We got up early again today (4:30am) and were packed up and hiking by headlamp by 5:35. It was a gentle downhill slope through Dean Canyon until Turkey Creek camp, where we took a break and ate breakfast at 6:30.

We stuck together through the isolated Turkey Creek Canyon, which features the highest concentration of mountain lions in the state of New Mexico. (As one staff member put it, "You probably won't see them, but you can be assured that THEY see YOU!")

It was hot by the time we reached US 64, the one highway that slices horizontally through Philmont, dividing into the north and south sections, so we took a break in the shade of the tunnel that crosses underneath the highway. We soaked our shirts in Cimarron Creek, the biggest creek on the camp, to keep us cool when starting our long uphill climb in the hot sun.

We made it Harlan, our campsite, at 12:20, and ate lunch. Then we all got to try reloading shotgun shells, and walked about a mile down to the shotgun range to use those shells against clay pigeons.

Our rehydrated supper back in the campsite was maybe the best one yet -- chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, soup, and kettle corn! After supper we hiked back to the main campsite for the burro races, which our crew won in a come-from-behind victory.

When the staff heard Simon play the bugle for the start of the burro races, they recruited him to play "Retreat" for the closing flag ceremony. Then we sang the Philmont Hymn in our four-part harmony for the staff and all the other crews assembled.

The staff guys then took Simon and his bugle (and Ricky with the GoPro camera) hiking up a cliff at dusk so he could play "Taps" for the whole spread-out campsite. It was really cool hearing the clear notes of the bugle echoing off all the cliffs. We got to bed about 9:30 pm that night. (Total distance: 11.71 miles at avg. pace of 27:17.)

Here are a some photos I took with my new Canon 70D camera.

- Tom Arneberg (toma@arneberg.com)        

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