was
good – chicken rice mixed with Top Ramen.
Lunch was also excellent. The
food was a pleasant surprise and is really great. We did “Thorns an Roses (and Buds)” after we had cleaned
up and hoisted the last bear bag – the “Oops Bag”.
We agreed to sleep in while we still had the luxury to do so.
I
got up at 5:30 and checked the gear in my pack. It is 7:00 now and the other nearby campers are starting to
get up, but no one from our group has stirred.
I remain well hydrated – clear and copious. Every one in our crew was finally up by 8:00.
Dave had another nose bleed; his first was at base camp.
Michael had one last night. I
talked to another advisor who had two boys throwing up, one adult with
headaches, and another adult who had carried 75 pounds, including nine liters of
water! It is 8:20 and getting hot already. The one-mile hike to Harlan was pleasant.
John found a leopard frog in a pool in an abandoned concrete platform.
We did not leave until almost noon since the guys wanted to hang out.
We checked in at Harlan and had another greater lunch.
Then we learned to reload five shotgun shells each.
Dave passed since he was not into violence.
Then we went to the shotgun range. I
launched the clay pigeons and then had an opportunity to shoot – first time
with a shotgun for me. George and
Nathan were the best shots – five for five each! Michael was the worst and blasted away much of the meadow on
his last shot. Back at camp we had
our first rain, lightning and thunder and had to scramble to set up camp –
bear bags, dining fly, and then tents. We
just made it and sat around in our rain gear, but the rain was light and
short-lived. I finally visited the
“Red Roof Inn” (a.k.a. the grumper) – ah!
After dinner, Linda brought some pound cake and chocolate icing for us to
celebrate the 4th of July. Darby
and I watched the burro races, which were a lot of fun.
At this point the guys did still not work as a crew or think ahead or get
things done completely and thoroughly. Linda
kept the guys in camp because they had not completed their cleanup.
Later, the guys discovered a nearby ridge where they could see for miles
in all directions. Bobby had a
nosebleed that night in his tent. Linda
gave instructions to him in the dark and the bleeding was controlled.
These nosebleeds seem associated with the low humidity and affect persons
from high-humidity areas (like us). Philmont
should ensure that everyone knows how to treat nosebleeds and has the needed
stuff – toilet paper, a plastic bag for the bloody T.P., and some Afrin nose
spray. And everyone needs to stay hydrated.
Yesterday
I had hoped to meet with the crew to review several key points (see below).
The meeting never happened which was good as the trek should be “boy
led” as much as is possible. They
ended up doing the right things without my sage advice.
·
Everything under the dining fly at the end of the day
·
Chap stick and sunscreen use
·
Nosebleed treatment
·
Nosebleed first aid equipment
·
First aid kit location
·
T.P. location for grumper breaks
·
Hydration plan – guzzle a lot and keep it clear and copious
·
Hot spot treatment breaks
·
Wake-up time for tomorrow
·
Oops bag contents – first aid kit
We
managed to get up by 7:00 and out of camp by 10:00. We cooked our last meal requiring water (Supper #3) for
breakfast. Darby and I had
organized the meals to fit going the Deer Lake Mesa, which we expected to be a
dry camp. The next four meals would
be no-cook meals, requiring no water. Linda
led us to a high, rocky ridge, which required some rock climbing to get to the
top carrying our fully loaded packs. I guess I should feel good that she thought I could make it.
It is interesting how the youth seem to feel that adults will have no
problem keeping up with them. We
all talked about what being at Philmont meant to us and took photos.
Before we left, Andrew told us about being surprised by a ranger, who was
acting like a bear, as he walked back to camp late last night. To the ranger’s surprise Andrew leapt at him with his knife
open while yelling. Andrew had just
finished eating half the jar of a frosting that Linda had brought, and had went
to the Harlan cabin to dump the garbage. As
a consequence, he was pretty wired. The
headlines, “Ranger Stabbed By Camper” were happily avoided.
