NM Adventure Series

I was at the Speedway on the SE corner of 550 and Main Street in Aztec early Saturday morning and met a guy who was driving a Mustang, but also owns a Taco. He and I were talking for a few, but I was in such a rush to get out of there I didn't get his name.

He did seem very interested in my truck and was asking me questions. Not sure who you are, but sorry I didn't seem interested in talking. I was trying to get to the trailhead to Engineer Mountain and meet some friends to hike.

Let me know who you are for future reference! Thanks! Maybe we can meet up sometime in the near future!

My NM license plate is 007TACO.

 

The family and I made a last minute decision to head up to Colorado and make some use of our 3 day weekend.

On our way to Animas Forks you can see the leftovers from some avalanches. Most of the time we just noticed laid down trees but the photos below are on the main road.




The roads were loaded with side by sides and ATVs so it was dusty and rushed. We continued on and hit Animas forks.

We soon hit the road again going through California Gulch.




I had never ran ledge roads like they have up there and the crowds made it a little stressful. I was constantly having to try to watch for a pullout to figure out where I can fit to avoid on coming traffic. The below photo shows me pulled to the side just past California Pass, just waiting.

We continued through hurrican pass.


I had enough of the crowds and took CR 10 out. My wife's photos made us look isolated but it was like being at the city zoo. The crowds were so bad it made it stressfull and rushed.

The entire trip was because it was probably my last chance to poke around up there before it all gets snowed in again. I will definitely go again to see how it is on a non-holiday weekend, the scenery was awesome and there were some cool vehicles running around, but that's too many people for me.

 

The secret is definitely out when it comes to the Ouray/Telluride area and surrounding passes. IMO, once you start seeing the big events pop up and an area becomes "hip" it's time to look at other areas on the map. Between the FJ Summit, Hundreds in the Hills, 200 Series LCDC, Jeep Jamboree, etc that place has become as busy as Moab in the spring... and due to the limited season (July-Sept) it stays busy pretty much the whole time.

This year seemed to be even busier due to the huge snowpack, late trail openings, and limited season. There are other areas in CO with mountain roads/passes in abundance that are every bit as high and scenic, but without the traffic. Granted, there won't be Saturday night vendor shows, multiple hotels/motels, and free BBQ (with your $100 registration fee), but you'll have solitude, a spot to camp, and room to breathe.

 

shhh...

In all seriousness, Colorado trails across the state are a freakin circus due to rentals, SxSs, and geotagging. If i can't take the time off and run trail X during the week its not happening. Trail traffic uphere is getting worse and worse.

I used to hammock camp all over the state of NM without a care in the world, I sorely miss those days.

 

I hear ya. I have done zero exploring in Colorado and need to do more. I knew the place would be busy and it was cool to check out so I want to give it one more shot, but if its super busy again I won't be returning after that. I think I might head south next, I haven't been to the Gila yet.

 

I feel you on that man I’m not super pumped for next week knowing how busy it’s gonna be. Just be prepared for Moab it’s more of the same but totally worth checking out and while you’re out there spend some time in the Canyonlands not as much traffic and plenty of good wheeling/sightseeing. I’m also down to head south and spend some time in Ruidoso and Gila for sure and we’ve got plenty of time to plan something.

 

My family and I spent a day on dirt with our long lost OP @tomtom over the Labor Day weekend. I got to show him some backcountry areas that I enjoy.









We also visited my dad at his property near Heron lake and my kids caught a whole family of horned lizards. I've always thought these little guys were lucky, and have only ever seen one at any given time before in my whole life.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post a trip report and photos. It looks like you guys found some great campsites and hit some nice sections of trail. That part of the Jemez has been on my radar for years, but I've never made it out there. Maybe next time.

Colorado would take a dozen lifetimes to fully explore. There is so much out there that isn't talked about on the internet, you just have to get out the maps and point your rig in a direction that looks good. Ouray/Telluride are definitely worth a few visits, even given the crowds. Early/late in the season and midweek are the way to go. Watch the websites like bushducks that monitor the status of the passes and hit them before the big events kick off.

