Date: 7-1-98
Takeoff: 7:10pm Landing: 10:52pm
Everyone arrived at the airport on time, and all of crew two got onto the plane all right. There was an hour delay of liftoff because there was so much air traffic. Three hours later we arrived at Denver airport, and were surprised at the size and technology. Our baggage was all present and accounted for there. Except we had a little delay on Craig’s luggage because some one had taken it off the baggage deliverer and put it with some other packs, but I found it. From the airport we took charter busses at 12:00 am(our time) to the National Guard armory. When we arrived at the armory it was locked and no one was there to open it. (So here I am writing about this event at 2:20 am our time. We’ll probably end up spending the night out side under a light polluted sky sleeping next to a locked armory.) 2:45(our time) person arrives to open the armory. We have less then four hours to sleep, and (The floor is incredibly hard.)
Date: 7-2-98After a good 3 ‡ hour sleep on the hard cement floor of the dirty, dusty armory garage. We went to breakfast at a Best Western Inn. The food was not the best thing we could have eaten (I think it was better then the food on the airplane). From the inn we took the bus to River Runners Rafting. On my boat there was Joe, Craig, Bobby, Steve, Greg, Kevin, and our guide. We had a lot of fun rafting, and got extremely wet. Near the end in extremely calm waters, Bobby, Joe, and I accidentally fell off the raft into quite cold river water (Now how could that have happened?). Bobby and I climbed back into the boat okay, but Joe almost got left behind when we went over some tiny rapids. After rafting we went to Burger King for lunch we could only spend 4$ for our meal. After lunch we went to the air force academy, and spent an hour touring around there. The campus of the Air Force Academy was very large and breathtaking (It was a pity we only stayed there for an hour). The Protestant chapel was unreal it was built so modern with white pointy strangely shaped triangle arches. The organ issued is simply indescribable, and my pictures of it didn’t come out (so just use your imagination). Then we went for dinner to the Flying W Ranch. At the ranch they had may little gift shops and stores were we could spend tons of money. The dinner at the ranch wasn’t that bad. After The dinner and the show we got onto the buses, and headed back to spend another night on the hard armory floor.
Date: 7-3-98
Wakeup: 5:00am
We woke up and packed up our gear, and loaded it into the buses. Then we headed to the Best Western Inn for another not so great breakfast. From breakfast we headed off towards Pike’s Peak. We arrived at Pike’s Peak, and took a train up to it’s summit. The summit of the peak was 14,110 ft, but it is not the highest point in the continental U.S. . The air up on top of the peak was the thinnest I’ve faced, and some of my crew got dizziness from it. On top of the peak we had snacks, bought souvenirs, and took pictures. The coolest thing by far though was when we had a snow ball fight with the snow we didn’t get in NJ. Riding up to the top, and down from pike’s peak was incredibly boring though. Then we got back onto the buses, and went to Furr’s to eat lunch. Then we went to a college some where in Colorado where vipers are the mascot. At the college was a Native American Museum where we watched non-native Americans perform traditional Native American dances for hours (nearly drove me mad). Then we got to spend a night on the gym floor which was like the armory’s floor, but the advisers were more concerned that we would scuff it or something.
Date:7-4-98
Wakeup:5:00
We got up packed up, our stuff, and headed for breakfast at the cafeteria(the food was so,so). Then we loaded the gear into the bus and headed off to Philmont. The bus ride there was a very large controversy with the continual changing of seats, the movie the adults had that we couldn’t watch because they wanted us to enjoy the scenery, and every body shouting lets watch a movie. Most fell asleep, read books, or listened to their walkmans or discmans. We arrived at Philmont at 11:00 am(their time). The weather was nice until precisely 12:44 when it began to rain (figures it had to rain the day we came when it hadn’t rained for the past two months). We ate lunch, and the food there wasn’t to bad, but the best thing was the drink dispensers which you could have whatever drink you wanted. After lunch we picked up 75 pounds worth of gear food for four days, pots, a tarp, and all the other good things. We then went to the dinning hall for dinner the dinner wasn’t that great, but what should I expect. After dinner there was a program on the history of the area. Most of crew 2 retired to their tents after the campfire, but Craig and I went out patch trading. Then after closing a few deals we retired to the tent.
