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| Breaking camp at Metcalf |
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| Downhill to Indian Writings |
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| Comic relief at Indian Writings |
Atlatal Skills
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| Great Hunters! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower |
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| Conservation Project - Trail building |
After lunch the sun came out so we decided to wait out the heat and leave for Chase Canyon around 3:00 as we didn't see much point in getting there too early. As soon as we got out of the deep valley at Indian Writings it clouded up fast and it seemed like thunderstorms were chasing us the rest of the way. Once again we were high on the ridge and we could see the clouds descending on the mountain tops with an occasional lightning strike that kept us motivated. Our destination was Chase Canyon which was recently leased to Philmont and the trails were a little harder to find. In spots we had decent "roads" but also had some fence jumping to do and finding the trail markings proved to be a little tricky.
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| Chased by Thunderstorms - Looks like Mordor |
We descended on Chase Canyon and we were told the camp site was not well marked. We found water and some porta-potties which later ended up doubling as a bear box. We searched a mile stretch where we believed the bear boxes should be but we never found them. With rain approaching we quickly pitched our tents and scrambled to make dinner. It didn't matter if we didn't get a hot meal for this was the last night on the trail. We managed to stay dry and since this site did not have a sump we had to improvise and filter our waste water with our own sump bag filled with grass, leaves and whatever else was lying around. Rain was still likely and the overcast skies drove everyone in their tents a little early. Tomorrow we break camp for the last time, eat breakfast and make our way to the Chase Ranch. Almost there.
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| Preparing our last dinner on the trail. |
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| Trying to beat the rain |
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| Sumping...don't even ask |
| Make shift bear box |
