July 18, 1996Day 10 - Abreu Camp to Urraca CampAt 7 AM we were on the trail to Urraca Mesa. We left the Rayado River that we had followed from it's source on Mt. Phillips. Just as we were leaving Abreu, we found a new-born fawn in the grass right next to the trail. I was only a few hours old, and lying perfectly still. The first 1 1/2 miles was pretty easy, until we got to the base of the mesa. Then the trail climbs almost straight up. We took a pause at Toothache Springs, which is about 2/3 of the way up. Then somehow we got on the wrong trail. This one went up towards the rim, and just petered out. So we bushwhacked through thick gamble oak, and then rock climbed up through the rim rock. It took us 45 minutes to go about 50 vertical feet. A very tough climb, but everyone made it with only some minor cuts and scratches. We cooled off, and set off across the mast top to find the trail. We hit this after a short search, and continued on to the north side of the mesa, and down to Urraca Camp. The camp sits on the edge of a large meadow, with views of the Tooth of Time, and base camp through the trees. We dropped our packs at our camp, and went to do the "Urraca Challenge". This consisted of five different events, like a spider web, human triangle, etc. On some of the events, the guys did really well. On others, not so good. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. At 8 PM, we had a campfire - "The Philmont Story", which was very well done. I've heard from several people that this is the best campfire program at Philmont. I can see why. On a lesser note, we had some problems today. Nerves are wearing thin. But Matt, John, and I had a long talk with the boy that was causing problems. We'll see if things smooth out tomorrow.
|
|
|