5:50 am came round way too soon, but I was already up (despite the long night) with the growing daylight, noisy bird chorus, and leftover adrenaline.  52 degrees and just a slight breeze, so actually warmer than when we (originally) went to bed.  Despite the fatigue, Hank and I got dressed quickly, and I was out before 6:00, with a 6 point buck wandering around to greet me.  Skies slightly misty but clearing rapidly - no sign (or smell) of woodsmoke.  Woke the entire Crew this morning, starting with Chris and Brad - who moaned some with the "early" wake-up call - apparently, they had been surreptitiously listening to the hours-long conversation between the Wranglers and I through the night, with the regular radio bulletins providing additional stimulation to eavesdrop.  Despite all the commotion of the previous evening, however, the entire Crew was out, dressed, and packing within 10 minutes - the benefits of the 8:00 pm bedtime.  The Illinois Crew went by at 6:15, heading down to Clark's Fork and looking a little glum (or maybe just exhausted.)  I called out some encouragement to them as they passed by; they looked like they needed it.  No idea if they took the time to re-set up their tents, or just tried to meadow-crash on their pads.  We were packed and circled up at 6:25 ourselves, and gone 5 minutes later, burning up the trail on the easy downhill.  As expected, there were no signs of any other Crews at Ponderosa or Upper Clark's Fork, and (of course) no Crews heading up.  Pulled into Clark's Fork at 7:20 - only 50 minutes from Shaefers Pass, with one brief water break; that's moving!  As expected, the camp was a zoo, with 8 - 10 Crews from the upper staging camps added to the equal or greater number who had spent the night there.  All told, there were close to 20 Crews stacked up and milling around the cabin by 8:00 am, with an obviously tired and rather harried looking staff fending off questions they didn't have answers to yet.  It had clearly been a long night for them as well.  Said "Hello" once again to Matt, and we chatted briefly; he had a lot going on, so I left him to it.  Headed over to see Crew 2, who were already well mixed with Crew 3 and swapping tales of their respective treks.  Rick, Clay, and the rest of Crew 1 showed up about 8:15, looking surprisingly bright-eyed and enthusiastic, and joined the "Arlington crowd."  [Photo: Michael was also treated to a surprise crowd-surfing in celebration of his birthday.]  All around us, Scouts were making the best of it, playing cards, tossing horseshoes, lassoing wooden cows, or just sleeping up against their packs or other, less sympathetic objects.  About 8:45, one of the female staff members made a general announcement calling the Crew Chiefs and Primary Advisors of all the Clark's Fork Crews over to the porch for instructions.  The gist of the announcements were that the fires had burned themselves out and the Tooth Ridge trail was re-opened, so the Crews could go ahead and hike the Tooth as originally planned, or (alternately) could head down to the Cimarroncito turnaround by 10:00 am, and take buses back to Basecamp  Once everyones' questions were answered, it was an instant repeat for the Upper Clark's Fork, Ponderosa, and Shaefers Pass Crews.  For these latter Crews, however, the staff was kind enough to offer additional food to anyone (like us) who didn't have a trail lunch because they had expected to already be in Basecamp well before noon. The camp quickly exploded into action as all the Crews made their choices and started heading out.  In our case, however, we were quickly mired in an internal debate in each Crew between Scouts who wanted to do the Tooth and those who wanted to head directly to Basecamp.  We quickly came to the obvious compromise of "mix and match" - only to run into unexpected resistance by the Staff, who indicated this was "not allowed!"  I maintained my cool, but the look on my face doubtless spoke volumes.  After some discussion, the staff radioed down to Logistics and got permission for us to split as desired, but only if we provided rosters for the "new" Crews.  This was easily accomplished, and we split into one group of 12 (10 Scouts and 2 Advisors) going to Basecamp by bus, and another of 15 (11 Scouts and 4 Advisors) going over the Tooth.  Tim A. and I reluctantly decided to head directly to Basecamp, since Clay H., David B. and Hank M. had never done the Tooth before, and Rick W. really wanted to do the Tooth with both Chris and Eric.  