From my journal of 1967:
Got up & happily ate last trail meal! Broke camp & headed down road to 6-Mile Gate, 3-1/2 miles from Writing. There 1/2 hour ahead of time. Got on school bus & headed back, all happy. Got tents in Tent City. Saw Mr. Tobin's group. Ate lunch, got luggage, letters, showered, repacked and spent a fortune in Trading Post (again!) Went to evening camp fire & adult leaders got our badges. Saw John Krob again - he came to campfire.
It's funny that I remember the first part of the day - on the trail - quite well, but not as much after we got back to the Base Camp. Perhaps that's because the whole trip had been oriented around the trail experience, or perhaps I was just too tired after all of the hiking. In any event, the hike was everything I had hoped for and more.
The last campsite, all cleaned up
Well, the trail portion of the trip was nearing the end. We packed up and took one last look at our last campsite. While it was going to be great not to have to do any more hiking, we were of mixed thoughts as to heading back to civilization.
Another beautiful day in the back country
Harold Snedeker with an unusual souvenir
I got a laugh out of this picture when I first saw it, for it looks like he is carrying a tree in his backpack. The pose wasn't intentional but it looks great.
Settling down and waiting for the bus back to Base Camp
It was nice to sit for a change
He made it - barely!
Harold Snedeker was a great sport, posing for this picture for all of us. I think we all felt the same!
Loading the bus
One last time to shoulder the packs. By now we were pretty well sick and tired of them.
An empty Base Camp and the Tooth of Time
When we left the Base Camp for our time on the trail, things were pretty busy in Tent City. There were groups like ours heading out on the trail, and others just coming back. We were one of the last groups for the season, so by the time we got back, there weren't any new groups coming in any more. This meant the staff was taking down the tents and getting ready to close up camp for the winter. It was pretty quiet compared to the hustle and bustle when we left.
By the way, the moon in the picture (left of the Tooth of Time) was really there, and wasn't added through the trickery of Photoshop. Sometimes you just get lucky.