Philmont Scout Ranch - Day Two - House Canyon to Cook Canyon
Before dawn broke, my watch alarm went off with a tiny beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep. During the trip, I was designated as the human alarm clock for the crew and was responsible for the much-unloved task of announcing to the crew, "It's five am!" Time to wake up. Together, we decided to rise early each day because hiking in the morning was best, before the heat of the day made hiking oppressive.
Today, we'd be hiking from House Canyon through Anasazi, Indian Writings, and Metcalf, to arrive at Cook Canyon camp. This would also be our last day with Sam, our ranger. After today, we'd be on our own.
One thing we learned this first morning in camp was that nothing dries out overnight in the desert. Those who had hung a line and set out clothes to dry soon discovered this morning that the falling dew in the desert night made everything sopping wet in the morning. This included tents, clothes, and anything left out and not under the protective dining fly. Packing up camp in the wet was absolutely no fun, as everything got dirty and muddy. Rolling a ground pad, for instance, involved catching all that moisture with all the dirt of the campsite, rolling it tightly like a burrito, and sticking it all into your pack, still wet, and still dirty. Ah, so be it. We were roughing it.
Our journey today was an eight or so mile affair down the Metcalf Road trail. Our first stop after descending from camp was the Anasazi camp, where we had a solar powered water station. Two solar panels provide just enough power to run a low-voltage pump on a tiny well. The pump runs and fills a simple aluminum tub whenever it gets below a certain water level.
The water was not potable; however, so Sam gave us instruction on using the water purification tablets to make the water safe. This included the important point of "bleeding the threads", which is a process of washing the threads of our Nalgene lids and our water suction hoses for those of us who used pack bladders. If you didn't bleed the threads, infected water could contaminate all the good water you've just received.
We were in a dry camp the night before, so we all desperately needed water this morning, and filled up with 4-5 liters per person.
After leaving Anasazi, we headed into our first staffed camp, Indian Writings. The boys again had a chance to fill up their water, use the bathrooms, and eat lunch. The camp offered a tour of archaeological ruins and Indian petroglyphs, but we didn't stay long to see them, as we wanted to make our way to Philmont's newest camp, Metcalf Station. So we pressed onward.
Tomorrow, the journey would continue north into the Valle Vidal.