It was still winter, the best time to hike in the open territory of the Ojito Wilderness; the weather becomes quite hot in summertime. 

The Hike

For this day we set out from the end of the two-track in Marquez Wash that we usually use for the Mesita de Ricardo hikes, this time going to the east (rather than north) which takes one below the north face of Bernalillito Mesa.  After inspecting the building and windmill at the parking place, we headed around the somewhat tall hill, then along the lower slope of the Mesa. The going was reasonably easy, easier when we found rock cairns marking a trail that we followed the remainder of the hike.

Always looking over us was the face of Bernalillito Mesa, with varying, interesting formations along the edge. We remembered that we had hiked out to the point of the Mesa (Bernalillito Mesa Top Hike – 12/11/2016) , and the deep crevices at the edge that defined large blocks that seemed to be ready to break off like calving icebergs (someday).  Along the trail we found many quite interesting rock formations (check the photos below).

About 1.2 miles into the hike we rounded the point and headed south.  Soon we began to see things that looked familiar.  Sure enough, we realized that we had come to Hoodoo Pines, a destination for other hikes (Hoodoo Pines Hike – 01/03/2017 and Hoodoo Pines Hike – 12/17/2017). We also noticed that weather that had been bringing snow to the Naciemento Mountains to the northwest was spreading in our direction. It was time for our mid-hike break (fresh coffee and snacks).  As the clouds to the west became darker, we beat a retreat to the truck.   If any precipitation that fell on the 1 mile of two-track back to Pipeline Road, we would surely get stuck. It was a close call; we had snow flurries on our drive out.

Jay here: Perfect example of New Mexico weather changing rapidly and biting us in the butt. We just barely made it back to the truck when the snow squall hit. You can’t photograph snowfall (it melts in the lens, ha), but it was coming down hard as we left the trailhead. Within minutes we were out of this very localized squall and racing for the paved highway.

Statistics

Total Distance:  3.20 miles
Elevation: start  5,822 ft, maximum  5,958 ft,  minimum  5,822 ft
Gross gain:  136 ft.  Aggregate ascending  538 ft, descending  538 ft
Maximum slope: 22% ascending, 23% descending, 5.2% average
Duration: 2:17

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.

Related Posts (in the vicinity)

All Ojito Hikes

References

Hiking in New Mexico: Our hikes in the Ojito Wilderness
    Descriptions, tracks, references, and photos

Jay's Photos: Click Here for slide show.

George's Photos: Click Here for slide show.

Seeking new route in the Ojito Wilderness, I sketched a track on Google Earth around the north side of Mesa de Ricardo.  (Note: I’ve been unable to find a map that identifies this mesa by name.  But the very small mesa at the southeast corner is known as Mesita de Ricardo.  So … I’m dubbing this large one Mesa de Ricardo. (I don’t know who Ricardo was.)

The Drive In

The drive in on Cabezon Road, then Pipeline Road, is easy – it has been graded since last winter leaving it without ruts or dried-up mudholes.  The turnoff onto the two-track is easy to identify and it is reasonably good- for a two-track (if careful, one could traverse it with less than a high-clearance vehicle). Parking is at the locked gate .4 mile off of Pipeline Road.

The Hike

We opted to go clockwise, planning to proceed northeast in Arroyo Cucho, along the north face of Mesa de Ricardo. Then around the northeast end and back on top to return to the truck.  The first 1/3 mile is on a two-track and the open space of the base of the Mesa.  Cabezon Peak is in view to the northwest, and the Nascimiento Mountains plus other mesas in the vicinity are in view to the northeast (as in the featured image above). Then into the Arroyo, past a fairly large dam (there are other smaller dams further down the Arroyo); the Arroyo is wide and mostly flat.  Staying close to the side of the mesa on our right, we found little in the way of interesting rocks or other geology; the going was easy ‘tho we had to cross a few very small arroyos.

Rounding the northeast end of the Mesa, we found more interesting features: rock formations, rocks with strange surfaces, the edge of the mesa that in some places appeared to be ready to calve (like a glacier), and occasionally a small rock different than anything around it – where did that piece come from and how did it get here?  

Since we decided to not make a complete circumnavigation, I had identified 3 possible routes to get back atop the Mesa and more directly back to the truck.  Two of them went up more or less the face of the Mesa, the third up a small canyon (as it appeared on Google Earth and the Topo maps).  The weather was chilly, amplified by wind, so we chose the canyon.  The going was easy until near the top where we had 20′ or 30′ feet of rockfall to climb up.  After a pause for our mid-hike break, Jay led the way up and onto the Mesa.

The return route to the truck was over generally flat land, among a few small juniper trees, and notably over many large clumps of prickly pear cactus.  I’m always on the lookout for signs of past occupation (ruins), and ‘tho this mesa would seem to be as accommodating as others where we’ve found ruins, none came to our attention here.  On the way out, we encountered a few cows, one with a nearly-newborn calf; we had to pause for Jay to take a photo of the pair.

Jay here: I was under the weather with a cold for this hike, hence its brevity. We usually can do a lot better than 3.2 miles, but under the circumstances it was the best I could do. And anything under 400 ft of ascent is always okay by me.

Statistics

Total Distance:  3.22 miles
Elevation: start  6,034 ft, maximum  6,169 ft,  minimum  5,975 ft
Gross gain:  194 ft.  Aggregate ascending  393 ft, descending  392 ft
Maximum slope: 39% ascending, 15% descending, 4.4% average
Duration: 2:45

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.

Related Posts (in the vicinity)

All Ojito Hikes

References:

ASCHG:
     Mesita De Ricardo – Northwest Passage Hike
     Beyond Meseta De Ricardo Hike
The American Southwest:
     San Juan Basin Badlands
     Map of the San Juan Basin Badlands

Jay's Photos: Click Here for slide show.

George's Photos: Click Here for slide show.