Category Archives: Camping

Activity: trips with camping.

VC05 Obsidian Valley Hike – 07/23/2019

July 27, 2019

Pat and I returned to the Jemez Mountains for a 4-night stay at the Jemez Falls Campground in our R-Pod, planning to explore further in and around Valles Caldera. For our first hike, we visited Obsidian Valley in the Valles Caldera.

The Drive In

After a relaxing morning on our first full day, we stopped by the Visitors Center to get the entrance pass, then headed out into the Caldera. With the prospect of thunderstorms, we drove only 6 miles into the Caldera, then parked at the entrance to Obsidian Valley for the day’s hike. The whole of Valles Caldera is plush with grasses, many shades of green, nearly waist high in some places; it is such a contrast with other parts of New Mexico. Flowers are abundant – many colors, sizes, styles. And the ever-present New Mexico sky, the brightest of blue and this time of year, the monsoon season, brings clouds to accentuate the sky and skyline. That is the case until afternoon, when … the convective activity heats up producing thunderclouds with lightning and rain, sometimes a deluge. This makes it advisable to hike in the first half ofthe day (and still, bring a raincover of some kind).

The Hike

VC05 Obsidian Valley Hike.Pat.2019-07-23

The ‘trails’ in Valles Caldera are typically two-tracks, now off limits to any wheeled vehicle (autos, ATVs, etc.), which makes for easy hiking. The two-track, VC05, proceeds up Obisidian Valley, a gentle slope until approaching Puerto de Abrigo, a saddle between Cerros de Abrigo on the left and Cerro del Medio on the right. It’s not much of a climb, 100 feet, to crest the saddle and descend into a side-valley at the upper reach of Valle Toledo. We continued for another half mile to check out a spring that is shown on the topo maps. And a spring we found – a large area of open water and marsh, judging by the tracks in the mud a favorite place for elk and deer.

Highlights

The views throughout our visits to Valles Caldera are stunning, huge open valleys with mountains all around. Some of the mountains are lush with forest, others recovering from fires from past years. But even the burned areas have their own appeal as we see grass, oak, and other plants bringing the mountainsides back to life. And everywhere we go other colors stand out against the green grasses, the many flowering plants in white, yellow, blue, and red. This -is- such a beautiful place.

Statistics

Total Distance: 4.05 miles
Elevation: start 8,711 ft, maximum 8,947 ft, minimum 8,711 ft
Gross gain: 236 ft, Aggregate ascending 584 ft, descending 584 ft
Maximum slope: 27% ascending, 23% descending, 4.6% average
Duration: 3:10

Valles Caldera-VC05 Obsidian Valley Hike.Pat.2019-07-23 (KML)	284 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Valles Caldera-VC05 Obsidian Valley Hike.Pat.2019-07-23 (GPX)	109 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References and Resources

Wanderlusting the Jemez: Obsidian’R’Us
Los Angles Times: In Valles Caldera’s wild heart
Valles Caldera Trust: La Ventana en los Valles (PDF)
Eas-on Down The Road: Valles Caldera National Preserve
Earthwatch: Encountering the Prehistoric People of New Mexico 2013 (PDF)
And check other posts for Valles Caldera

George's Photos w/ Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

FR 289 St Peter’s Dome Driveabout – 06/26/2019

July 5, 2019

With only a half day before heading home from this 4-day camping trip to the Jemez Mountains, we chose to make a DriveAbout rather than a hike. We had explored FR 289 on a previous visit, and developed a curiosity about driving further. After scrutinizing Forest Service and Topographic maps, and having gone most of the way, our interest was to go further, to discover if we could get to St Peter’s Dome.

The Drive About

FR 289-St Peter’s Dome Driveabout.Pat.2019-06-26

We’ve developed a classification system for roads:

Class 1 – paved in good condition
Class 2 – paved but breaking up
Class 3 – “New Mexico Paved”, graded sand or gravel in good condition
Class 4 – ungraded, in good condition, typically a two-track (don’t go if not dry)
Class 5 – a two-track but -not- in good condition (high clearance vehicle required, don’t go if not dry)
Class 6 – good for hiking!

