Chapter 16

Thursday, July 1, 2032 – Day 4, Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, NM

In a twist, David woke his parents at 6:00 AM instead of the other way around. Kyle was impressed. His son was taking his crew leader responsibilities seriously. The crew did a decent job getting up, packing their things and getting ready for the trail that morning. They sat down around 7:15 AM for a breakfast of granola, animal crackers, a cookies and cream energy bar, a brown sugar beef stick and orange drink mix.

As they were compacting their trash and packing it away, Owen called for everyone to have a seat on the logs around the fire ring. “It has been my pleasure to work with this crew for the past few days,” Owen said. “Before I head out, I wanted to emphasize one thing to all of you.

“My grandpop came to Philmont in 1971 as a 14-year-old Scout. This place had been open for thirty-three years since Waite Phillips donated it to the Scouts. Thousands had come through the Ranch since 1938. This place looked great and Grandpop fell in love with it. He came back again as a youth in 1973 and worked on staff from 1975 to 1978. Grandpop brought my dad and uncles here in the 1990s, after tens of thousands of Scouts had trekked through the Ranch. It still looked great. My dad and my uncles brought me, my brother and my cousins here a few years ago. The Ranch still looks great.

“I gave each of you a blue tag for your backpack back at Base Camp. I hope all of you looked them over. Today, I ask each of you to take the Philmont Wilderness Pledge to protect and preserve this Ranch for coming generations. Hopefully when you bring your kids here in twenty or thirty years, the place still looks great. When they can bring their kids here in fifty years to enjoy this amazing gift to Scouting.

“I am going to give each of you a wilderness pledge card and ask you to promise to take good care of this treasure,” Owen concluded. One by one, he gave each youth and adult a pledge card, which he signed and they signed to signify their promise to preserve and protect Philmont.

Owen shook hands with all the guys and got hugs from Penny and the girls. Everyone wanted pictures of the crew with Owen before he left. Finally, it was time for the final good bye.

“If you get a weekend free, come down to Philly, I can get you into one of the Eagles games,” Kyle offered.

“I may take you up on that offer,” Owen said.

“If not, look me up when I am on campus next fall,” Kyle said. “The 2012 Big Ten Championship team is being honored on Homecoming Weekend.”

“I know I can do that,” Owen said. “It has been fun, Coach.” He grinned and added, “WE ARE...”

“PENN STATE!” half the crew, including Kyle echoed back. Owen hoisted on his pack and hiked out of camp and headed west.

“Logan, get our police line organized” David called out. “Let’s get any trash policed up so we can get out of here.” That detail was done in a couple minutes. “is aNYONe noT REAdy?” Ben screeched. “Hike on!” The group filed out of camp with Ben, Kaylie and David to the front, the remainder of the youth and then the adults in the rear of the single-file line.

The trail wound along the side of the Baldy Skyline Ridge. They were climbing higher, but it was not as steep as the trail had been yesterday afternoon. They followed the trail around the edge of the big meadow at Ewells Park Camp and headed up and over the ridge above that camp. David called a break after they passed over the top of the ridge. They had been hiking about an hour.

Kaylie reported that they had climbed 700-foot since camp and had about a mile and a half to go to Baldytown. The smarter crew members, in Kyle’s estimation, broke out the energy bars and beef sticks they saved from breakfast. A hit of energy was nice right now. Five minutes later, packs were picked up and Ben called out his question. The crew hiked on.

About thirty minutes later the crew hit the old dirt road that ran between Baldytown and French Henry. The last half mile or so was downhill on the old road. The crew hiked into Baldytown a little after ten o’clock. They passed the shower house on their way in. It had a sign that indicated it was for use by crews camping at Baldytown and no one else. Crew 628-J4 was starting to smell a little ripe but they would stay that way for at least a few more days.

Jessie rounded up the empty bear bags. David, Jessie, Kaylie and Kyle got in line at the commissary building to pick up their food. They had to wait for one crew ahead of them to get their food. David handed over his crew leader’s copy. The commissary staff returned with Dinner 1, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 2 and Breakfast and Lunch 3. Owen advised David to ask for fruit too when he did the food pickup. They received a dozen apples for their crew.

