Philmont: Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

Day 3 on the ground in New Mexico and today was another great day.  First stop, Santa Fe! We had our first stop outside of Santa Fe where we learned about the first and oldest city in the United States. After a brief history lesson we set forth and experienced the local art the only way we know how – we climbed all over it like spider monkeys.

After taking in the local art we headed out to the historic part of Santa Fe to see the old city square.  We walked around for about an hour and learned about the historic Santa Fe Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.  Local folklore states that the spires of the cathedral were never completed by Archbishop Lamy because he loved the town so much and completion would require that he relocate to yet another city to start another cathedral. Mr. Brookes took a short moment to thank the Archbishop Troop 466 style for his efforts.




After historic Santa Fe (and a quick visit to the historic Santa Fe Starbucks) we headed out for a quick hike and a picnic outside the Rio Grande river.  The hike was a short 3 miles as a warm-up for the Philmont trek and spectacular views of a 1000’ gorge which is known as New Mexico’s equivalent to the Grand Canyon.  From there we had a quick lunch then on to the highlight of our pre-tour – rafting!  We each paired up and manned our “funyaks” to head down the Rio Grande river for 2 hours of white water rafting. 

Rio Grande Rafting VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Needless to say, being on the water was the highlight of the day and everyone enjoyed the time rafting down the river.  Look for plenty of photos on the troop website of us enjoying the water and the sunny skies.  After all that work we really were looking forward to dinner and we were treated to a nice sit down dinner at Furr’s which had all the veggies, steak, salad and of course ice cream we could eat.  After all the hiking and rafting the meal really set well for all of us. 

Well folks, that’s it for Albuquerque. Starting at 5:30 AM tomorrow we’re on our way to Philmont Scout Ranch to spend several days on the trail.  The crew leaders met with the adult leaders and each scout crew leader took charge of their crews.  They spent the evening discussing routes, roles and expectations for each trek.  Now the scouts are all enjoying the last pleasures of civilization and settling in for the start of their Philmont experience tomorrow.  We have a great trip ahead of us, but unfortunately the blog posts will have to wait until we come back off the trail.  Look for random Facebook posts, texts, emails and other means of communication while we are away.  If we can send updates, we most certainly will.