Chapter 15

Saturday, June 26, 2032 – Denver International Airport

The Southwest jet pulled into Gate C24 at 9:46 AM, just a minute behind the scheduled arrival time in Denver, Kyle noted with satisfaction. David rounded the crew up and they hiked from the far end of Terminal C to the tram. Ten minutes later the tram deposited the crew in the main terminal of the airport.

Kyle had to laugh a little as the kids in the crew gawked at the massive, tent-like dome that covered the main terminal. The five crews from Chester County made their way through the terminal towards baggage claim.

To Kyle’s surprise, his disguise held and no one approached him or appeared to recognize him as they walked through the airport. A Class A uniform, including a yellow neckerchief with red piping on the edges, his trademark aviators’ sunglasses and a broad brimmed hat were sufficient disguise.

The group took an escalator down to baggage claim. As promised, a smiling gentleman dressed in the light blue shirt and khakis, held up a “Chester County Council” sign to gather the contingent. Twenty minutes later they had their bags and packs and walked out to a red Graylines bus. Their gear went below. Their guide handed each person a pint-sized Nalgene filled with ice-cold water.

“Drink up,” the guide told everyone. “It is critical to stay hydrated here in Colorado and even more important when you reach Cimarron.”

The group found seats and the bus took the group over to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The bus dropped them off by the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Their guide, a college-aged guy by the name of Mark, led the group behind the building and up the hill into the rocks. They did about a mile hike through the rocks up to the rear of the stage. Mark told them briefly about the venue and asked them to head up through the stands to the top of the hill. The bus would meet them there.

Kyle, Penny and their crew were crossing the stage when someone called out, “Amish Lightning ... Coach Martin, is that you?” Kyle turned to look at who called for him; a man in his early thirties with a camera around his neck, holding a notepad and pen. A reporter!

“Can I help you?” Kyle asked as he pulled off his sunglasses.

“I hadn’t heard you were going to be in Denver now,” the reporter asked as he walked over to Kyle. “What brings you here?”

Kyle spread his hands out to silently say, look at me. “I’m here with the Boy Scouts,” Kyle responded. “I am a chaperone for my oldest son and daughter. Our group is on the way to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and will be spending a couple days touring in Colorado before we head south.”

“I’m Don Mosley with the Denver Post,” the reporter said by way of introduction. “Do you have a minute for a few questions?” Kyle obliged the reporter. That drew the attention of some of the other tourists visiting the arena. Kyle ended up signing half a dozen autographs and doing selfies with his fans.

He rejoined the crew as they climbed the stairs to the top of the arena. “That must be a pain in the ass,” Matt commented quietly to Kyle.

“People spend huge amounts of money to see the teams I am with,” Kyle replied. “The least I can do is show gratitude when they come up to meet me. It is the very least I can do.” The two continued up the steps, following behind the rest of their crew. Matt was huffing and panting pretty good when they reached the top.

“Man, I am gassed by this little climb,” Matt commented as he stopped to catch his breath. “What I am going to be like in a few days when I have to carry a pack up some mountain?”

“You’ll do better,” Kyle laughed. “Why do you think my Broncos teams won so many games? Flatlander teams had to come up to Mile-High Stadium. They would be gassed by the second quarter. We trained at altitude so we had no problems.”

“I guess,” Matt responded. “I know they warned us at the shakedown about how the altitude would affect us. I did not think it would be this bad.”

“I feel it too,” Kyle commented. “My house in Landenberg is at elevation 228. We’re probably around 6,500 feet here. We will be climbing to 12,441 feet at the Ranch.”

“I know, the top of Baldy Mountain,” Matt said. “If I collapse on the way up, Kyle, have the older kids carry me the rest of the way up.”

“You won’t need that,” Kyle replied. “In a couple days you’ll do much better. In week you will hardly notice the altitude. In two weeks’ time you’ll be fully acclimated to this altitude.”

“And then we go home,” Matt laughed. The group headed down to the upper parking lot and boarded the bus. They headed back to I-25 and drove south. Kyle was not paying attention when they pulled off I-25 for their lunch stop.

“Look where we are,” Penny commented as she nudged Kyle. He looked out the window at a familiar exit from the highway.