The crew sorted through the food and split up the bags among all the crew members. The crew discussed what would be next. They could hike over to French Henry, have lunch, do the program and then hike up the valley to Copper Park. Jerry Shoemaker warned them about how rugged and steep the trail was between French Henry and Copper Park. The crew could do an early lunch at Baldytown and then hike to Copper Park, set up camp and then side hike without packs to French Henry for program in the afternoon. The last choice was to hike over Aztec Ridge and go straight to Copper Park, have lunch and then do program. It was almost eleven o’clock and no one was hungry yet. They decided to hike over Aztec Ridge.

Kaylie had prepared for each eventuality back home. She turned her index card over and reported, “2.4 miles from here to Copper Park. We have a 700 foot climb to get there.” The crew pulled on their packs.

“Is anyone not ready?” Ben asked quietly, his voice staying even.

“What?” half the crew called back. “Louder.”

“IS ANyone noT REady?” Ben wheezed, his voice cracking. No one teased him but there were quite a few smirks. “Hike on!” David commanded.

They followed the trail west out of Baldytown. A sign pointed the way they were heading and reported Baldy Mountain was that way. Twenty-five minutes later they crested Aztec Ridge and continued on the north side of the ridge. The trail continued uphill, but not at too steep of a grade. The crew did well on this climb. Yesterday the climb from Pueblano to Baldy Skyline nearly kicked their butts. This morning’s climb was not nearly as stressful.

Kyle was pleased at his crew’s progress. They were getting accustomed to the altitude just in time. They were camping at 10,500 feet that evening. Tomorrow they would climb to 12,441 feet, the top of Baldy. After tomorrow, it literally was nearly all downhill for the next couple days.

The last half mile of the hike was on dirt road. It led them into a big meadow at Copper Park. Everyone was delighted to see a “Red Roof Inn” along the side of the meadow. A Red Rood Inn was a deluxe, 2-holer latrine with walls and a roof. They would enjoy privacy and protection from the weather that evening. It sure beat the “Pilot-to-Bombardier” open box latrines the last two camps had.

The crew was efficient at setting up camp. They sat down for a lunch of saltines, canned chicken, sunflower seeds, a salted caramel energy bar and orange sports drink. The crew hung their bear bags and then headed down the canyon to French Henry. They toured the Aztec gold mine, made a coat hook as they learned to blacksmith and panned for gold. No one found gold dust but a few of the kids did work their pans down to the black sand. They would have found gold if they had lucked into a shovel full of dirt that contained gold.

The trail back to Copper Park was every bit as bad as Mr. Shoemaker warned them it would be. It was steep and rocky. It would not have been fun to climb with full packs. The group got back to camp around a quarter after three.

“Let’s start dinner around 4:30,” David called out as the group arrived back at camp. “Ben and Jordan, you are cooking tonight. Everyone has free time now. Take a nap, read a book, get the hacky sack out or whatever.”

David and Sara headed over to Kyle and Penny. “Owen told me about remains of some old cabins in the woods near this camp. I thought Sara and I might check them out, you know, go for a side hike.”

“You know the rules at Philmont,” Penny said. “No hiking with a group smaller than four people.”

Logan and Kaylie exchanged smiles and a nod. “Kaylie and I will go along with David and Sara,” Logan offered quickly. “That will give us a group of four.”

Penny and Kyle exchanged glances. “I suppose that will be OK. Be back by 4:30. You are the crew leader and have duties.”

“Understood, Dad,” David agreed. He, Sara, Logan and Kaylie headed uphill into the woods to the south of their campsite.

“We aren’t looking for old cabins are we?” Logan asked then they were out of sight of their campsite.

“We are looking for privacy,” David said. “Are you cool with that?”

“Way cool!” Logan and Kaylie agreed. The two couples agreed to meet at the Red Roof Inn when they were done. It would not look good if they showed up at camp two at a time instead of as one group of four.

Back at camp, Matt noted, “You do know what those four are planning, don’t you?”

“Hooking up, I would guess,” Kyle said.

“That is not an approved activity in the BSA,” Matt noted.

“True,” Penny agreed. “Did you ever hook up with a girlfriend when you were their age, even though your parents said you couldn’t?”

“Yeah, I did sneak out to hook up with my girl numerous times when I was their age.”

“They are going to do it whether we approve or not,” Kyle added. “I would rather they did it in the light when we know where they are than have them sneak out in the middle of the night, blunder around in the dark and possibly get hurt.”

“I suppose,” Matt agreed.

Putting on his best Hogan’s Heroes Sgt. Schultz impersonation, Kyle commented, “I see nothink! I know nothink!”

