Philmont - Itinerary 9 - Day 3 - Old Camp to Dan Beard Camp, Thursday, August 3, 2006
Day 3, Old Camp (elevation 7300 feet) to Dan Beard Camp
(elevation 7900 feet). Total distance about 6 miles.
While it was raining in the evening when we went to bed on
Wednesday at Old Camp, the
clouds cleared at at 1:00 AM the stars were out and it was
beautiful.
At about 4:00 AM many members of our group heard a
mountain lion roaring. It let us know of it's presence by
screatching (or roaring) about 5 times; each screatch was several
minutes apart. You could tell that it was moving as each
yell was from a different locations.
The hike to Dan Beard Camp was an easy hike. There were
several stream crossings, and the trail was muddy in areas,
but it was quick and easy.
Dan, our ranger, was to leave us this morning, but since he was also
travelling to Dan Beard. He stayed with us much of the
hike. Before we left Old Camp he read some quotes to us
from his "Official Philmont Ranger Guide". One of the ones
that I liked was:
Thousands of tired, nerv
-shaken, over-civilized people are
beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going
home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks
and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber
and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.
John Muir
Once Dan left our group, he would
leave messages
for us on leaves. One said; "How do you keep an idiot occupied
for hours? For the answer turn over." The other side of the
leave also said "How do you keep an idiot occupied for
hours? For the answer turn over."
Dan Beard was my favorite camp of the entire trip. Our tents
were located on top of a small hill that overlooked the staff camp.
Deer would wander close by, and it was a beautiful setting.
It was beautiful even though the area was recovering from
the massive Ponil Complex fires of 2002.
Click on a picture to display a larger view.