First time in 9 treks that I missed doing the Tooth of Time - bummer! - but at least it would enable me to get all the administrative paperwork for all 3 Crews done at Basecamp (and with such a delayed start, the earliest anyone was going to make it via the Tooth was about 3:30 pm - way late for everything that had to be done by 5:00 pm.)  With that, we traded off all of the remaining food and 1 extra canteen per man from the Bus group to the Tooth group, in exchange for some of the Crew gear that could be pre-sorted at Basecamp.  Hopefully, 4 full liters per man would keep everyone well hydrated on what was certainly going to be a tough, hot, mid-day hike.  The "Bus Crew" headed out at about 9:20 or so, with the "Tooth Crew" leaving for Shaefers Pass soon thereafter.  [Photos from the Crew heading to Basecamp over the Tooth: 1, 2, 3, 4]  We were just about the last Crews to depart - Clark's Fork was already back to its  usual mid-morning calm by this point.  A fairly quick hike down to the Cimarroncito Turnaround for us - very hot and sunny, with no breeze, but not unbearable.  Great views of the north slope of the Tooth of Time Ridge (similar to those you get on the Clark's Fork horse ride.)  Got to the turnaround at 9:50, with about 8 Crews already in residence, waiting under the trees for the buses.  We were the last Crew to arrive, so I guess about 8 - 10 Crews headed in over the Tooth.  The guys all headed over to drop their packs under the shade, while I spent about half an hour chatting with the Sterling Crew.  Mr. H. (their primary Advisor) was still with them, and I complimented him for sticking it out despite the obvious pain he had been in for the last half of his trek; backpacking with a ruptured disk is no fun in anyone's book.  Heading back over to the Crew (and thankfully finally removing my backpack), I wrote some more diary while the Scouts chatted and played cards.  One of the Potomac Area Council Scouts came over to solicit for reassurance that we weren't going to try and "butt in" ahead of them when the buses came - although sorely tempted to tell him 'it's every man for himself, chump!,' I resisted, and confirmed that yes, indeed, we would behave as Scouts and take the last bus.  Bus # 1 showed up around 10:20, but only to drop off 2 Crews - it had a 10:30 pickup scheduled at Webster Lake (???) and couldn't take any of us.  Soon thereafter, however, Bus # 2 showed up, and 3 or 4 of the smaller Crews crammed in and headed off.  The bus driver was not very enlightening on when anyone else would be showing up, but assured us that we would all eventually get a ride.  Bus # 3 came about 20 minutes later, followed within 5 minutes by # 4, then (hilariously) 4 more empty buses.  Guess no-one told them that there were only about 75 trekkers (3 buses worth) total to pick up.  We ended up on bus # 4, getting into Basecamp about 11:20 or so - later than I wanted, but not critically so.  In lieu of Rangers, I did the pack unloading duties out the back of the bus, and went into the Welcome Center with Tim W. to get our close-out paperwork and homebound tent assignments (F57-62, good location, almost right on the end of the trail from the Tooth of Time.)  Sent everyone over to open up our tents and stow our packs, while I went over to hit the registration desk to pick up our security envelope (van keys!), photos, and other paperwork.  Back at the tents, we regrouped and headed over to the vans to get all our carry-on luggage, then everyone hit the showers.  The timing was actually favorable, since the trailbound Crews were all at lunch, with the homebound Crews close behind, leaving the shower houses nearly empty.  As always, a scrubbing and clean clothes made everyone feel like new men, and we straggled over to the Dining Hall piecemeal between 12:15 and 12:25.  I stopped at Logistics to thank the staff for allowing us the change at Cyphers Mine, catching them just as they were closing up for lunch.  The Dining Hall was half deserted - proof of how many Crews were still on the trail to the Tooth or waiting for their bus rides from the various pickup points around the Ranch.  Spaghetti, macaroni with cheese, green beans, etc.  I asked for 1/3rd portions of each, and (for a change) ate it all, plus lots of drink mix.  