“And if the rest of the crew figures about the two couples are doing?” Matt asked. Kyle just shrugged his shoulders.

Matt was right about that. Someone in the crew DID figure out what was up with the two couples. Her brother and her best friend were about to get laid. Again! She knew they had hooked up in their hotel rooms at Great Wolf Lodge Sunday evening. She hadn’t felt a boy’s dick stuffed up inside her for almost a month, not since when she and Matt hooked up at the end-of-school pool party.

Jessie glanced over at Jackson, Colton, Jordan and Ben, playing hacky sack. Whatever prospects she might have were standing in that circle. If not one of them, it could be as much as two weeks before she could hook up with Matt back home. Her need was acute and she could not consider waiting another two weeks to feel a boy’s dick screwing her.

Ben and Jordan, both a grade behind her, did not seem like good prospects. Did they even know girls existed? Well, they weren’t quite that bad. She had caught them checking her out on occasion. Still, she doubted either of them were up to what she needed.

That left either Colton or Jackson. Both were interested in her romantically. Either could fulfill her needs. Which one? Physically either guy was attractive. They were fun to hang with. Colton could get tedious at times. He rattled on and on about cars – fixing them up, driving them, looking at cars. Jackson’s interests seemed more well-rounded.

There was one other consideration. Sunday night while they were playing the pool, she had accidently groped each of them. Well ... maybe not so accidently. Colton was adequately quipped for her needs, but he wasn’t much bigger than her ex-boyfriend, Grant Frey. Jackson was a different story. The boy was hung. That tipped the scales. Jessie looked Jackson over. Yes, he would do.

Jessie bounced over to the circle of guys and bumped shoulders with Jackson. “Got room for one more?” she purred.

“Um ... sure,” Jackson replied, slightly surprised at the shoulder bump. The five continued hacking to fill their free time. Forty-five minutes later, David, Sara, Kaylie and Logan came back together from the meadow.

Ben and Jordan were assigned to cook that evening. They made up beef stroganoff. Goldfish pieces, marshmallow squares and bags of salted peanuts completed the meal. It was a hit. They had no leftovers. There was one issue, mid-meal.

“Crap!” Jordan exclaimed. Everyone turned to look. Jordan had a stain down the front of his shirt and a spot of food on his shorts. A spoonful of stroganoff was laying on a rock between his feet. “Thirty second rule,” Jordan commented, before reaching down and grabbing the stroganoff. He picked a couple pine needles off it and popped the food in his mouth.

“Are you going to have any clothes to wear that do not belong in the bear bag when the trip is over?” Kaylie asked.

“I hope so,” Jordan laughed. “I sure hope so.”

Colton and Jackson were the cleanup crew. After their personal dishes were cleaned, Kyle, Penny and Matt headed over to visit Bill, Paul and Ryan for their informal advisors’ coffee. David oversaw the crew completing cleanup from dinner. The crew gathered personal items, smellable Nalgenes from the fire ring and the cleanup supplies for the oops bag. Jordan showed up with his personal smellables wearing a rain coat around his waist and his sleeping shirt.

“Davey, Jackson and I will go hang the oops bag,” Jessie offered. Jackson looked a little surprised but did not object. The two carried the oops bag down the hill to their bear cable. It took a minute to get the bag hoisted and tied off. Jackson started back to camp.

Jessie noted that only two crews had used this bear cable. The other crew had their oops bag hoisted already. She would have privacy for her plan.

“Jackson, there is no rush,” Jessie suggested. “Our parents will probably be over with our sister crew for half an hour or forty-five minutes. Why don’t we relax and talk.” She motioned towards the trunk of a downed tree.

“Um ... sure,” Jackson agreed. The two of them sat down on a log.

“I’ve enjoyed the trip so far,” Jessie commented.

“It has been great,” Jackson agreed. “I loved the rafting in Colorado. The backcountry has been fantastic. What do you think?”

“I’ve enjoyed it all,” Jessie replied. “I’ve done mountain backpacking before and the scenery is great but I think the thing I like most is sharing it with the people in our crew. I know we have a date planned for after the trip but it might feel weird. It feels like we’ve been on six dates already, all the time we’ve spent together.”

“I see what you’re saying,” Jackson replied. “You aren’t suggesting we skip the date after the trip, are you?”

“Quite the opposite,” Jessie answered. “I want to get to know you better.” She slipped a few inches closer to Jackson.

