Here we are getting ready to leave the church parking lot on June 17. Little did we know the troubles in store for us at the airport.
Almost immediately we found out that we were not going to be riding together. Ted's group had a three hour layover in Salt Lake City where the boys passed the time away by playing cards and going to vending machines.
We all arrived safe and sound in Albequrque, NM. One of the first things we did was to eat at a great Mexican buffet.
This is a view of the canyon where Bandelier National Park is located.
Here is the crew following the trail in Bandelier. They learned about the ancient Pueblo culture.
Allen and Alex exiting one of the caves carved into the cliff by the ancient Pueblo.
Here is the crew in one of the larger caves. This one was probably used for ceremonies.
Troy looking into the cave with the canyon in the background.
Shawn and Ted from the other side of the ladder.
Upon arriving at Philmont, we saw the tooth of time in the distance.
We unpacked our equipment from the van.
We went to our tents at "Tent City" (The Tooth is still beckoning to us in the background)
"Hurry up and wait" was a common theme during the registration process. They process hundreds of scouts every day.
Here we are getting our first amount of trail food. We received a four day supply right away.
Pack line ready to be loaded on the bus - taking us to Lovers Leap Turnaround.
You will see many photos of "The Tooth". Pilgrims on the Santa Fe Trail knew that when they saw this rock formation - they would arrive in Santa Fe within 8 to 10 days.
Day 1 - A shot from Lovers Leap. It rained during this photo.
Day 1 - We stopped for lunch and had some animal visitors.
This was the first of many Mule Deer that we would see.
Our Ranger, Charles, dispenses some wisdom.
Day 2 - Ted and Shawn can't agree on the direction to take. Good thing the boys are leading us.
Day 2 - Crater Lake is the home of "The Mountain Boys". Unfortunately thunder prevented us from participating in any activities here.
We did have a great view of The Tooth of Time from our location.
This is the view from one of the latrines. Not a bad place to "sit and think"
The boys waiting for the thunder to end. Unfortunately the rain began to fall soon after this photo.
Mr. Coffman dozing away. Even after it started to rain. We listened to some live Bluegrass music on the porch during the storm. Then we went though a hail storm on the way to our next camp.
I wish we had some photos from the hail storm. Anyway, we made it through to the next site. We were greeted by this "Pilot to Bombadier" outhouse.
On the morning of day 3, we said goodbye to our ranger, Charles
A view from our campsite at Aguilla - absolutely beautiful.
Father and son at Aguilla.
I can't tell you how beautiful it was to see this view.
Troy is a "rock solid" crew member.
Our last photo with Ranger Charles. He went on to his next group after breakfast on the third day.
Day 3 - Away and on the trail. It is hard to express the undeveloped beauty we saw every day.
Day 3 - We arrived at a homestead called Abreu. There were goats to pet, adobe bricks to make, and root beer at the Cantina!
Mr. Williams took this photo of a beetle in a flower.
Here's Daniel shortly after our arrival at Zastrow on Day 3.
Ah! Now Mr. Coffman was able to do what he wanted more than anything. Fly fishing in this beautiful country was a real pleasure for him.
This small brook trout was just the beginning of Mr. Coffman's catch.
Day 4 - We hiked to Carson's Meadow where we stopped for the boys to participate in the Search and Rescue program.
Again, "The Tooth" is visible to us. It challenges us to be ready to climb on day 11. We started to feel we were being "mocked" by the tooth.
Day 4 - on the trail to our next destination, Fish Camp
We had to go through "The Notch" on the way to Fish Camp.
A dizzying view from The Notch.
Another shot from The Notch.
Mr. Loring snapped this shot of Mr. Williams at The Notch.
Getting ready for the rest of the trail from The Notch.
We really enjoyed our break at The Notch.
A shot from the trail on the way to Fish Camp.
We wondered if this trail would ever end! Although the scenery was fantastic!
We finally arrived at Fish Camp - very tired and sweaty.
Day 5 - The next morning the boys got a chance to do some fly fishing.
Donny
Daniel
Allen
Alex
Evan
Lawrence
Nate in the trees
Many of the men agreed that they would be happy to live here at Fish Camp.
Leaving Fish Camp
Day 5 - On the trail with many stream crossings.
Another beautiful stream crossing. Unbuckle the waist and cross one at a time!
Day 5 - Arrival at Apache Springs
This is one of the first views of Philmont I saw on the internet. It was amazing to see it for real.
