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

Bear Canyon.Jay.2017-08-06

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.

This is our second off-the-beaten-path hike, which I planned using GoogleEarth and topographic resources (such as Lists of John’s Interactive Map and the US Topo app on my Android tablet & phone).  The goal here was to hike up Moon Canyon, then descend into the Rito Peñas Negras valley and return via the Bell Lawrence Canyon.

The Drive In

There appeared on the topo maps two routes to our selected trailhead, one from bottom of Moon Canyon from NM 126 northeast on FR 117, or one that crosses the ridge from NM 126 to FR 117 in the neighborhood of Jack Spring.  Going in, we chose the latter – it is a bit rough, certainly requires a high clearance vehicle, but is passable when dry.  

When leaving, we headed down FR 176 towards NM 126 – this is a -very- rough road (a challenge for my Tacoma), and ultimately was impassable because of a -huge- rock (bigger than the Tacoma) that had fallen onto the road/two-track where the road was too narrow to get around it.  Thus, we turned around and headed back to the cross road and NM 126

The Hike

Moon-Rito Peñas Negras.Jay.2017-06-25

The hike began on FR 117, a two-track (it appears to be FR 117) that proceeds up the north (left) then south face of Moon Canyon and onto the ridge separating it from the Rito Peñas Negras valley.  We were on the lookout for a reasonable descent into the Valley and chose to descend about 2.9 miles into the hike. The Rito Peñas Negras valley is wide and open, with a small stream flowing through its bottom fed by 2 or 3 springs (noted on the topo maps).  

This is being used as pasture, and tho’ we’ve encountered cattle on other hikes, on this one it was a bull who seemed to be unhappy about our presence.  So we kept our distance, staying among the trees along the edge of the valley.  After eyeing each other while we had our mid-hike break, the bull finally decided he didn’t want to provoke us and headed down-valley – we didn’t see him again.

From there it was an easy hike, about 1.9 miles, to the entrance to Bell Lawrence Canyon, then up Bell Lawrence, up a steep ascent to the ridge-top, and down to parking.  

Jay here: My recollection is that this was a relatively strenuous hike a lot of ups and downs and some bushwacking. Then there was the bull. While we made coffee this behemoth looked on and pawed the ground occasionally to let us know we were on his turf. It was necessary to cross a large meadow and we kept waiting for Ferdinand to come charging out of the woods and forcing us to dodge behind a tree, but he must have had a pressing appointment because we didn’t see him again.

Highlight

The Rito Peñas Negras (Black Rock Creek) is a very pleasant stream that runs the length of the canyon. We also found game trails that made some of our bushwacking a lot easier than the usual rough going.

Statistics

Total Distance:  6.67 miles
Elevation: start 8,545 ft, maximum 8,882 ft,  minimum 8,181 ft
Gross gain: 701 ft, Aggregate ascending 1,737 ft, descending 1,738 ft
Maximum slope: 45% ascending, 43% descending, 9% average
Duration: 4:06

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

AroundGuides: Moon Canyon (great interactive map of area features)
USDA Forest Service: Riot Penas Negras Stream Inventory Report  (pdf)

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

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

Having exploited all the trail for which I could find others’ tracks, I spent some time on GoogleEarth and top maps (for example, Lists of John’s Interactive Map)  to develop a plan to hike up Telephone Canyon, descend into Calaveras Canyon via a side canyon we had visited earlier (Calaveras Canyon Hike), proceed to the upper end of Calaveras, cross over into Moon Canyon, and find our way back to parking.  

The Hike

Telephone Canyon Plus.Jay.2017-06-11

Proceeding up Telephone Canyon was via a two-track – easy walking.  About .7 mile along, we encountered a crossing two-track which we followed northwest for about .4 mile until finding a slope on the right that looked promising for a descent into the Calaveras side canyon.  This required some bushwhacking, working around deadfall and underbrush for about .3 mile brought us to a fence and the open canyon bottom.  Another .3 mile and we found ourselves in Calaveras Canyon (just as planned!).