“Better?” Jackson gulped. “Yeah ... that’s cool.” ‘Was this happening?’ he wondered. Jessie looked up at him expectantly. ‘Yes, this was happening,’ he confirmed to himself.

“Are you cold?” Jackson asked. Jessie was wearing just a T-shirt. The sun was down below the mountains and the air at 10,500 feet in elevation was getting chilly. “You could warm up next to me.”

“I’d like that,” Jessie replied, sliding next to Jackson and cuddling with him. He slipped his arm around Jessie. The two looked into each other’s eyes. Jackson leaned his head closer to Jessie’s. God, he hoped he wasn’t misreading the signals!

He wasn’t. Jessie leaned in closer too and they kissed. This wasn’t a peck, this was a serious kiss. They stared at each other momentarily before kissing again. On the third kiss, Jackson slipped his tongue along Jessie’s lips. Her tongue met his immediately. The two sixteen-year-olds kissed and made out like who they were, two horny teens hot for each other.

After a few minutes of kissing, Jackson got bolder. He slipped a hand up onto one of Jessie’s breasts. He braced for her reaction. His concerns seemed confirmed when her hand grabbed his. Jackson was ready to apologize for going too far. Instead, Jessie’s hand pressed against the back of his, encouraging him to massage her breast.

Jackson was shocked, but totally turned on to be making out with the hottest girl in Avon Grove High School. Would any of his friends believe this? Who cares? This was real and feeling up Jessie’s boobs was sweet. She was a damned good kisser too.

After a bit, Jackson felt bolder. He slipped his hand off Jessie’s boob. “Don’t stop,” she sighed between kisses. Jackson had no intention of stopping. He pushed the bottom of her shirt up until it was bunched around her arm pits and neck. He slipped his hand under her sports bra and felt her bare boob. “Mmmm...” Jessie hummed in approval.

The two lusty teens continued making out in the growing dusk. ‘Where was this leading?’ Jackson wondered. He did not know but he was not stopping until Jessie told him too.

Jessie, equally turned on as Jackson, pushed things further. She dropped a hand to his lap. Her fingers explored the contours of his dick through his thin, quick-dry shorts. Damn, the guy was packing quite a hunk of meat, confirming what she felt back in the pool last Sunday.

Where was this leading? Jackson wasn’t sure but he suspected there was a chance he and Jessie night do what all the kids in the crew knew David and Sara, and Logan and Kaylie had done this afternoon. Was he about to have sex with the hottest girl in his school?

Jessie slipped her hand inside the waistband of his shorts and felt his dick. Her hand wiped through he precum he was drooling. She wrapped her hand around his shaft and began stroking. Jackson’s eyes went open in shock. Getting a hand job while feeling the boobs of the hottest girl at Avon Grove. Mind boggling!

“Jessie ... uh ... careful,” Jackson groaned. He couldn’t possibly last long. He had not come since that time in the bathroom Sunday evening after he spent the evening ogling Jessie in her hot bikini. He was about a dozen comes short of his normal quota for the week.

“JESSIE! JORDAN!” someone yelled. Was that David? “We’ve got a crew meeting. Get your asses up here now!”

The two guilty teens flew up off the log. Jessie pulled her T-shirt down again. Jackson tried to arrange things to conceal his boner, with no luck at all.

“We’ll be back in a minute, Davey,” Jessie called out. Quieter, she stated, “You can’t go back looking like this.” His boner tented his thin shorts obscenely.

“What should I...” Jackson stuttered. Jessie preempted Jackson’s question by grabbing the waist band of his shorts with both hands and yanking them down to his knees.

His thick, turgid dick glistened in the half light of dusk, coated with copious amounts of his precum. Jessie wrapped her hand around the thick shaft and stroked it. It did not take long for Jackson to grimace and groan.

Jessie realized her dilemma as she faced this big, loaded weapon that was about to fire semen and sperm all over her shirt and shorts. She did the first thing that popped into her head. She opened wide and engulfed the massive, mushroom-shaped head with her mouth. God, this one was the biggest one she had ever had in her mouth. She stroked his thick shaft and few more times as she sucked on the end.

Jackson gave another groan. Jessie felt the throb before her mouth was flooded with a huge load of come. She swallowed desperately, trying to keep from drowning in the boy’s massive load. Some of his spend dribbled out around the edges of her mouth.

Jackson staggered backwards and sat down on the log. “Thank you.”

“That was a load,” Jessica giggled. Jackson pulled his shorts up and tucked his now shrinking tool away.

