Philmont Scout Ranch - Days 1-3

Ian and I just got back from a week in the southern Rockies in New Mexico, at the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, NM. To say we had a great time is a massive understatement!

This trek was the makeup from the one we had scheduled in the summer of 2020 that was cancelled due to COVID. Because of my work schedule, we had to shorten it from the original 12-day itinerary to a 7-day itinerary, which was just fine.

Ian and I drove up and met the Maryland crew just before lunch. We did all of our in-processing paperwork and drew crew gear. We spent the night in base camp and headed out the next afternoon. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we arrived at the trailhead, the monsoon rains hit us pretty good. Fortunately, it was a short but heavy rainfall and no near lightning. We hiked on up to our campground (Arrowhead) with our Philmont ranger.

It was a fairly easy 2.5 mile hike, finishing at about 7,500 ft.

We hiked the next morning through Clark's Fork Campground, where we learned to lasso. By a massive stroke of luck, I lasso'd Bessie.

We had a fairly experienced cowhand to show us how to handle the lariat (rope) and lasso the cow. I think Ian had a nice time, too!

We kept hiking from there towards our destination campground, but found a forestry demonstration in an old burn scar, and stopped to hear what the foresters had to say. Lucky for us, it rained while we were under cover.

We hiked on to Cimarroncito Campground, where we did some rock climbing and rappelling - which was put on a temporary pause due to some lightning and thunder in the area.

This second day on the trail was longer - about 6 miles, but with a climb to 8,100 feet elevation.

Cheers,

Marc