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| Ute Meadows | |
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| Baldy Skyline Sign |
Next morning, our gear was mostly dry, so we packed up and departed Ute Meadows to start our way to another trail camp -- Elkhorn. As it was a trail camp, our activities for the day would take place en route at Head of Dean. On the way, we passed Baldy Skyline and came across a metal sign which lay on the ground near this camp. "Time awaits you in these hills," it read -- something which I've only recently come to understand. Time and the elements had worn its face and broken its beams. Still, its words shone there to greet each crew which passed it by.
We continued onwards to Head of Dean Camp. This is where we did the Dean Challenge Course. This was the first year that Philmont had run the Challenge Course at Head of Dean. It was a series of physical exertion tests involving log-climbing, wall-scaling, rope ladders, and rope bridges -- also known as a C.O.P.E. course (a BSA acronym for "Challenging Outdoor Physical Encounter"). It was an exercise in teamwork.
The event was scheduled to start around 11 a.m., and we had arrived around 10. So, in the mean time we found a tree-covered area, the floor of which was thickly covered with pine needles, and set up a temporary camp site. Several of my crew-mates horsed around and got into a pine-cone-throwing match. That lasted just long enough for them to discover that pine cones really hurt when they are thrown in your face.
| HEAD OF DEAN |
The Challenge Course was located out in the meadow, not too far
from the camp's programme buildings. We hoped that it would not rain,
since that would pre-maturely end the activities. There were several
evetns which comprised the course. The first was what I called
"The Pen". The entire team stood between three pine trees which
had a rope strung around them at about four feet off the ground. The idea
was to get everybody outside the boundry without touching the rope.
Tossing the first few people over would not be a problem.
How to get the last person over was the challenge. Toby remained that person. We were told we could make use of anything inside the boundry. The solution seemed to present itself without too much thought. An eight-foot wooden fence post lay consipcuously inside the pen with us.
The next event was known as "The Beam", a log suspended between two trees. I have a picture of us leaving it, but I cannot remember the object of the challenge.
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The final event of the Challenge Course was a 13-foot vertical wall. The programme staff sat us down and explained the rules. We had to scale the wall in record time without any climbing devices.
The first few people had the easiest task -- getting up and over with the
assistance of the others pushing up from beneath.
David went first, standing on Robert's hunched over back.
Derek went next, essentially just pulled up by David.
Since David and I were the largest in the team, we decided that
I would follow so that we could better pull up the others.
Sid, Robert, and Brien all scaled in order. Then, just as in the
Pen exercise, John and Toby remained. Toby got John lifted enough for
David and I to grab hold of him, and up he came.
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Finally, the last person remained. With one big jump, and with David and I reaching down as far as we could, we grabbed hold of Toby's hands and pulled him to the top platform. The staffer remained on the ground to spot him in case he fell.
 click for map |
Once we had done the Challenge Course, we returned to our make-shift
camp site and ate lunch before hitting the trail. It was beginning
to drizzle again just a little bit as we hurried to get everything in
hiking order. With packs on, we scuffled to the edge of the camp
and disappeared into the wooded trail -- back onto the
route to Elkhorn Camp.
It was on this route that we passed the group of Japanese scouts again. I do no recall much about them (since were just passing by) except that their group was huge. I don't know if this was a combination of treks, or if they were really all in one group. Looking back on it, I think it would have really been fun to be the Ranger for such a group.
| ELKHORN CAMP |
Elkhorn is a trail camp with no activities. It is situated near a well, complete with a windmill pump. We arrived at the camp fairly late in the day, around 5 p.m. It appeared a good deal darker due to a retreating cloud cover. Despite the lack of activities at Elkhorn, there were many other treks here, and this was annoying because the only latrine was situated nearly in the middle of the meadow, no walls, nothing to obscure you from the view of absolutely everyone in the area! Yikes. And, it was quite smelly. As a result, I set out in the late evening into the woods to seek out more natural facilities. I suspect I was not the only one.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a heavy weight on my chest. I could barely breathe. I was relieved to discover it was not altitude sickness. Rather, my tentmate, John, was one of those people who tosses and turns during sleep. And, somehow he managed to wind up laying diagonally across me -- sleeping bag and all. It was a feat trying to get him to roll off without waking him up.
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DAY 5: MT BALDY |
| DAY 7: VISTO GRANDE |  |
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