We then headed up (north) in Calaveras Canyon; the canyon floor was open but the surface was quite rough with the large clumps of grass we’ve found in other canyons.  Fortunately, the cowpath through the center of the canyon floor made walking easier.  We proceeded up the canyon for about 1.3 miles, to virtually the head of the canyon, and then headed northwest (to the left), up the slop to gain the ridge top from which we planned to descend from there in to Moon Canyon.  Because I got a bit confused and didn’t take an easy descent into Moon Canyon, we hiked south on the ridgetop until we found another reasonable slope down into Moon Canyon. This required some bushwacking, so after about .4 mile we stopped for our mid-hike break.

Then we descended into Moon Canyon where the canyon floor made for easy hiking.  We soon came upon a two-track which we followed for about .7 miles, then ascended up a medium steep slop to the ridge top, back down into Telephone Canyon where we picked up the outbound two-track and returned to parking.

Highlight

I was pleased with the lessons learned from this first off-the-beaten path hike.  Heretofore we’ve followed tracks published by others; I hope this and our reports of such hikes in the future will be helpful for others wishing to enjoy these wonderful Jemez Mountains.

Jay here: This was a challenging hike for total length and ascents. And don’t forget the bushwacking…there was plenty of that as well. We departed the 2-track at one point and plunged down a steep hill, followed by a barbed wire fence that had to be crawled under….just another walk in the woods.

Statistics

Total Distance:  6.88 miles
Elevation: start ft, maximum 8,987 ft,  minimum 8,525 ft
Gross gain: 462 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,495 ft, descending 1,491 ft
Maximum slope: 34% ascending, 45% descending, 7% average
Duration: 4:13

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 ASCHG: Calaveras Canyon – Big Side Canyon Hike
                        (upper 1/2 mile overlaps our Telephone Canyon Hike)
AroundGuides:  Telephone Canyon
                        (great interactive map of area features)

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

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

We returned again to the Jemez Mountains, to explore the canyons north of Fenton Lake.

The Drive In

This time we drove up FR 378, to the head of the set of canyons that branch off of Calaveras Canyon – Barley, Bear, Oat and Hay, this day to hike Pony Canyon and an unnamed canyon north of and parallel to Pony. 

The Hike

Pony Canyon.Jay.2017-06-04

From parking, we surmounted a ridge to descend into the upper reaches of Pony Canyon.  Some distance down the slope we found ourselves on a 2-track (which we later discovered we had passed on our way up FR 378 to parking).  We followed the 2-track the length of Pony Canyon, generally open meadow-like in the canyon floor but, as with the other canyons, a rock wall on the right (north) side and steep slope on the south side of the canyon.  

About 1.8 miles from where we started, we found the north side of the canyon permitted ascent to the ridge above – perfect to cross that ridge into the unnamed canyon to the north.  Near the ridge-top we had our mid-hike break, then angled down into the unnamed canyon.  This canyon’s floor wasn’t as open as the others, and at times we found ourselves skirting many down trees and occasionally clumps of underbrush.  

Jay here: This was a surprisingly pleasant hike for the fact that we were surrounded by large aspen groves most of the way. It didn’t take long for it to dawn on us that this would be a magnificent walk in the fall when all the apsens have turned gold. And once again, the detritus was both interesting and puzzling. The bones of a foreleg and hoof we surmised to be that of an elk perhaps. The electric broom style vacuum cleaner is another story. Who brings a vacuum on a hike only to dispose of it? Or was it tossed out of an airplane? We’ll never know but we can dream up some strange scenarios to explain it.

Statistics

Total Distance:  4.08 miles
Elevation: start ft, maximum 9,010 ft,  minimum 8,587 ft
Gross gain: 423 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,055 ft, descending 1,060 ft
Maximum slope: 35% ascending, 37% descending, 9% average
Duration: 3:12

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

ondafringe: Cebolla Canyon – Jemez Mountains – New Mexico, USA
Google Maps: Cebolla Canyon Hike
AroundGuides: Pony Canyon (great interactive map of area features)

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

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