Behold the Mini-Bear - The bane of every scout's existence on the trail. They are persistent and work in teams.
Some 3D Archery at Apache Springs
What is 3D Archery you ask?
The archer has real three dimensional targets - like this mountain lion. (No scouts were harmed in the making of this picture)
At the end of the day, we climbed to the top of the mountain for a beautiful sunset.
It was beautiful and relaxing
The guys were just chilling and laughing.
Mr. Coffman sat and wrote in his notebook and just enjoyed nature.
The sunset lit up the whole sky
On the way down, the boys played in a snow bank
Snowball fights and sliding
Day 6 - We started off the day with our Conservation Project. We learned about trail creation and maintenance.
After a lengthy "Cons" project and then a tough hike on the "Fence Trail" (we called it Suicide Trail), one of the chaplains met us on the trail to help the crew develop teamwork.
Upon arrival at Crooked Creek, we noticed we were in "another time" - 1876
Mr. C and Mr. L enjoying their Crazy Creek chairs
Day 7 - Breakfast on the Trail
Lawrence & Donny enjoy breakfast on the trail. Beef jerky again....
Clear Creek was a site that featured black powder rifles
Donny takes aim
Somehow, Mr. Loring slept through 38 rounds of black powder
Mr. Coffman looks like he knows what he's doing
After shooting, we prepared a hot lunch to prepare for Mt. Phillips. Many of the boys took advantage of the time for a little snooze.
The boys were tired and managed to sleep in almost any position.
After a "delicious" lunch of beef stir fry mixed with vegetable soup we headed for Mt. Phillips Peak
The climb up Phillips was very steep and rocky. We had to take frequent breaks because of the high altitude.
On the way to the peak.
Getting higher
Higher still...
Mr. Williams takes ANOTHER flower picture!
Surveyor mark for the peak of Mt. Phillips. Hooray, we made it!
Most of the gang at high elevation. A rain storm blew quickly in so we had to find cover.
As quickly as the storm came in, it left - leaving Mr. Coffman, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Loring some time to enjoy the sunset.
All right Mr. Williams!! Enough with the flowers!
Day 8 - We awoke in the high altitude and were ready to head down.
During the climb down, we saw Baldy in the distance.
Arrival at Sawmill
Reloading cartridges for the .30/06
Mr. Williams had no trouble with the kick of this powerful rifle.
Troy and Donny had a blast
Father and Son break the "No Photography" rule!
Getting ready for the second leg of today's hike
Lower Sawmill - this site had stone chairs in place
3 Wild Turkey pay us a visit at the end of the day.
Day 9 - We say goodbye to our stone chairs. They were surpisingly comfortable
Mr. Williams!!
Day 9 - Totem Poles at our waiting area for the "Food Boys". Mr. Coffman carried fresh fruit for us and it was yummy!
A Quote at Cimmaroncito - a pretty big camp
The weather kicked in and it rained for hours. "It is what it is" became a popular quote.
Approaching Cathedral Rock
Cathedral Rock from the other side
Day 10 - It rained all night but cleared up for our hike to Carson's Fork
At Carson's Fork, the crew went for a horseback ride
Beautiful and happy horses
New discipline technique for wayward crew
Our last evening on the trail already! One of our many "thorns and roses" sessions.
Day 11 - the "next to last" big climb was to Schaffer's Peak
The views continued to amaze us, but the best was yet to come.
The Tooth of Time continued to hide from us -even on the last day.
Finally we made it to the Tooth. The trail just ended and we had to scamper up the rocks.
Some of the first boys to the summit
You had to choose your own path up the Tooth
What a great place to be a boy
The group from one side of the Tooth
We are the champions.
I think we called this "The Denture of Time"
The "Sub-Compacted Molar of Time"
Now, all we had to do was descend down to Base Camp somewhere below.
This was perhaps our steepest downhill of the entire trip.
That didn't stop Mr. C and Mr. L from doing it "the Ranger way"
We just came from up there!
Now we are more in a desert environment
At last we made it!
Washing our stinky stinky clothes
Getting ready to head to the final campfire
Celebrating our success
They did an excellent final campfire
OK!, Mr. L was tired! It's not like "Sky" magazine is exciting reading!
Mr. C was a little tired too.
We are proud of our trophy!
Proudly posing with our Philmont patches on our pockets