“Lincoln Avenue, do tell,” Kyle grinned. The bus drove west on a short distance before pulling into a strip mall anchored by the local Target store. They were not more than a half mile from their old Lone Tree home.

Mark, their guide, called for the five crew leaders to come to the front. Once he gave them directions, he announced to the group, “Get off the bus and meet with your crew leader. He will give you the directions for lunch.”

Crew 628-J4 gathered around David a couple minutes later. “We will join the line outside the store. Take one of the box lunches. They are all the same. Get back aboard the bus with your lunch. They will drive us over to a nearby park.”

David laughed. “It’s probably the Bluffs Regional Park. It is near where I used to live.” Everyone picked up their lunches. David was correct about their destination.

The park had little cover, but it did beat eating lunch on the cramped bus. This park held a special memory for Kyle and Penny. “It was nineteen years ago,” Kyle commented. “I’m glad we kept the kid.”

“Yeah, I am too,” Penny agreed. “It hasn’t been easy but we pulled it off. Our baby is off to college in a couple months.” Kyle and Penny had hiked through this park as they talked immediately after the doctor gave them the shocking news that she was pregnant with David, days after their graduation from college and about ten weeks before their wedding.

The group boarded the bus again and they headed south for Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy. The group split up and got guided tours of the chapel building. It was an impressive and inspiring sight, standing in the main protestant chapel, staring up at the peaked roof. The Catholic chapel, the Jewish Chapel and the Muslim chapel were less inspiring but certainly would serve the needs of cadets looking to worship.

The bus stopped at Diamond Lil’, the retired B-52 bomber on display on the Academy grounds. The old bomber was huge. It was hard to believe that a plane built in the 1950s was still in use by the Air Force. They upgraded engines a few years ago and planned to continue using the old bombers into the 2050s.

The group did a drive-through tour of the Garden of the Gods at the southern end of Colorado Springs. The rock formations were impressive. After that drive-through, the bus headed to their hotel, the Great Wolf Lodge. The group gathered up all their luggage and headed inside for room assignments.

David, Logan, Jackson and Colton were assigned to Room 411. Kyle and Penny had Room 413. Sara, Jessie and Kaylie shared room 415. Across the hall in Room 412 was Ben and Jordan, along with two kids from the West Chester crew. Matt shared Room 414 with an adult from the West Chester crew.

The group got their things settled in their rooms and changed into swim wear. Staying at Great Wolf Lodge included access to all the amenities, including the water park, ropes course and mini-golf course. The tour company issued every participant a $15 voucher for dinner that evening at one of the restaurants in the lodge. Most of their group went to the pizza and wings place. Some went to the fast-food restaurant in the water park.

The Chester County contingent consisted of 54 persons – 15 adults accompanying 3 female youths and 36 male youths. To Penny and Kyle’s chagrin, Sara, Kaylie and Jessie decided bikinis would be a good choice for swim wear that evening. David made sure the others guys knew Sara was his, as did Logan with Kaylie. That left Jessie the object of ogling, out-right stares and a little drooling.

The Martin family had visitors show up before dinner. Penny had arranged it with Casey Rasmussen a few weeks earlier. Brady and Casey refused to allow the Martins to come to Colorado without seeing them sometime. Kyle and Penny greeted their old friends warmly when they met in the lobby. They introduced Matt Robertson to Brady and Casey.

David greeted his old buddy, Ethan, who came with his girlfriend Autumn. Sara and Autumn seemed to hit it off. Ethan, like David, had recently graduated from high school, talked about his future plans. In a few weeks he was off to play for the Boise State Broncos. Ethan played quarterback in high school but he had not drawn interest from any Power Five schools. He settled for a scholarship at Boise State to be a defensive back, most likely as a safety.

Jessie introduced Kaylee Rasmussen to Kaylie Denning. Jessie had been close friends with both girls nearly since birth. When she was young, Kaylie Denning as her best friend in Pennsylvania for most of the year. In the summers she was friends with Kaylee Rasmussen. The roles reversed when Penny graduated from veterinary school and the Martin’s moved to Denver full-time. The family summered in Landenberg, where Jessie and Kaylie maintained their friendship. Kaylie and Kaylee, from Jessie’s talking about each other for years, hit it off.