Date:7-5-98
Wake up: 6:30 Miles:2
We got up, and ate breakfast at the dinning hall. After breakfast we went to our tents and laid out all the gear we had with us so our ranger could do a pack shake down. Half the gear we had with us wasn’t needed for the trek. Then we repacked our packs and started with the dispersing of the crew gear which consisted of 36 meals, some large pots, fuel, dinning fly, poles, and etc.. after the dispersion of gear we took our packs to the welcome center where they could be weighed(most weighed 40-60 pounds). After that we went to lunch, and after lunch we loaded the packs onto a yellow school bus, and headed off for the trail. We arrived at the trail around 2:00 pm, and started our trek around 3:00. The first day of trekking was pretty dull we had to go over all the procedures for everything so walking 2 miles to the campsite took us over an hour. When we arrived at the site at 4:20 we learned the procedures for setting up and doing things. After pitching the site we went on to cooking, and the cooking of the meal was very disorganized. But after our sad display of how to cook a meal the meal came out pretty good. Then after cleaning the mess most retired to their tents, but I stayed up and played cards with a small group(I ended up going to bed at 10:30 that night).
Date:7-6-98
We left camp at six and walked down what I consider the little hill we hiked up yesterday. At the bottom of the hill it took us an hour to eat breakfast. After breakfast we headed of for pueblano camp. On the way to pueblano we had walked up to the top of Wilson mesa which had a steep section of trail. On top of the mesa we stopped, and absorbed the environment. The top of the mesa was like a field because of a fire that had swept through ten years ago, and the view from the mesa was marvelous. When we started our trip down the mesa it began to rain, and from the top we headed towards pueblano for shelter from the storm. When we arrived at pueblano we went, and sat up on the porch to listen to a guy lecture about the area, and it’s rules. After the rain stopped we tried our hands at making rail road ties. Then after that we headed off for pueblano ruins to make camp, have some dinner, and sleep. It rained again at the camp, and life wasn’t the most enjoyable.
Date:7-7-98
Wakeup: 5:00 Miles:6
We got up and headed off towards French Henry for activities. The hike to French Henry was done at a moderately fair pace which was not to tough, and the terrain wasn’t very rugged either. But, hiking in the high altitudes was starting to show on some of the crew members, and morale of the crew was slipping. We arrived at French Henry a little before noon, and where able to do two out of the three activities offered there. The first activity we did was black smithing, and the whole crew was able to participate in making a S hook. Each crew member was able to do one step in the project(I got stuck with having to dip it into the olive oil and water after it was completed) which allowed the crew to work together to achieve one goal. The second activity we did was go into a old gold mine, and see how the miners had worked. We went about 500ft into the mine, and then the guide told the crew to turn off all the lights and walk back in the dark. This mine like most I’ve been in was pitch black, and walking out required the whole cooperation of the crew. Well, we did walk out of that mine okay, and I probably wouldn’t be typing this if we didn’t. After the mine tour we are now faced with a new very serious challenge. A powerful storm is coming in, and the next camp is a mile away up a hill at about 11,000ft. Our crew quickly decides to split into a fast group, and a slow group. We figured this would work well because the fast group could get over the hill, and set up camp before the storm arrives. So we assembled the fastest, hardest, and most enduring crew members Bobby, J.J., Greg, Steve, and I all volunteered for this task. We took the hill on at a runners pace which left our adviser in the dust, and back with the slow crew. On the way to the top of the hill we developed a pattern of sprinting 50 feet and then breaking for thirty seconds. One-third the way up this monster it began to pouring, and the trail quickly turned into a raging stream of water, mud, sticks, and loose rock. Then halfway up the rain turned into sleet with marble sized ice pellets, and lightning began striking dangerously close yet we proceeded at the same speed. Through this horrid storm we pressed on towards the top wondering how the slower crew was doing, and if we were going to make it. Then all of a sudden we found ourselves on the top of the hill sleet harder then ever, but our hopes were renewed and our pace grew faster yet easier at the same time. The sleet began to slow, and then stop when we reached the meadow in front of Copper Park, and there we stopped to take pictures. It was amazing we had covered the mile with sixty to seventy pound packs in twenty-six minutes, but what we didn’t realize was the worst hadn’t started yet. So into Copper Park we went, and picked out a nice remote site. We changed our wet under shirts, and then assigned Greg and Steve to set up camp while we waited for the rest of the crew(what the hell were we thinking having two people set up camp while three waited for a crew that was at least half an hour behind. I’d say the thin air was affecting our brains). So Bobby, J.J., and I went to the entrance of the camp to wait for them to arrive. Then as suddenly as the sleet had stopped it started again twice as hard, and Bobby, J.J., and I couldn’t help wondering what was becoming of Greg, Steve, and the slow crew. Anyway from my account we took shelter in the