Up at 4:45; a little warmer this morning - 52 degrees and foggy.  The wind had dropped off, too.  Did the bathroom thing (all the other Advisors were already up and at `em), then woke the room at 5:05, to much moaning and groaning. 4 1/2 Hours of sleep don't cut it (yet!), even with all the sleeping on the plane and in the vans.  However, last night's close-down orientation paid immediate dividends, as everyone got moving immediately (the first morning is always the toughest.)  Did a quick pack-up, and piled it all into the cargo vans [we had to leave the Day-Care Center empty each day]; the vans got parked on the far end of the lot.  Sgt. Coughlin showed up around 5:40, just as we were shutting the doors; I guess he didn't trust us to be gone by 6:00 am, as promised (which certainly doesn't speak well of some of the other Scout Groups who had previously used the Center!)  He gave us directions to the Base McDonalds (about 4 blocks away), and we left him with our thanks.  Had to wait a couple of minutes for the place to open up (about 6:05.)  Only 1 cashier, but she was fast and efficient; per my suggestion, we ordered in groups of 5 to minimize errors.  Didn't work as well as hoped, though, as everyone in each sub-group grabbed each others' stuff as it showed up, leaving a couple of "omission errors" by the time the last few guys were supposed to get served.  Another lesson learned.  The manager was visibly angry (I think she felt we were trying to rip them off), but immediately calmed down when I offered to pay another $25 "to cover anything extra."  She refused with a smile, so good public relations gestures on both our parts.  About a half-dozen of the guys spent breakfast playing with the Leggo sets in the dining room - proving once again that every Scout still has a 5-year old trapped inside himself.  Gone at 6:35, not bad.  It again seemed to take an inordinately long time to get back to I-25, so I obviously wasn't dreaming last night.  The Martin Luther King "bypass" is a joke; there's a bunch of lights, few (if any) of which are graduated.  No way to run a railroad, and that's a fact.  Still misty outside, and we started running into more rain west of I-25, not good.  This killed any thought of doing the Garden of the Gods loop road, so we headed directly to Manitou Springs and the Pike's Peak Cog Railroad, arriving at 7:15.  Our reservations were in order, plus we got the front car too - good deal.  Called Mark Van Horne at 7:30 re our rock climbing session; we agreed that if it was too wet at 11 Mile Canyon, we'd do the rock climbing gym in Colorado Springs instead.  Agreed to re-discuss the situation just before we left the peak (around 10 am.)  Also called Joy G. for our first Colorado "check-in," everything OK.  Boarded at 7:40, taking assigned seats in the "Leadville" car, just behind another Scout group from Decatur, Georgia (near Atlanta).  They were Troop 77, and were Crews # 628-B-1 and B-2 (we were 629-B-1, B-2, and B-3, so an interesting coincidence.)  One of their Crews was doing Trek 32 (old 21), same as our Crew 2; since I had been on that trek 3 times, I was able to give them some suggestions.  Their other Crew was on Trek 26.  Of note, their Primary Advisor (Randy Yates) was a good friend of Carl Peckinpaugh (a Scouter in Northern Virginia whom I have known for over 10 years); the nationwide BSA fraternity strikes again!  Left at 8:01, in heavy fog - but we broke out into the clear within 20 minutes.  Plenty of blue sky overhead, with just a few big cumulus clouds.   Got the usual tour on the way up, from "Lindsey."  [Informational Aside:  The cog railway is named after the unusual rail system used by the trains - there are 3 rails, with the middle one being "geared" (i.e., cut with grooves like a machined gear.)  The train's wheels are not powered; the grades are far too steep for normal locomotion.  Instead, the engines turn huge geared wheels that slot perfectly into the middle rail.  Slow, but very effective at pulling up even the steepest grades.  According to the guides, the steepest grade that a normal locomotive can pull is 6%, whereas the steepest section on this line is 26.5%!  [There are supposed to be cog railways in Europe that pull over 40% grades!]  As you might guess, they've got about 16 different braking systems "just in case!"]  Rick and I filled in the final Philmont rosters during the ascent, so another administrative chore out of the way.  Saw a couple of mule deer and yellow-bellied marmots, but no elk or bighorn sheep today.  Some of the higher peaks had some snow on them, but it was clearly pretty thin this year.  Pike's Peak got about 2 inches of snow during yesterday's rain in Colorado Springs, so it was white on top.  Pulled in at 9:10.  As usual, I held the Crew while everyone got off (much to the dismay of a few guys who really needed to visit the restrooms), and gave the usual warnings on avoiding sodas and running around on the cliffs.  14,000 feet plus has a way of surprising you.  We exited into a bitter wind and grabbed some Crew photos in front of the Pike's Peak summit sign (the wind stole my hat and deposited it under the train), then took "mommie-shots" silhouetted against the western mountains for anyone who wanted them.  Tim W. recovered my hat - wet but otherwise none the worse for wear.  The clouds that were occasionally over-running the peak gave us just enough breaks to get the shots in.  