FR 289 is clearly a Class 3 – great condition even for a New Mexico Paved road (it had even been graded since our previous visit). There was one rocky, steep section with sharp drop off that gave us pause – to take it slowly and carefully. In the past, one could take FR 289 all the way to Cochiti Highway, down by Cochiti Reservoir. These days a gate at the boundary to the Cochiti Reservation prevents through traffic; when we were there “unofficial” signs so warned us.

Seven miles from NM 4 we turned left onto FR 142; this would be a Class 5 road – high clearance vehicle advised. FR 142 ends 3.5 miles from FR 289, ending with an immediate dropoff but a spot wide enough to turn around. From here a Class 6 two-track continues beyond a closed gate to the summit of St Peter’s Dome. On Google Earth I measure it to be 1 mile to the summit, from 8,118 to 8,460 feet elevation (342 ft gain); it is there waiting for us to return.

The view approaching St Peter’s Dome from FR 289; the dome has the two ‘bumps’ on its summit, the one to the right being a rock building lookout tower. Just visible as a line in the left center of the photo is FR 142 as it climbs up to the left on the northern slope of the Dome.

At the end of FR 142: To the left, Boundary Peak. To the right, the two track beyond the gate leading to the summit. In the center, across the Pajarito Plateau towards Bandelier in Frijoles Canyon, across the Rio Grande Canyon below White Rock, and the Sangre De Cristo on the horizon beyond Boundary Peak.

At the end of FR 142: Looking west across the deep canyons that slice through the San Miguel Mountains: Sanchez, Cochiti, Bland – very rugged terrain. And on the horizon to the right, the mountains of Valles Caldera.

As the photos show, the mesas and cañons are denuded by fires, the Dome Fire in 1996 and the Las Conchas fire in 2011. Jay and I had visited the southern area of the Dome Wilderness back in 2016 (“Dome Wilderness, Sanchez Water Fall Hike – 9/25/2016“); the area was nearly devoid of plants. This year, at least in this northern portion of the Wilderness, plants are returning (especially this year with the snow and rain we’ve enjoyed).

As mentioned in our recent Alamo Spring hike, the absence of forest affords great views. The topo map depicts three trails that emanate from the parking place, the St Peter’s Dome trail going south, the Boundary Peak trail going east, and a third trail going north. Each connects with other trails in the Dome Wilderness or Bandelier National Monument. The canyons hereabouts are steep and deep, making such hikes daunting, but they must be quite scenic. Spending some time with Google Earth (including the EarthPoint Topo Map overlay), I can see some out-and-back hikes, and in one instance maybe even a loop of 5 or 6 miles going east of St peter’s Dome.

We look forward to returning, going to the summit of St. Peter’s Dome, and exploring these other trails. The track files below show our complete drive, from the Jemez Falls campground east on NM 4, then right on FR 289, St Peters Dome Road for 7 miles, then left on FR 142 (also St Peters Dome Road).

FR 289-St Peter's Dome Driveabout.Pat.2019-06-26 (KML)	145 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
FR 289-St Peter's Dome Driveabout.Pat.2019-06-26 (GPX)	105 Downloads

If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

(I’m including a wide range of references related to the Dome Wilderness; there is so much to explore. Other resources may be found for hikes starting from the Visitor’s Center of Bandelier National Monument.)
Forest Service:
  St. Peter’s Dome Trail (just a brief description)
    Wilderness Areas in the Santa Fe National Forest
AllTrails:
  Saint Peters Dome Trail
    Canada-Capulin Trail
Los Alamos NM: 50 Hikes in the Los Alamos Area (PDF)
Sangres.com: Dome Wilderness
SummitPost:
  Dome Wilderness (an excellent overview, including list of features)
Saint Peters Dome WanderLust: Wanderlusting St. Peter’s Dome NM
Volunteers for the Outdoors: St. peter’s Dome Trail
Mountain Project: Capulin Canyon Rock Climbing

Cerro Grande Trail Hike – 06/25/2019

July 4, 2019

Introduction

‘Twas our third approach to Cerro Grande, the tallest mountain in Valles Caldera National Preserve. Our first visit was “exploratory” (we went half way to the top), the 2nd visit two days ago as an appendix to another hike, but today ’twas our plan to go to the top.

