Sleeping Lady Hills

We did a Sunday hike in the Sleeping Lady Hills, a small range of volcanic hills about 10 miles west of Las Cruces. The start of this hike is accessed by a county maintained dirt road that passes through the Corralitos Ranch. We parked near Reichey Butte and started east into the main arroyo of the range.We followed this arroyo,sometimes on a road, but most of the time not, to its end. We then climbed up one of it's feeder ravines to a saddle with views east to the Rough and Ready Hills, the Robledos and Las Cruces.To the south were the cinder cones of the West Potrillos and Mount Riley. To the north were the Sierra de las Uvas.We turned to the southwest, climbed the ridge and soon arrived at the large cairn that marks the highpoint of range(approximately 5,300 feet). We descended the ridge on the west side to another saddle. Here we picked up a trail that sidehilled down a steep-walled canyon and eventually hooked back up with the main arroyo. Total distance was about 5 miles. Elevation gain: 800 feet. It was a pretty nice hike close to town but devoid of people. Which is a good thing now that the Organ Mountain trails have taken on the feel of a city park on the weekends. We did hear a lot of shooting when we started out,which is always a little off putting. But I believe there is a shooting range nearby. Once we got further back into the hills, though, we didn't hear it at all.