Campground Review:

James Canyon Campground is the perfect stop for anyone passing through and needing a place to stay.

Located just a couple miles outside of Mayhill, NM inside the Lincoln National Forest, this primitive camping spot is directly off of US 82 and has a 5 spots total. Two of which have parking at the site and three that are across a small footbridge from a small parking lot. Now I say “primitive” but this small campsite has a whole lot to offer! There are vault toilette (no sinks-so bring your hand sanitizer), there is a fire pit with metal rack at every site along with picnic tables. Best of all, there is NO FEE to stay here!

Now I had read that there were only two sites that had parking directly next to the site and since we have had some bad luck with break-ins to our car with walk-in sites, I wanted to make sure we got one. When we arrived however the two sites with parking were already taken. Much to my surprise, the three walk-in sites were directly across from the parking area, so we were able to actually see our car from our site which was a big relief.

Although this site is right next to the highway, it feels very secluded. There are lots of pine trees which is great for hammock campers like us and there are mountains to either side of you which help a lot with keeping the wind out. There is some noise from the road as cars pass, but at night the traffic was very light and didn’t bother us at all. There were no trails accessible from the campsite that I could see and I did walk around a bit to look, so this is more of a stop and go sort of place, which was exactly what we needed after a long day of driving.

This is a first-come first-serve campground. Since it is small, spots fill up fast. We camped on a Saturday night and there was only one site left open by eight o’clock pm.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products from time to time. At James Canyon Campground I tested two meals from Mountain House Meals: the Chicken Fried Rice and the Noodles & Chicken.

First let me say, I have always been pretty opposed to freeze-dried meals. I always felt they had no flavor and were not worth eating unless you are backpacking and need to cut down on weight…

Now let me say…I love Mountain House!!! They are completely different from the meals I have tried in the past. They are FULL of flavor, not crunchy (if you follow directions), and so easy after a long day.

On the back of the bag of each meal there are simple instructions. Most bags say to fill with either 2 or 1.5 cups of boiling water, stir, then close pouch and let sit for about 10 minutes. SUPER SIMPLE! Now I made both the Chicken Fried Rice and Noodle & Chicken at the same time for both my husband and I to try. I used a Nalgene to measure the water since I don’t have measuring cups on the fly.

The Noodle & Chicken was by far our favorite. It reminded me a lot of Campbell’s Chicken and Noodle Soup. It was SO good! The chicken was very tender and there was a very good helping of it. I will definitely be purchasing it again. It was a big winner with my husband as well!

The Chicken Fried Rice was also good, but not our favorite. The rice was tender along with the chicken. I really liked how they incorporated the egg that you find in fried rice but I will say that it was missing that soy flavor that usually comes with in your usual Asian cuisine. I also am not a huge fan of mushrooms and it had quite a bit in there. I should have read the ingredients first. Altogether though, still a very satisfying meal.

Best thing about Mountain House…absolutely NO clean up!!! No scrubbing pots in freezing cold water, no plastic wrappers flying away in the wind, No mess!

Now freeze-dried meals can get a bit expensive, at least with Mountain House you are getting the bang for your buck. Once prepared, the pouches are filled with a wonderful, tasty meal filled with lots of protein and calories to keep you going on your adventure.

I can’t wait to try more!