NM Adventure Series

Tom, sorry I haven't gotten back to you. I'm working GY's this week and been super busy before work. I'll give you a call tomorrow.

 

Hi guys.

For a change of pace, I made a trip with a couple friends down from northern New Mexico for a two-day off-road trip to check out some other areas of the state. We checked out the Sierra Ladrones, Magdalena, Mt. Withington and the San Antonio Mountains and parts of the Cibola and Gila National Forest and made a fast night run down Montecello Canyon. Two Tacomas, my '06 and a friends '13, and a KTM. Nothing really technical on this trip, just as many off pavement miles as we could. A few unexpected diversions due to locked gates. We left I-25 at Bernardo and returned near Elephant Butte.



Here are a few photos:

The Sierra Ladrones "Thieves Mountains" named for Apache raiders that hid the horses they stole from the Rio Grande Valley here.





Ghost town of Riley





Mt. Withington. You can look down on VLA in the Plains of St. Augustine from here.





Cattle wanting to share lunch



Lots of dust



At the top of the Montecello Box. Geronimo was arrested here.



Night run through the Montecello Box. Happy to have the Rigid 20 inch light bar.







Watch out for cattle! In addition to this cow, I had a black bull jump out of the brush into the road (creek) in front of me. Near miss.

 

All right guys, a couple of us are heading out to the Rio Purco in the morning... Some meeting at my house in Rivers Edge II around 9-915 and can meet others at the walmart at Unser/Southern around 9:30-9:45. All are welcome. Message me if interested, 602-412-7300 Scott

 

Cranking this up again. Nick and I are planning an off-road meet up to Cerro Pedernal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Pedernal

This located on the north side of the Caldera near Abiquiu lake and the drive will be in the same area as our last trip up to the north side of the Caldera.

This will be a day trip and we're looking at a day between Christmas and Jan 4th. If you have interest, please chime in here on what days you'd like to go by Sunday evening (Dec 21st).

Right now, minimum requirement of 4WD is set due to the possibility of encountering snow and ice.

 

I am absolutely interested. But I am in CA waiting for my son to be born. I will more than likely be back in ABQ the 28th though. Circumstances may change things, but anytime after that is my vote, and if I'm in ABQ I would love to go! All tentative on my son though, I'll let you know.

 

Hey qnyla do you have some more information on your 2 day trip south? I'd love to do something like this nothing too technical, because my truck is still stock. Where did you find the route you guys took? Thanks! It looked like a great trip!

 

Count me in. Any day after the 1st would be best for me.

 

OK. Lookin' like the 2 or the 3rd of Jan would make people happy. Any strong preferences between the two?

 

3rd here, I work on the 2nd.

 

Well great things mean no wheeling next weekend with you guys... My son was born on the 26th and I will be in CA until the 7th...

Man Tom, seems like all your wheel trips always line up with my family trips in CA haha

 

It's ok. I'm sick again so this may get postponed. Not having the greatest of luck living in NM.

Congratulations!

 

The "I have a dream... of the great outdoors" Run

Where: Cerro Pedernal Tentative: ABQ folks meet up in Bernallilo. Meet with northern folks in Espanola. Head into the NF via 31 Mile Rd and start working towards Cerro Pedernal. (Should start very similar to our last jaunt north of the Caldera).

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Pedernal

Google Maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x8717ff9620e96e35:0x7f79211c6444347b

When: Mon Jan 19

Who:
1. TomTom
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

No limit on numbers. Copy, paste and add your name.

Required: Food, water, CB, Recovery Equipment (hooks & straps are a min.), Toolkit, etc.

Be prepared for snow.

Meeting Spot: Blake's in Bernallilo (US550 & I-25), 9am-ish

Apologies for listing this so late. Life.

 

Who:
1. TomTom
2. MojaveMadMan
3.
4.
5.
6.

I need to find a CB to bring...

 

To bad guys, I should be gone this week if my roof rack comes in. Have fun.

 

Who:
1. TomTom
2. MojaveMadMan
3. SLOBRA
4.
5.
6.

Sounds like fun, I'm in.

 

I wish it wasnt a monday. Why not Sat or Sun ?

 

National holiday. Only time I got.

 

Who:
1. TomTom
2. MojaveMadMan
3. SLOBRA
4. BigFishAllDay
5.
6.


Alright guys, I have some thoughts to add on this one.