The Hike

The trail up to the saddle was much like Our first visit; the grasses are still verdant but the flowers have gone past their prime. We remained on the trail rather than making a beeline for the top of the saddle. We were (pleasantly) surprised that the trail did not attack Cerro Grande directly, not a pleasant prospect because it appeared to be a steep climb and the day was sunny – such a climb would be hot and taxing. Rather, the trail headed to the east/northeast, presenting 1) a fair amount of shade and 2) a trail not so steep, rounding the eastern side of Cerro Grande and with a few switchbacks.

Nearing the top, we left the comfort of shade headed towards the summit which is marked with a large cairn, visible from a distance, and two survey markers (neither of which gave the elevation, but from other sources we understand it to be 10,199 ft; USTopo/GPS on my Galaxy 5 reported 10,194 ft). As expected the view across Valles Grande was “expansive” (?), highlighted by cloud shadows moving across the plain. The air was hazy so the views in other directions weren’t the best, but .. when the air is clear they must be extraordinary.

We retreated from the summit to the edge of the sparsely forested area to find some shade for out mid-hike break/lunch. After enjoying cups of Ramen Soup (a first for us on a hike – these hit the spot) as well as PB&J sandwich, carrots, and a cookie, we headed down, taking time to appreciate the late flowers, green of the grasses, and .. simply being outdoors again in Mother Nature’s garden.

Statistics

Total Distance: 4.53 miles
Elevation: start 8,954 ft, maximum 10,194 ft, minimum 8,952 ft
Gross gain: 1,242 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,493 ft, descending 1,494 ft
Maximum slope: 34% ascending, 36% descending, 11.5% average
Duration: 6:16

Cerro Grande Hike.Pat.2019-06-25 (KML)	117 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Cerro Grande Hike.Pat.2019-06-25 (GPX)	136 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

National Park Service:
  Cerro Grande Trail
  Valles Caldera Map
Natural Atlas: Cerro Grande Trail, a very nice interactive map – pan, zoom etc.
AllTrails: Cerro Grande Trail
American Southwest: Cerro Grande Trail, Bandelier National Monument
Wikipedia:
  Cerro Grande Fire
    Valles Caldera
VallesCalderaRim: Cerro Grande Showshoe (Official Cerro Grande Route).

George's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Showeshow.

Jaramillo Creek Hike – 06/24/2019

June 30, 2019

Our 2nd day of a 4 day visit to Valles Caldera. We brought our bikes to learn if we’re ready for biking on back country roads. A friend’s description of the roads in the Valle encouraged us to give it a go; he judged the roads’ surface to be fair and elevation changes would be minimal within the Valle.

The Drive In

After consulting with the Ranger at the Visitors Center and getting our entrance permit, we drove to the Horse Barn; driving further was not permitted because of the culvert washout presently undergoing repair. Leaving our bikes at the top of the hill/driveway to the Barn and parking the truck at the Barn, we started riding north on VC02. This was our first time on any uneven, rocky surface and we quickly determined that we needed some practice to become safe. Shortly we came to a steep descent that would be on a surface that was even more rocky. At that point we chose to stash our bike away from the road and make this a hike.

The Hike

We walked down the hill, saw the work being done to repair the road (we remained clear of the construction area per instructions from the Ranger) and proceed up Jaramillo Creek. We followed an ad hoc trail, an old two-track that runs parallel to Jaramillo Creek (the only recent activity evident on the two-track were bicycles). Lush grasses covered the ground all around and the forest of douglas fir, spruce, and ponderosa pine trees covered the sides of Cerro Piño on our right and Redondo on our left, with burned areas on the ridge tops ahead.

The remains of a cabin, built partially into the slope of Redondo, looking down upon Jaramillo Creek.

As we proceeded north along Jaramillo Creek the views were spectacular – to the northwest across Valle Jaramillo ahead of us and behind us the huge Valle Grande. The space of this place is hard to grasp – one can see unobstructed by -any- disturbance one mile (Valle Jaramillo) or 5 miles (Valle Grande). And through the pristine clear air, distant objects seem to be much closer (until one measures the distance on a map or starts walking towards some destination and learns .. it is much farther than perceived).

Driving from Valles Caldera back to the Campground, we stopped to take in the view from a stream that feeds the East Fork Jemez River.