We loaded up with water at the Harlan water buffalo, draining around 50
liters for the crew. We all shook hands with her and said goodbye to Linda and
headed off on our own. We had some
trouble deciding which way to go at the first two trail intersections but made
it to camp with a few brief rests. As
we hiked through the ponderosa pines, thunder, lightning, and dark clouds
drifted overhead. The fresh, light
breeze was a welcome alternative to the oppressive heat we had experienced.
Deer Lake Mesa Campsite 6 was a great site – big, flat, surrounded by
pines, with a light, sunny breeze. We
had another great lunch and lounged around, listening to the thump of the
Pilot-to-Bombardier seats – bombs away! Someone
suggested that Drew swallow a few drops of Camp Suds to help his situation.
We saw our first bear signs on the trail to camp; little splats of black
bear poop. We played ultimate
Frisbee and some explored the area. After
dinner the boys played ultimate Frisbee with a crew from Texas.
California was up 9 to 1 before long, and the Texas crew kept suggesting
that they play football instead. The
boys decided to switch scores and play to 11.
California still won 11 to 10, which meant that the actual score was 20
to 2! During these first three
days, it was hard to believe that we were on the hardest trek Philmont had to
offer.
We
started our first hard day – 15 miles. First
stop was the Ute Gulch commissary to load up with four days of food.
We had gotten up a 5:00 and arrived at 7:00, two hours later.
We ate breakfast and waited until the commissary opened at 8:00.
We picked up the food and also got more fuel and T.P.
This was one stop that had a trading post, were campers could pick up
items they had somehow forgotten – like the freeze-dried, astronaut ice cream
sandwich I picked up for John’s birthday on July 13th.
As we were dividing up the food, around 24 semi-wild burros sauntered
into the area. We enjoyed petting
them and watching their march around the cabin.
They were quite friendly. At
the Ute Gulch commissary we also discovered the “swap box”, a place at
staffed camps were campers got drop off food they did not like and perhaps find
some they did like. Discovering
hidden treasure in the swap box became the first thing on the agenda as we
entered the staffed camps. Later on
the trail, we took four wrong turns during the day and argued quite bit about
map reading. It is necessary to use
the map, compass, and observed natural landmarks together to properly negotiate
the trails at Philmont. We also had
charged discussions about staying on the trails versus “swacking” it.
The advisors had to draw the line against the later.
We finally made it to the Hunting Lodge, which was less than half way.
Some toured the lodge, and then we dropped our packs for the Hidden
Valley side hike. There were some
impressively high rocks at the top of the switchbacks, which afforded
spectacular views. I got nervous
when the boys clambered up these rocks like mountain goats.
My fears are always unfounded. As
we passed Cimarroncito Camp, most of us were shirtless, and heard the remarks
from the cabin porch, “What is this, a nudist colony?”
Our crew was not one to easily follow camp rules.
(We later resolved the shirtless issue with a crew uniform that evolved.)
I was quite tired by the time we returned to the Hunting Lodge and
noticed that my left knee was swollen with “water on the knee”.
It was not painful, but did increase my anxiety level.
This would be the day when I would wonder if I could make the trek.
The last four to five miles to Cypher’s was grueling – up a stream on
a rocky, unrelenting uphill path. As
I dragged myself up the steps of the Cypher’s cabin, I figured we had hiked
almost 17 miles that day (with a full load of food).
Even though we arrived late, Cypher’s was great.
I had some decaf at the advisor’s 7:00 meeting on the porch, and Marie
(from another crew) brought me a nice warm piece of cake with icing. I took a nice COLD shower.
I was like dancing the Hokey-Pokey, putting in one extremity at a time
and “shaking it all about”. After
the shower, I went over to the Stomp – a very entertaining songfest in an old
cabin. A scout kindly offered a
seat to me. That night we all slept
in an enclosed shelter so did not have to put up the tents in the dark.