First, I have been to the top of Cerro Pedernal once before. My last trip was 4 years ago. I took a video of the view from the top, which will help explain some things.

www.youtube.com/embed/hYzS5_HUcck

The video starts looking NE toward Abiquiu lake, and shows the steep NE flank of the mountain. At approx. 00:18 you can see Highway 96 as it heads west out of Youngsville. I came in via that route, and took a left onto FR100 out of Youngsville. At 00:25, you can see a dark canyon running through the shot. After the initial switchbacks, the road parallels that canyon on the way up the mountain. In the foreground you can see a large meadow at the base of the mountain. That is where the side road that ascends Cerro Pedernal itself ends, and where we would eventually end up. From there, you have to hike to the top of the mountain, and as you can see, the elevation gain is 500+ feet to the top.

At 00:36, there is a large meadow in the center of the shot... right there is where you make a left onto the spur road up Temoline Canyon that takes you to the base of the mountain. At 00:38 you can see FR100 as it continues on deep into the Northern Jemez, with Canones Creek/Canyon to the left. Just on the other side of the farthest ridge that you can see in the background, you would find 31 mile road heading east/west. That ridge is the North Rim of the Caldera.

Ok, so here are my thoughts.

1. The meadow at the base of the mountain is at 9,100 feet in elevation.

2. The rest of the trail south from Cerro Pedernal to 31 mile road ranges from 8,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation.

3. THERE WILL BE SNOW. Especially after this current storm. There will probably be lots of snow, and IMO I do not think the route between 31 mile road and Cerro Pedernal will be passable.

4. The spur road up to Cerro Pedernal is short, but rough. The last time I drove it, some large boulders had rolled onto the road bed, making for some tight spots. The grade is not extreme, except for one section where you have to make a steep climb on a hillside amongst trees. Some of the trees are dead and down, some are standing. Beyond that, there are some sizeable ruts, and lots of small/medium rocks.

5. I do think that there is a chance for us to make it up the road to the base of Cerro Pedernal with as much as 12 inches of snow, with the RIGHT snow conditions. If it's icy, we will not make it to the top.

6. All that being said, I think the run is still worth doing. We can make an attempt on Cerro Pedernal and if we get shut down, we can head into the forest on FR 100 and just see how far we can go.

7. If all else fails, Echo Canyon Amphitheater is nearby, and is a cool sight to check out. There is also a play area that I've heard of called Area 155 that is just east of Abiquiu. It looks to be very much like the Puerco in that there a bunch of obstacles scattered about, with stuff that's easy enough for a stock rig all the way up to buggy stuff.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!!!!

The spur road up to the base of Cerro Pedernal is not on the latest MVUM maps for the SF National Forest, so the road may or may not be blocked/gated/closed. If that happens to the be the case, we'll have to find another option. I checked the Area 155 spot, and it looks like it's on the MVUM listed as open.

So, regardless of the final scenario we should get to do some exploring in the snow, maybe see some new stuff, and use our 4WD.

For reference:

SF NF MVUM:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3795882.pdf

Carson NF MVUM:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/stelprdb5336093.pdf

Area 155:

36°13'11.28"N 106°20'9.20"W

Spur Road up Cerro Pedernal:

36° 8'31.05"N 106°30'55.96"W

 

All this trip talk and I work on that day. My truck would be good for making the first tracks.

 

The "I have a dream... of the great outdoors" Run

When: Mon Jan 19

Where: Cerro Pedernal Meet up in Bernalillo, head up towards Santa Fe, catching US84 through Espanola then onto NM96 and taking a left onto FR100. From there we'll see what the trail brings us.

Meeting Spot: Blake's in Bernallilo (US550 & I-25), 9am-ish

Who:
1. TomTom
2. MojaveMadMan
3. SLOBRA
4. BigFishAllDay
5.
6.

No limit on numbers. Copy, paste and add your name.

Required: Food, water, CB, Recovery Equipment (hooks & straps are a min.), Toolkit, etc.

Be prepared for snow.

For reference

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Pedernal

Google Maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x8717ff9620e96e35:0x7f79211c6444347b

SF NF MVUM:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3795882.pdf

Carson NF MVUM:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MEDIA/stelprdb5336093.pdf

Area 155:

36°13'11.28"N 106°20'9.20"W

Spur Road up Cerro Pedernal:

36° 8'31.05"N 106°30'55.96"W

(Thanks for the input, Nick. Always very helpful.)