Scott's Blog

Monday 6/21

I stayed up all night with Victor and it was pretty easy to get dressed and packed in the morning. I took a nap in the car on the way to the airport and played phone tag with the other crew members at the airport. We got our bags checked by TSA and went thru security by 5AM. While we were waiting for the plane to board, I realized that I lost my boarding passes going thru security. I ran all the way back to the TSA checkpoint just to hear the lady tell me that the lady at the gate desk could just print them off. The scout that sat next to me was with another crew but was still in our group so I introduced myself. His name was Sam and I would never know we would be pretty good friends the whole trip. We landed at Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport at 9AM and had a 3-hour layover. I slept most of the time in the chairs and had a delicious Auntie Anne’s pretzel before boarding the Colorado plane. I also found a kiosk that gives you 4 minutes of internet for only 1 dollar so I sent an email to my dad saying that I made it to Dallas and we were about to take off again. Once we got to Colorado Springs Airport, I felt the altitude within 10 minutes. I was out of breath and didn’t even go anywhere. We drove to the REI store so kids could pick up any camping supplies they left or wanted to get. I was a little bummed about the selection because Bass Pro Shops has a lot more stuff. After checking into the hotel, we walked to the local pizza place called Old Chicago’s Pizza. The group split about 20 pies and then we all took turns playing pool. I had almost a perfect game except for 2 balls which I was proud about.

Tuesday 6/22

The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good. They had the usual cereals and breads but they also had the famous self-serve Belgium waffle makers and microwavable Jimmy Dean biscuits. The plan for the day was to bike down Pikes Peak which was a 14,110 foot peak. The trip was an adrenaline rush from the start because you are going 25 MPH on a mountain bike with a sheer drop on both sides of the road with a 40 MPH gust blowing you sideways. It was a pretty awesome bike ride the whole way down. Later that day one of the adults told us that the gust was almost 50 MPH and the wind chill at the top was 27 degrees. I was in shorts and a jacket so I was pretty cold but it was still fun. My disc brakes got bright red every time I looked down and you could smell the burning rubber when someone braked too hard. A kid nicknames lightning took a fall about halfway down. I could smell the rubber and all the skid marks leading up to the pileup so I was able to avoid it but it was still pretty crazy. After we got down the mountain, we stopped at a local deli and had lunch before heading to the hotel to change into our class A’s for the Air Force Academy. The bus ride to the academy was probably 10 minutes and we could see a B-52 that flew in Vietnam that was posted outside along the road as you entered the campus. The museum and visitor center had a model of the training gliders they use and I could tell it was only a model based on the instrument panel. We had a tour of the world famous chapel and the pipe organ as well. After the tour we got from a student that was on the base, we had some time to kill so we drove to The Garden of the Gods. It is a park that has some cool rock formations and people free climb some of the rocks which are always cool to watch. We only spent about 10 minutes at the park before heading to Giuseppe’s. The décor was pretty cool because the restaurant was an old train depot that was converted. The food was OK but I don’t think it was worth the cost that the council paid to take us there.

Wednesday 6/23

This morning we went to Echo Canyon River Expeditions which took us down the Arkansas River. Our group had to wait almost an hour because the owner was negotiating with the state to open the gorge for the rafting trip. Apparently one of the trains started a fire in the gorge where we were supposed to raft through and the state shut it down for all rafting excursions which kind of sucked. Even though we could only do level 3 and 4 rapids, it was still a fun trip and I didn’t fall out which is always nice. The company issued everyone wetsuits so the water didn’t feel cold at all which takes away from the adventure a little bit for me. The company held a lunch on the riverside and it was a pretty good spread. It was buffet style with every condiment and meat you could want. The best part was that they had hammocks along the shore so you could relax after you ate which was a great place for a nap. We finished rafting and changed at the hotel to go out to dinner. We went to Golden Corral which I thought was a great choice for the last meal before Philmont. Let’s just say I stuffed myself. I saw on the dessert bar that they had Cookies n’ Cream pudding which I had never seen before. I also put the cheese for the broccoli on my mac and cheese (overkill much). After dinner we all packed our bags for the ride to Philmont in the morning.