The three had a fun evening playing in the water park. Jessie introduced them to the other guys in the crew. Kaylee was particularly taken with Jackson and Colton. They guys loved having another hot looking, bikini-clad girl to watch as they enjoyed the water park.

Jason and Justin, the thirteen-year-old Rasmussen twins, quite aware of girls, had none to flirt with or maybe more. Two of the four girls were spoken for, leaving their sister Kaylee and Jessie, who was almost like their sister. All the young teens could do was catch occasional looks at girls who were unavailable. They did dream of the day when they had serious girlfriends, but that day seemed to be far away. The twins enjoyed playing in the water park for the evening.

Kyle and Penny relaxed with Brady and Casey, watching the group fool around in the water park. Matt Robertson joined the four. Matt had gotten comfortable with Kyle’s fame over the past eight months he had worked with the Martins to prepare for Philmont. Meeting and relaxing with another sports hero was revealing.

These guys most of the country put up on a pedestal but in most ways Kyle and Brady were just normal people. He enjoyed hearing the two old friends reminisce about their time at the Broncos. Well ... they were fairly normal people except for the fact that every ten- or fifteen-minutes other guests would realize who they were and come over for autographs or selfies. Kyle and Brady were unfailingly polite to everyone who interrupted their reunion.

The water park closed down at 9:30 PM. That was fortunate because the Philmont crews had to operate on the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ principle for the next couple weeks. David did a quick bed check to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be before ten o’clock.

Kyle had David up at 5:00 AM. David made sure the rest of the crew was ready to go for the day before their six o’clock breakfast. The contingent boarded their bus and headed for Manitou Springs, where they boarded the Cog Railroad for the trip to the top of Pike’s Peak. The group enjoyed the views of the mountains to the north, south and west. To the east the Colorado plains spread as far as you could see. Colorado Springs was at their feet. It was a clear day and they could make out Denver too. Kyle made sure every member of 628-J4 got one of the famous doughnuts from the visitor’s center at the top. Apparently, it was difficult to make doughnuts at 14,115 feet in elevation. This vendor had perfected that art. The doughnuts were delicious.

The Cog Railroad returned them to Manitou Springs near lunchtime. The bus took them over to the park in the center of Manitou Springs. Everyone got a bag lunch and forty-five minutes to tour the town. One of the crew heard there was a frozen custard stand and managed to find the place. The creamy dessert hit the spot that hot day.

After lunch the bus took their group down to Cañon City to the same rafting outfitter the Martins had used last summer. Everyone changed into swimsuits and put on their wet suits. Just like a year ago, old school buses hauled the group up the canyon to the put-in point. Matt and Jackson Robertson, Ben Scott, Jordan Anderson, Kaylie Denning and Logan Hall ended up together in one raft. The Martins along with Sara and Colton Stone filled another. Colton was delighted to be seated in the middle by Jessie. David and Kyle provided the power for their raft, sitting up front. Penny and Sara sat in the back by their raft guide Jace.

Jace was pleased with how their raft handled. There was little chance Kyle would overpower David as they paddled, unlike last year when Danny was sitting in David’s spot. Soon they paddled down into the first of the rapids.

The Arkansas River was running lower than it had been a year ago when the Martin family rafted it. The water was ice cold. The ride was wet and a blast. While the level was lower, it was still fun. It took all that Kyle and David could provide to pull their raft out of the mayhem below Boat-Eater Rapids. The Chester County contingent had to two rafters go for a swim there, but no one from 628-J4.

The group pulled off the Arkansas River upstream of Cañon City. Buses took the group back to the outfitters to change. Pictures and video of the rafters going though Boat-Eater Rapids were on sale in the gift shop. Kyle bought a thumb drive with all the pictures and video from both rafts carrying Crew 628-J4 members. He would share the photos with all the families when they got home.

The outfitter prepared a nice steak, baked potato and corn on the cob dinner for the contingent. Entertainment was provided by a talented singer/guitar player who used to work at the Ranch when he was younger. He told the crew about what they could expect the next morning when they arrived at the Ranch. He did some Philmont songs and told a few jokes. The half hour show was a good introduction to the Ranch.

Buses took the contingent back to their hotel in Colorado Springs, arriving around 7:45 PM. That gave everyone time to enjoy the water park again before they headed for New Mexico in the morning. Matt, Kyle and Penny headed downstairs to join their crew, to relax and mentally prepare for tomorrow.