The Gila has a lot to offer, but most of it will be on foot. Also, it's freaking hot down there most of the year, even at high elevations. Those two factors, mainly the latter, have always kept me from spending much time down there.

Moab is worth it, crowds or not.

 

I know moab will be busy but it works out well because it's halfway between me and my buddy. Crappy part is he gets back from deployment in spring so that is probably when we will be in moab. I haven't checked out down by Ruidoso or Capitan yet either so I'm down.

The Gila is hot but I think it will work as a good filler during spring and fall since there are so many roads. Silly part is that Colorado is closer to me then the Gila.

Thanks for sharing! Did you take the family with you? I'm learning with my almost 3 year old that I need to expect a lot less out of trips.

Maybe you can put together a trip sometime and get tomtom out again.

 

The trip that @Darth ToyTaco and @Taco505 put together recently inspired me to get the girls out and explore new areas in the Jemez. We covered a lot of ground, found some nice campsites, and saw/caught a few critters. Most of our time was spent south and west of 126 on the Cuba side.

Sunrise on the Rito Penas Negras



Old ranch house in the same drainage



Checking out the cave under Tea Kettle Rock





Tea Kettle





Bluebird Mesa







A horned lizard that I barely spotted while descending a rocky section of road



Rio de Las Vacas



Sucker minnow... we also saw a nice cutthroat in the same pool



Tired pup



Camp 2 above the Las Vacas



Gnarled old trunk of a felled ponderosa



Cabezon Peak, photo center, as viewed from western slopes below Bluebird

 

When I went up there during FJ Summit to meet Jimmy, the trails were super busy. It was expected of course but there was one morning where we were trying to come down the mountain and everyone was trying to come up at the same time. We had to pull over for about 15-20 minutes as we waited for multiple groups to come up. Eventually we just said "fuck it, fuck them, they can wait on us now!" Haha

You can see some of the traffic we had to let through on the other side of the avalanche.

 

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I was up in CO but I guess a late post is better than no post.

Anyway a couple friends and I have yearly trip up to Blues and Brews in Telluride. This is the first year we decided to add a little wheeling in the mix. The original idea was to take Stony Pass from Creede to Silverstein then Ophir Pass from Silverton to Ophir and then up to telluride.

Unfortunately plans fell through for Stony Pass and we couldn’t make it. Fortunately we were still able to run through Ophir Pass which on its own was pretty amazing but I was hoping for a little more of a technical drive than what it was. Anyway enough text here are some pictures.



A little hard to see but this is at the pass 11,789ft







And this is one of my favorite pictures from Blues and Brews, Low Cut Connie I highly recommend catching one of their shows if you have the chance.

 

Hey folks, I'm retired now, and have a lot more time to hit the trails. If someone's going to the Puerco, please let me know as I live very close to that now. If I come up with an adventure idea, I'll post it here as well.

This thread has languished a bit, so I wanted to bump it.

 

We will definitely send you an invite next time and post up.

We mostly have video from yesterday but here are a couple screen shots to represent a trip report.

 

Thanks, DTT! My job made it hard to know ahead of time when I'd be off on a weekend, so I haven't done much wheeling, but I have new-to-me bumpers now, and my lift is pretty well sorted out. Only running 32" tires, though.

That's some gnarly stuff you guys were on!

 

I'm up for some New Mexico trails as well.

 

Are you near Sanders AZ?

 

No, but I drove through there last Saturday.
I am in Springerville.

 

A few videos from yesterdays trip to the Puerco.
https://youtu.be/5n8xA1rdrm8
https://youtu.be/Ix5cEiWLwM4
https://youtu.be/Q6o9rnAkFo0
https://youtu.be/FREo1bXUflE
https://youtu.be/m95dXJHFWE0
https://youtu.be/Q_KzC5IpwiE
https://youtu.be/0hqaVqW519U
https://youtu.be/5ZxnzDCxTR8
https://youtu.be/vdT71QKE9iw
https://youtu.be/Yee6UUh0U68
https://youtu.be/w8yoi06cShk
https://youtu.be/8gp4N95WAaI

 

It seems like my M.O. lately to post about a trip 2 months later but might as well right?