Thursday 6/24

The bus was loaded and we departed for Philmont by 8AM. The adults decided to play Airplane and Airplane 2 which I thought was the 2 stupidest movies ever made. No one sat next to me on the bus so I took a nap and woke up in New Mexico. We saw the formation that the patch was based off of and it was in the shape of an arrowhead which was pretty cool. On our way to Cimarron, I saw horses running and buffalo grazing which was unlike anything you would ever see in Florida. Once we got in sight of base camp, we saw the famous Tooth of Time and “tent city” the nickname that was given to base camp due to the number of 2-person tents. I was told by our adult leaders that when we got to camp, there would be a lot of hurry up and wait moments which proved true unfortunately. After we met our ranger, Caleb, we went over some safety rules and moved into our tents. He led us into the dining hall which looked pretty Indian styled. The soda machine had the Pepsi logo on it but all the nozzles were fruit juices and Gatorades, not sodas. They also had a big poster at each entrance that was covered in bubble gum that people stuck on there; at least they followed the no gum rule. The store at base camp was called the Tooth of Time traders and they had just about everything Philmont you could want. Attached to the traders was a store that sold all the junk food you could want and sodas too. I bought a soft serve ice cream cone, a leather belt, a mouse pad, and a map to hang on my wall. The camp had a catholic religious service that the whole crew attended. I am not catholic so every time the group would reply to something the pastor said it was strange because I didn’t know it. My friend that was Jewish also attended the service and sat next to me. During the communion, he told me a Jesus joke and I started laughing uncontrollably which then made me embarrassed. They had little pocket bibles that had the whole New Testament in it. My goal is to read the whole thing on the trail in my free time but it is really long and the print is impossible to read without a magnifying glass. After the church service, we walked across the road to the opening campfire. There they told us the story about how the ranch was founded and what the Tooth of Time meant to people passing it on the Santa Fe Trail.

Friday 6/25

We got up early but it was nice sleeping because having my huge pad on top of the spring mattresses made it feel like a cloud. We boarded the base camp bus that took us to the site where we were dropped off to begin our trail. During the bus ride, the rangers told us about the history of the buildings along the road and about the farms that dotted the countryside. Once we got to our drop off point, our ranger told us about first aid and how to read the map. Our hike on the first day was almost 3 miles in a valley until we got to our campsite called Anasazi. AJ, the crew leader, has been speaking Australian since we arrived in the state and the ranger hasn’t caught on at all. We didn’t have a fire but it was a pretty nice campsite and the dinner was good too. We had vegetable lasagna with pineapple chips and apple cider. Since our hike tomorrow is only 1 mile we slept in until 7AM and took our time getting there.

Saturday 6/26

The hike was the easiest and shortest of the whole trek which is always nice. We were supposed to walk only 1 mile but our navigator took the wrong turn so it ended up being around 2 miles along a dirt road. After our porch talk we set up our campsite and went on an Indian writings tour that was close to camp. A lot of the drawings were subject to different interpretations as to what they mean and some of the stuff she said was pretty stupid but it was still interesting. After the walking tour, she brought us to the other side of a small creek and we played archeologist for a few hours. I didn’t find anything but some of the other scouts found old nails and glass from old settlers which was pretty cool. We hung out at camp for about half an hour until it started to get cloudy and the lightning detector was going off. We all changed into our rain gear and it started pouring. I huddled under our dining tarp with some other people and had fun making little rivers in the mud. After 20 minutes of rain I had a full irrigation system set up with a delta starting at the top of the hill and diversion canals, dikes, and dams too. It even started to hail a little bit but it only got as big as peas. Of course all my clothes I set out on the clothesline were soaked which sucked but hopefully I can dry them at the next camp. It stopped raining just in time for the nightly story contest held at the staff quarters. A kid from each crew makes up a story using the theme from Indiana Jones as a base plot then they can add whatever they want to it and the winner gets a vanilla pudding. Matt, the storyteller from our crew made a pretty funny story and he included everyone from our group in the story. We shouted out suggestions like SpongeBob because he was making up the story the whole time. We ended up winning but it was a close competition.