“Davey, what do you think of some alternate entertainment tonight?” Sara commented to David as the group arrived at the entrance to the water park.

“Alternate?” David asked quietly, suspecting what his girlfriend had in mind.

“It’s been two weeks since...” Sara remarked, “ ... you know?”

“Since I left for camp?” David answered, giving a “G” rated explanation for what he knew Sara was referring to; the fact that they had not had sex in over two weeks. “It has been. But where?”

“My room,” Sara said. “No one is there.”

“We should warn Jessie and Kaylie, so they don’t walk in on us in the middle of ... you know,” David added.

“You tell Jessie,” Sara said. “I will warn Kaylie not to come back until the water park closes.”

David whispered his plans to Jessie. She smirked and replied, “No problem, bro.” She knew how long it had been since David and Sara had sex. She had done without four days longer. Her last time was with her ex-boyfriend Matt at the end-of-school pool party. If she had a boyfriend, she would be demanding equal time in the room upstairs that evening. Alas, she had no boyfriend. She did have two boys interested in her. That was something.

Kaylie had no issue when Sara whispered her plans with David that evening. “No problem, have fun.” She whispered David and Sara’s plans to Logan. The two liked the idea so much that they headed upstairs too, after warning Jackson and Colton not to return to their room until the water park closed, about ninety minutes later.

Jessie hung with her would-be suitors, Jackson and Colton. They played in the pool. They enjoyed the various slides in the park. She thought Colton got hard when they were playing in the pool. Something tented the boy’s swim suit at his waist. There was no question five minutes later when Jackson got hard. His boner stretched his shorts out.

If it had not been pointed sideways in his suit, Jessie suspected it could have stuck out the bottom of Jackson’s shorts. It looked to be as long as her ex, Matt, but thicker. It was closer in size to Adam Morrison or perhaps that boy Mike, who took her that night in the meadow last summer in the Rocky Mountains National Park. She never saw Mike’s dick but it felt immense as he thrust up into her last summer.

This trip to Philmont was going to be a long two weeks. Perhaps when she got home, she could hook up with Matt again, to get some of the benefits of their being friends again. Her brother was upstairs getting laid. Her best friend was upstairs taking her lover’s big dick too. Two weeks at Philmont, surrounded by hot boys, was going to be a long two weeks.

David, Sara, Kaylie and Logan might have thought they pulled one over on their advisors. They did not. Kyle noted the odor in both Room 411 and 415 when he did bed check. Kyle explained what he suspected when he got back to his room with Penny.

“Should I have a talk with David and Logan about proper behavior while we are at the Ranch?” Kyle asked. “I doubt any of the staff would be happy if they found campers getting it on in the backcountry.”

“You could,” Penny replied. “Would you, me or any of our friends have paid any attention if Joe or Barb Baer tried to stop us from having sex on trips when we were their age?”

“Probably not,” Kyle admitted.

“I think if they are discreet and quiet about it, we just look the other way if our two couples decide they need alone time on the trip.”

“I suppose,” Kyle allowed.

Kyle woke David and his roommates at five o’clock the next morning. David was responsible for having the crew, with all luggage, outside by the bus by 5:45 AM. The buses were loaded and the contingent ate a quick breakfast before heading south. They left around 6:30 AM, heading south on I-25. Two and a half hours later, the bus driver turned off onto Route 64 and headed for Taos.

The Sangre De Cristo Mountains were on the right of their bus. After a bit, Matt called out, “Baldy Mountain.” The crew gathered on the right side of the bus to see that iconic Philmont landmark. They would be standing on top of that mountain in five days. A few minutes later, Matt pointed out front and announced he had sighted the Tooth of Time, another Philmont Scout Ranch icon and also a landmark on the Sante Fe Trail.

A few minutes later they drove through Cimarron, New Mexico to Route 21 and turned left and headed south for the Ranch. Mr. Everson, the council contingent director, pointed out the St. James Hotel. The St. James still featured bullet holes from the Wild West days. He suggested it might be a good place for a crew to head for a final dinner when they finished their trek. Three minutes later the bus drove by Villa Philmonte, the BSA Training Center and former residence of Waite Phillips, who donated the Ranch to the Scouts.