We had a spirited discussion about what time to get up, ranging from 3:00
in order to see the sunrise from Comanche Peak, to 5:30 in order to get some
rest. We settled on 4:20.
Dave really wanted to hike early to see a sunrise, and this became an
unresolved issue throughout the trek. The
bear bags were difficult to raise that night because of all the food, and after
much commotion, it finally took four people to get them up.
George had a nosebleed before we fell asleep, making him the fifth to
have such an honor.
We
got out of camp by 5:30. The climb
was hard, as the altitude made breathing more difficult for me, but the trail
was well maintained and even. We
got to Comanche Peak (11,299’) with relative ease, and the trek seemed more
doable to me. When we got to a
scenic area just below Mount Phillips, the boys stripped down and did the full
Philmonty with their buffs. Dave
Laredo had talked the company into giving us the buffs, an all-purpose
neckerchief/headband piece of high-tech material.
I imagined that he did not foresee such a use.
I took around 20 shots with all the cameras.
Good thing that no other crews passed by. We (Darby and I) trudged on to the peak.
When we got to the peak of Mount Phillips (11,711’), there were several
other crews, and we took many photographs of the spectacular views, which
included Touch-Me-Not and Baldy Mountain. I
thought of the other Troop 90 crew, whose goal was to climb to the top of Baldy.
John celebrated his 14th birthday on top of Mount Phillips.
The hike down was rocky, steep, and difficult.
Near the bottom, we saw several crews heading up and I felt sorry for
them as they climbed up to Mount Phillips.
The camps at Mount Phillips and Comanche Peak were dry, so they were
obliged to carry a full load of water. We
arrived at Clear Creek Camp, the highest staffed camp in Philmont at over 10,000
feet. We had a hot lunch (beef
stroganoff supper) and I relaxed while the boys shot black powder rifles.
We got to Comanche Camp in less than an hour.
Nathan was limping from a twisted ankle so I loaned him my trekking
poles. We had Tooth of Time Chicken
for dinner and went to bed early. We
will get up at 4:00 for an early start.
We
were on the trail by 5:00 and hiked a short distance with flashlights on.
I took a dump in a hole in the ground just before we began the ascent to
the top of Big Red. I now had completed the Philmont four – Red Roof Inn,
Pilot-Copilot, Pilot to Bombardier, and Hole-in-the-Ground.
I was the designated T.P. man, carrying a roll or two in a plastic bag on
the back of my pack. T.P. certainly was an essential item for the now frequent
grumping breaks on the trail and for the persistent bloody noses.
At the base of Big Red we met a crew from Alabama, which we kept
re-meeting throughout the day. The finally assault on Big Red was a long, rock-strewn, steep
ravine – straight up. Having
conquered Big Red (10,930’), we moved through Comanche Pass to Black Mountain.
Some of the trail was a large rock field with only piles of rocks to mark
the trail. One of the advisors from
the Alabama crew had made a cryptic remark about Black Mountain that implied
that it might be quite difficult. The
ascent was the worst! – Straight up an endless pile of big black rocks,
sucking air all the way. It was an
ass kicker! We ate lunch amidst
swarming ladybugs on the top of Black Mountain (10,875’).
The descent was also difficult. George
carried Nathan’s pack since Nathan’s ankle was bothering him and he was very
tired. I again loaned him my
trekking poles. This was our only
incident of someone having problems. Nathan
recovered and carried his full pack thereafter and fulfilled all of his assigned
duties. George started to run down
the trail with Nathan’s pack and I yelled at him to stop making it look so
easy. Black Mountain Camp was
great. We blasted holes in our
shirts and my hat with black powder rifles.
I enjoyed this activity most of all.
