Hanging in the Lincoln National Forest

It has not been the kind of winter I had planned on, although my plans have, admittedly, been vague. I have spent most of the season in my backyard - the Lincoln National Forest. That is no bad thing.

The only traveling was to the east coast for a few days for the funeral of my cousin. In fact, I put off a trip to the Gila, because I thought I might have to make those unhappy travel plans. She had fought lymphoma for 23 years,  and lived a good life in that time.  I guess we hoped she would have one more battle in her, but it was not to be. The world lost a special woman, but is better for her having been here.

While hanging around the Lincoln, I found a public access fishing area very close to my home. It is a spring creek with some wild brown trout. There are supposed to be rainbows there, too, but I don't think so. I have yet to catch a 'bow there, and they are more reckless than browns and easier to catch. Here are some pictures of a few of the little browns I have caught and released on my new keiryu fly rod. Wouldn't you know I didn't have my camera for the prettiest - an 11 or twelve inch male still in spawning colors. It's the truth. It was the first fish caught with the new fly rod, too.

And here is where the little brownies live. I am delighted to have found this place, as I really enjoy fly fishing and it is only a fifteen minute drive from home.

It has been a below-average-snowfall winter, but we have had a few storms that brought enough snow for snowshoeing and backcountry skiing on the local trails.

And I have my volunteer work, too. Looking for downed trees on trails for the USFS has let me get some hiking in. On one of those trips I saw where some high drama had occurred.

A bird of prey left wing and claw marks in the snow. The wingspan was only about 2 and a half feet, so I don't think it was a hawk. Also, there were no squirrel or mouse prints in the snow right there (although squirrel prints were all over the general area). So, I think the prey was under the snow and was heard, not seen. That indicates the bird was one of the smaller owls.


If the trees are small enough, I just remove them. Otherwise, I log their positions for later removal.

Heading home after an afternoon on the trail.

There is plenty to keep me busy here in all seasons, but I am itching to take the keiryu rod to another rio. I hope that will happen soon, before my next volunteer session out on Otero Mesa. Spring will be here before we know it, and the winter trout waters are calling.

Otero Mesa - Cornudas Mountains Area

Near the New Mexico - Texas border there is a very large mesa with the largest remaining Chihuahuan desert grassland in the US. There are beautifully stark volcanic intrusions at the south end of the mesa and evidence of longtime inhabitation by Native Americans. This is Otero Mesa; a patchwork of land owned by ranchers, the state of New Mexico, the BLM and Fort Bliss Military Reservation.

I spent three days here with a group of volunteers from New Mexico Wilderness Alliance to inventory some BLM managed areas. We were documenting their potential for wilderness classification (as defined by the BLM).

We camped at the foot of Alamo Mountain, west of the Cornudas Mountains. There are many petroglyphs scattered throughout the Cornudas, but I did not get a chance to go view them. That will be saved for a recreational visit. There are also ruins of a Butterfield stage station around here, but a visit to those will also have to wait.

The first day we went to a unit near Cornudas Mountain. This area is already a designated "Area of Critical Environmental Concern" (ACEC). When we got there, we found that we needed a permit to enter. We didn't have a permit. We were able to only document human (ranching) impacts and natural characteristics outside the ACEC, and couldn't access Cornudas Mountain itself. Part of the mountain is on private land as well.

Cornudas Mountain from the ACEC boundary. The peak in the distance on the left is Wind Mountain.

The next day we went to an area around the McVeigh Hills and Black Mountain. There were some good views of the Cornudas Mountains from there. In the following picture, Chatfield Mountain is on the left. It straddles the New Mexico - Texas border and the Texas part (including the peak) is on private land. Peeking out from the right side of Chatfield is San Antonio Mountain in Texas. On the right is Wind Mountain in New Mexico. The main reason I took this photo was to show what overgrazing has done. Wherever cattle have overgrazed, the native grasses get replaced with greasewood and mesquite. The grassland soil is very thin and fragile.

Here is a closer view of the same three mountains.

On the way back to camp I stopped at a good eastern prospect. The Guadalupe Mountains were catching the afternoon sun off in the distance. The cliff on the right edge is El Capitan. Guadalupe Peak is to El Cap's left and is the highest point in Texas.

On our third day we broke camp and drove back to the McVeigh hills unit to tie up some inventory loose ends, then started the drive back north. We reached the north edge of Otero Mesa by sunset and had a great view of the southwest edge of the Sacramento Mountains as they turned pink. If you look carefully you will see three light specks on the left half of the ridge. They are the National Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observatory.

From there, it was a short run up highway 54 to highway 82 and home.

Agua Chiquita

I took a drive down FS 64 in the lincoln National Forest to see how Agua Chiquita was doing in this prolonged drought. This rito has a two mile stretch that is designated as a wildlife improvement area, and funds from several sources (including Trout Unlimited) have been raised to introduce Rio Grande Cutthroats there.

The road is one of the best maintained gravel roads in the Lincoln NF.  It sees a lot of traffic, since it passes through the tiny villages of Sacramento and Weed. It was also chock-a-block with hunting camps, since there were 1,500 deer permits issued in the Lincoln for November 10-14.

Before dropping down into Agua Chiquita Canyon, you drive through the Scott Able fire burn scar. This fire occurred in 2000, and more than a decade later, the main vegetation is still just grasses.

Scott Able burned areas

This was the first big fire I experienced after moving here. It roared down the canyon in one night, reaching Sacramento and Weed and burning homes. It didn't get much press because it happened at the same time as the big Cerro Grande fire that burned neighborhoods in Los Alamos. I remember watching the smoke and flames from Apache Point Observatory that first night.


The drought has hit Agua Chiquita pretty hard. The protected area is the only section with any water  until you get close to where Agua Chiquita joins with the Rio Peñasco (all private land).  The protected area is fed by two springs. I can't imagine it will be able to support too many trout. Still, it is a pretty area, even when the grass is dry and the stream is iced over.

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.