I did a lot of walking the previous two weeks, so I figure this thread works for my travelogue.
To refresh your memory, I had been planning for almost 2 years to be going to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It’s a 12 day back country high adventure trip where the group of Scouts hikes much of each day, rolls in to camp each afternoon, and then gets to participate in some sort of activity, like shotgun shooting or rock climbing. Well, a couple weeks before we were supposed to go, Philmont burned down and our trip there was cancelled. I scrambled and found an alternative place in Montana that had a slot for us to fill the second half of our trip, and the other dad found a slot for us in the Black Hills of South Dakota to fill the first half of the trip.
We did it, and it was a blast. I took over 3,000 pictures and have eliminated about 99% of them to bring you the following.
We landed in Denver in the evening and drove in our two minivans up to Cheyenne, WY to spend the first night. We decided at the last minute to swing through Nebraska on the way up to the Black Hills the next day in order to stop at Scott’s Bluff for a hike and also check out the Oglala National Grassland.
Here I am at the tail end of the hiking group coming back down the trail from Scott’s Bluff. Scott’s Bluff was the perfect stopping point to eat a picnic lunch and stretch our legs.
The Oglala Grassland was also pretty impressive, but we just drove through it, and it wasn’t easy to get a good picture of it. Picture mile after mile of rolling hills covered in a flowering grass blowing in the breeze.
We arrived at Medicine Mountain Boy Scout Ranch, and it was pretty nice. They were a little confused by our arrival, even though they had cashed our big check. The main office knew about us, but every time we showed up somewhere for an activity or to get food, the people were questioning just who the hell we were. I was happy though, because I brought coffee and a backpacking stove to make it.
We went on an outing our first day and saw Mt. Rushmore:
And Crazy Horse, where Scouts get in free.
