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| Road to Timber Peak |
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| Burbank Canyon, Caballo Lake from ridgeline |
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| Timber Peak |
We've also done the ridgeline walk along the jeep road at the top of the Caballos. We drove only two-thirds of the way up the steep, switchbacking, only moderately rough, but nonetheless still a bit nerve-wracking road that is used for access to the communications towers on Timber Peak. There was a little bit climbing left and then a mostly level walk with great views of Caballo Lake and the Black Range to the west, and the Jornada del Muerto and the San Andres Mountains to the east. We didn't opt for the short climb to Brushy Peak,which is the destination of the hike as described, in Greg Magee's
Day Hikes and Nature Walks in the Las Cruces- El Paso Area. Instead, we took a side road to a small valley of where there were some good sized piñon pines for shade ( a pleasant surprise in these desert mountains), and looked at a few of the ever present mining prospects, then turned around.Note: the adventure of this hike is getting to the starting point. The back(east) side of the Caballos is a maze of roads, trails, routes and ways. Some are very good. Some are horrendous. Most of route leading here is on good( by southern New Mexico standards) roads. . . most. If you find yourself onto something very sketchy, there was probably a wrong turn.
Labels: hiking
3 Comments:
Hi Devon, Just got your "Exploring OMDPNM" book. It is obviously a labor of love [doubt it will make you rich, tho I bought the color version] and a great service to other like-minded souls--THANKS! Question: I'm visiting TorC, and would like to do a bit of solitude camping and short solo day hiking on the northeast side of the Caballo Mountains, south of NM 51 (Mescal Canyon?). I've got a 4wd Tacoma, but don't know anything about the scenery or roads over there, so any suggestions would be very welcome. Again, thanks for the book, and the blog--they really open up a lot of great country for people like myself. John Newman, Madison, WI.
I think Mescal Canyon is a good choice, I've been wanting to go there myself. I think it gets hiked fairly often, but I don't think you'll see a lot of people. The branch that heads south looks more interesting than the one that turns south east. Caballo Cone ( Turtleback Mountains) has a trail on the west side. You might see a few people. Palomas Gap has a very scenic old road that goes through mountain range. We hiked it a few years ago. NM 51 turns into dirt County road 26 east of Engle. Parts of some of the canyons near Big Gyp Mountains and along the western edge of the San Andres mountains are on BLM land and can be explored as long as you don't crossover onto White Sands or trespass on private property. The Fra Cristobal Mountains and the Ladder Ranch are owned by Ted Turner, but tours can be arranged at the Sierra Grande Lodge in T or C. There a bit pricey though.
Thanks, Devon--as is your custom, extremely useful information. I spent today doing a recon off of "Windmill Road" south of 51, and your comment that there is a maze of roads out there--some good, some terrible--was right on. I used "Delorme New Mexico" and the Public Lands Interpretive Center "Recreation Map of Southwest New Mexico"; Delorme much better, but still sketchy in places, and the signage out there is not very helpful, to put it mildly. In any case, hope to go back there some day.
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