We got up late the next morning. The original plan was to get an early start, but we decided to give Nathan as much sack time as possible. Most everyone had eaten breakfast before we saw Nathan, but our surprise and pleasure he was feeling much better. Well enough that we were going to be able to continue our trek with our full crew. Everybody did a little extra to help out Nathan, until he was back 100%. He was really amazing, his condition would never really come up the whole day.
Our next stop would be Miranda for program then to Ute Meadows for the evening. We were all looking forward to the black powder rifles, tomahawk throwing and our trail project. We had two choices, do it at Miranda (trails) or Baldy Town (weeds). We decided we do trails. It was about 6 kilometers from Head of Dean to Maxwell, an unstaffed camp, then another 2 or 3K to Miranda. The plan was to get to Miranda, do the program then head off to Ute Meadows. While half the crew was setting up at Ute Meadows, we’d send out the other half to pick up food at Baldy town.
The hike to Maxwell was very nice, lots of shade, not too much up hill or down hill, there were even a couple of streams to cross. When we got to Maxwell, it was deserted. What was unique was the Latrine. It was a toilet out in the open. No blind, no walls, no screen, just a toilet in the great wide open. There was a nice view from the seat. It didn’t seem very YPG, but there it was.
Maxwell was also the spot were Dr. Laura was stalked by mini-bears. Those mini-bears like to get into everything and we had been warned about them. I’m not sure if the bear bags we put up everynight are for macro-bears or mini-bears. Either way Dr. Laura got some good pictures of them.
Our hike through Maxwell and Miranda didn’t take long at all. We even passed a few others crews that were on the same trail. When you pass crews, it is always the same, first you come up on the adults, then a while later the Scouts who are usually looking back and wondering what is taking the adults so long. Then you hear the inevitable adult say, “Man, that crew was fast.”
When we got to Miranda we got our porch talk. The approach and talk were old hat by now. We got our program scheduled. We would do trail work, then black powder then tomahawks. There wasn’t much time between our black power and the trail work. So the staff decided to shorten the trail work so we could get both done that day.
Before we could do trail work we had to get our mandatory safety briefing on how to use picks and shovels. Once that was done we went and did trail work. We had to move rocks and cut fallen logs. It didn’t take long and was actually kind of fun.
We got back to Miranda to do Black Powder. We got another safety briefing and then headed out to the range. We were allowed to place a target in the range prior to shooting. There were hats, cards, books and other souvenirs. We each got two shots. The instructor loaded it the first time and we got to do it the second. One of the rifles was faulty and it never shot correctly the first time.Â
The rifles were really fun, they made a loud bang with lots of smoke. They didn’t have any real kick, but the bang would make you flinch. After the shooting was over we were allowed back on the range to get our targets, almost every target was hit. There was lots of destruction and even more smiles.
We didn’t get done with everything in time and so we decided that we would not do tomahawk throws and instead get to our next camp and get to Baldy town to get food. We decided to break into our two groups so one could go straight to get food. So Troy, Keith, Laura and Steve headed out to Baldy Town. Carly became the temporary crew leader and was in charge of getting everyone else to Ute Meadows. The Baly group was moving fast, but so was the Ute group. We went Ute Meadows to drop off equipment at our site and leave a note, but by the time we got our gear unpacked, and ready to head to Baldy Town the others had arrived. We left them to set up and went to Baldy Town.
Typically the staff don’t like Scouts on the dirt roads. They prefer they hike on the single track trails. But after looking at the map we decided that we’d need to take the more direct road, if we were to have any chance at getting our food before the Baldy Town commissary closed. We were able to find the trail from the camp to the road and made it to Baldy Town very quickly.
We got our food and went to explore the rest of Baldy Town. We stopped in at the store and got some stuff. Dr Laura bought a trail chair that she soon fell in love with. We all spent the rest of the trip envious of her trail chair. They do a trail credit, you don’t even need money, you just give them your name and they give you what you bought. You pay for it later when you check out. It’s very cool. Considering how far from civilization we really were the prices were not that bad.Â
From the store we found the showers. It was late and our things would not have time to dry but we all decided the wet clothes were a price worth paying at that point. It was here, that my Scouting spirit was put to the test. While waiting for shower, I was cut in front of by more than one person and I tried to let them know I was in line for the shower and didn’t appreciate being cut in front of. They didn’t take too kindly to that and let me know what they thought of me in return. I was in my own little storming phase at that point, but after realizing that we had crew members that would not get a shower at all that night, I got over it.
By the time we got back to Ute Meadows all of our tents and camp had been set up. We split up the food for the remainder of the trip and had our dinner. Most every night our Chaplin and Leave No Trace Guide would lead us in a discussion. We did that again and then did the Roses, Buds and Thorns and made a basic plan for the next day. We decided that we would be getting up very early the next morning to hike to the top of Baldy. For those of us who took a shower at Baldy we hung up our still wet clothes hoping they would be dry in the AM. It had been a good day and the best was yet to come.