Instead of a puny J-hook, the guys made a heavy, dinner bell triangle at
the blacksmith area. Carrying this
heavy item (dubbed a “camping essential”) during the trek became a symbol of
the crew’s strength. During the
day, the boys had cut the sleeves of their Troop 90 Philmont t-shirts and given
themselves some tattoos with a Sharpie permanent maker; “34” on one shoulder
and the New Mexico Indian sun symbol on the other. This ended the shirtless situation and created some tribal
bonding, which was a good thing considering that we had to complete a very
strenuous trek and needed to work together to get through it.
We slept in until 5:30.
We
left Black Mountain Camp, with the slow guy (me) in front.
The guys had decided that they would rather hike at a steady pace than
have to keep waiting for the adult advisor’s to catch up.
Andrew and John took a side hike to Phillip’s Junction (PJ) to pick up
our next, and last, supply of food. The
rest of us hiked to Beaubien Camp to wait for them.
We learned to rope stationary calves, played horseshoes, and tossed the
Frisbee. Andrew and John finally
returned later than expected. Darby
and I hiked down the road several times to look for them, and finally had the
camp director call PJ on the radio. The
staff at PJ had given them a hard time for picking up the food early, not coming
with the whole crew, and hiking on the road.
When they realized the difficult trek we were on and the poor placement
of the food pick-up location, there were nice and even gave John some cookies
for his birthday. Darby and I
divided up the food and we loaded up and got ready to leave.
Suddenly Bobby and Mike got mild bloody noses and Dave got a major one.
We ate lunch and waiting until everyone was OK.
We seemed to be stuck in Beaubien, which was sort of like a dude ranch
and not a bad place to be. We
finally got to Lower Bonita Camp and found a nice site above the others.
After setting up camp, we headed out to climb Trail Peak (10,250’) and
see the airplane crash site at the top. As
we passed by another crew’s campsite, they said that we were crazy to be
starting so late and asked if we realized that we had a 1,200 feet elevation
gain before us. But, Crew 34 could
do anything at this point. The
climb, even without packs, was tough. When
we got to the top, everyone climbed up a large tree at the top to be able to see
the view of base camp and the Tooth of Time.
There were many ladybugs at the top.
We then hiked over to the crash site.
The wreckage was strewn over 200 yards down the mountain in a large rock
field. At the top Dave showed me a
view, which turned out to be the four over 10,000 foot peaks we had previously
climbed. I took a photo from the
fifth, over 10,000 foot peak and felt it would be an important photo.
You could even see Baldy Mountain. The boys “swacked” down the
wreckage area and we finally gathered them together further down the switchback
trail. This would have been a bad
place to lose someone. We found the
hidden, short-cut trail; a steep, rocky descent.
The boys crazily ran down the trail, while Darby and I cautiously inched
our way down. Dave leapt down the
trail flailing his hiking stave over his head.
The vast gulf between youth and over-50 was strikingly illustrated.
We got back at dusk and Bobby and Drew cooked a delicious cheese noodle
dinner. Bobby and Drew were the
crew cooks and George and Mike took care of the bear bags, getting up early each
morning to bring them down. All the
others helped get the other tasks done – dining fly and cleanup. We are working well as a crew.
We
set out for Fish Camp hoping for an easy day.
However, the climb up Lookout Peak (9,923’) was difficult for me.
We dropped into Fish Camp to be greeted by “Waite Phillips” and were
given a tour of the historic fishing cabin.
The last known, grizzly bear in New Mexico hung from one of the walls.
We all realized that there would be no time for fly fishing as we had to
complete three hours of conservation work to earn our Philmont arrowhead
patches. It was tough work digging
dirt and mostly rocks from one hole to fill another hole nearby the trout stream
to finish up a stream diversion project. Darby
and some boys had to move the dirt and rocks by hand in large plastic buckets.
Everyone, including me, was reluctant to relieve them, not willing to
risk a back injury that could spoil the rest of the trek.
Five of our crew had a great time prying out huge boulders from the
nearby hillside to roll them down into the stream.
But they then had to spend a very long time repositioning bolder
fragments and futilely trying to turn over one very large chunk in the stream.