The bus pulled into the Philmont Ranch Welcome Center. Mr. Everson was up first, directing everyone to gather their luggage and packs and to form pack lines, one for each crew, near the Welcome Center pavilion. Crew Leaders and Lead Advisors were directed to drop their stuff off first and go over to the Welcome Center office. He warned that the rest of the day would be hurry up and wait, while they did everything necessary to head out to the backcountry.

David and Kyle, carrying all the crew’s paperwork, joined the mob in the Welcome Center office. It took a few minutes for one of the staffers to get to Kyle and David’s crew. David received a packet of paperwork that would be completed in the next 24 hours. They got tent assignments in Tent City and were told to rejoin their crew and to wait for their Ranger.

Philmont Rangers were their guides for the first three or four days of the trip. Kyle and David rejoined the crew and had about a fifteen-minute wait until a staffer yelled, “Crew 628-J4?” David waved the staffer over.

Kyle looked over the tall, thin young man who looked to be around nineteen or twenty. He was around 6’-1” tall, but slim, probably tipping the scales around 150-155 pounds. The build and the face looked familiar.

“Hi, I’m Owen Shoemaker,” the staffer announced. “I will be your Ranger. Who is the crew leader?”

“That’s me,” David volunteered. He shook hands with Owen. The last name confirmed Kyle’s hunch. David introduced Owen to the rest of the crew, adults last.

“This is my dad, Kyle Martin,” David said.

“You prefer Coach or Coach Martin over Mr. Martin, correct?” Owen asked.

“Coach is fine, Owen,” Kyle replied. “Now, I have a question for you, Owen. Is Jerry your father or grandfather?”

“He’s my grandpop,” Owen replied. David finished introducing his mom and Matt Robertson to Owen.

“Gather up all your gear,” Owen announced when introductions were done. “I will take you over to your tents in Tent City, then we can head to logistics and maybe medical recheck before lunch.” The group marched across the barren, dusty prairie between homebound and trail-bound Tent City. Owen pointed out the Advisor’s Lounge, Security, the Dining Hall and the Services Building as they headed across the field for their tents.

Three tents were set aside for male youth, two for female youth and two for the advisors. Owen had everyone hustle to get their gear away and their tents buttoned up in case of rain. He advised that you never left your tents without battening down everything. Storms came quick in the mountains of New Mexico.

Owen signed his crew in at Logistics and had them take a table to wait. Kyle and Owen visited registration, where Kyle got information and envelopes for valuables. Registration would store the valuables while they were on the trail. Kyle and Owen rejoined the crew outside in the breezeway that connected Registration with Logistics.

Owen reviewed map symbols with the group while they waited their turn. Half an hour later, Crew 628-J4 was called. David and Kyle headed inside to review their trek with one of the logistics planners. She reviewed their trek with them. They were scheduled for an 8:30 AM bus out of Base Camp tomorrow. Their three-hour conservation project would be on Day 10 near Harlan. They were scheduled to work from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Horseback riding would be on Day 11 at Clark’s Fork at 1:00 PM. She reminded them that Upper Greenwood Canyon camp was dry. Water would have to be hauled from Copper Park, the previous day’s camp.

Owen hoped to get the crew through medical recheck before lunch, but could not. At least, he did get the crew on the list for recheck after lunch. Lunch was at the Dining Hall. Kyle and the crew were amused when the Rangers met at the bell in the middle of the gathering area. Four rangers, including Owen, climbed up the six-foot-tall rock bell stand and rang the bell to call incoming crews to their mid-day meal. All four flopped backwards in a trust fall, being caught by the other rangers around the bell.

Lunch was simple: hot dogs, baked beans, salad, cookies, chocolate pudding and drink. The crew headed back to the medical center and waited under a dining fly until it was their turn. David carried the whole crew’s medicals inside. None of the youth required more checking. Kyle, Penny and Matt were called inside to be weighed, measured and to test their blood pressure.

The med student checking Kyle approved his blood pressure, checked his height, still 6’-4 ½” and then weighed him.

“207 pounds, sir,” the med student commented before smiling widely. “As would be expected of...” he winked, “ ... Amish Lightning.”

“You’re a fan?” Kyle laughed.

