Nogal Canyon and Nogal Peak

This weekend was set aside for wilderness inventory in New Mexico's White Mountain Wilderness. I met up with the other volunteers at the end of FS400 at the north end of the wilderness. This is one area that did not burn in this year's Little Bear fire.

Our campsite, with Nogal Peak as the backdrop.

On Saturday we headed up to the end of Nogal Canyon. There was a depressing number of invasive musk thistles in the canyon. They tend to be where human and livestock impact is heaviest. We logged their locations, but there were too many for our little group to eradicate on this trip. A little over a mile into the wilderness there is a junction of three different trails where the group split up. Once we got into these less travelled areas we saw only a few thistles. From then on, we mostly logged points of interest, old campsites and social trails. We had a great hike.

Heading up the canyon

The view west near the junction of trails. The dark streak in the distance is Valley of Fires, one of the youngest lava flows in the continental U.S. Just under the widest part of the lava flow is the village of Carrizozo.

Our assigned trail took us south, where we got some views of the part of the wilderness that burned. The green grass that grew during monsoon season softened the visual impact of the fire. Many areas in the distance where you see grass are burned. The fire went all the way to the ski runs of Ski Apache in the distance, and ran off to the left out of the frame.

A zoomed in view looking toward some burned areas

We were not in an area with many aspens, but we did come across a stand of maples on the road back to camp.

We enjoyed a tasty dinner, thanks to the GIS expert and leader of the group, some great conversation around the campfire, and then headed off to sleep.

The next morning (Sunday) broke clear and windy.

We all decided to hike to the summit of Nogal Peak. It isn't the highest peak in the area at 9957 feet, but it is the highest point in the north part of the wilderness and gives good 360 degree views. Besides, the trail to the summit had not been added to the inventory, so it was a mix of work and play.

On the way to the peak, looking toward the Capitan Mountains in the distance.

The view from the summit. South is left, west is right. Off in the distance is the north end of White Sands as well as Valley of Fires.

Here is the panorama broken into two pieces, so you get a little more detail.

The view to the east. In the distance on the right are the Capitan Mountains.

The Nogal Peak marker

After eating lunch at the summit, we headed back to the trailhead.

Looking down on Nogal Canyon where we had hiked the day before.

Tired, we rested a bit at the trailhead, then said our good-byes and headed for our homes scattered across New Mexico. If the weather holds, we will be back here again next week to complete the inventory of the northern trails of the White Mountain Wilderness.

Three Rivers Campground - West-side Gateway to the White Mountain Wilderness

I've been trying to fit in as many camping trips as I can before winter hits, but my September trips took a big bite out of my travel budget. That meant choosing a nearby destination for my latest trip. I decided to head over to Three Rivers Campground at the southwestern edge of New Mexico's White Mountain Wilderness. From there I could take some day hikes into the White Mountain Wilderness.

Campsite 8 has the best views of both the Tularosa Basin and the mountains near Sierra Blanca. I was glad to see it was empty, and even had a beautiful example of New Mexico's state flower,  Aluminum budlightium var. NFL.

Here is the view to the east. The high point has no name that I know of. Hiding behind it is Lookout Mountain. The campground is in the piñon-juniper zone, but the hikes all head uphill to intersect with the Crest Trail, so you climb into the pine-oak belt and the fir-aspen belt, and finally up to the spruce-fir belt. The trails climb an average of 1,000 feet in elevation for every mile travelled.

The same view at sunset.

Looking west, in the direction of the Tularosa Basin.

There's nothing better than enjoying sunset by a campfire.

The campground is right at the edge of the wilderness.

My first day hike was up the Dry Canyon trail. Before you start the climb, you cross Three Rivers canyon. The river would just be a creek anywhere but in the Southwest. Anything that flows year-round deserves to be called a river here.

As you start the climb out of the campground, the view of the Tularosa Basin opens up. The little strip of white in the distance on the left is the northern edge of White Sands. It was a hazy day, and warm for October.

At the lower elevations, there is a lot of Prickly Pear cactus.  The tunas were ripening and there was a lot of evidence along the trail that the local bear and raccoon populations were feeding heavily on them. Tunas are pretty tasty.

By the time you get into Dry Canyon proper, the views close in. I didn't take many photos at that point, mainly because I was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Katie-the-collie and I didn't make it all the way to the Crest Trail. We did a 6.5 mile round trip with an almost 3,000 foot elevation gain. I'm not in the greatest shape, but I guess I'm a little more fit now than I was before this hike. We climbed quite a ways past the rock outcropping in the following photo.

Along the way, in the pine-oak zone, I saw a lot of this plant. I think it is a variety of White Clematis, but don't know for sure. Any experts out there who can confirm this identification?

After making my way back down the canyon, there was time for dinner, a refreshing beverage and a small campfire before bed. I slept well. Being tired will do that - or maybe it was the beverage.

Dry canyon is the one at the left side of the following photo taken from the campground. You can also see that the aspens are reaching their peak color in the heights. Weather permitting, I will be up at the higher elevations of the wilderness in about a week. I hope the aspens will hold their color until then.

The next day Katie and I took a less strenuous hike on the Barber Ridge trail. This trail runs north along the edge of the wilderness for a while before turning east to climb up to the Crest trail. We only did the north-south section as far as Goat Canyon. The further out you go, the less developed the trail, and some sections are pretty rocky. It amazes me that horses can get through some of these trails, but obviously they do. The part of the trail we were on stayed in the piñon-juniper zone.

Another view toward the "Tulie" Basin, with White Sands off in the distance.

Along the way, a Rainbow Grasshopper posed for a picture. She was about two inches long.

A nice place where Katie and I stopped for a snack.

We arrived back at camp in the afternoon, in time to listen to the Giants game on internet radio. There were cell towers off in the distance on a ridge, and I was amused that I had much better cell signal at the campground than I get at home. I'm guessing that the towers mainly serve the military installations out in the basin. I don't think they would be placed there for a few ranchers and campers, but who knows?

The last time I was at Three Rivers CG, I had just adopted Katie and it was her first camping and hiking trip. Every time we went by the empty campsite we stayed at then, Katie stopped and wanted to investigate. I swear she remembered the area and the previous trip. That was quite a while ago, too.

The next day it was time to head home to take care of some chores. The round-trip only took about seven gallons of gas, yet it was far enough away that I had the feeling of being "elsewhere". Three Rivers made for a nice little autumn getaway.