latrine, and watched the water and ice pellets draining from the Copper Park camp slowly rising to the top of the concrete base of the latrine(which was a good eight inches off the ground). We waited in the latrine, and every now and then I went out to see if the slow crew was coming. Then about an hour and a half later a the cold dripping wet slow crew arrived, and took shelter in the latrine. Although there wasn’t enough room in one latrine for the whole crew, so Joe, Mike, Mr.Basque, and I sought shelter in another latrine. The situation looked alright to me at first glance just eleven cold people( not including myself. I wasn’t cold because my dress looking rain coat kept me dry, and warm.), but what seemed more important to me was Greg, Steve, and the packs that were somewhere out in this nasty weather. So I left the latrine to find them, and no sooner then 100 yards I found a very cold wet Steve(I don’t remember what Greg had done. I think he went to the latrine before Steve, but that doesn’t matter.). I pointed him in the direction of one of the latrines, and then set off looking for the packs and gear. I found the stuff within five minutes of encountering Steve. Without thinking I grabbed my pack and Bobby’s pack, and sprinted back to the latrine(Did you Know: Both Bobby’s and my pack weighed Seventy pounds together that’s one-hundred and Forty pounds. How the hell was I able to carry these packs 100 yards through harsh terrain and at 11,000 feet. Sometimes I amaze myself). Everyone in my latrine looked fine so I went out, and got another pack and the whole dinning fly (poles and all). Then after that the heat in our latrine wasn’t sufficient so I ran a stove from the other latrine back to my latrine for more heat. Then after countless trips between latrines relaying messages I was assigned to find our sister crew a campsite. After completing that task I went back to the latrine to see how Mike, Mr.Basque, and Joe were doing when I arrived. I was shocked to find Joe in a hypothermic state, and a paramedic from another crew tending him. We then quickly transferred him to a tent, and put Bobby and Mike in with him to keep his body temperature from dropping any farther(looks like that first aid training was actually useful). His condition and the crews eventually stabilized an hour and a half later when help finally arrived Joe and another kid (from another crew) were taken away to the base camp hospital. Now we are faced with another problem, setting up a camp and organizing all the gear that’s lying around. The first thing we did though was to set up the fly and eat whatever food we saw from whatever bag. After this we pitched my green A frame and Bobby, Craig, and I all slept there for the Night. Our crew didn’t hang a bear bag ,oh well.
Date:7-8-98
Wakeup:6:30 Miles:0
We woke up, and had last nights dinner for breakfast. Then after breakfast we set about to drying gear, but the air was damp and cool and the sky was overcast most of the time so we where unsuccessful at it. We where also unable to hike Baldy because almost everything was soaked, and that kinda disappointed some of the crew. Later we had dinner for lunch, and this dinner had the greatest pie it was like a big Reeses peanut butter cup. After our lunch we snacked on peanut butter and jelly spreadables those where also very good. Then we built these almost fortress walls around our tents to prevent water from rushing into our tents if it rained. I suppose these walls we built could have stopped the heaviest rainstorm, but it didn’t rain it drizzled a little. We then went to sleep in Joe's dome tent that seemed to have an infinite number of holes in it, but that’s why they invented duct tape, right.
Date:7-8-98
Wakeup:5:00 Miles:5
Today we awoke, and packed up a messy camp, and headed off towards Baldy camp. On the way to Baldy Camp we were aloud to leave the trail to look at a caved in mine shaft. Climbing up this hill was no easy task either it was painstakingly steep, and hard on the legs even without the packs. From the top though big rocks gathered lots of momentum when you rolled them down, and when Greg ran down the hill he managed to find a rock with some gold in it. We arrived at Baldy Camp at about 9:00am and ate breakfast there. At Baldy Camp we where able to take showers, wash clothes, dry off the wet gear, and by civilized food at the trading post. We then left Baldy Camp at 11:55am, and headed for Miranda which was 4 miles away. Mean while in crew organization the crew two has split into different organizations fast paced(Crew HELLSTORM), medium paced (laggards), and slow (haggard laggards). Otherwise the crew is starting to work together better now after the experience at Copper Park. We all arrived at Miranda at 1:20. The first thing we did when we got there before any activities was to setup camp and hang a bear bag so we wouldn’t have to worry about any surprise weather. After setting up camp we went over to the black powder rifle range to shoot our unwanted contingent stuff. When the holes in our hats weren’t big enough for our liking we asked if we could shoot again. They said we couldn’t, but that they would shoot our stuff for us. So they took two T-shirts and four hats and made a large bundle at which they shot at point blank range. Our stuff had the incredibly large holes and burn marks. Then we took our hats and shirts over to the tomahawk range where we threw tomahawks at it to butcher it up. After that we retreated to our tents because of expectations of a bad storm, but it sorta drizzled an the worst thing was the really high winds. That night I got to cook a very bad tasting meal, and after dinner and clean up we retired to our tents for the night.
