Day 9

Day 9 - Head of Dean to Vista Grande

Day 9 – 7-13-99 – Tuesday

Tom and I were awake at 5:30, but lay there until we heard Dan and Denise moving around at 6. By now, we had a system down pat. We sat up, slipped into our pants and shirt, stuffed our sleeping bags into the stuff sacks, deflated and rolled up our mats, and within 6 minutes, had everything inside the tent ready to load into our backpacks. Another 10 minutes or so, including time for the requisite calls of nature, and we had the tent down and stowed, everything loaded except for the items in the bear bag, and ready to hit the trail. Then we spent the next hour or so helping the guys get their gear ready. I guess experience counts.

Nevertheless, everyone was packed and ready by 7:45. We took our packs up to the cabin and waited for the staff to come out at 8 AM. Our sister crew was also doing their program this morning.

Promptly at 8 AM, the staff came out, and we headed down to the program area. As our sister crew was already at the first station, we stopped at the entrance to the program area and talked about rules, safety, and the like. Then Lou played a couple of mind games with the guys. They got the first one, “Egyptian Numbers”, right off the bat, but the second, “Silly Sally”, threw them for a bit. Finally, Lou took the guys up to the first of four problems.

The first problem was simple in concept, but difficult in practice. It consisted of a small wooded platform, about two feet square, and about eight inches off of the ground. Seeing as we had eight guys in the crew, Lou allowed 7 points of contact on the platform. The problem was to have all eight guys stand on the platform, with only seven points of contact, and stay there long enough to sing a verse of “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts”! The guys planned, discussed, and then attempted the problem. The first time they didn’t do too well, falling off about half way through the song. But they preserved, and got back up. Lou had them sing the song once, twice, and a third time before accepting the problem as solved! Then it was on to the second problem, the “High Heart”.

The “High Heart” is a plywood board, about 16 feet tall, mounted to the side of a ponderosa pine. The top of the board is about 20 feet off of the ground. There are several designs painted on the board, such as a “smiley face”, a star, a moon, and at the top, a heart. The challenge given to the crew was to get someone up high enough to touch the heart, thereby saving the entire crew from the crazed, rabid, white-gas soaked squirrels that were about to leap through flaming hoops in an attempt to decimate the world! The problem was that only three members of the crew could participate in hoisting or raising the person that was to touch the heart. The guys quickly chose Matt M. to be on the bottom, as he was by far the strongest person on the crew, and was over six feet tall. Next was Darryn, tall, but skinny and light. On top would be Cory, who only weighed about 90 lbs. The other crewmembers could only spot the three. So Darryn got on Matt’s shoulders, and Cory climbed up on Darryn’s. Then Matt pressed both on the others up, and Cory just reached the heart. Success! We figured that Matt pressed close to 250 lbs. Quite impressive!

Then it was on to the third problem, the truck tire hung from a tree, or in our case, the “Interdimensional Portal” that would allow the crew to flee from the destruction of the world. An added plus was that everyone that passed through the portal would instantly obtain the correct weight for their given height! To make the task even tougher, Lou told us that three of our members had to be blind. And after Darryn mouthed off to him, he was added to the list of blind members. Matt W. went through first, with Lou’s help on the other end. Then one by one, the other crewmembers were passed through, with Matt M. going last. Another successful task for the crew, and massive weight loss (or gain) to boot!

After a quick recap, it was on to the forth and final problem, the “Wall”. The wall sits in the middle of a field, the largest structure in the area. It’s twelve feet high, with a platform and ladder on the back. The challenge is for all of the crewmembers to get over the wall, with only two members helping from the top. Furthermore, once a member has gotten over the wall, he may no longer help anyone else from the bottom. We were given five minutes to perform the task. After a slow start, Matt M. and Chris helped everyone up and over. Matt M. was last, and ran and jumped up, trying to grab Matt W’s hand. After five or six tries, the two Matt’s finally connected, and the challenge was over. About thirty seconds past the deadline, but successful, nonetheless.

We all walked back up to the cabin, and after a quick good-by to Lou and the other staff members, we headed down the trail, towards the Cimarron River, and Visto Grande Camp.

The majority of the trail between Head of Dean and the river is new, having been built in the past four to five years. The grade is an average of about eight degrees, and there are fewer rocks than the older trails we had been on previously. But with a decent of close to 1800 feet, the trail went down, down, DOWN! It was tough on feet, knees, and backs. But we felt fortunate, as we could have been on the old road that crews in the past had been routed down. Nothing but rocks, and very steep!

About 12:30, we came to Santa Claus Camp. This camp, once staffed, was now a trail camp, and the cabin was locked up and empty. The program in past years at Santa Claus was “Mountain Technology”. This program has been moved other camps, and Santa Claus has been a trail camp since 1997.

We stopped there and ate lunch, and about 1:15 we got back on the trail. The weather had been clear all day, and it was getting hotter as we descended the mountain. The views became better, too, as we glimpsed views into Cimarron Canyon, with the vast range of mountains of valleys that make up Central Country stretching to the South. But our goal of reaching the river seemed far, far away.

About 4 PM, we finally dragged to the edge of the highway, which we crossed by walking through a large concrete culvert that went under the road. The cool, shady culvert was a real treat, so we took a break there, cooling off our hot, tired feet on the concrete. The lower end of the culvert is right on the edge of the river, and several of the guys soaked their burning feet. I sure felt sorry for the people living down-stream!

Soon, it was time to cross the river, and head up to Visto Grande Camp. The river there is right at 7000 feet, and the altitude of Visto Grande is 7600. After a long day of down hill, the climb up was really welcome! We soon passed through Cimarron River Camp, and continued the climb up to Visto Grande. At about 6 PM, we pulled into the camp. Finally, the end of a LONG day on the trail.

Visto Grande is a trail camp, located on a “bench” or flat area, on the South side of the Cimarron River Canyon. The views of Ute Park in the valley, and of Touch-Me-Not and Baldy in the purple distance are truly “Grande”. We found a nice campsite above the spring, and rushed through setting up the dinning fly and tents, as a storm that had been building over Baldy was rapidly heading our way. We were really dragging our tails by now, and as it started to rain, everyone huddled under the dining fly, and cooked up our “red beans and rice” dinner. Then, after hanging the bear bags, most of the guys headed off to bed. Tom and I visited our sister crew, and had a nice visit with their advisors, while enjoying the sumptuous views to the North. The storm had finished by now, and the fellows from Minnesota were amazed to see snow on the hills around Baldy. Actually, summer snow is quite common at this altitude. Then, as darkness crept towards us, Tom and I headed to bed. We would have another long day tomorrow, starting at 4 AM.