We worked hard for three and one half hours with a crew from Sacramento.
In the evening, the boys got a little crazy, fencing with their “light
saber” tent poles and Drew ran around like a maniac carrying his tent over his
head. By now we were a real crew and got everything done that
needed to be, with a lot of kidding and banter.
Each day had turned out to be different that expected, but it was always
a good day.
We
left just after 7:00 and “Waite Phillips” bid us farewell.
We were just a few minutes behind the Sacramento crew we had worked with
yesterday. Crew 34 was on the hunt
with the slow guy (me) in front. We
quickly caught them but stopped for a trail breakfast and were passed.
We pursued them relentlessly and finally caught and passed them well
before Abreu. We were friendly with
this group and saw them several times at Abreu that afternoon and evening.
We hung out at Abreu and ate lunch on a cabin porch, sitting in the
swings. We petted the goats that
wandered by and drank a lot of root beer when the cantina opened.
After relaxing at Abreu, we hiked up to our camp at Rimrock just above
the Abreu camp area. It was nice to
have the privacy of a trail camp close to a staffed camp.
We dried out our gear, as it had been damp in the morning at Fish Camp.
Darby and I went down to the showers, guided by our Sacramento friends.
The hot showers were great! We
washed some clothes, hiked back to camp, and relaxed in the tent. I have pretty much grown used to Darby’s sometimes heavy
breathing (no snoring). He has been
an excellent tent mate. We headed
down to the cantina for the Mexican dinner with great anticipation.
The Mexican dinner was great, flour tortillas with the works.
Some were disappointed that they ran out of tortillas for seconds, but we
did get another helping of the fillings – lettuce, tomatoes, a little cheese,
salsa, refried beans, and ground hamburger.
We sat on “our” porch during dinner and later watched the boys chase
a herd of midget chickens. After
futilely running after the chickens they managed to catch quite a few by tossing
their shirts over them. I borrowed
Bobby’s large 30-ounce cup and drank my fill of root beer after the revolving
line at the cantina had subsided. Entirely
too much root beer was consumed that evening.
We were now totally “Crew 34”, a rough and tumble unit that nothing
in Philmont could stop. Our uniform
was our dirty, Philmont t-shirts with cut-off sleeves and our buffs. We delighted in telling others that we were on the trek that
no one had dared to attempt until now. I
have no idea of the date or day of the week, and can only learn this information
by consulting my watch, which I keep in a pocket.
We headed out early to Miner’ Park Camp which had a rock climbing activity. We got to camp just before noon. The crews in the camp were a mix of “Day 10” and “Day 3” crews making for quite a contrast. After checking in, we set out with two other crews to the rock climbing activity. It was a long hike to the activity area – two huge rocks know as “Betty’s Bra”. I decided to just take pictures and the guys suited up with harnesses and helmets. Unfortunately, a storm rolled in and the event was cancelled due to lightning and rain, which made the rocks wet. We were disappointed as it had been quite a long uphill hike. We hung out at the camp and snoozed. My request to move on and spend the night at Schaefer’s Pass Camp had been denied by base camp logistics. The Miner’s Park camp director had been quite clear that we should not deviate from our itinerary or hike at night. We had hoped to get up early and watch the sunrise from the nearby Schaefer’s Peak – Dave’s constant desire. I let everyone know that we should not break the camp rules by hiking at night in order to get the Schaefer’s Peak before sunrise. Many wanted to get up at 2:00 (or not sleep at all) to accomplish this. Later it started to rain while most of the guys were away from camp or sound asleep. The dining fly had not been set up and equipment was strewn about the camp. A few of us hastily set up the dining fly and tossed everyone’s pack and equipment underneath. Later we cooked the dreaded “three-bean chili” for dinner. It was the least popular meal and the yum-yum bag was filled to the max. The camp director came to inspect the camp as it started to get dark. We had some stuff scattered about but everything was in pretty good order, except the sump. Nathan had left way too much of the three-bean chili residue on the screen. The camp director suggested that we use a pinecone to scrap the screen and then keep it with the smellables. In my concern to try to follow camp rules, I unwittingly violated an important one. Dave, George, Mike, and Drew slept under the stars in their sleeping bags, making a nice platter of bear burritos.