Planning about a 4 mile hike, when we reached two miles we found some shade to have our mid-hike break (I might better describe it as lunch, since Pat brings more for us than the granola bars Jay & I bring). After enjoying the PB&J sandwich and sliced carrots & apples, it seemed only proper to lay back and rest a bit (.. for me, a half hour nap). Looking further north, we could see more beautiful scenery – the open (huge) meadow of Valle Jaramillo, and … what might lay beyond? But we turned back towards the bikes, road them down to the Barn, and headed back to the campground having enjoyed another wonderful day in this amazingly beautiful place.

Statistics

Total Distance: 3.60 miles
Elevation: start 8,655 ft, maximum 8,714 ft, minimum 8,612 ft
Gross gain: 102 ft. Aggregate ascending 556 ft, descending 516 ft
Maximum slope: 31% ascending, 29% descending, 4.7% average
Duration: 3:23

Jaramillo Creek Hike.Pat.2019-06-24 (KML)	162 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Jaramillo Creek Hike.Pat.2019-06-24 (GPX)	94 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

National Park Service:
  Valles Caldera National Preserve
  Maps
AllTrails: Interactive Map of Valles Caldera
    (zoom in to see trails, our hike is not shown)
Wikipedia: Valles Caldera
NM Museum of Natural History and Science: Valles Caldera, Jemez Volcanic Field
GeoTimes: A Secret Garden: New Mexico’s Valles Caldera
Facebook: Valles Caldera National Preserve
National Parks Traveler: Exploring the Parks: Valles Caldera National Preserve
BikePacking: Valles Caldera Supervolcano Explorer, New Mexico
    (a superb photo gallery)

George's Photos /w Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Upper Frijoles Canyon Overlook Trail Hike – 06/23/2019

June 27, 2019

This hike is the first during 4 days of camping at Jemez Falls Campground. Its about a 2.5 hour drive from Albuquerque, towing our R-Pod up US 550, then NM 4 past La Cueva to this very nice National Forest Service campground. After getting the camper set up, we headed further east on NM4, past Valles Caldera to the trailhead for the Upper Frijoles Cañon Overlook trail (also the trailhead for the Sawyer Mesa Trail, and across NM4 from the Cerro Grande Trail).

The Hike

Upper Frijoles Canyon Overlook Hike.Pat.2019-06-23

This trail is a very nice one – this year green with grasses, aspen and oak (retaking the territory after the fire some years back), and flush with flowers. There are many standing and down tree trunks from the fire; sad ‘tho the benefit is great views to the horizons and into the cañons. The trail itself is clear of rocks for nearly the whole distance, and very little elevation gain (as you can see from the reddish elevation profile in the screenshot above).

As the map shows, there are two ‘loops’: one offers one path outgoing, another when returning; the other a ‘lollipop’ at the far end of the trail which provides 1) a view into the cañon to the east and 2) a view into the cañon to the west. The out-and-back distance is about 2.1 miles – we had energy remaining to crossed NM4 and hiked up the Cerro Grande trail for half a mile, just to extend our hiking for that day (see our hike on the Cerro Grande Trail two days later).

Highlights

This territory is spectacular and becomes more so as we gain familiarity with it. From the screenshot above, one can get an impression of how rugged it is, the many deep cañons with their precipitous walls, the result of water eroding the volcanic material over centuries on its way to the Rio Grande River. But to get an even better view, check it out on Google Earth using the Track Files that you can download from links below. Or head out there yourself.

Statistics

Total Distance: 3.63 miles
Elevation: start 8,958 ft, maximum 9,065 ft, minimum 8,809 ft
Gross gain: 256 ft. Aggregate ascending 446 ft, descending 452 ft
Maximum slope: 26% ascending, 18% descending, 4.0% average
Duration: 2:15

Upper Frijoles Canyon Overlook Hike.Pat.2019-06-23 (KML)	104 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Upper Frijoles Canyon Overlook Hike.Pat.2019-06-23 (GPX)	99 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

AllTrails: Upper Frijoles Canyon Overlook Trail
YouTube: Sky Island – New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains

George's Photos w/ Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Cerro Grande Trail Hike – 05/29/2019

June 8, 2019

Our third day camping/hiking in the Jemez Mountains, in and around Valles Caldera. Having worn ourselves thin on the Alamo Spring hike the day before, we intended to limit hiking this day. So, to start the day we headed south on FR 289 to see where it would take us (near St Peter’s Dome??) and to check out the road. Then we intended to only ‘check out’ the Cerro Grande trail, having gathered that it was steep with some 1,200 feet elevation gain.