Date:7-10-98
Wakeup:5:00am Miles:6
We were up and on our way out of Miranda by 6:20,(I got lots of gear)and were on our way to Head of Dean to do conservation and pick up Joe. We ate breakfast in a meadow which was about a mile away, and for breakfast we had this great apple and cinnamon oat meal(I ate 8 packets, well at least I thought it was good. Some people didn’t share my opinion.). We then proceeded on our way to Head of Dean, and arrived there at about 10:00am, and got ready for our conservation project. The project itself was æ miles up the road, and when we arrived there we were given a lecture on the history of the forest, history of the area, and safety when cutting down and hauling logs. The we got to do some nice tough labor of hauling logs around, and after that we headed back to Head of Dean. At Head of Dean was Joe, who we welcomed back to the crew. We were then able to do the challenge activities that where offered at Head of Dean. Our female instructor was very nice and we did all the challenge activities, and some of these activities were seeing how high we could stack ourselves up, scaling a fence, and scaling a wall. After the activities we ate supper, and after supper the advisers went to a meeting. So being the irresponsible people we were we decided to have a pinecone fight, and after ten minutes of it crew 9 joined in. Crew two united to have a giant pinecone fight between crews. The fight stopped suddenly when somebody thought to unite against our crew leader. So twenty people chased our yelling crew leader, and just as we were about to all throw pinecones at him. Someone yelled "Get the kid in the shitter", and everybody turned and through their pinecones at Craig who was inside the latrine. It was hilarious about a hundred pine cones had been thrown into the latrine within a time span of three minutes. Then we stopped the fight in fear the advisers were returning, and out of boredom and exhaustion. We went to sleep later that night also learning that Mr.goldman wasn’t feeling well, and we were going to wake up at 6:00am.
Date:7-11-98
Date:7-12-98
Wakeup:5:00am Miles:6 I think 10 the map was inaccurate
We got up and packed up camp as fast as possible because we were going through an extremely hot section of trail. We stated off at a reasonable pace towards Harlan, but that was interrupted by breakfast about fifteen minutes into the hike. After breakfast we then headed through a hot two mile canyon at a fast pace(well, a faster pace then normal). I would say it took us about an hour to reach a highway under pass for shelter from the hot sun. The after resting for twenty-five minutes we continued our hike to Harlan. We walked and walked and walked some more the hike their was taking unusually long, and our water supply was at a all time low. Then finally we reached Vaca where we replenished our water and ate lunch. We then walked up the hill into Harlan Camp where we checked in for activities. Harlan offered shotgun shell reloading and shot gun shooting. We first went to a building where we taught to reload shot gun shells using a shell reloader. After reloading three shells we went down to the range where we got to try shooting 5 clay pigeons with the shotguns(I hit 1 out of 5). Then after we all took a turn at shooting, they took our hats and stuff we wanted shot and placed it out on the range. Where they proceeded to shoot each one by one, and when they where returned it every thing had hundreds of holes in it. Then we got our packs and went to find the campsite. Some found the campsite quicker then others (kinda like how I found the site twenty minutes before anyone else arrived), but everyone did eventually find it. At our campsite I climbed through a tiny gap in between a large boulder and the ground and caught a couple checked lizards. We then ate dinner and after dinner some of us went to bed and others(like myself) went looking for stuff to climb on. Probably by about 11:00pm we were all in our tents and falling asleep.
