Three Rivers Campground in White Mountain Wilderness, NM (Elevation 6600 ft.)

After leaving Roswell, we continued to rack up the miles in the New Mexico desert.  It seemed to take forever to reach our intended destination, the primitive Three Rivers Campground.  We finally arrived after traveling about 10 or 12 miles on Three Rivers Road (which turns to gravel halfway in) off U.S. Highway 54.  It was getting late with little daylight remaining, so we got busy setting up camp, opting for the quick backpacking tent and the screen house.  Within 5 minutes of arriving at the campsite, we were visited by a hummingbird who was very interested in the red gas cans on the back of the Jeep.  He chirped and flitted about, trying to figure out where to drink from, but alas, there was no nectar to be found.  He returned a few more times, and my camera was, of course, sleeping on the job.

At one point it became necessary to check the condition of the vault toilet just up the hill.  Upon viewing the numbers and size of the flies loitering there, I made an executive decision and set up our utility tent and accompanying accessories.

We had sandwiches and Ramen noodle soup, which is a great meal when we need something quick with little clean-up required.  Dusk had set in by the time we finished eating.  We quickly got all food-related items back into the Jeep, as we were in black bear country according to the bulletin board at the campground entrance.

It was a beautiful, warm evening with bright stars, and a pleasant breeze had arisen – perfect conditions for camping.  Letting the food settle in our bellies, we relaxed for a bit before retiring to the tent.  In our haste to get situated, we had made a conscious decision to not stake down any of our structures, which we almost never skip.  I don’t think twenty minutes had passed before our pleasant, gentle breeze turned into gale force winds, and I could hear the poles of the screen house scraping around on the ground.  Ken figured the screen house wouldn’t go anywhere because we had set it up over the picnic table, which should keep it pretty much in place.  So we fell asleep to the sound of the rain fly on the tent flapping vigorously in the wind.

Upon waking, Ken looked out his side of the tent to see… no screen house!  When he got outside, he found it fifteen feet away from the picnic table.  It was upside down!  Thankfully, the trees surrounding our site had effectively corralled it, keeping us from having to hunt it down.  Oh yeah, and the utility tent?  Let’s just say it didn’t survive.  It was killed in the night, and will need to be replaced with the next heir to the throne, so to speak.

After a quick breakfast of oatmeal, we finished what the wind had started, and tore down camp.  Everything went smoothly, except for a bird who wouldn’t pose properly for a picture.  We were packed up and on our way down the road in good time.  I did manage to get pictures of a cute pair of Gambel’s Quail just before we got on the highway.

Once on the highway, we were greeted by more beautiful desert landscapes on our way toward Flagstaff, Arizona.

Check out the rest of the photo album!