Sunday 6/27

We woke up to soaked tents that had mud caked on from yesterday’s downpour. We didn’t have time to wait for the sun to come over the mountain to hit us in the valley so we carried our tents into the middle of the meadow to catch as much sun as we could before we had to leave. It was also Caleb’s last day with us which was kind of sad because we had some pretty fun times with someone we met just a few days ago. He gave us his farewell speech which was basically about how we should appreciate what is around us and that this may not be here when we get older. Before heading to the next camp we refilled our bottles with the nastiest water we had on the trip and it was from a staff camp which was the funny part. It had a really bad sulfur taste but it was still water so I didn’t care too much. I was navigator today so I was in the front of the line and it was a little nerve-racking leading everyone into unknown territory. We got to the next camp in about 2 hours with a big thunderstorm chasing us the whole way. The next camp was called Ponil and was one of the biggest camps at Philmont. It had a lot of stuff to do and was centered on horses and the Wild West. They had a general store and a museum with old artifacts they found when people excavated the canyon. There were things like old license plates, railroad ties, tools, and glassware. One of the adults gave me a dollar to buy a postcard to mail back home with the post office that was also in the store. Next to the store was a canteen that sold beef jerky and root beer. In fact it was the only camps in the ranch that sold soda. I hate root beer so it didn’t benefit me at all but it was still cool to see how many kids bought some. I played some horseshoe with the other crew in our contingent and failed at roping a metal bull. The campsite at Ponil was cool because it had terraces for your tents that were level which was a nice feature. We were right next to the water faucet and bear bag line too. For dinner we had a thing called the chuck wagon dinner. On the menu was beef stew, cornbread, and peach cobbler. It was easily the best meal we had on the trail, mainly because we didn’t have to cook it. The staff put on a comedy show in the canteen but it wasn’t that good.

Monday 6/28

Before heading on the trail, we went to the chuck wagon breakfast which included pancakes and sausage. The chefs at the camp have a challenge called the 18-inch challenge where you have to eat a pancake that is 18 inches in diameter and a half inch thick served on a pizza pan. A kid tried to eat it but couldn’t so his crew had to clean the kitchen before they could leave which was pretty funny and a great way to start the day. Another day of hiking that seemed to last forever and we reached our next camp, Dean Cow. This camp had rock climbing and rappelling. The head climbing instructor gave us a safety speech then led us up the side of the cliff to the bottom of the climbing wall. She said that the rock was like sandpaper which is good for climbing but bad when you fall or try to climb using your knees (not a good idea). The two walls that she had were on a level 5.5 and a 5.7. After watching some kids climb the 5.7 wall I decided to climb the 5.5 wall instead of taking an hour on the harder wall. The 5.5 wall wasn’t the biggest piece of cake either but I still got up which felt good. I walked around for a little bit on the top of the cliff then got suited up to repel. Just as I started walking down to lean over the side, I saw another kid from our crew come up the other wall so I took a picture as I was hanging against the wall, pretty scary at the time. Halfway down the repelling wall my leg straps on my harness started to come undone because I didn’t tie them all the way so that made it a little more scary too. While the kids were waiting on a rock to start climbing I let out a fart and they started laughing, I forgot to check if the lady was around and then she said that I should excuse myself next time. The camp had a pull up challenge where if you could do 25 pull ups, you get a pack of pudding just like at Ponil. No one in our crew was able to complete the challenge but it was still fun to see them try. There was a shower house at camp which came in handy after the rock climbing. I tried to do my laundry in a plastic bag but it only seemed to spread the dirt around, not clean it off. I had bear bag duty and we had to walk 200 yards in the darkness in Mountain Lion territory to hoist the bags up.