Back at the tents, we headed back over to the vans to collect all the remaining carry-on luggage for the "Tooth Crew," then separated all the Crew gear in our packs and put it under the bunks in Tim A.'s and my tent.  Once that was done, I gave everyone their release until 3:00 to hit the Trading Post and snack bar, tasking Tim W. and Kelsey to collect all the bolo ties, patches, arrowhead protectors and maps for the Crews - warning everyone as they bolted that this was probably going to be their only good shot at the Trading Post.  I continued on the administrative rounds, hitting the Post Office, Pack Rental, Security Desk, then the Trading Post (to pay for the Crew memorabilia that Tim and Kelsey had accumulated), then Equipment Check-In (somehow, we were missing a bottle of Polar Pure, which I had to pay for), and finally the Ranger Office to leave messages for Laura and Trent.  Ran into (Ranger) Rob around 2:25 or so, by the Crew lockers - but unfortunately, he only had about 30 minutes before he was due to leave with his next Crew, so we had a rather rushed farewell chat - he was impressed and pleased that we did "Black Death" after all, and also that we had experienced a great trek.  Gave him my thanks and a "good luck" for the trail.  Stroke of luck to run into him, but a bummer that he was unable to join us for dinner after all.  Thunderstorms were starting to brew up around the Ranch by this point (distant thunder around Black, Bear, and Cimarroncito Mountains), but the Tooth itself looked clear thus far.   By 3:00, most of the Crew had returned to the tents, and we started in on separating our carry-on versus checked luggage, and repacking the 2 Totelockers with many of the smaller items of Crew gear.  Still no sign of any Crews off the Tooth, so at 3:30 I had Tim A. take Brad and Tim W. over to the Welcome Center to get Crew 1 and 2's closeout paperwork and start in on it - I should have done this earlier, but figured our guys would be back by this point.  Some of the Scouts wanted to leave again for the Snack Bar, but I held them back on the presumption that our Tooth Scouts would be half-dead by the time they arrived, and would need some fresh help when they showed up.  At just about 4:00 on the nose, we heard a robust (and instantly recognizable) "Arkansas River Cheer" down by the "Welcome Back - You Made It!" sign, and our long hikers trooped in about 5 minutes later - to my knowledge, the first Crew of the Day off the Tooth.  Pretty amazing, since they had been the last Crew out of Clark's Fork.  We waited til everyone was together, and gave them the run-down:  tent assignments (1 group of 8 based on Rick and Clay taking E-13 - E17, and the other of 7 based on Hank and David B. taking D56 and D61 - D63), the location of their carry-on stuff (in our tents), the need to grab showers and hit the trading post quickly, and finally to reassemble in Class B's by 5:10 at my tent (for dinner in Cimarron.)  I hated to have to push everyone so hard just after they got back, but we were now under the gun to get everything done in time to hit Simple Simons and the Cree-Mee in Cimarron before the closing campfire.  If it doesn't work out, we'll just send one of the Adults down to relay our regrets to Laura and Trent, and eat at the Dining Hall.  Got Chris' and Eric's Crew Leaders' copies from them (the last things we needed to finish the close-out paperwork), and let everyone go.  The afternoon thunderstorm finally boiled over the Tooth of Time and Urraca Mesa, adding even more urgency to our already tight schedule.  Tim A. and I went ahead and pre-ordered 7 jumbo pizzas from Simple Simons by phone, and I headed back to the Registration Desk to warn them that a lot of Crews had still not returned off the Tooth.  Mary checked her files, and confirmed that 9 Crews hadn't checked in yet, but also that all 9 of them had the "normal" (7:30) breakfast the following morning - so no need to keep the check-in stations open late tonight.  Raining heavily at this point, but the wind and thunder and lightning were not as fierce as usual.  Made a final visit to the Trading Post to grab the latest version of Rock Rohrbacher's Philmanac, then returned to the Post Office for one last check (no additional mail).  Also called Joy G. to confirm everyone's safe arrival at Basecamp and check on any urgent messages (none).  Back at the tents at 5:05, with the rain quickly easing, and we headed to the vans 10 minutes later.  