I was fortunate enough to visit Ken last month and we took a ride down to Quemado Lake and surrounding area, scoping out campgrounds and shooting sites for the upcoming Gathering.
After conferring with Ken & CCCC (picking their brains) about possibilities and probabilities, there are two primary options;
1. Try to get as many of us into one campground at Quemado Lake, either Pinon ($10/day fee) or El Caso (free), and travel to another location to do any shooting.
Both of these campgrounds have vault-type toilets and a mix of tent & RV sites (no hookups), with 22 total sites at each of the campgrounds, with fire rings at every site. We would be ~ one mile from the Lake boat launch.
Pinon and El Caso Campground LINKThe downside to this option is that we may not have the campground to ourselves (every campground had several people camped there mid-week when we visited) and we will have to travel to prove our prowess with firearms. Or embarrass ourselves, whichever is appropriate.
2. Go to the Armijo Campground a couple of miles south of the lake, back in the National Forest, and pretty much have the place to ourselves. This campground has vault-type toilets, five fire rings, five picnic tables, and no dedicated RV sites
Armijo Campground LINK We can shoot right there (but they don't want ATV's being used in the campground???) and Ken can do table dances to his heart's content without fear of being in next month's People magazine or on the cover of the Enquirer.
The downside to this campground is that we are ~eight miles (by road) from Quemado Lake for those who want to fish or play in the water.
There is a restaurant ("Snuffy's") just before you get to the lake on the Lake road that doubles as a small country store and has showers available ($3.00) for those who desire a semblance of civilization.
These options come with the same caveat; Fire danger status. If the folks there don't get rain, we may not be able to have open fires, drastically reducing the amount of mischief curdog4570 and I can get into, as well as curtailing the late night caterwauling and bug stomping (singing and dancing to some).
This is everyone's Gathering, I just did some research with help, and now would like feedback from the prospective attendees as to preferences, ideas, suggestions, alternatives, and anything I may have missed. Since I wasn't there for last year's Gathering, I KNOW that I have left out something important/valuable.
Ed