Date:7-13-98
Wakeup:5:00am Miles:6
We woke, packed up camp, and set of from Harlan to Cimmarron. On the way to Cimmarron there was a food pick up where we stopped to get supplies and to buy tons of candy bars. We then hiked to Aspen Springs, and on the way we stopped to have the whole crew climb up on a big rock for pictures. At Aspen Springs we stopped to have lunch, and reunite Mr.Goldman with the crew. It turned out though that Mr.Goldman was going to have a reevaluation and we were going to stay at Aspen Springs for the night. Aspen Springs was probably one of the greatest places on our trek(my opinion). This place had the greatest rock formations to climb on, over, down, and into. There was a rock formation that I really liked called the Spine and there was a foot wide space between to rocks which was pretty long which we squeezed through(this formation made the lemon squeezer look gigantic, and everybody enjoyed going through it.). Then we climbed up on this large hill which was l think solid rock where we had a view of the Tooth of Time. From the hill we also saw all the other large formations in Aspen Springs like a rock that had huge stone spires. Later I came up with the idea to put people on the large hill and on spire rock, and then start yelling things. This was great because when you yelled everyone in the valley could hear you, and the people on both the rocks could yell across to each other. When we were finally heading back to the campsite though we got the report of a bear walking through the area. So we went back to the camp as quick as possible and at the campsite we hung the bear bag with all the smellables. Then we went to our tents where we drifted into sleep really quickly.
Date:7-14-98
We woke up late at 5:30 to discover something had gone through Matt’s pack, and eaten a coca packet. Luckily though whatever did eat the packet hadn’t done any real damage to his pack. We then packed up camp, and headed to window rock for breakfast. We arrived at window rock to find our sister crew already eating breakfast, but that really doesn’t matter since the view from window rock was amazing. People took 5,10,15, 20 pictures at window rock, and after taking the pictures we ate breakfast. This breakfast consisted of maple and brow sugar oatmeal, a power bar, beef Jerky, and hot chocolate. After breakfast we hiked from window rock to Clark’s Fork. When we reached Clark’s Fork we were rejoined with Mr.Goldman. At Clark’s Fork we had the opportunity to brand our boots and other non-synthetic items. After eating our dinner for lunch, we got to go horse back riding, and tour a small area of terrain which we had great views of the tooth. From Clark’s Fork we headed to Shaffer’s Pass to stay for the night. When we got there we set up the dinning fly and ate dinner, and after dinner we decided we were going to sleep under the dining fly instead of in the tents. That night we had a skunk running around the campsite, and when I thought it was gone I went to sit in the field to see what stars I could see. So I was just sitting there and all of a sudden the cat sized animal with a white stripe on its back ran right up to me. The thing was so close I could feel its hair on one of my legs I sat incredibly still, and didn’t move in fear I would startle it. Then it eventually lost interest in me, and headed off to the sump (That was a close call). That night we still went to sleep under the dinning fly though.
Date:7-15-98
Wakeup:4:00am Miles:6
We got up extremely early so we could see the sunrise on the Tooth Ridge. We walked along Tooth Ridge, and saw the sunrise as we wanted to do. About half an hour after the sunrise we reached the tooth, and at the base of the tooth we dropped our packs. We the proceeded on climbing to the top of the Tooth of Time where we ate breakfast, and viewed our final destination, Base Camp. The view from the Tooth was spectacular you could see everything, and more. We then climbed down the tooth , and proceeded with our hike to base camp. The trip from the Tooth of Time to base camp took 1 hour and 30 minutes, and the worst part was walking down the hill to base camp they took the distance of a mile and stretched it into about 2 ‡ miles with all the switch backs. When we finally arrived everyone was excited we were back to the land of flush toilets, sinks, and showers finally civilization. Not taking a shower in 5 days does have its effects on people and wanting to be clean. At base camp we ate lunch, and after lunch we went into Cimarron to look around. In Cimarron I discovered that there was no law about how old you had to be to buy a knife. So I bought a boot knife, a zippo, a survival knife, and lockblade, and after shopping we had dinner at Heck’s restaurant. After finally having a good meal we caught the 4:00pm bus back to Philmont. At Philmont we started packing our bags for tomorrows trip home. That night we went to a campfire without a campfire it was more like a program and at the campfire/program they had skits, jokes, and songs. After the campfire We retired to our tents for our final night in Philmont.
Date:7-16-98
Wakeup:5:00am Miles: I don’t know about 1500
We got up and took our luggage over to the pavilion thing over by the road. We then cleaned our tent area and tents, and after that we went to breakfast. Then from breakfast we loaded the gear on the buses and boarded them. We rode the buses to denver airport where we took ourselves and our gear, and boarded the plane to Newark New Jersey. We arrived in Newark at about 10:04pm, and got off the plane. We were greeted at the gate by our families, and I would have to say that the trip ends here.