Anyway here is a mostly picture heavy trip report from our adventure on section 3 of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (T or C → Reserve).

Day 1 Nov 22, 2019
Route Map

Myself, @Darth ToyTaco, @TacoIII, and his father-in-law (not pictured) met at the Isleta Travel Center and made our way 160 miles south to the Winston General Store.



On the way there we hit some interesting weather some fog, rain, and small snow flurries.


Finally made it down to the Winston General store around 11:00 am to fill up gas tanks and get a few last-minute things, like wood which none of us brought . We assumed (you know what happens when you assume) that we could buy wood at the general store. Well, that in fact, was wrong and the gigantic pile of wood outside is used only for warming the store and the house throughout the winter. So we figured we'd gather wood along the trek knowing full well we were going to need a fire with the weather projected to be in the mid-teens to the low twenties at night. We left the store and headed into Chloride Canyon making our way to Hwy 59.






At this point, we started climbing out of Chloride Canyon and gaining some elevation, here we began to hit some snow/ice patches.


Along the way, we passed Monument Park Cabin, the Continental Divide, and ran into a sizable roadblock.


I think we were all pretty glad that this tree was already broken in half because none of us had a chain saw. We made quick work moving the left half out of the way with a winch.


As you all know the days get shorter and shorter in the fall so we weren't going to make our planned campsite before dark. Looking at the map we were a few miles out from FR 231 where we found a pretty great campsite in Doagy Canyon. We all set up camp pretty quickly, got the fire started, @TacoIII made us some Spam Mac n' Cheese, and opened a few beers.


Day 2 Nov 23, 2019
Route Map

One the second day our plan was to make it to Reserve and find a campsite in the area before heading home Sunday. We had driven about 200 miles the day before about 40 of that being part of the NMBDR and still had about 90 miles to Reserve.

We all woke up in the morning a little frostbitten and after looking at the temp on the truck we figured out why.





After the sun had risen a bit and we began to thaw out, got busy making a quick breakfast, and loading up for the next leg. We decided to stop at the Beaverhead Ranger station to get some info on road conditions and use a real restroom. Of course, it being the weekend there wasn't a soul around so we hit the restroom and trecked along to our next stop.



After leaving the ranger station we traveled down CR 22 on our way to Snow Lake. We stopped there for a quick lunch before taking on the pass into Reserve.



We had hit some patches of snow before but this was definitely the most we had seen thus far.



We followed those tracks up to the pass where we found a little more snow and took a break before continuing on into Reserve.



The tracks eventually disappeared and we began breaking tracks. I don't have as many photos here because it was a bit sketchy with the snow and being a little close to the edge with some significant drops.



Some nice bear tracks that im sure we just missed. After the tracks we made it down a fairly steep section turned a corner and of course, found another fallen tree. This one we were able to move out of the way without the winch. Had we not been able to move the tree it would have been a hell of a time backtracking, glad we didn't have to.



After a few more miles we made it out to Beaverhead Road, which by the way is god awful. It's basically a post-apocalyptic road with massive cracks and potholes everywhere that took us into Reserve. A couple of us filled up with gas before heading to Apache Creek Campground for the night. The next morning we woke up to warmer but still freezing 27°, we then packed up and hit the road. I had to be home a little earlier and broke from the pack but the rest of the guys dropped by the Verry Large Array on the way back into town.



Some final thoughts on the trip:

• Don't be an idiot and pack wood, we got pretty lucky finding dry wood along the way without that we would have been SOL.
• Camping in below freezing temps isn't great but honestly isn't terrible provided you have thermals and some decent sleeping gear.
• If you know it's going to be below freezing pour some water out in a pot you can warm up in the morning because getting frozen water out of a jug isn't much fun.
• The route itself? It's really pretty and definitely more scenic than anything. I'm pretty certain I could have made the drive in the gf's Rav4 had there not been snow.
• The snow did make it challenging and somewhat fun on the downhill section into Reserve.
• Would I do this route again? Yes in a different capacity or linked with different routes providing more of a challenge.

I hope the writeup isn't too terrible! I'll have another post in a little while about our trip to Socorro.