We start part 2 after hiking from Crater Lake to Miners Park. This is a really fun camp. Their program is rock climbing and rapelling. We had an extra with us as my son Dan (on staff at Crater Lake) had joined us for a few days.
You must climb up before you can rapel.
After climbing up, then you get to rapel down.
We cooked supper for lunch at Miners Park as we had water there. Then we packed up and headed to Schaefers Pass, set up camp.
The next day, we did a side hike to the Tooth of Time.
The first part of the climb is a nice trail. The rest is all boulder climbing. Challenging, but fun!
Getting ready for breakfast on the Tooth.
Most of the crew on top of the Tooth.
Mini-bears are everywhere and they are sneaky!
As I was approaching the top, I watched a man slip and fall into a craves. We had enough help to get him patched up, and safely get him down the mountain to where camp medical staff could attend to him.
After we returned to camp, we took down camp and reviewed the map so our navigator knew where they were going.
Some bridges are better than others.
We arrived at Hunting Lodge. Getting ready for supper.
Really nice looking Bear Bags. This is an important skill as badly hung Bear Bags have been attacked by bears.
How do you make advisors happy? Give them coffee!
A beautiful view along the way.
Another bridge.
A trail. Some were in better shape than others.
Sometimes you just guess where the trail is.
Not every stream has a bridge; sometimes you walk across rocks.
In front of the reservoir.
They really do have black bears here. Several crews saw them!
We hiked up to Cimarroncito. A beautiful camp.
Did I mention they have a really sweet shower house? Probably the nicest at Philmont.
And laundry building. This is a really nice place to do laundry. They even have clothes lines for drying your clothes.
From there we hiked to Ute Gulch to restock food. They also have fruit and milk as well as a trading post.
Another great view after we left Ute Gulch.
Time for a break.
On the peaks, lightening hit many trees. This one the sap looks like it was vaporized.
Another great crew shot.
When we were hiking uphill, we often “catepillared”. This is a great way to conserve energy, catch your breath, get a drink, look around and enjoy the climb more.
Another tree hit by lightening.
On the way to Head of Dean, we passed through “Santa Claus” camp. This used to be a staffed camp, but then the cabin was infected with hantavirus. Now nothing can be done with it.
We then hiked to Head of Dean. They have a really cool staff. The program is Challenge Adventure. Very similar to our “COPE course” at home.
Their evening program is a sunset hike. It is really good. Don’t miss it.
Our camp at Head of Dean.
Getting ready for supper.
Part 3 will be posted soon to finish the trek.
