disney4dan

I have 2 sets of the maps, one untouched and the other marked up showing the trek we did. Those are going in a box to be saved for years to come. I'm curious about which camps you did and which sites you got to see? There is so much that can be done at Philmont. I bet you are as glad as I am that you got to spend time in scouts with your son. The time I have spent with Matt in scouts has been a great time during what can be a really turbulent time with teenagers. Best position I was ever "volunteered" to do. The rivers in the mountain area are so different than they are in New Engl

So I spent about half an hour at the dealership service center and tried some editing. Got about most of the way into the second day when I lost the wifi connection. Let me know if the photos on page 1 are good!

Had about ten kids over last night for a campfire, all good kids and three of them scouts. I was headed to bed before them, and my wife was wondering if it was safe to leave the fire going while we slept. I figure four scouts was enough coverage to be sure it was out properly. There are several kids sleeping in the living room now. I wonder why I'm so busy? I promise to edit this TR soon. Off to bring my daughter somewhere soon, then out to get rental vans for our troops trip to Gettysburg on Monday.

Congratulations! Matt is at Life Scout and needs to get moving!

My weekdays are super busy right now, so let me try this one photo to see if I get it right before I launch into a complete rebuild of this TR! You should be viewing a photo of the boys checking out a lizard. They really wanted to see a rattlesnake while out there. Lucky for us, that didn't happen.

Trying that next! If not that, then maybe load all the photos to a different sharing site? My Photobucket account isn't an option I am so glad that they got to go, and you should definitely go out there with them sometimg, even if to someplace other than Philmont! Those belts are a big thing, and if I can get this to work correctly, I have a cool tie in to an historic visit. I hope that his review went well! It is an amazing place!

Testing the file name issue with this. Now it is not even letting me add photos like it did earlier today. I did try adding .jpg to the end of the link while in Google photos and it would not let me do it there. Tried putting the link into the "insert image from URL" on this page and it let me add the extension, but it's not linking the photo either way now. I'll give it a try in the morning. What is frustrating is that I can see the photos when I log in on my desktop, but not on my tablet or phone right now. I was able to see them on my phone earlier today.

I'll have to try that!

So, we finish our service hours on the trail and head on out to the next camp. The problem with the next camp is that it is supposed to be a dry camp (no water) and we are supposed to carry 4 gallons of water to get us through to the next point. Instead, we decide to hike on in and plan to send some scouts off to a nearby well that is a mile away once we set up camp. Don't you just love plans? They always work out, right? On to our next camp, Devil's Wash Basin (cue scary music now). As you can see, the boys are dragging today. Lots of miles, lots of heat, muscles are sore.

I have been using mostly Google photos since yesterday, as Photobucket was giving my machine heartburn. I was seeing the same issue with photos last night on my phone, but today on the desktop I get to see all of them. I hope they all show up eventually, this is a lot of effort if they aren't showing! Can you see the pictures from today?

We didn't get to do any burrow racing. The storm had left the race field a muddy mess and it would not be safe for the animals. Plus, I don't think the rangers wanted to deal with it. We hit the sack early and had to get up to do our three hours of conservation work the next day anyway. Part of the Philmont experience, and a requirement to get a coveted Philmont patch, is to complete service hours. Our project was trail building for a new trail out to Vacca. Matt and others at the training area. We had to learn how to safely use hand tools. Those shovels are complicated instruments yo

The interesting point of this trail is that you cross under the highway as you head to Harlan camp. It has developed a reputation because many scouts will call ahead and get pizza delivered to this crossing! The pizza delivery guys will wait for everyone to finish and take the trash back to town (for a hefty tip). Our boys didn't have the time for it today, we were not making great time. We rolled into Harlan just in time to watch a thunderstorm roll up the canyon. It poured and the lightning was intensive, all around us. In this photo you can see two adults at the door watching t

July 24 - heading out of Dean Cow early. We have a lot of miles today to get to Harlan where the boys will get a chance to load their own shotgun shells and try some skeet shooting. And if all goes well, participate in burrow racing after dinner. Matt did not recover well over night and was still sluggish when we started. We had a steep uphill climb out of the canyon at sunrise, so one of the adult leaders asked the other scouts to take some of his weight out of his pack so we could make decent time. The kids stepped up and helped out, knowing that he would need that help if we hoped to ma

We checked in to Dean Cow. Our expedition was chosen by the crew based on the opportunity for three rock climbing sessions, including an advanced skill course only open to this expedition number. They were all stoked for the first session, even though it meant being on a rock cliff face in full sun on a hot day. The female ranger had no problem keeping their attention while going over the rules. And then off to our site for another hearty meal. We were really enjoying the level ground at this site after sleeping on slopes for the past three nights. The o

Now we are back down in elevation, trudging our way through this canyon heading for Dean Cow camp. The weather was sunny and hot. Almost Florida in August hot. And no shade. Matt was beginning to fade again. When we were at Baldy Town I had asked the staff if they had a thermometer to check for a temperature and they did not. Said it would not work at that elevation, and there really wasn't any need. I thought that was odd if you thought a kid was running a fever and they had a practical reply "What would you do if you thought he had a fever?" I said I'd give ibuprofen or Tylenol t