Tuesday 6/29

The hike today was a mix of desert and forested areas as well as uphill and downhill sections. After a few hours of hiking, we came across the interstate. On the other side of the road were 2 black bears walking in the meadow. A few other crews were also at that spot because they were waiting for their delivery of food along the road. The adults had cell service so some of the kids called home. After being pushed so far day after day, I was getting a little homesick but I figured that calling would just make it worse so I didn’t call. We found a tunnel that runs underneath the highway so we took that and continued our hike toward the next camp. I think I had 7 nosebleeds that day in addition to a cold I have had since the day we started hiking. The next camp, Harlan raved about having the best water in Philmont but so do a lot of the other camps so I didn’t believe them too much. I was 8 ounces away from being out of my 32oz. Nalgene’s by the time I got to camp so I didn’t care what the water tasted like. One thing that we were told was that it was impossible to stay clean while we hiked which was so true.  Even the slightest breeze picked up a dust cloud and coated anything was not protected. The camp was scheduled to do shotgun shooting and burro racing. What’s burro racing you ask? Take 6 donkeys and 6 groups of boys, have one kid from each group pull the reins on its mouth and the other boys chase after it until you pass the finish line. It was the highlight of the trip for most of the kids in our crew and I could see why. We won 2 out of the 3 races and got a sleeve of saltine crackers and a pudding too. Since we planned to do our conservation project early the next morning, the head ranger that led the shotgun program let us reload our shells at night instead of doing it tomorrow. The reloading process was pretty cool and it was neat to know that you were going to shoot the shell that you loaded the night before. The reloading took place in a wood cabin and written all over the walls were challenges that people have done over the years written in Sharpie. AJ, our crew leader, picked to do 8 pushups with 100 pounds of buckshot on his back in a backpack. The rule was that if you beat a challenge that was on the wall then you could write the new “score” with your info instead. Right after he was done writing his name on the wall a kid came in and said there was a bear in front of the cabin we were in. The staff that was helping us with the reloading ran out along with some of our kids and started chasing it up the hill. The bear had other plans and started running toward our campsite! Andrew, the oldest kid in the troop ran to our campsite to tell the adult that a bear was coming and to get out. We could hear kids from the other campsites start screaming and banging pots together to scare it away. A few kids came back to the cabin and said that they had chased it up a tree but it jumped down and ran away. It was a pretty exciting day at Philmont to say the least.

Wednesday 6/30

We got up early this morning to go to our conservation project. According to the map it was only supposed to be 3 miles to get to the lake where the project was. However, the navigator neglected to tell us that the whole way was STRAIGHT UP! The adults had altimeters in their watches and they said that from Harlan to the project was almost 1,000 feet that we climbed. It was one of the steepest climbs we made while at Philmont and it was without our backpacks on either. The project comprised of pulling rocks and roots out of the ground to make the trail as level as we could around a big lake called Deer Lake. It was shocking because the drought made the water level about 20 feet less than normal. We finished the project in about 2 hours then headed down the impossibly steep road back to our packs to start hiking again. It was a pretty scenic day of hiking and we arrived at our next camp by 3pm. The only bad part was that this camp was a trail camp which means no showers, no porch swings, no pre-pumped and pre-treated water, and no awesome challenges. It was good because there were only 3 crews including us that stayed there that night so it was quiet for the most part. Around the campfire, there were rocks that were put together to be lounging chairs, pretty clever if you ask me. 4 of our crew members decided to hike to Window Rock. It is a large rock over a clearing that has a great panoramic view of the valley. Although it sounded like fun, I think a nice nap would feel better. I blew up my sleeping pad and found a nice spot under a tree and took a nap for probably 2 hours. We had a pretty good dinner except for the small inconvenience that a bear walking down from the road had on our evening. We were having dinner when all of a sudden one of the adult leaders said “Bear!” We all got up and started chasing it thru the empty campsites. The other crew with our contingent helped us to because it started running toward their campsite as well. I started to think that I didn’t want to see another bear for a long time.

Thursday 7/1

I felt really sick today for some reason. I don’t know if it was because I felt dehydrated or something but every time I went to eat something, I would feel nauseous. The area where we hiked thru today was something out of the movie Avatar. The trail was nice and cool and had plenty of tree cover. We also saw a few turkeys wondering around which was surprising. On our way to the food pickup location, there was a herd of deer that crossed the road. At the food warehouse were boxes of fresh fruit like apples and oranges. The camp we stayed at was called Upper Sawmill and was a trail camp. The days’ activities included .30-06 shooting but it was located at a camp called Sawmill about a mile up the mountain. We hiked up the mountain after setting up camp so we wouldn’t be late for shooting. We even brought our bagged lunches to eat at the camp too. It was really nice, the staff building and flagpole were overlooking this huge valley that went so far, you could see the plains on Utah in the distance! I felt sick still so I didn’t eat lunch, only drank water. We were led into the reloading cabin just like at shotgun shooting. The process was a bit different then shotgun but it was pretty simple. Just as we were walking to the cabin, my nose started to bleed again so I had to wait for it to stop before I reloaded my cases. After the group reloaded our shells, we walked a little while to get to the shooting range. They allowed us to put an object down range to shoot at so I laid my hat on the sand hill. The first shot I got it almost dead center in the bill of my cap which was awesome. I was surprised by the kick that those rifles gave off. The range master said that it was more of a kick then a 12 gauge shotgun but I didn’t believe him. We walked back down the mountain to have dinner and hang out until bedtime. I was water duty today so I found a stream that was ice cold and started pumping water. It was nice because I was sitting on the bank of the stream for probably 30 minutes and there was only the sound of rustling trees and crickets.

