Monday, July 5th (Day 10)

10:43 AM
George decided to leave our stuff alone last night, and he hasn't shown up again today. We left Hunting Lodge Camp around eight o'clock this morning (which is pretty late in the day) and we're now at Clark's Fork. Most of us are waiting for the horseback riding, though I'm feeling a little queasy right now.... I finally got my hat branded earlier today, and my right boot, too! Some of the others branded their stuff as well.

Three thing you MUST bring home from Philmont: A belt, a map, and something branded. Those are the best souvenirs you can get.

4:27 PM
Fire is hot. Dakota and I volunteered to cook for the Chuckwagon Dinner at Clark's Fork. We ended up building the fire for the Dutch Ovens, and it was *so* big. The menu tonight consists of Beef Stew, homemade biscuits, and cobbler. I've heard it's really good going down, but really... unpleasant... going out. We've been chatting with people from other crews, and I learned to play Monopoly with cards... go figure. Horseback riding was fun, even though we didn't really need to control the horses much. My horse was named Speck, and he was arguably the slowest out of the twenty-five.

He must have been called 'Speck' because of a marking he had, 'cuz it wasn't for his size! He liked to stop at every plant next to the trail and hold up the entire line.... And here's some advice to all future Philmont trekkers: go for the Chuckwagon, it's real good real food and didn't give me any trouble at all!