The Drive In

FR 289, St Peters Dome Road DriveAbout: We had driven a few miles down FR 289 the day before, on our way to the Alamo Spring Hike. This day we continued for 6.2 miles from NM 4. This is clearly a well used road – graded gravel. (We’ve started referring to ‘graded gravel’ as New Mexico pavement. Such roads are passable in most conditions, differentiated from lessor roads, those without grading and gravel; they can be impassable if not totally dry.) The route was not challenging until we began to come near the end of the mesa, some 5 miles, where the road began winding and descending. As it began to look more challenging, we noticed very dark clouds to the north, suggesting rain. Promising to return another time, to attempt to make it as far as St Peter’s Dome, we turned back towards NM 4.

Some 2.5 miles from where we turned around we noticed a two-track heading to the east, back towards Alamo Canyon. The rain appeared to be staying to the north (we had enough cell phone service to get weather radar); we allowed our curiosity to get the better of us and we turned to explore. (This was one of those two-tracks mentioned above – don’t go there if it is not dry. And travel in a high clearance vehicle, preferably 4-wheel drive. It’s not the worst two-track I’ve been on, but it’s up there for our range of experience.) Again out of consideration of weather, we turned around some 2 miles; looking at the topo map, it appears we could hike from here to the end of the mesa passing abreast of Obsidian Ridge (from the Alamo Spring Hike) or drive to the right some distance further (which is marked on the topo map as the Bland Frijoles Trail), or hike down that deteriorating two-track from which there appears to me options, like descending into either of the canyons, Alamo on the left (east), Capulin on the right (west) — so many places to explore (all Forest Service land).

The Hike

It was our intention to walk up the Cerro Grande Trail far enough to get a feel for just how much of a climb we would face. Parking at the trailhead, we started off through the most pleasant open forest on a really fine trail with just a slight gain in elevation. It did gradually increase, but not enough to cause us to pause and think – OK, we’ll return another day to ascend to the top. This continued for 1.5 miles, where we topped the saddle between Cerro Grande and its companion (slightly shorter) to the south. But .. we weren’t ready to make the last 600 or so feet/half mile to the summit of Cerro Grande. We’ll do that another time.

The eastern/downwind side of saddle is covered with the most healthy grass clumps, no trees. The west/upwind side of the saddle, facing the Caldera, is strewn with downed tree trunks from many years ago. With only a couple of exceptions, they are all laying parallel, like a strong wind had come along and toppled them all at once, in the same direction. And the wind was blowing (and cold) that day; rain squalls were obscuring the view to the northwest, the far side of the Caldera. We retreated back downhill to get out of the wind and have our mid-hike/lunch break. We will return here, like the other places we visited this trip.

Highlight

This year we have enjoyed the wettest winter since moving to Albuquerque nine years ago. In the past, flowers in this quite dry climate have consistently attracted my attention. On this hike we saw so many flowers – I counted 17 different blossoms (with the ubiquitous dandelions by far the most prevalent). Here are photos of a few of the different blossoms we saw on the Cerro Grande Trail.

Statistics

Total Distance: 3.06 miles
Elevation: start 8,951 ft, maximum 9,613 ft, minimum 8,951 ft
Gross gain: 662 ft. Aggregate ascending 945 ft, descending 945 ft
Maximum slope: 42% ascending, 35% descending, 9.9% average
Duration: 2:56

Cerro Grande Hike.Pat.2019-05-29 (KML)	308 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Cerro Grande Hike.Pat.2019-05-29 (GPX)	114 Downloads
FR 289 St Peter's Dome Road Driveabout.Pat.2019-05-29 (KML)	148 Downloads
FR 289 St Peter's Dome Road Driveabout.Pat.2019-05-29 (GPX)	104 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

