[From the Philmanac - Miranda is named for Guadalupe Miranda, who with Carlos Beaubien petitioned the Governor of Mexico for the original land grant to this area in 1841.  He later sold his share to Lucien Maxwell and returned to Mexico.  Miranda was once a 4-H Camp, and was included in the Norton Clapp purchase of the Baldy Mountain Tract in late 1962.  It is one of the most beautiful locations at Philmont.  Lakes Doris and Aspen are located nearby.  Miranda has been a staff camp since the mid-60's, with a variety of programs through the years, including Fly-Tying and Fishing, Geology, Survival, Orientering, Mountain Search and Rescue, Philmont Story Campfire, Wilderness Survival, Gold Prospecting, and 12-Gauge Shotgun Shooting.  In 1989, the program settled on Mountain Man Rendezvous/Black Powder Rifle Shooting and Burro Packing.  The "Rendezvous" was an annual gathering of frontiersmen which provided them with a ready market for their winter catch of furs and an opportunity for recreation and some notoriously wild socializing.  They were held from about 1825 through 1838.  A new log cabin was added to Miranda in 1997, to better complement the interpretive programs associated with the Mountain Man Rendezvous.]

My alarm woke me at 5:00.  Luke slept through again, so I hustled to pack up and get out.  44 degrees, clear, “It’s Perfect Again”.  Did the wakeup routine at 5:15.  Finished packing myself up, then helped some of the guys with their tents.  Luke and I headed down to the bear-bags, giving a few hand-claps as we approached - not needed, since Dan Ross (Crew 893) was there already.  After dropping our bags, Luke spent a few minutes uncoiling and recoiling the bear bag rope (which had gotten twisted pretty good overnight).  We chatted with Dan while completing this chore - it turned out they were also going to Miranda, but were going to hike via Ewell’s Park for added hiking and scenery.  On the way back, Luke asked me to take over the wakeup duties for the rest of the trek, because both he and Matt obviously weren’t being woken up by their alarms (I agreed).  Back at the campsite, we redistributed all the gear, and continued packing.  We managed to finish two minutes faster than yesterday, but still eight minutes slow versus our target time of 30 minutes.  Took a few minutes more to say our collective goodbyes to Rene, and hit the trail at 6:05; Rene headed back to Pueblano to hook up with some Ranger friends, and head from there to Basecamp.  We continued up the trail towards Ewell’s Park, easy hiking, then cut left on the Pueblano Ruins Death March trail to Five Forks.  Very rocky trail; we caterpillared all the way to the top, no breaks.  Breaking out into the open, we saw up close one of the really massive efforts put in by the fire crews - the areas alongside the road towards Baldy Skyline were just eviscerated, creating a huge fire break.  Just an amazing amount of work - doubtless done in a heck of a hurry, too.  We had breakfast sitting on logs and mounds of dirt, overlooking the great views of Touch-Me-Not Mountain and the Ute Creek Valley (that is, the Atwood Ranch) - beautiful in the rays of the rising sun.  We took 35 minutes for breakfast (no other Crews showed up the whole time), grabbed a few photos, then headed down the Maxwell Trail - after I first let the guys know that three of their predecessor 111 Crews had helped build this trail.  It is always a special thing to walk trail you helped build years (or decades) before.  Easy hike to Maxwell; still clear and sunny, and with changing views of the panorama around every bend.  Passed a Crew from Oklahoma in the wooded stretch between Maxwell and Miranda.  Coming into the Miranda meadow, we got some great photos with Baldy in the background.  Then the forever hike up to cabin, passing just a few occupied sites on the way (virtually everyone either gone to Baldy or (maybe) sleeping in).  At the cabin, we stacked a packline against one of the nearby aspens, and Luke and Matt went up to check in - I chatted briefly with a Crew from southwest Virginia that was just getting geared up to leave for Head of Dean.  We were invited up on the porch - turned out we were the first Crew of the day.  After waiting for the Oklahoma Crew to arrive, we got the basic intro - we asked for (and got) Site 11, the same we had stayed at several previous times, and for which we had done a fair amount of counter-erosion work.  We got the 10:00 blackpowder rifle shooting session - good deal.  Also an invite to play “Mountain Baseball” around 7:00 pm, in the main field near the teepees.  But sorry, no staffers owned a guitar (bummer!)  At 9:50, we all headed down to the teepees in the meadow, to wait for the rifle range staffers.  Chatted with the Oklahoma Crew for a few minutes about 9-1-1; they were just passing through for program on their way to Ute Meadows.  At 10:02, we were invited down to the range, where everyone sat on aspen logs for the shooting briefing.  Two staffers did the honors:  “Bucko” and “Dirty Rick” -  Bucko gave intro on the rifle (parts, function), while Dirty Rick handled safety.  They worked together for loading and shooting.  Since Oklahoma was still looking at a stiff hike yet, I asked the guys if they’d mind if we let them go first (“Of course not”); they seemed appreciative, and we shifted to the back logs to watch.  They started by putting various items downrange to “aerate”.  Two guys on the line at one time.  Each shooter got to load their weapon under the watchful eyes of Bucko or Dirty Rick, then got to yell something clever, then shoot.  Once Oklahoma was done, they thanked us again, and headed back up to the cabin.  Then it was our turn (at 10:50); clouds were starting to build now.  Our guys also placed a bunch of stuff downrange, mostly bandannas, but also some T-shirts and hats.  Except for me, we shot in alphabetical sequence - one shot each (I got permission to take photos from the side).  Shots that had obvious effect were cheered - misses received silence.  Drew had four misfires in a row - turned out no powder had been added, so he spent more time on the line than anyone else.  “Hey Bob” was the pre-shot call by each Scout (and also Hugh) - so I’m glad I wasn’t standing downrange!  I took two photos for each shooter - one while loading [Photos: 1, 2], and the second while shooting [Photos: 1, 2].  Another Crew showed up as we were down to our last 3 or 4 shooters, and I offered to decline my shot to get them going quicker, but the staffers said “Come On”.  Since “Hey Bob” seemed inappropriate, I yelled “Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue” and drilled a bandanna dead-center.  Take that, Osama!  After that, Bucko and Dirty Rick offered to shoot all our stuff off the ends of the rifle barrels - an offer that was eagerly accepted by the Scouts.  A bunch of bandannas soon met their fate, flying up in the air 15 - 20 feet, to great laughter.  Certainly some unusual souvenirs!  After thank-you’s, we gave way to the next Crew, and headed back to the cabin.  It was clouding up quickly now, and was chilly enough that most of the guys put on their jackets.  There were half a dozen other Crews at the cabin now, most getting ready to head to their campsites.  And more Crews coming in, too.  Since the cabin staff was about to offer a cabin tour (mountain man/trading post scenario), we went ahead and did some tomahawk throwing. [Photos: 1, 2]  Each guy got five throws each.  Most got one hit, Luke two, and Hugh and I, three each.  But it definitely wasn’t Todd’s event!  Round II commenced with our already sadly beat up bandannas - now facing yet more abuse - being placed on the logs.  A light rain started about the same time, promising more to come, and a few of us quickly spread the tarp over our packline.  The guys were more successful on Round II, but I didn’t keep track (most got two or three more hits).  The rain started in pretty good, and we got several strikes of lightning on Touch-Me-Not and Baldy.  In fortuitous timing, the cabin staff invited us inside just as it got too wet to continue throwing.  Surprisingly, most of the other Crews had declined this part of the program, so it was just us and parts of two other Crews, maybe 20 people total.  It was pleasantly warm inside the cabin, even as the rain pounded down outside.  One of the staffers acted as the proprietor of a frontier era trading post, and discussed the life of frontiersmen and trappers, and gave a general description of the Mountain-Man Rendezvous.  The cabin was outfitted with lots of illustrative accoutrements, including traps, a wide variety of furs, rifles, pistols, clothing, tobacco twists, liquor, and gold panning tools, etc.  An interesting presentation, punctuated with a few rumbles of thunder.  After giving our thanks, we exited into a light rain (but broken clouds overhead), and saddled up to head down to our site.  The rain got going pretty good again just as we broke the packline, so most of the guys put on their rain gear and pack covers for the hike down.  I didn’t bother with rain gear - I needed the shower, anyway, and this storm was already breaking up, so little chance of hail or a real drenching.  Plenty cold, though.  At the site, the staffer paid us a compliment for our water bar work of previous years.  I briefly discussed going to Baldy before first light with him; he quizzed me some (to check if I knew what I was doing), then took his leave.  Everyone dropped their packs, and all the training and experience came into use, as we had the tarp up in 3 minutes flat.  As expected, the rain eased off a few minutes later.  We decided to have dinner for lunch [Photos: 1, 2]; Hugh, Thomas and I handled that while the rest of the guys semi-napped or played cards under the tarp. [Photos: 1, 2]  Dinner was macaroni and cheese, potatoes with garlic, chocolate pudding, crackers, and Gatorade.  Just before we were ready, the skies cleared up and all the non-cooks got going setting up tents (better done before contaminating their hands with food odors).  After dinner and cleanup, we circled everyone up to discuss Baldy prep for about a half hour, using our handy “Baldy List”.  From 3:45 - 6:00, free time - some guys napped in their tents, but most played the seemingly perpetual “B.S.” card game.  I went down to our water bars and did a little touch-up work on them - all in all they had performed perfectly - the rutted out trenches of five years ago were now nicely filled in, in a terrace-like cascade.  I thought about re-checking the route to Baldy, but blew it off (something I would regret tomorrow morning!)  At 6:00, we woke the sleepers, and at 6:15 everyone got going on Baldy prep - emptying five large backpacks (to be left at Baldytown for our food pickup), collecting dirty clothes for washing, outfitting daypacks, filling canteens, and getting clothing choices set, etc.  Another very long day coming up tomorrow, and many things not to forget, like fuel bottles, Polar Pure, and the Crew Leader’s Copy, etc., etc., etc.!  That took til 7:10, at which point we went ahead and ate lunch for dinner.  Beef jerky, peanut butter and jelly crackers, Oreos, Gatorade, etc.  Cleaned that up in short order - encouraged by the day’s second batch of rain moving in at 7:45.  Nuts!  We quickly manhandled the bear bags down to the cable (below the campsite, 25 feet high!)  A lot heavier with all the stuff in the daypacks (which now had to go up too) - lucky thing we have only two meals left.  Looks like a night where siliconized bear-bags (waterproof) would be a real good idea....  Back at the site, a couple of the guys took a half-hour to select and carve a walking stick, per Matt’s and my advice; everyone else hit the rack, since we had an oh-dark-thirty wakeup call.  Out in the main field, we heard the yells of Miranda Mountain Baseball continuing quite late (along with the (light) rain) - we decided to pass on that, since a sprained ankle would be a real bad idea right about now (and the meadow ain’t exactly smooth or level - in fact it’s anything but!)  Bed for the last of us by 8:25 - I am tenting alone now, so more room but not as warm.  Fairly windy, colder outside, but the rain was only sporadic.  I wrote diary til 9:00, and called it a night - a tough day tomorrow.  Please Lord Good Weather....