This trek took place a year before Anna and Brian were married. They had both just turned 21, but our Crew hadn't re-chartered yet. So as we recruited the people to go, I asked -- officially -- do I have to count (both) of them as adults? It would make tenting arrangements so much easier (according to policies then in place) if I were free to make them youth or adults or even one of each in order to make everything come out even. I was told, "you can count 'em however you want." In the end, we came out even as regards males/females and youth/adults. So I promoted them both to adulthood, which meant I shared a tiny two-person backpacking tent with my future son-in-law for two and a half weeks.
And we did fine, but oh, the tales we could tell from this trip! Zach's vomit bag, Pain in the Ass Ridge, lightning strikes in the high country, hypothermia (twice), singing "Everything You Know is Wrong" on the bus back to base camp, how much squeeze cheese you can put on a cracker, going over Baldy in full pack, blistered feet in the Valle Vidal, Zach and Sarah's trash dance, the bear we passed by the side of the trail, the porcupine that moved vertically as fast as horizontally . . .
Back of Beyond
Crew 699, Philmont Scout Ranch 2000
Front row, L to R: Zach, Sarah, Crew Leader Madison
Back row, L to R: Tom, Me, Carolyn, Anna, Brian