National Park Service, Bandelier: Cerro Grande Trail
AllTrails: Cerro Grande Trail
American Southwest: Cerro Grande Trail, Bandelier National Monument
ondafringe: Day Hike: Cerro Grande/Valles Caldera
Stav Is Lost: Hike Cerro Grande
Discover the West: The Cerro Grande Route (great review, recommended)
Valles Caldera Rim: Valles Caldera East Rim: Cerro Grande Snowshoe
Keeping in Tune: I Hike the Cerro Grande Trail in the Jemez Mountains
(great photos)
Los Alamos Daily Post: Amateur Naturalist:
Cerro Grande Peak: Scene – Human and Natural Impacts

George's Photos w/ Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Alamo Spring Trail Hike – 05/28/2019

June 5, 2019

This was our 2nd day of 3 days camping and hiking around Valles Caldera in the Jemez Mountains. ‘Tho we would like to have headed deep into the Caldera, the washed out road just 5 miles in held us at bay. So .. we checked the Valdes Caldera and Bandelier brochures and came up with the Alamo Springs Trail, depicted on the Bandelier map.

The Drive In

With some trepidation about road conditions, from NM 4 we headed south on Forest Road (FR) 289 (St. Peter’s Dome Road), passing the southern trailhead for Bandelier’s Alamo Boundary Trail. At 2.25 miles on FR 289, we turned left on FR 287 (Sawyer Mesa Rd). As expected we encountered a gate (.5 mi) which blocked further travel by auto; here there was ample parking and sufficient room to turn around.

The Hike

Passing around the heavily fortified gate, we continued south on the Alamo Springs Trail (formerly Sawyer Mesa Rd, now a two-track). From the topo maps we could see that we would soon be hiking along the edge looking down into Alamo Canyon to our right. A mile and three quarters further on, Frijoles Canyon would converge from the left forming a narrow passage on the mesa top as we hiked towards Mesa del Rito. (Note: At the far end of Mesa del Rito the Alamo Springs Trail enters Bandelier National Monument where it becomes the Frijoles Rim Trail.)

This trail passes through a part of the forest burned in the devastating Las Conchas fire back in June of 2011. The fire took out -most- of the ponderosa and fir trees, leaving open room for amazing views along the mesa, into the canyons, and beyond to the mountains in the distance. There are, of course, many fallen trees, some having come down only recently. Now some 8 years later Mother Nature is showing her reclamation of the area – many groves of young aspen, pockets of scrub oak, and other bushes (some with nasty thorns) dot the landscape. Grasses cover nearly all of the ground – many kinds, tall and short, many with their seed heads in full glory. To punctuate the scene, I counted some 17 different flowering plants, lending a sparkle of color to the surroundings.

The views are stupendous, so amazing that they created tension which we think explains (or we use as an excuse) why were became quite weary (‘tho only 5.6 miles in length and with very little change in elevation). The trail follows a two-track, smooth mostly sandy surface, occasionally requiring we climb over a fallen tree. We did occasionally take excursions over to the edge of the mesa for a closer view of the canyons. As we entered the narrow section mentioned above, we began seeing shards of obsidian. Soon the ground was peppered with pieces ranging from <1″ to 2, 3, even 4 inches in size. Later we noticed that this section between mesas is named Obisidian Ridge (duh).

The afternoon was wearing on, so to leave time to return to the truck and the camper, we stopped for our mid-hike break/lunch, then headed back to the truck and the R-Pod at Jemez Falls Campground. Reflecting back on our experience, we realize that it is difficult to convey the beauty of the scenery with words or photos (‘tho we try); one really must be there to appreciate it fully. We will go back to enjoy this trail again.

Statistics

Total Distance: 5.64 miles
Elevation: start 8,755 ft, maximum 8,818 ft, minimum 8,379 ft
Gross gain: 438 ft. Aggregate ascending 749 ft, descending 751 ft
Maximum slope: 18% ascending, 23% descending, 4.2% average
Duration: 5:08

Alamo Springs Trail Hike.Pat.2019-05-28 (KML)	108 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Alamo Springs Trail Hike.Pat.2019-05-28 (GPX)	140 Downloads
Alamo Springs Drivein & Hike.Pat.2019-05-28 (KML)	118 Downloads
Alamo Springs Drivein & Hike.Pat.2019-05-28 (GPX)	280 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

USDA Forest Service: Alamo Spring Trail #114
National Park Service:
Bandelier Park Map (Interactive and PDF download)
Alamo Boundary Trail

George's Photos, Captioned: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

VC02 South Mountain Hike – 05/27/2019

June 2, 2019

This was our first hike during a 3 days visit to the Jemez Mountains, in the vicinity of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. We set up our R-Pod trailer/camper in the Jemez Falls Campground, a base camp from which to explore and hike in the area. Our first stop was the Visitors Center in the Caldera where we obtained suggestions for hiking, maps of the Preserve, and … a pass that permitted us to drive beyond the Center. We were advise that we would not be able to go deep into the Caldera because of a road washout. From this review we chose to drive to the Cabin District, park, and hike on a logging road – VC02.