Friday 7/2

Today we had to hike down the same path we took the day before about a mile to get to the fork in the trail that led to our next camp. The mile was following the same creek I got water from and we crossed it probably 13 times. After that mile it took seemingly forever to get to Lamberts Mine which was the next camp. We got to the mine in the late afternoon and pleaded with the staff to let us do the activities even though we were late. Andrew had already been to Philmont and he said that if we go and watch the blacksmithing then the lady might let us make something even though we weren’t signed up to do it. We watched another group make a coat hanger and then the lady said that we could make something if she had more coal for the fire. We all searched around the building for scraps of coal to make a piece of iron. The next thing we did was the mine tour. All I had for the mine was a little single LED flashlight which didn’t help at all while I was in there. We told us about all the veins of gold and the different types of rock and mining history. On the way out, he challenged us to go from the back of the mine shaft which was about 470 feet long to the entrance with no lights. We made it about 300 feet until our crew leader turned his light on because he thought he heard something. It turns out it was our tour guide that sneaked past us and banged some tools together to scare us. After that funny trip, we took showers at the wood fed water heater. I was smart because I waited to be the last one and I had the hottest shower. After that, the cooks made dinner at the camp in the time between the mine tour and the night show. The meal was crackers and mac and cheese, not as good as Kraft but pretty good for dehydrated food. I was walking up the hill to the log cabin where the show was being held and right as I walked through the doorway I slammed my head into the door jam. I tried to keep my balance and everyone started laughing and clapping for me. It was embarrassing but I’m glad that everyone got a good laugh out of it. The show was really nice with all kinds of stringed instruments and the stage was lit by oil lamps. They sang the lullaby called Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby and I think I was the only person that knew that song. It was from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? During the walk back to our camp, we sang 99 bottles of beer on the wall loudly so the mountain lions wouldn’t mess with us.

Wednesday 7/3

The trail was full of switchbacks which meant good news to me. I always loved the trails that had switchbacks that day instead of the extreme uphill and downhill sections. For our lunch stop, we stayed and ate at a hunting lodge and then took the tour of the lodge. There was really old furniture and the stove was from the 1800’s. The camp that we arrived at was called Clarks Fork and it was a staffed camp. The camp that we were actually staying at is called Upper Clarks Fork…uphill from the staff camp as usual. We made dinner for lunch to help with the cleanup that night and then some of the kids went on a day hike to Black Mountain. The rest of us hiked back down the trail to Clarks Fork for fun and games. The first thing I did is rummage through the Swap Box. The Swap Box is a cardboard box at every staff camp that is full of food that other people did not want. I got some sunflower seeds, corn nuts, spicy trail mix, and a trail mix made with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I cut a piece of wood of a branch and the guy branded a heart in the middle of it for my mom. We played horseshoe and I learned how to lasso for the first time. I chatted with a man that was sitting next to me on the bench and he said that he was on a 115 mile trek and he was 62 years old. That made me feel really bad about myself that I was complaining about a 62 mile trek and I was only 16. The group that hiked to Black Mountain came back to camp right when we were finished cooking and was ready to serve. We walked to the campfire ring after dinner for another show. It was not as good as the Cyphers Mine was but it was still pretty funny. We again sang on the way back to camp to keep the big creatures away.

Thursday 7/4

Today was a really good day because it was the second to last day of hiking. I duct taped my ankle to immobilize it because my ankle was hurting so much but I didn’t care because we were almost done. It was also the hottest and shade-free days of the trip. The adults were really hurting going over the big boulders. I didn’t like them so much either because everyone you stepped on was a question of whether it would shift and cause you to fall on your face. I could feel my face and neck getting sunburned but I didn’t care. By the time we got to the camp at the base of the Tooth of Time, it was the afternoon and we were so tired we got a camp close to the trail so we wouldn’t have to walk as far the next morning for the sunrise. Most of the people in our crew hiked to the top of the Tooth after dinner to watch the sunset but I stayed at camp and played cards with the rest of the kids who stayed. We went to bed pretty early to get the most hours of shut eye before the sunrise hike.