“Let me get this,” Jackson commented as the two stood up again. He used a finger to wipe up the stray dribbles of his come off the edges of her lips. “We don’t need our parents to see that on your face.”

The two very guilty teens headed back to their campsite. “Fuck, that was amazing, Jessie,” Jackson muttered before they reached camp. “Thank you.”

“Fuck!” Jessie replied, grinning widely. She giggled, “To be continued tomorrow.”

They were nearly in the campsite, so Jackson made no reply. They joined the rest of the crew in the circle of logs around their fire pit. Their parents were back from their visit to their sister crew.

“We have some decisions to make about tomorrow’s plan,” David said. “We are scheduled to climb Baldy.” He pointed to the ridge behind them. “We have to climb that ridge to get to Upper Greenwood Canyon Camp, a dry, low impact campsite. Logan, why don’t you give us some of our options for tomorrow.” Logan was the navigator for tomorrow.

“It is a thousand-foot climb in 1.7 miles to get to the top of the ridge behind us,” Logan said, standing. “Logistics told us there are bear cables at the top of the ridge. We can hang our smellables up there and leave our packs in a pack line at the top of the ridge. It is a little over two and a quarter miles along the top of the ridge to the top of Baldy. We climb another 900 feet if we take that route, with about half the climb in the last quarter mile before the top of Baldy.”

“The other alternate?” David asked.

“We can leave all our gear here tomorrow morning and do the direct trail to the top of Baldy,” Logan answered. “That route is a 1,900-foot climb in 1.6 miles. It will be a bear to do, even if we don’t have packs.”

“That second route sounds like a killer,” Jordan offered. “I like the easier route.”

“Not so quick,” David said. “We have to factor water into our decision. Upper Greenwood is a dry camp. We will need water for Day 6’s hike too. Jackson, how far is it to Rich Cabins?” Jackson was staring off in space. “Jackson?” Nothing. “Jackson?” Logan nudged Jackson to get his attention. “Jackson, how far is it from Upper Greenwood Canyon to Rich Cabins?”

“Um ... ten miles, I think,” Jackson stuttered.

“Can we get water anywhere on the way to Rich Cabins?” David asked.

“Um ... I’m not sure,” Jackson replied. “I haven’t looked at that hike since we prepared the notes last month. I planned to go over my notes tomorrow once we got to Upper Greenwood.”

“I know the answer,” Kyle offered, despite being on vacation. He couldn’t help but offer his two cents as the crew tried to work through their plans. “Greenwood Canyon Camp has water. It is about five or six miles down Greenwood Canyon from where we will be staying. Figure we will need to leave Upper Greenwood Canyon Camp with at least three liters of water.”

Yeah, you’re right, Dad,” David agreed. “I don’t think we can leave camp first thing and dump our gear at the top of the ridge. We’ll need two or three liters of water to get to Baldy and back to our gear. Say another liter to get to Upper Greenwood. We’ll need two or three liters of water to cook dinner. With three needed the next morning, that total amount of water we need will be nine or ten liters. Each of us have capacity to carry seven liters when we need it.”

The crew was quiet for a minute while they thought. Finally, Logan commented, “It looks like we take the shorter, steeper route. We can refill out Nalgenes or hydration bladders back here after we are done on Baldy.”

“There is one other option,” Matt Robertson commented. “I remember from when I was here as a Scout. We did .30-06 shooting at Sawmill, made dinner at lunchtime at that staff camp, filled our water and then hiked up to our next camp. I think we stayed at Thunder Ridge that evening. We had lunch at dinnertime.”

“That makes good sense,” Sara commented.

“All in favor of using the steep route to Baldy and doing dinner at lunchtime,” David said. That met approval. The group agreed to a 5:15 AM wakeup call. The aim was to be ready to hike at first light, around 5:45 AM. “Get a good night’s sleep everyone, we’re going to need it tomorrow.”

Not everyone followed David’s advice. Kyle and Penny made love again, about twenty minutes after camp got quiet. Not everyone was asleep. Kaylie and Jessie overheard the two coupling. Jessie, horny beyond endurance from her make-out session with Jackson, needed relief. She reached between her legs and diddled herself.

“Must you?” Kaylie asked.

“You got laid today,” Jessie responded. “I didn’t. I’m entitled.”

“I suppose,” Kaylie agreed.