The Hike

The weather was perfect – comfortable temperature, no wind (a relief this time of year), and mostly clear sky. It appears that VC02 may be used by Preserve staff and maintained in good driving condition, so it was easy walking mostly on dry dirt with a couple of areas covered with rocks.

With this year’s wet spring the ground was covered with grasses and many different blooming flowers (the yellow of dandelions being the most prevalent against the green grasses). The forest was quite healthy – small and large ponderosa pines interspersed with groves of aspen. A few streams crossed the road, through culverts or meandering across the road, snowmelt from higher up on Redondo Peak to the west. And the views across the Caldera were spectacular; it is so vast (5 miles of completely open plain across to the other side of this section of the Caldera) which makes it very difficult to get a perspective of distances.

About a mile into the hike, we spotted our first elk of the trip – two at a distance near the edge of the forest. They appeared to survey us for a few minutes, then retreated into the trees. A bit over a mile on, we came upon a junction with VC0201 where we chose to turn back towards the truck. VC0201 appears to be an old logging trail, not used these days. Covered with grass it was more pleasant than VC02; it was easy to follow this old two track and made for easy walking.

Statistics

Total Distance: 3.06 miles
Elevation: start 8,740 ft, maximum 8,934 ft, minimum 8,721 ft
Gross gain: 213 ft. Aggregate ascending 535 ft, descending 526 ft
Maximum slope: 24% ascending, 20% descending, 5.6% average
Duration: 1:49

Valles Caldera Hike-VC02.Pat.2019-05-27 (KML)	236 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
Valles Caldera Hike-VC02.Pat.2019-05-27 (GPX)	406 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

National Park Service: Valles Caldera-Plan Your Visit
AllTrails: Valles Caldera National Preserve
(VC02 isn’t marked, but this presents an overview of trails in the Caldera)
Los Alamos Woods Wanderer:
Valles Caldera National Preserve: New South Mountain Hike
(This report dates back to a time before the Caldera came under National Park Service management and became available to the public. But it offers some good description of the area of VC02 and photos.)

[Show slideGeorge's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.show]

North Fork Water Canyon Hike – 09/13/2018

October 31, 2018

This is our second hike in the Magdalena Mountains during a 3-night stay in the campground in our R-Pod camper. The first day we did the Mesa Trai l#15 hike. We planned to stay only two nights, taking a “short hike” before heading home. But looking at opportunities near the campground, on the Topo maps (courtesy USTopo on our Android tablet), we noticed springs and -mines- up Fork Canyon, on a two-track leaving the campground. Since that sounded interesting, we headed out for a “short” hike.

The Hike

North Fork Water Canyon Hike.Pat.2018-09-13

Our ‘trail’ followed an old two-track going up the bottom of the North Fork canyon. Hardly suitable today for any but the best off-road vehicle as it meandered back and forth across the creek, it made for easy hiking. At about 1.5 miles up the canyon, as expected from the Topo map, we came to a Y in the canyon. Although the mines were further up the canyon to the right, we turned left up Dark Canyon towards a spring marked on the Topo map. We didn’t find the spring, and to return to the canyon towards the Cabin Spring and the mines, we climbed a side canyon (with a couple of good sized rock faces) and over a saddle to the “mine canyon”.

About 2.7 miles into the hike, back on a sometimes rough two-track (apparently this provided access to the mines), we spied the first mine, on the far wall of the canyon below the two-track – a cave with tailings. We continued on up the canyon to the second mine site, finding a large cave with standing water in its entrance. And .. many tracks in the mud along with droppings – we surmised that this was a gathering place for elk. The return to the campsite was a most pleasant part of the hike, stopping to admire the flowers and a view across Water Canyon of the outcrops that make it’s eastern cliffs (and encountering some droppings which we concluded were bear scat).

