A short walk out of Rio de las Vacas campground, in the afternoon after setting up camp with Jay and Nancy. This was a warmup for hiking the following 2 days in the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. San Pedro Parks is at nearly 10,000 feet elevation – and cooler, a getaway from Albuquerque’s hot summer weather.
The Drive In
The drive to San Pedro Parks: from Bernalillo: US 550 to Cuba; in the middle of town turn right onto NM 126, continue for 10 miles. Continue past the turnoff to San Gregorio Lake (FR70) for 2 miles to the entrance to the Rio de las Vacas Campground. We chose Sites 11, a double site to accommodate our R-Pod camper and Jay and Nancy’s Vanaa.
The Hikes
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
Suggested by Ben, the camp host, we crossed NM 126 directly below our campsite (#11), passed through the fence at a gate, and continued downhill towards a pleasant open meadow and the Rio de las Vacas. Reaching the creek, we angled of to the left and followed it downstream, soon crossing to the southside. We continued until the streambanks narrowed blocking our route with dry feet. We crossed back over to the north side (using rocks and a log) and decided to head back to the campground through the woods. Although there was no trail, the ponderosa and fir forest was quite on open and easy to pass through.
Along the stream, it was grassland – easy walking. Through the forest, the floor was gravel and dirt – more easy walking with hardly any deadfall.
Statistics
Total Distance: 1.18 miles
Elevation: start 8,302 ft, maximum 8,304 ft, minimum 8,160 ft
Gross gain: 144 ft. Aggregate ascending 207 ft, descending 165 ft
Maximum slope: 34% ascending, 31% descending, 5.6% average
Duration: 0:52
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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.
Related Posts
Peñas Negras Trail Hike. 08/01/2022
Hikes in San Pedro Parks
References and Resources
USDA Forest Service: Rio de las Vacas Campground
Once atop the ridge, we had marvelous views, east to the Sandia Mountains and west across Dragon’s Back itself to Cabezon beyond. From reconnoitering on GoogleEarth, we planned to take the loop clockwise so as to -descend- on the steepest section of the trail.
Thus we turned left (west) atop this mesa, then to descend on what a sign identified as the “Spine”. We shortly encountered a steep descent through a cleft in rocks. Then we continued on to the spine. And a spine it was, a narrow ridge (<20′ wide), descending gradually at first.
The soil is such that when wet, it becomes very slippery. To make the descent safe, we squatted, braced ourselves on the edges of the “trail”, and duck-walked down. With the weight of my pack, I was comfortable only by sitting down and working my way down a foot or two at a time.
Once we were down into the canyon, the trail was smooth and level – for 300 yards or so. We then began a climb up on the ridge that splits the middle of the canyon. Up on the ridge we had a great view of the length of Dragon’s Back, with Cabezon on the horizon beyond. Along the way we came upon one of the many springs that dot this area, surrounded by a mound of gypsum that continued downhill, from years (decades?) of evaporation of the spring water. I was curious, thinking maybe the water was warm – nope, it was cool.
We continued north on this ridge until our planned turn-around point. Before heading back towards the trailhead, we went a bit further to show Nancy & Jay the big hole Pat & I had discovered on our earlier hike (
The route back started on a two-track which we followed for about 3/4 mile, at which point we took the bike trail to the right. That went well, easy to follow and an easy surface. The views to the west across the canyon were studding, with many variations of red, white, yellow, even some bluish tints in the canyon walls, punctuated by snow in shaded areas. Continuing to follow the GAIA track of the bike trail, once atop the ridge we came to a Y junction; we chose the one to the left that followed the GAIA track. 
Some 300 yards on we encountered a -very narrow- section with a steep slope falling off to the right, and a sign that warned that it was a dangerous route – it was too risky for us. And it is hard for us to imagine that people would take that narrow trail on mountain bikes. So we retraced our steps to the Y junction and took the other leg that took us back to the top of the narrow ravine that we climbed through on our way from the trailhead.
We considered descending that ravine, but chose instead to continue west on the bike trail, then pick up the 2-track that would take us to Cabezon Road, then a third of a mile to the trailhead. ‘Twas a good choice to finish what had been a challenging adventure, an easy downhill trek, then head to Bernalillo and a beer at Bosque Brewing.
