The train actually left the station at 8:07 (not bad for a tourist-trap operation), and arrived at the summit at 9:10. On the way up we saw a variety of wildlife, including marmot, elk, and bighorn sheep. Undoubtedly there were other critters watching us that we didnít see. At the summit house gift shop and money sink, Harvey and I indulged ourselves with coffee and a greasy donut (absolutely no good for the body, but it sure tasted good), then wandered around the peak. We saw an NBC photographer doing a photo shoot in preparation for the Pikeís Peak race that was to be held this weekend. He paid absolutely no attention to us, and probably missed some good comic relief for his video.

We re-boarded the train at 9:50 and left the peak at 10:01 (the conductor wasnít kidding when he said the train would leave on time). On the way down we paused at Windy Point (a former mid-way station) to let two upward-bound trains pass us, one with 1 car and one with 2 cars. While we were waiting we got a good view of some bighorn sheep grazing near the rails.

On the way up I missed the opportunity to take a picture of Minihaha Falls, the worldís highest waterfall (by virtue of its elevation on the side of Pikeís Peak ñ itís really a mini-falls, ha ha). Anyhow, I was determined to get the picture on the way down, so I was all poised and ready to shoot as we approached the area. However, as the train passed the big dripper one of the Scouts in our contingent jumped up in front of me and got the photo. All I got was a picture of his scenic back. So much for my lofty plans.

The conductor was somewhat of a humorist (or so he claimed). He told us not to worry if the cog mechanism broke, because there were two big springs at the bottom of the tracks that would stop us: Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. His humor notwithstanding, we made it safely to the bottom at 11:21 and herded everybody back on the busses.

At 12:05 PM we arrived at Furrís Family Dining restaurant, an all-you-can-eat buffet where the fare ranged from the exotic to the bizarre (at least thatís what our Scouts seemed to think). The real high point of this noon meal, however, was watching the looks on the faces of the elderly folks (Iím talking octogenarians, I realize that my crew considered me elderly) as they came into the place, saw 111 people in Boy Scout uniform, then were allowed to go right to the front of the line ahead of us. Okay, so not all of the Scouts were excited about letting someone get first dibs on the food. However, there was plenty to eat and nobody went hungry. We might even have created a positive impression of the BSA in the minds of the folks who were the recipients of our good turn.

After that belly-buster of a meal, we waddled back onto the busses at 1:45 and were on the road again. We reached Pueblo around 2:35 and turned onto US 50 East toward La Junta. We arrived at the Koshare Kiva at 3:45. It was sunny, hot, and very dry. Perhaps because we were a relatively large contingent, we were assigned to sleep in the Otero Junior College gym. The previous contingent trashed the place (not very Scout-like behavior), so at 4:45 Joe Somethingorother treated us to a lecture on the rules of the Kiva and the proper care of the place. I knew that there was no cause to worry, but we let him vent anyhow.

At 5:00 we walked over to the OJC cafeteria for dinner. They offered an interesting menu of either spaghetti and meat sauce (which I chose) or chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes, plus salad, fresh fruit, and soda. Yummy. As it turned out, having that huge lunch was what we called a good thing. I meandered over to the Kiva gift shop at 6:00 and bought some goodies for Dee, Sharon, Dave, and Trina. I also got a CD of native-American flute music for me.

At 7:00 we gathered in the Kiva. The place was packed, because there was to be a special show, featuring several "alumni" dancers from the Koshares. Our contingent comprised only a small fraction of the crowd and our crew had to shoehorn ourselves into a small place on the concrete bench area around the perimeter of the dance floor. I was glad I brought my Crazy Creek chair.

While we waited for the show to start we used the time to have a crew meeting. I gave Philmont sectional maps to Paul and Blake, daily itinerary summary sheets to Paul, a trail meal menu plan to Dave Wiesenfeld, and a crew duty list with a blank duty roster to Nathan. We discussed the base-camp drill and what we would do to keep it manageable (at least we hoped to accomplish that). Then we reviewed the last-minute feelings of each crew member, which ran the gamut from apprehension to concern (all normal reactions). Overall, though, everyone had a good positive attitude.

The dance show started at 8:00 and didnít end until 10:15. It was a good show, but the Scouts began to lose patience and interest toward the end, for this had been a long day. I thought the Koshares did a great job, as usual, but the alumni thing really was more for the benefit of the locals. When we left we noticed that it had rained during the show.