We
had planned to get up at 3:30 in order to comfortably meet the other half of
Troop 90 at Schaefer’s Pass before the 7:30 release time.
Darby finally roused everyone at 4:00.
We were on the trail just after 5:00 and only needed flashlights for a
few minutes. There was a desire to
ring the dinner bell triangle near the camp director’s cabin, but I asked John
to pack it away as I was concerned that it might be interpreted as an alarm.
We hiked quickly but took a long break for breakfast, another bloody nose
for Dave (we have lost count of how many he has had), and the finally
application of the Crew 34 Sharpie tattoos.
Dave’s bloody nose had started at the beginning of the hike and he
gamely kept hiking until the breakfast break.
We waited until it was completely cleared up.
George had turned 18 that day, and we all noted how much more responsible
he had suddenly become. We drove on
and reached Schaefer’s Pass before 7:30.
When we saw Dave and Mary, it was a great moment.
The boys ran up the hill, ringing the dinner bell triangle all the way.
All I could do was hike up slowly to embrace Mary and give Dave a hearty
handshake. It was wonderful to realize that everyone was healthy and
happy. I had had visions of
debilitating arguments, injuries, or exhaustion taking its toll.
We soon set off together across Tooth Ridge.
There were several difficult sections for me and I lagged behind.
The fields of large rocks and boulders were a particular problem for me
in the downhill sections. My knees
ached, and the desire to take the last few photos kept me at the back of the
pack. I did get some great shots,
many of which included Dave Laredo. I
was very appreciative of the huge effort he had put into making the Philmont
adventure a reality for all of us. Crew
24, led by Josef, pursued a quick pace toward base camp.
We stopped at the Tooth of Time base half way down Tooth Ridge.
Everyone, except me, scrambled to the top.
It was pretty tired at this point and scrambling over boulders to great
heights is one of my least favorite activities.
I felt a little dizzy as I climbed higher and decided that I would forego
the honor of scaling the Tooth of Time. I
had no desire to repeat the unfortunate conclusion of Hermann Hesse’s The
Glass Bead Game. As I sat with
the packs, Chris came sauntering down the hill, once again illustrating the
casual strength of youth. We
gathered together and pursued own downward journey to base camp.
Some complained about the meandering, huge switchbacks that “take
forever” to get back to base camp as the sun heated up the air temperature.
I enjoyed it and was not particularly anxious for it to end.
We regrouped at the bottom and stopped at the “You Made It” portal
for lots of photos and celebration of the completion of our treks.
Then we headed for the camp logistics building ringing our dinner bell
triangle quite a bit. We made yet
another pack line and turned in the crew gear we had been issued at the
beginning of the trek – pots, bear rope and bags, polar pure, and the Frisbee
strainer. The decision to hasten back to base camp had been a wise one
as there was much to do that afternoon and little time before nightfall:
·
Pickup our non-trek gear from the lockers
·
Pickup valuables from the camp safe
·
Go to our assigned “homebound” tents
·
Take a wonderful hot shower and cleanup
·
Visit the snack bar for junk food, slush puppies, and Hagan-Das ice cream
·
Sort our gear and repack
·
Wash clothes, especially the socks, at the laundry or else travel with
the odor
·
Another trip to the Trading Post to pick up souvenirs
·
The closing award ceremony, where each crew leader was presented with a
“You Made It” plaque
In
camp, Darby became the seventh crew member to have a nosebleed.
Only Drew, John, and I escaped. The
day ended (finally) as I lay peacefully relaxing on my cot listening to the
noise of scouts moving about and Michael playing the guitar, while the “Van
Gogh” moon peeped through the evening clouds.