There was still about an inch of slush on the ground, along with the wind, so no one lingered outside too long.  Inside the summit house, most everyone grabbed food and a bunch of postcards - I also bought 26 pieces of fudge for the Crew for the trip down.  Called Mark Van Horne again; apparently, 11 Mile Canyon had received no rain, and so we were good to go for rock climbing.  Good news there!  At 10, the departure siren went off, and everyone headed back to the train.  After passing around the fudge, I took a seat closer to the front (now the back) of the train, and continued chatting with Randy Yates.  Turned out Troop 77 was touring the Air Force Academy after lunch  today, then would be heading down to La Junta and the Koshare Indian Kiva for the night.  Got a continuing spiel from Lindsey on the way down, with the usual sales pitch to buy the Railroad's videotape or (NEW! THIS! YEAR!) the DVD diskette.  Finally pulled in, just after 11:00.  Had my name paged just as we got off, so I went on up to the office and found a FAX waiting for me from the Smiths, to call them re Mike S. (which I did; they just needed authorization to sign a paper.)  Headed off to the Manitou Springs Steak and Pancake House for lunch; actually, half the guys did the breakfast buffet, while everyone else did something more resembling "lunch."  In my continuing search for the ultimate cholesterol overdose, I grabbed an oversized bacon cheeseburger.  Yum.  By 12:30, half the Crew was downstairs playing pinball.  I went out to the vans (in growing rain) to pick up some Advil for a few guys who were still headachy from Pike's Peak.  At 12:50, Erick Christianson (one of the rock climbing instructors) arrived, and after a warm greeting, I went back inside to chase everyone back into the vans.  Erick led us up Rt 24 to 11 Mile Canyon, with the weather improving dramatically as we drove past Woodmont Park.  Approaching 11 Mile Canyon, we also passed a sign for "Camp Alexander/BSA" (I'll have to check that out someday, for future reference.)  Pulled into "Quest Camp" at 2 pm sharp, and cut right to a clearing below the climbing bluffs (about 140 feet high.)  The camp is an executive-level male bonding/encounter/team-building program with a Native American Indian theme.  There were half a dozen teepees at the primary camp, plus a sign stating:  "No-one who has passed this point has failed to come away changed."  The clearing where we parked was outlined with aspens on all sides, very pretty. Mark Van Horne and Dan Monroe were waiting on us, having already installed ropes on all 6 climbs.  We got a safety talk down in the meadow, then grabbed the gear and our water bottles, and headed on up.  After a basic how-to orientation, we got right to it.  As I had promised (to keep the price down), I handled the 2 easier climbs on the far right (#'s 1 and 2) as the Instructor and Safety Monitor, while Mark, Erick and Dan watched the more difficult climbs.  [Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4]  [Note - I designated the climbs as #'s 1 through # 6 from far right to far left; #1 was the easiest, #4 was the most difficult, and #6 had the really tough overhang at the start.]  Great time!  At 6:45, the guys were winding down, and no-one wanted to do #'s 1 or 2 anymore, so Erick encouraged me to go ahead and get some climbs in (which I really appreciated.)  Jumped into a free harness, and did #'s 1, 2 and 3 in succession, in 30 minutes flat.  Was pretty gassed by the top of #3, so called it a day after that one, with my pride still intact.  With that, we headed back down to the meadow, where most of the guys took advantage of Mark's extra water.  After I took care of the bill, we circled up for another of Erick's "Go Get `Em" team-building speeches (he's very good!)  Back in the vans and off for Colorado Springs (7:40.)  Ran back into rain again before we even got back to Rt 24, so we had been very fortunate to get the climbing in today.  Going down 24 East, Pike's Peak was in sunlit splendor with everything else shrouded in clouds and mist, an awesome sight.  Some of the guys also spotted an elk in a field to one side, but I was too busy concentrating on driving.  Dinner was mega-burgers at Conway's Red Top (which we had last visited in `97.)  Great place, but it was an ice-box inside again (same as `97), so I asked them to ease up on the A/C a little (which they did.)  Did an instant repeat of lunch - another bacon cheeseburger.  Deeelicious!  Within 15 minutes of our arrival, heavy rain moved into the area, with plenty of thunder and lightning - well, so much for Putt-Putt Golf tonight!  Headed back to Peterson around 10 pm, Clay driving.  Hank had to go get the key again - but the Security Hut had apparently made some duplicates during business hours, so tonight was much quicker than last night.  Once everyone was back inside, we circled up again to discuss the next day.  Also warned the Scouts on the extra candy most of them had bought at Pike's Peak or the Manitou Steak and Pancake House - that is, keep it out of (and off of) their sleeping bags and pads.  Bear Safety is all the time, not just when we get to the Ranch!  Lights off at 11:05 - quiet quickly tonight!  Misty, 54 degrees outside.  Wrote diary `til 11:40, and finally crashed at 11:45 or so, when my eyes starting crossing.  An excellent day!