Day 1 - Base Camp

Reveille at 6:00, we will break camp and eat breakfast before we head to Philmont. When we arrive at Philmont, we will gather our packs in a pack line and check in. We will meet our Ranger at the Welcome Center and our check in will begin. The Ranger will take us to our tent site to unload our equipment and then on to Logistics where our trek will be finalized. The Crew Leaders will schedule what time we get the bus to our starting point, where the water locations are, what type of lunch we will get on our final day (trail or cafeteria). After logistics, the crew will go to Medical check where the medical forms will be reviewed by the Philmont Medical Staff.  We will pick up 4 days' rations and have a final backpack shakedown given by our Ranger. Ats some point, we will also have our crew picture taken. During the morning and afternoon we will see crews just finishing their treks. They will look at how clean we are, watch the way we follow our Ranger around, and just smile.
Base Camp

Lunch and supper will be at the dining hall. After supper, the adults will attend an Adviser's meeting, the Crew Leader will attend a Crew Leader's meeting and the Crew Chaplin will attend a Chaplin's meeting. A chapel service is held at 7 pm for all denominations.
Chapel
At 8 pm a campfire program will be given outlining the history of the ranch, set in poetry (if the actors can remember their lines). During the opening campfire ceremony, we will be able to hear the noise of the "Homebound" campfire located a half-mile away. Our campfire program will conclude with the singing of the Philmont Hymn.

The Philmont Hyym was written by a Philmont camper while he camped at Cimarroncito in 1945. The first time I heard this song I thought it was a little silly, but I noticed that the senior Scouters stood at attention and some even had a tear in the eye. It made no sense to me. After campfire packs will be checked and rechecked, phone calls home will be encouraged, the Scouts may not sleep well tonite because of the excitement, or they might wonder whether they will be able to make it.  THEY WILL!!!!!!

Teaser for tomorrow:  Day 2 -- Base Camp to Lovers' Leap!

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