|
|
[Troop 674 Home]
We arose very early, ate breakfast and packed day packs for the climb up Baldy. We carried only the minimum gear, water, and lunch. We left our tents, and the rest of our gear setup; we would pick them up after climbing Baldy. It was about a 9.5 mile hike from Ute Meadows up to the top of Baldy, and back to Ute Meadows. Elevation change was about 3,000 feet up, and another 3,000 feet back down. The climb was incredibly difficult, the oxygen in short suppply; all hikers looked ragged around the edges. The views from the top were truly breathtaking, the feeling of accomplishment when we made it to the top was indescribable. The following pictures attempt to capture the moment, but don't really do it justice - you need to stand there on the top to appreciate it. Almost everyone lugged some rocks back from the top of Baldy - probably the most treasured of all Philmont souvenirs.
There is a cantina at Ponil, and most of us went down and treated ourselves to Root beer, and junk food - real food, that had never been dehydrated! In the afternoon most everyone went for a horseback ride, when they returned, we participated in several of the Ponil activities, we branded shoes, hats, belts; tried lassoing stumps, threw horseshoes, and relaxed.
Two of our members would not be continuing with us, their parents would pick them up at Philmont: Justin Diller, and Jim Meurer, so we said our good byes to them the last morning. The rest of us would leave Philmont, and drive north for further adventures in Colorado! Mr. Snyder had arranged a 1/2 day White-water rafting trip farther up the Arkansas river, in Brown's canyon, which is where we headed next. We drove around the back side of Pikes peak at sunset, and had pizza for supper outside looking up at Pikes peak. After a big breakfast, we spent the day sight-seeing in Colorado Springs. We visited the Garden of the Gods, we drove up Pike's Peak, we visited an Indian cliff dwelling, and watched Indian dancers perform. We visited & toured the Air Force Academy, where we would spend the night. We awoke extremely early the next morning, and headed home. We'd been together now for over two weeks, and were beginning to get on one-another's nerves. We were anxious to get home, and the drive seemed to take forever! We arrived back in St. Louis, in early evening, and were very happy to see our families waiting there for us. After emptying the vans of gear, and some cleaning up, we returned the rented vans, and declared the adventure over. The End
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
