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Turnerphotographics:
Trail Day 10: Cimarron River to
Harlan
By this time
the Brumbys' trek was winding down. Just another day and
a half on the trail, starting with a 700-foot climb from
the river, passing through Visto Grande camp, which really
did have a great view across the canyon toward Baldy.
The trail
to Harlan continued high on a bench, paralleling the Cimarron,
dropped through more meadows with shallow lakes, and then
climbed gently up to camp.
We could tell
we were getting close to Harlan from the sound of shotgun
blasts, our afternoon program. Matt had camped at Harlan
on his first Philmont trek and requested a nice campsite
among interesting rock formations. The Brumbys had lunch
in camp, then time to rest and relax a while.
On our first
day in base camp, we saw crews come off the trail looking
incredibly filthy like they'd never gotten clean their whole
time on the trail. The Brumbys had done laundry and gotten
clean several times along the way. At Harlan, they spotted
a washtub at the staff cabin and asked to borrow it. The
staff offered a washboard, too, and the crew took them up
on it. Given it was our last night on the trail, the staff
was pretty amazed.
The Harlan program was shotgun shell
reloading, followed by skeet shooting. There were lots
of crews there, so we had to wait around a while for our
turn, but the instruction was great and the action fun.
After loading shells, we hung out
on the reloading shed porch while a thunderstorm passed
through. It was a great place to watch the rain and wait
our turn on the range.
Everyone had
a turn on the range, some shooting better than others. Advisor
Marc got the best shot award, making four out of five.
After dinner
we gathered with all the other crews for the Great Harlan
Burro Race. Each crew picked a burro, trying to find one
that would run fast. At the starting signal, they were off
from one end of the meadow to the other, trying to coax
their burros. Some got away, and had to be hunted down in
the surrounding bushes.
The Brumbys'
burro wasn't the fastest, but they maganed to place in the
competition. It was fun. The advisors got to stand back
and watch.