“Longmont, Colorado born and raised,” the student said. “I was a huge fan of you and Brady when I was a kid. You two made watching the Broncos fun.”

“It was fun for us too,” Kyle responded.

“Did you stay in touch with Brady?” the med student asked.

“We were friends before the Broncos drafted me and we still are,” Kyle responded. “I had dinner with Brady and his family two nights ago. They met us at a water park in Colorado Springs.”

“Cool!” the med student said. He handed a paper to Kyle. “Tell your ranger your crew is good to go for medical recheck.”

Owen took the group up to the Services Building. They found where the two lockers they were issued were at. Later today they would put most of the non-trail belongings in the lockers. Matt stopped by the post office and picked up a package with the crew’s two backpacking stoves. He met the rest of the crew inside at equipment pickup.

The crew received a dining fly, five tents, a set of pots and pans, utensils, a scraper, a sump strainer, packets of Micropur tablets, bear bags and bear ropes. Owen took the crew aside to check their equipment. He held up the sump strainer.

“This is not a Frisbee,” Owen instructed. It obviously was to all of the crew, except it had a bunch of small holes drilled in it. “We will talk more about the sump strainer tomorrow after dinner. These are your yum-yum bags. We will talk more about them after dinner too. David, make sure these don’t get lost or forgotten.”

“Quartermaster, take care of this,” David ordered, handing the small zip-loc bags to his sister.

“Next, we check the tents and fly to make sure they are in good condition and ready for the backcountry,” Owen instructed. He showed them how to check them for holes or wear and tear. Matt pulled their fuel bottles from the parcel he picked up and headed over to purchase white gas for their stoves. David and Kyle signed the checkout form at Equipment to attest that they received all the equipment in good condition. They were now responsible for its return in good repair or to pay for its replacement if they were not returned.

Owen directed the crew to food pickup next, in the other side of large pavilion. The crew picked up lunch and dinner for Day 9, all three meals for Day 10 and breakfast and lunch for Day 1.

“Good grief, this is a lot of food,” Penny commented as she looked at the pile of forty-eight food bags in front of them. Owen just laughed.

“Most crews leave Base Camp with four days of food,” Owen explained. “That would be eighteen more bags than what you have.”

“I guess this does not look so intimidating,” Kyle observed. David had the crew load the food into the bear bags. They needed all nine youth to carry all their food and gear back to their tents. The gear got stashed in their tents. When everyone was out, Owen looked to the southwest and laughed.

The deep blue, cloudless sky that had greeted them when they got off the bus in the morning had gone away. Cumulus clouds dotted the sky, particularly to the southwest beyond the Tooth of Time. There big, billowing gray storm clouds were gathering.

“I had planned to do the gear shakedown in the grass in front of the Trading Post,” Owen noted. “There is a little shade down there.” Owen pointed towards the clouds. “Somebody is going to get rained on and it may be us. Let’s do the gear shakedown here in camp in case that storm hits us. We’ll have some shelter and we can drag our gear into the tents if the rain comes before we finish the shakedown.”

Owen had the crew drag their bunks out into the common area between the rows of tents. Everything that would go to the backcountry was emptied from the packs and spread on the bunks. Owen reviewed each item on the gear list in the Ranger’s Handbook, item by item. He looked over each crew member’s item as he called them out, ensuring that it was appropriate for the backcountry. Then the item was returned to the pack. When Owen finished the list, he checked over what everyone had that wasn’t on his list, approving the item or counseling why it was not needed in the back country.

The wind started to whip up as they were finishing the shakedown. The big, gray, threatening clouds loomed over them. The crew was anxious to finish so they could move everything inside before the rain hit. Owen glanced over his shoulder and laughed.

“We’re fine,” Owen chuckled. “Crater Lake, Miner’s Park, Shaefer’s Pass and Clark Fork are getting hammered but we will be fine.” Just then they saw lightning flash off in the distance, up in the mountains. Owen was right. They finished their gear shakedown without a single drop of rain falling in Base Camp.

Owen made sure David, Sara, Logan and the advisors knew when to go for dinner. They all had a 5:45 PM dinner before meetings they had to attend for crew leaders, chaplain’s aides, wilderness pledge guias and for advisors. Owen promised to meet the rest of the crew and take them down for their normal 6:00 PM dinner.