We headed to these favorite canyons in the Jemez, hoping to catch the aspen in their full fall color.  And we did.  But on the way, the cottonwood trees in San Antonio canyon, all the way from Jemez Pueblo to La Cueva, were the brightest golden color you can imagine.

The Drive In

We hiked Barley Canyon back in May 2017, that time driving in from the bottom of the canyon: past Fenton Lake on NM 126 a short distance past the Fish Hatchery, then up FR 378 (Barley Canyon) a bit over a mile.  Then the hike goes from lower to higher in Barley, then back down what I’ve dubbed Barleycito, a side canyon that joins Barley at Barley’s mddle.  For this trip we turned onto FR 144, a much shorter drive and hiked down Barleycito then back up Barley.

The Hike

On the drive in on NM 126 and FR 144, we saw sprinklings of golden aspen along with aspen still green and leafless.  That was the case  in the Canyons as well.  This hike was much like the May hike – a very pleasant canyon, easy surfaces and slopes.  Although we could stay on the two-tracks (some sections more heavily used) we opted this trip to follow closer to the center/bottom of the canyon where we found we could almost always follow cattle or game trails.  Jay here: Finally. The aspen color we’ve been waiting for. And no bushwacking…what a surprise. This was a most pleasant hike primarily for its lack of ascent. So there were no overlooks but plenty of close-up scenery to make up for it.

Statistics

Total Distance:  5.10 miles
Elevation: start 8,715 ft, maximum 8,813 ft,  minimum 8,108 ft
Gross gain: 705 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,369 ft, descending 1,370 ft
Maximum slope: 34% ascending, 37% descending, 8% average
Duration: 3:19

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.

Jay's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

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

The Hike

We returned to Pony Canyon, having hiked it back in May 2017. We were hoping to catch the aspen in their full fall color – we were early for the ‘show’, but found other plants showing their colors.  Although we parked at a different turnout, we followed close to the same track as before.

Statistics

Total Distance:  3.99 miles
Elevation: start 8,778 ft, maximum 9,011 ft,  minimum 8,570 ft
Gross gain: 441 ft.  Aggregate ascending 964 ft, descending 962 ft
Maximum slope: 36% ascending, 42% descending, 8% average
Duration: 3:48

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

Hiking in New Mexico: Pony Canyon Hike (See that hike for more references.)

Jay's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

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

This hike was to explore further the canyons and mesas in this northwestern quadrant of the Jemez Mountains. 

The Hike

We started at a bend in NM 126, where we had started the Telephone Canyon Plus hike back in June. We followed a two-track up to the head of the canyon.  Then we turned right, going past a gate that blocks vehicle traffic to the two-track that continues around to the south on the ridge of the mesa.  Two miles from the gate found us at the end of the mesa/ridge, with a steep if not cliff descent down to NM 126.

After our mid-hike break, we returned on the two track. Close to a mile from the turn-around, we saw what looked like an opportunity to take a shorter route back to the truck.  So down we went off of the ridge, bushwhacking 100 feet elevation, down slope 31% at its steepest, then up the other side of this small canyon (steepest, 43%). Then it was across an intervening ridge and down another steep slope (steepest, 48%) some 3oo feet to where the truck was parked. (This “shortcut” saved us close to a mile in distance, 1.62 miles vs .75 miles, in exchange for bushwhacking and traversing the slopes.)

We started out following hikes/tracks published by others.  We have exhausted all that I’ve been able to find, but enjoyed this corner of the Jemez so much that we keep going back.  There remain only a couple that we haven’t hiked, but we’ll keep coming back.

Jay here: Some people like bushwhacking more than others. You know who you are. I like bushwhacking only when it saves a mile or more of hiking, which was the case this time. All hail the bushwhack.

Statistics

Total Distance:  4.3 miles
Elevation: start 8,605 ft, maximum 8,922 ft,  minimum 8,605 ft
Gross gain: 317 ft.  Aggregate ascending 901 ft, descending 900 ft
Maximum slope: 50% ascending, 41% descending, 7% average
Duration: 2:55

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.

For some unknown reason, we weren’t taking the usual number of photos.  There are many more interesting views down in the canyons (on other hikes); this hike on the ridge-top, in medium density forest, just didn’t “attract the camera”.

George's Photos: Click on Photo to show Gallery.

Introduction

Continuing to explore the wonderful canyons in the Jemez Mountains north of La Cueva, on this day we tackled Bear Canyon and a smaller canyon just south of Bear (I’ll call it “Little Bear”). Unable to find a GPS track from someone else, I sketched out a loop for us to try.  I expected two steep sections, one near the bottom of the canyon where we would ascend to the ridge-top for our return to parking, and again descending down from the ridge near the finish.

The Hike

Leaving FR 378 (an extension of FR 144) 1/4  miles south of parking, we found ourselves on an old two-track, which we followed for about 1.25 miles, where we joined -the- Bear Canyon.  For most of the way Little Bear’s sides were sloping, forested; as we neared it’s lower end the north side became a canyon wall of volcanic material so common in the Jemez.  And in Bear Cayon the north side became even higher and more sheer.

As we neared the place I planned to turn back towards our starting point, climbing through a side canyon (which I expected was going to be a steep climb), I saw what appeared to be a nice, tho’ steep, slope up towards the canyon top.  It was steep but doable, but … what I didn’t expect was that we would find ourselves on somewhat more level terrain, but looking at another steep ascent, … to another less steep section … and after 5 or 6 of these climbs we finally topped the ridge.  As you can see from the profile in the bottom of the screenshot above, we climbed some 567 feet in elevation, over 2,109 feet horizontal, an average slope of 49%,  with maximum exertion for us for 39 minutes.  

[OK, for future sketching and planning, and before tackling a steep climb out of a canyon, I need to look at the starting and finishing elevations, as well as the slope and horizontal distance, before committing us to such a track.]

Once up in the ridge, the going was easy.  As anticipated, we soon found an old two-track, the terrain was relatively level and flat.  Nearing FR 378 from which it would be a mile back to park, we discovered a trail or two-track on the Topo chart which cut off  some of the distance.  As we came to a point where we wanted to turn left (south) to parking, we found ourselves looking down on another steep canyon wall.  But, lo and behold, Topo indicated a trail down seemingly directly down the “cliff”. Closer inspection revealed a cleft in the cliff face, an easy descent to the canyon floor, then across the canyon, back up to FR 378, and to parking.

Highlight

We would have avoided the serious climb if I had followed my sketch.  For future hikes, I’ve plotted an alternate track to get from Bear Canyon up onto the ridge north of the canyon.  Instead of 1/4 mile from bottom to top, it is 2/3rd of a mile.  I look forward to someday checking them out – if someone else does so, please send me a report; thanks.

Jay here: Bear Canyon. Good name. Because the way we climbed out of the canyon up the steep series of rock outcrops was a real bear. And I have the shin scrapes to prove it. The 39 minutes it took to get up the 49% slope felt like more than an hour. We would scramble about 20 feet and then stop to get more oxygen. Geo redeemed himself when he found the cleft in the rock face that got us off the cliff and back to the canyon floor toward the end of the hike. Which all goes to prove that there’s always a lesson or two when we make these forays into the New Mexico landscape.

Statistics

Total Distance:  5.43 miles
Elevation: start 8,750 ft, maximum 8,913 ft,  minimum 8,239 ft
Gross gain: 674 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,308 ft, descending 1,309 ft
Maximum slope: 49% ascending, 45% descending, 9% average
Duration: 2:59

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

ListofJohn Topo:  Bear Canyon

Jay's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.

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