I awoke at 4:45 AM to the sound of scouts marching by my tent on the way to the Tooth Of Time. Our troop got up to get ready to do the same. Carter had had a rough night with difficulty breathing so he and Adam stayed in camp. We walked to the Base of the Trail, and the started what was for me the toughest climb of the trip. I thought it wouldn't be so bad but maybe at 5:30 AM nothing's easy! It was straight up, it was impossible to figure out where "the trail" was, it was more like a rock scramble. However, all ten of us got to the top, along with 4-5 other troops, and it was worth it. We ate our breakfast as we watched the sunrise, and then we took some great pictures. Here are two photos (before and after sunrise!)
The rest of our time was spent taking great photos from the Tooth of Time. There were father/son photos of the Harringtons , the Stevens, and the Todds.
And of course, we took the obligatory group photo with the western part of our trip behind us. I can't remember who took the picture but they blocked our sun!
In one of the scarier moments of the trip, Spencer fell backwards off the cliff and begged to be saved while he hung on by his fingertips. Who came to his rescue? A true American hero.
We hiked back down, broke camp, and started the 5 1/2 mile downhill walk to base camp. The trail was pretty easy, but it was not a very enjoyable hike. We could see base camp most of the way, but we'd hike for another hour and still see base camp because it was all switchbacks; not a direct route.
But finally, we did make it!!! Another troop was gracious enough to take this picture picture by the sign.
We walked to the visitor center, and a couple scouts went right to the soda machines. We got our tent assignments, went to the cars, and then ate hamburgers for lunch. Matthew and I went down to the trading post and he bought some more patches for himself. After lunch all the scouts went to the snack bar and the onto the trading post. I bought I rolled up Philmont map that we could put on our wall with our itinerary outlined; Matthew also could put his patches on it. We decided we'd put it up in his room.
MikeH took Matthew's list of people that had said grace and bought "Duty to God" patches for everybody. Then we finished errands, such as checking our mail, dropping off our equipment and packs, etc. I did laundry, and gave Katy a call from the snack bar, and took a shower. We ate dinner, and then Spencer, Ryan, Carter, and myself went to the Protestant service, which again was great, with lightning in the background this time. We walked back to the tents, then got ready for the closing ceremony.
The ceremony was in a stadium facing the Tooth of Time. Someone was actually up on the top of the Tooth with a flashlight! The staff did skits, one guy sang a Simon and Garfunkel "Homeward Bound" parody: "Home I don't need foot powder, home, where they have hot showers, home, with electric power silently waiting". They also did a slideshow with great background music, and announced different opportunities to return to Philmont.
Dave was recognizes as crew lead and received a placque. Mike and I stood behind him (Ray was back at the tent not feeling well!) After closing, Matthew and I headed back and hit the sack. Apparently during the night Adam got sick (seems like everybody was taking a turn).