A couple tents down, Colton was snoring softly while Jackson laid on his back, staring up at the tent ceiling. His mind was a whirl. He just got a blow job from the sexist girl at Avon Grove. “Fuck! To be continued,” kept spinning in his head. Was fuck just an exclamation or was it an intent? Did Jessie want to have sex with him?

Could he do it if she wanted him? Should he? He was certain he and Jessie would be in big trouble if they got caught having sex at a Scout camp. Also, what about protection if they got it on? He never dreamed sex would be a possibility in the backcountry. His collection of rubbers was in the back of his sock drawer back home.

Unprotected sex? That was a bad idea. He thought back to thirteen months ago when he and Trinity Elkins lost their virginities to each other. It was unplanned. They hadn’t gotten past second base before that fateful afternoon. Trinity wanted to see his dick and he obliged her after she agreed to spread her legs and show herself too. After the ‘show me” game, the two laid down to continue making out. Soon Jackson was rubbing his erection against Trinity. The two learned dry humping a was mind blowing too. Soon the pair found out that Jackson’s dick did fit in her tight hole.

Neither ninth grader gave the slightest thought to the risk they were taking. The coupling did not take long before Jackson blasted a load of sperm into Trinity. Both realized the import of what they had done the next day. They sweated out the next three weeks, until she finally had her period, four days later than they expected.

Jackson went out and purchased half a dozen rubbers. He and Trinity managed to get together a few weeks later. They broke up later that summer. Jackson, who was 5’-3” and maybe 120 pounds when he and Trinity lost their virginities, hit his growth spurt.

Jackson was completely average as he finished ninth grade – in height, weight and between the legs. His patch of pubes was kind of sparse. All of that changed rapidly over the fall. Jackson dated some but never settled on a girlfriend and never had a chance to take another girl to bed.

That changed at a New Year’s Eve party six months ago. He and his date that night, Ashley Smith, got a little drunk. They ended locked in an upstairs bedroom at the party, getting naked. Ashley consented to having sex. Jackson, turned his back, dropped his boxers and fumbled around rolling a rubber over his dick. He turned around to reveal to Ashley another thing that had changed in the past six months.

Jackson’s erection had been not quite five inches when he and Trinity lost their cherries. At that party, he was over seven inches long and thick.

“Holy fuck!” Ashley snapped. “You’re not putting that big thing in me!” He tried to coax her into taking it, but she had no interest in being skewered by his immense dick. He went home frustrated and embarrassed.

Jackson dated some through the winter and spring but never settled on a girl and had no chance of getting laid. That changed at a party about ten weeks ago. He got drunk there and his date, Lilly O’Donnell, got quite drunk. The two went to a bedroom, intent on doing the deed. Jackson was careful during foreplay, not to reveal his dick to Lilly. He rolled over with his back to Lilly when he put on the rubber. He rolled over her and notched his dick against her hole before shoving his big dick home.

“Jackie,” Lilly purred. “You really stuff me full. Do me hard.” Jackson went at it. He might have lasted half a minute before he flooded the rubber with his seed. Fucking was sweet. Jackson did not have any more opportunities until ... perhaps tomorrow.

Would Jessie being willing to take this monstrosity between his legs? She had seen how big he was before her comment about ‘Fuck ... to be continued.’ Risking pregnancy was scary. What if he and Jessie did it but he pulled out before he came? That wouldn’t be dangerous, would it? Jackson fell asleep without resolving his dilemma.

Friday, July 2, 2032 – Day 5 – Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, NM

Kyle grumbled to himself as his watch chirped to wake him up. It was pitch dark in the deep canyon. Penny was snuggled against him, naked. Damn, he wanted an encore from last night. Kyle heard David’s alarm chirp too.

“Honey, time to get up,” Kyle whispered to Penny as he shook her.

“Wanna sleep,” Penny protested quietly. “Cuddle with me.”

“We have a busy day,” Kyle replied as he threw the sleeping bag they used as a cover off the two of them. “Up and get to it. We have a mountain to climb.”

“Baldy,” Penny sighed. “Yeah ... and this is our vacation? Getting up before dawn to bust our asses climbing a mountain?”

“You know you love it,” Kyle responded as he pulled on his shorts.

“It’s going to be beautiful up top,” Penny commented as she pulled on her clothes. “And cold!”

Kyle was out of the tent first, clad in a warm pullover. David had the crew awake and they were stirring. It was pitch black, but between the ridges to the east you could see a hint of blue and yellow. Everyone was outside within five minutes.