Friday 7/5

We woke up at 3AM to hike up to the top of the Tooth of Time to watch the sunset. It took almost an hour of free climbing to get to the top but the view was really good. It was in the 60 degree range with a pretty solid wind so it was really cold at the summit, I was prepared enough to have on only my shorts and nylon t-shirt. Another crew came up to join us and one of the adults said that the sunrise was an hour later then what we were told at the last camp. I was on the summit of a 9,280 foot mountain for an extra hour then necessary in the dark wearing only summer hiking clothes…great. We could see for miles and miles but there was a cloud bank that delayed the sunrise for a little while longer than usual. We took some group pictures and some sunrise pictures and headed down the mountain. We didn’t have any water stops all day so I had to last in desert conditions on 2 liters of water…not very easy. I was navigator and decided to take the path called heartbreak trail. It got this nickname because it is all switchback descending 2,000 feet and you can see base camp the whole time but it never seems to get any closer. I was talking to Austin who was walking behind me the whole time down the mountain and it was probably the fastest I had walked the whole trip just because we were so close to “civilization”. We walked under the famous gateway that says “Congratulations, you made it” which was pretty cool. We walked to the cantina to turn in our bear bags, rope, pots, and utensils that were provided by the camp. We got our duffel bags we used during the Colorado trip and walked to our tents. I probably shouldn’t be writing this but it felt good to use a flush toilet even though the water felt like it was boiling and there were no doors on the stalls. It was still better than sitting on a box for almost 2 weeks. I got myself a fresh set of clothes from my duffel bag and took a nice hot shower…and this time I didn’t have to heat my water. I blew up my sleeping pad and laid it on the ground in front of my tent and took a nap. I tried to write in my journal since I was almost 5 days behind but I was so tired that I couldn’t stay awake. The camp operated a bus service that took people to different restaurants in the town of Cimarron. The bus was standing room only and worse than that, the A/C wasn’t working so everyone was sweating by just being in the bus. The adults ordered us pizzas and SODA! Yay. During dinner, all the kids were on their cell phones and I was the only one without one because my battery had died on the plane to Colorado so I didn’t have it for 15 days in total. That night was the closing campfire which made me really think about how much I will miss what I had just done. Even though 30,000 people hike Philmont each year, it still felt special and unique to me. Each night including this night, everyone gave thorns, roses, and buds which was the good things, bad things, and what you hope for the next day.

Saturday 7/6

We woke up at 5AM to get to the airport on time but this time I was accompanied on the bus so I couldn’t take a nap. We watched a movie called Idiocracy and that is exactly what it was. It wasn’t as bad as the airplane movies but I am still wondering who picked these movies for the bus rides. Better yet, a kid a few rows ahead of me threw up in the aisle and the smell was pretty bad. The airport had a nice Native American style to it, probably because it was Albuquerque International Airport. I saw the body sniffing machines that are so controversial and I wanted to go thru it but I guess it was only for suspicious people. Philmont gave us an extra lunch when we stopped for food pickup so we just brought it in the airport and ate lunch while we were waiting for the flight. I hit my head on 2 TV’s that were in the aisle on the plane and I started to laugh which was another embarrassing moment for me; but who cares right? The Dallas airport had a cool metro rail thing that took you to all the concords and I almost fell because I wasn’t holding the railing when it accelerated from the gate. The concord that we were staying in had at least 30 gates and 100 restaurants in a big circle. I finally had my #1 combo at McDonald’s that I have been talking about since the 4^th day of hiking. It was the best Big Mac I have ever had. A kid from the other crew that hiked with us had an adapter that fit my phone and a charger so I powered it on and stole a plug in the charging station. I only had 3 missed calls and 2 text messages in the 15 days that my phone was off. During take-off on the final leg of our flight from Dallas all the kids put their hands in the air and started cheering like it was a roller-coaster. It was probably one of the funniest moments of all the plane rides. The plane landed at Miami International Airport and my mom and uncle drove down to meet me. I couldn’t stop talking the whole trip home because there was so much stuff to talk about. That is partly why I am writing this journal because I know that it would take hours to tell someone what I did at the most famous ranch in scouting.