Week 2 is complete.

I arrived in Denver at about 9:30 AM on the 26th of May.  I scoped out the airport for other Philmont Staff that were arriving.  I met up with two guys headed to the ranch: Chris from Georgia (a chaco wearing, mandolin toting ranger) and Steven from Nebraska.  Chris quickly found the nearest bar while Steven and I traded backpacking stories at a cafe since we are both only 20.

Once we found our shuttle pickup site, we waited and chatted for about two hours before the van arrived.  The van ride was terrible.  Roughly five hours with cramped leg space.  The funny thing is, those of us that are more serious about backpacking are generally taller.  The same goes for drumline in my opinion.  Most of the DCI guys are over 5'10".  Our van driver (who barely spoke any English) let us stop twice during the journey to restock on junk food and over-sized drinks.  We also picked up a few more riders in Colorado Springs.

Once I got to the ranch, I went to registration to hand in my paperwork and get my tent assignment.  My tent  mate is Matt from the Chicago area.  He joined our shuttle in Colorado Springs, so I was happy that we'd at least talked before moving our stuff in together.

The tents aren't too bad.  Much larger than CRK tents, and include cots and lockers.  I lock most of my important stuff in my footlocker that I shipped here.  The nights range from comfortable to chilly, and daytime ranges from hot to REAL HOT.  The first few days were extremely windy and dry.  If there's one thing I've learned from living in the desert, it's that ain't nobody got time for contacts.  Those shits are sand magnets.

Trading Post training was fun.  We had a ton of clinics from major outdoor brands.  Representatives from MSR, Kelty, Jansport, Jetboil, Outdoor Research, Point 6 Socks, Osprey, Exofficio, Big Agnes, Patagonia, and many more all came with presentations about their products that we sell.  This also came with a hearty helping of free shit.  I managed to snag the following for free:

• $18.99 pair of socks from Point 6
• $24.99 pair of underwear from Exofficio
• ~$15 t shirt from Outdoor Research
• Another awesome backpacking utensil that includes a fork, knife, and spoon in one package (MSRP $3)
•  "Coozie" designed to fit freeze dried food pouches to keep your food hot longer
• A $120 Jetboil Cooksystem for $40 

Not to mention all the outrageous discounts I get from all those brands (ranging from 40-70% off retail).

The only downside to getting all these crazy discounts is that I don't really need anything.  I'm basically set on gear.  The only thing I needed was a new stove with I got from Jetboil for 66% off.

The scenery here is pretty neat.  Every sunset is photo-esque and the mountains here are just as big as I remember.  

A typical sunset

View from the bottom of the Tooth of Time

View from the top (9,003 ft)