This turned out to be not such a -short- hike, so we stayed another night in the campground.

Statistics

Total Distance: 5.72 miles
Elevation: start 6,909 ft, maximum 7,940 ft, minimum 6,909 ft
Gross gain: 1,034 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,602 ft, descending 1,605 ft
Maximum slope: 29% ascending, 29% descending, 8.8 % average
Duration: 7:12

North Fork Water Canyon Hike.Pat.2018-09-13 (KML)	127 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
North Fork Water Canyon Hike.Pat.2018-09-13 (GPX)	122 Downloads

I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

George's Photos w/ Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

Mesa Trail #15 Hike – 09/12/2018

October 12, 2018

Returning from Tucson by way of Glenwood, driving along US 60 some 20 miles west of Socorro, a sign to Water Canyon Campground caught our attention – we thought that there might be camping and hiking in those Magdalena Mountains. And it’s about the same distance from Albuquerque as our favorite mountain range, the Jemez Mountains. Back home, we did some research, learning about Water Canyon and it’s National Forest campground and hiking trails. With that information, we planned a two-night trip with our R-Pod camper.

In preparation, I gathered information on trails and scrutinized the topographic maps with the Earth Point Topo Map plugin for GoogleEarth. From that I sketched a hike from near the Water Canyon Campground, following for some distance the dashed trail lines on the topo map, then up what appeared to be gently rising terrain to the top of the “North Mesa” (my name, but marked as Water Canyon Mesa on a topo map). Subsequently I uncovered on AllTrails a .gps track for Mesa Trail #13 which followed my sketch but continued further to make a loop back to the trailhead. We chose this as our hike for the first day.

The Drive In

The trailhead is about .5 miles up FR 235 from the campground, with signs, a large parking lot, and a pit toilet. The signs were interesting – they told us to go further at our own risk, proceed only with 4 wheel drive, locked hubs, and .. serious caution. (This I had discerned from looking at this road on GoogleEarth and the Topo overlay, so we had made no plans to go further although the view from atop South Baldy and the observatory must be stunning.)

The Hike

The trail entrance is obvious, the trail well used. It begins with a quite good climb for the first 1/4 mile, then a short respite until it connects with the original trail (which crossed private property, thus this new segment). The rest of the hike was definitely up hill, a steady but not terribly challenging climb, generally a rocky surface ‘tho solid underfoot. Then, 1/2 mile into the hike the trail enters a narrow canyon some .2 mile in length which contains an amazing “garden” of wildflowers. There are so many different flowers, often mixed together, that we moseyed through this garden for over a half hour enjoying their beauty (and taking photos – see the Gallery below).

From there, continuing uphill we left the somewhat narrow canyon to enjoy views towards the south and west, across South Canyon to the primary peaks and high ridges of this eastern portion of the Magdalena Mountains. At some point near the top of our ascent we saw to the west the road zig-zagging its way across the mountain to get to the top. And the observatory came into view in what appeared to be a large, open meadow extending down from South Baldy. At the top of our hike we could see north across the plains to Ladron Peak. We enjoyed a half hour mid-hike break for lunch (thanks, Pat), then headed back down pausing again to enjoy the Garden.

Redux

There were only 2 or 3 other occupants in the campground, and we encountered only one other couple on the trail. Our hike followed quite well the sketch that I had made and the AllTrails track for Mesa Trail #13. The AllTrails track is a loop that extends a half-mile further than where we took our break, continues up towards Water Canyon Mesa and round back into Water Canyon to a trailhead closer to the campground. An alternate hike would be to continue on up onto Water Canyon Mesa where the views to the east, north, and west should be amazing.

Statistics

Total Distance: 4.43 miles
Elevation: start 6,930 ft, maximum 8,221 ft, minimum 6,930 ft
Gross gain: 1,291 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,596 ft, descending 1,616 ft
Maximum slope: 38% ascending, 43% descending, 13% average
Duration: 5:54

North Mesa Sketch (KML)	109 Downloads
GPS Track Files for Download
North Mesa Sketch (GPX)	208 Downloads
Mesa Trail 15 Hike.Pat.2018-09-12 (KML)	144 Downloads
Mesa Trail 15 Hike.Pat.2018-09-12 (GPX)	138 Downloads