July 31: Black Mountain

We departed Beaubien for Black Mountain camp. It was a fairly easy hike and we arrived well before noon. Black Mountain camp is peculiar in a number of ways. First, it is a staffed camp but there is no road access to it, so there is no potable water and no trash drop off. Second, and perhaps most significant, as far as the staff is concerned, Black Mountain is a U.S. army outpost, it is 1862, and we are a bunch of raw recruits reporting for training in blacksmithing and firearms. The staff was colorful to put it mildly. Their two mules, used to haul cargo back and forth to the nearest road, were an immediate hit.