Hey Pete,
Just got back on Friday, what a wonderful trip! Been wanting to go there for about 35 years, finally made it. Here are my thoughts.
1. Compression sacks are ok if the are waterproof, otherwise leave them at home and bring the ziplocs. 2 gallon is best
2. I packed my sleep clothes inside my sleeping bag, which was in a garbage sack, and then in the stuff sack.
3. The lightest weight camp shoes you can find that are comfortable. I used a ten buck pair of running shoes from walmart. Others had a 30 buck pair of lightweight closed toe sandles with holes in them. They told me the name but I don't remember.
4. Plastic and lexan are fine, one bowl per person, size irrelevant, except you should be able to lick it out, unless you want to use your finger to clean it. You can pick up a lexan bowl for 3 bucks at target and other places. You could also probably use a butter tub.
5. Lexan spoon is fine, leave the knife and fork at home.
6. Headlight vs. flashlight is a matter of choice. Most nights you'll be going to bed shortly after dark, you won't use it much. I used a headlamp, because I'm used to it, but a small flashlight would be fine, use aaa batteries, they're lighter.
7. I was on Trek 4, we didn't have a lot of chance to spend money. 2 trading posts were available, mostly selling camping junk. At one we each bought a pickle for a buck. I think there was a cantina near one of our camps that sold root beer etc, but we didn't go. I would think the most anyone on Trek 4 would need would be 5 or 10 bucks. Be sure to take small bills (ones).
8. We didn't take a sewing kit, other than some dental floss and a couple of needles, put it in the first aid kit, and didn't use it. Would have been handy for a tent or backpack tear.
9. We took aluminum gutter nails, light weight. Philmont sells tent stakes for 25 cents each. You need them for the dining fly, and for the tents if you use Philmont tents.
10. Spices - whatever you like. We had cajun seasoning and louisiana hot sauce.
11. One or 2 multitools is enough. A couple of us had small knives, they help open the food packets, we didn't use them for much else. We used the multitools for pot grippers. We took most of our own gear, all we checked out was the sump frisbee, scraper, bear bags, rope, and cleaning kit. Less to turn in that way.
12. White gas should be available. We used Coleman powermax, it was available in at least one backcountry trading post at a reasonable cost. I saw Coleman white gas there too, our other crew used that. They took 3 bottles, I don't know if they bought more or not, I assume they did. If you plan to do that, be sure and take a screening funnel to keep out the junk.
EXTRA When we were there, the mosquitos were awful during the middle days of the Trek (4). Can't say how they will be later, but take a bottle of deep woods off (pump, not aerosol) or similar per 2 crew members. It sold out fast in the backcountry, we ran out.
Plan your route carefully, most of Trek 4 (almost 35 miles of it) is done on the last 4 days, you may not have much time for program,especially at Cimarroncito.
Let me know if you want more info. ENJOY YOUR TREK, I DID!!!!
Andre Houser
SM, Troop 109
DeSoto, TX
Pete Swiggum <peter.swiggum@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Hi Philmont vets....
Based on the suggestions in the Philmont Guidebook to Adventure, I have some questions about gear.
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Received on Mon Jun 27 14:29:41 2005
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