July 9 - hiking in the Sangre Christo Mountains/ Dancing to the drums

Tuesday, after we cleaned up from our second day of clearing Carmen (83) and Florence's (86) field, we hiked 4 miles up a trail in the Sangre Christo Mountains, a sacred set of peaks at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains. We crossed a creek many times as we ascended, saw Douglas fir and Aspen trees and viewed the granite crest with raven and turkey vultures flying overhead. We were the only hikers. It was serene and awesome. After pizza for dinner, we went to the house of a tribal counselor and listened to two local drummers who are hosting this year's Pueblo Pow Wow. They got the students up for some improvisational dancing, then a friendship dance and finally a courtship dance. The evening ended with a friendly game of intertribal basketball.