Wednesday, June 30th (Day 5)

10:02 AM
It's really hard to find time to write in here as often as I'd like to. I'm able to right now during our pack-off break by the river between Miner's Park and Black Mountain. We've had to cross it nineteen times so far. Yesterday, at Miner's Park, we went rock climbing and rappelling on an actual rock face, at an elevation of 8,400 ft! The path I took up was so hard, but it felt so good to get to the top. We did have showers that night, but they were only hot for a minute at most. Daniel (whose trail name was Lingo), James (Mr. T), and I (Pen Pal) tried to take on the traversing wall to earn some donuts, but it was crazy-hard after the other climb. (Oops.. Chris (nicknamed Ethyl) also tried the wall.) Climbing's always fun, but it's kinda weird that we hike for several hours, then go off to play hard like that.
Here are the trail names our other guys had: Christian (Putter) and Dakota (Alzheimer's).

I swear, there was this magic-appearing hand-hold that just popped out of nowhere after ten minutes or so. I was so happy to find it! At Base Camp, Keith had told us about a time when a camper had a hummingbird get stuck in his eye, and he told us what to do about it. While we were waiting for our turns to climb, a hummingbird flew up and hovered two feet from our faces. We all shouted "HUMMINGBIRD!!!!" and covered our eyes... everyone else looked at us like we were freaks!

3:15 PM
We ended up crossing that river (the North Fork Urraca Stream) a total of forty-six times. That trail was real nice and relatively easy, so it was well worth it. While I'm writing this, the rest of my crew is trying their hands at blacksmithing here at Black Mountain. I personally wasn't too interested.... What did get my attention was the black-powder muzzle-loading rifle shooting. I shot my Camp Pioneer hat (Yeah, I actually hit it!) and put three nice holes in it. I really hope that we get a chance to put the Philmont brand on our stuff too; there's plenty of space my hat brim!

Hiking along (and over) that stream that day is one of my favorite things to remember; it was so beautiful!

6:21 PM
Nothing of any particular interest has happened since I wrote last. We set camp up real fast again and have been sittin' and chattin' ever since. Dinner was good, especially since we had chocolate frosting with the crackers (Keith let us keep the leftovers from his last night with us!) Tonight's meal was Fettuccine something Pasta, "Royal Kreme" crackers, and shortbread cookies.

8:10 PM
Now, I've got nothing at all against my crew members, but right now I'm really enjoying sitting alone by the fire ring after everyone else has gone to bed. It's still very bright out.... I'm listening to the chirps and calls of many birds, the gentle stream flowing at the edge of our campsite, and the wind rustling through the trees. I love watching the towering aspens as their leaves flutter and shimmer in the breeze.
So far I'm enjoying being the chaplain's aid. My responsibilities include leading grace before meals, sharing a daily devotional message or 'thought for the day' from the religious booklet we were given, and promoting the 4 C's: Congeniality, Cooperation, Communication, and Community. I also lead and guide the the nightly 'Thorns-and-Roses' when we talk about what we did and didn't like about the day.