Chris and I just returned from Philmont. What a wonderful trip! We had SO much fun, it was such a great experience. This was my 3rd trip over the years and it was nice to see that not much had changed. Our trip took us to Anasazi, Indian Writings, over Heart Peak to Ponil, to Publano, to Ute Meadows, over Mt. Baldy (12,441 ft.), to Head of Dean, to New Dean, to Dean Cow, to Harlan, and then back to base camp. Here is a quick FAQ which might help Philmont trekkers.
Q: Should we bring water filters?
A: Philmont supplies micropure tabs which work fine and are light weight. Also, just about all staffed camps have a purified water spigot. Depending on your trek you may only have to purify water a couple days. I'd recommend bringing only one hand pump for making good tasting drinking water if you have time. Otherwise, just use micropure. The Philmont meals contain a bunch of Gatorade powder if the micropure chlorine taste is too much for you.
Q: How many stoves should we bring?
A: Just bring two stove of the exact same make/model. You will only need one on the trail and the extra will serve as a backup.
Q: What do I do about coffee?
A: Bring instant. Keep in mind that only one (maybe two) breakfasts at Philmont will be hot, so boiling water in the morning will only be for coffee only. Some mornings might be really early and boiling water for adult coffee might slow down the crew. Depending on the trek this might be a bottleneck. If you have a lighter trek, boiling water in the morning (while packing up) shouldn't be an issue. All staffed camps have adviser coffee in the evenings at 7PM, but for me this didn't work as I don't like to have caffeine before going to bed.
Q: How is meal prep? Does it take long with a tedious cleanup?
A: Only dinners are hot (one or two breakfasts might have oatmeal). Back in the old days we would make our dinners in one big pot. Now days, Philmont uses the Mountain House bag dinners which can be prepared IN the bags. This saves tons of time on cleanup. A couple of meals may not Mountain House and present more of a challenge. We had a stove top stuffing meal and a easy mac meal which required either not eating or trying to mix in bowls. We ran into one crew who used Turkey bags inserted into their pots which is a great idea. I'll try this next time I go to Philmont. If crew members can lick their bowls clean then cleanup is pretty easy, just rinse and sterilize. When I went to Philmont as a boy I remember hating cleanup after a long day of hiking, things have gotten better in this regard.
Q: The guidebook has a long list of clothes, do I really need to bring all these clothes?
A: Depending on the time of year, I'd say the list has too much stuff. We went in August. For summer, I'd recommend: One pair shorts (wearing), One pair long pants (or zip offs for conservation), Two shirts (wearing one, one in pack), rain gear, couple changes of socks, one maybe two pair of underwear. A light weight fleece for mornings/evenings. You can do laundry pretty much anytime using the ziplock laundry method.
Q: Any thoughts on cutting weight?
A: Consider *total* crew gear. Cut redundant items (you only need a couple pocket knives for example). Lay out everyone's gear and leave behind all the redundancy. Folks don't need their own first aid kid or individual large tubes of sunscreen.
Have a specific question?? Post in the comments and I'll try to answer.
