Our hike today would take us from
Seally Canyon to Whiteman Vega, passing through a camp called Ring
Place, where we would be resupplying our food stocks. It's only about
a 4 - 5 mile hike, however, since we are in the Valle Vidal, there
are no trails, and we would have to rely completely on map and
compass navigation.
When we arrive at Whiteman Vega, we
will be doing our required three hour conservation project, working
on the mountain bike trails there, after which, we would have the
opportunity to do some mountain biking.
We got a late start today … the boys
just weren't in the mood to get themselves up and ready. We finally
got packed up and headed out, with Jim helping the boys with
navigation.
We had been told by the staff at Seally Canyon that our route today would take us up and over a small mountain, the Eastern end of the ridge we had climbed the night before, after which, we'd find ourselves in a large clearing. At that point, we were supposed to head Northwest, using Little Costilla Peak as a navigation point.
We would then climb up and over a small wooded mountain. If we did everything right, after emerging from the tree line on the other side of the mountain, we should see the buildings of Ring Place off in the distance.
We got to Ring Place and met up with our sister crew. They had been there for a while and were getting ready to set out for the second half of today's hike to Whiteman Vega. After a short rest and a snack, it was time for the boys to resupply our food. It turned out, that food resupply at Ring Place took the form of a “bucket brigage”. The staff members had the boys line up and the next thing we knew, food bags were flying through the air. The boys couldn't keep up the pace, and food bags were hitting the floor. It was really funny to watch!!!
One of the staff members asked the boys if they wanted some edible napkins. We all kind of looked at each, wondering what he was talking about. It turns out, edible napkins at Philmont are flour tortillas, the idea being, that you use the tortillas to hold your food, and that way you don't have to wash your plates!!!
We hiked for about 45 minutes or so and
then we saw the yurt at Whiteman Vega ahead of us. When we arrived,
we met up with our sister crew and it was time for lunch. The protein
for today's lunch with a slab of Spam … let's just say, that I
probably won't ever be eating Spam again!!!
After lunch, the staff members told us
that one of our crews would do their conservation project while the
other crew went mountain biking. Our sister crew did the conservation
project first, and we got to do the mountain biking. Unfortunately
for Jim & I, there was another crew at the camp who was also
going mountain biking. The staff members told us there were too many
of us for everyone to be able to ride, so the adult advisors from the
two crews sat out while the boys went riding. I can't lie … I was
pretty bummed out about not getting to ride.
After the ride, it was time for us to
do our conservation project work. During our work, some bad weather
started to move in, so the staff cut our project a little short of
the three hours we were supposed to do … no one was complaining!!!
Fortunately, the rain passed through very quickly.
We set up camp for the night and then
ate dinner. The sunset was absolutely incredible. As we were
beginning to figure out, sunsets at Philmont are a really awesome
part of the experience.
The staff members came to our site to ask the boys if they wanted to play some wiffle ball. We made our way back over to the staff area and the boys played wiffle ball against their sister crew while we advisors had some coffee. It was a great night.
Tomorrow would be our longest hike of the trek, in terms of mileage. It was time to turn in and get a good night's sleep.
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