This hike was to explore further the canyons and mesas in this northwestern quadrant of the Jemez Mountains.
The Hike
Telephone Canyon Mesa Hike.jay.2017-09-03
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
| GPS Track Files for Download | |
64 Downloads |
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208 Downloads |
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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”.