Made it to Simple Simons about 5 minutes late, and were surprised to find it was outdoor seating under canopies.  Fortunately, the rain was just about over at this point, and the place was nearly deserted, so it still worked.  Our last pizzas were coming out of the ovens as we arrived, but they all ended up sitting for an extra half-hour while we got water and drinks.  [Next time, we'll order those ahead of time, too.]  Laura and Trent were already waiting for us, so we sat down and chatted - and filled out our trek evaluations - while we waited.  Had some spectacular views over the Ranch, with sunshine illuminating luminous curtains of rain; a neat effect.  We finally got all our drinks, and then the pizzas, just after 6:00 - the pizzas were only warm by this point, but were still excellent (and certainly better than the Dining Hall fare!)  Ordered 3 more pizzas after the initial round disappeared; those extras were just enough to satisfy everyone.  After spending a few minutes cleaning up (our mess, plus everyone else's too), we headed off to the Cree-Mee for Michael's birthday bash.  Laura and Trent, however, headed directly back to camp, since Trent was off for the next 2 days and was anxious to get on the road.  At the Cree-Mee, David B., Hank and I spent about half an hour vacuuming out the passenger vans at a nearby car-wash while everyone else ordered.  The rugs were pretty nasty at this point, and I didn't want to get stuck with cleanup charges in Denver.  I returned to the Cree-Mee just in time to hear the trailing chorus of a rousing "Happy Birthday to You!" to Michael.  We oinked `til 7:30, then headed back to the Ranch, making a brief stop for a few pictures of some Philmont buffalo who had wandered down close to Rt. 21.  Back at camp, we had about 20 minutes before the Closing Campfire - time enough to hit the bathrooms, grab some warm clothes from our tents, and redistribute some of the larger crew gear items for re-packing into backpacks.  Laura re-joined us at the assembly, and we headed down to the campfire; since we were at the back of the assembly, we were nearly first in line for the campfire (go figure.)  The program was reasonably decent, starting off with a couple of hard-rock songs ("We Are The Champions" and "Hey!")  to get everyone fired up; in honor of his birthday, Michael was "crowd-surfed" up to the top of the amphitheater, with me racing alongside to serve as emergency spotter.  After some introductory remarks, we enjoyed the usual half-dozen skits, then things quieted down for the recognition of the Crew Chiefs and Advisors, and the awarding of the Arrowhead patches.  Another thunderstorm south of Urraca Mesa offered an occasionally brilliant backdrop, as did the backlit Tooth of Time ridgeline.  We closed out with the Philmont hymn, then we grabbed some "Contingent" photos in front of one of the stage backdrops before heading back to the tents.  Spent a minute helping one Crew recover some of their Arrowhead patches from the trail - their Crew Chief had inadvertently held the envelope upside down as he was walking, and several patches had fallen out.  Luckily, he was at the end of the line, and it wasn't raining (we'll call this a "near-death experience!")  Said our final farewells to Laura at the tents (hope to see her again in 2002!), and gave everyone their release to head over for the traditional final fling at the Snack Bar.  I spent the next hour sorting gear and paperwork, and distributing the last large Crew gear items to returning Scouts, before heading over to the Advisor's Lounge to complete my final evaluations and write some more diary.  Tim A. and Clay were both relaxing and chatting in the lounge when I came in, but the place was fortunately otherwise pretty much deserted (Thank You Lord!)  Didn't want to have to listen to a bunch of whining Charley-Alpha-Alpha's while I was writing.  The long night at Shaefers Pass was starting to catch up with me by this point, and it was a struggle to finish everything without doing a face-plant on the tabletop.  Tim and Clay left around 11:15, and I wrapped up around midnight.  Dropped off the evals at the Welcome Center and picked up a broom (the night guy also signed off and took our close-out paperwork), then headed back to the tents.  Decent stars, but clouds still obscured most of the sky.  Pleasantly cool, so I left one of the tent flaps open.  My, my, didn't take long to fall asleep tonight.  No coyotes.