Wednesday, July 19, 2017

East Red Canyon- San Mateo Mountains, Cibola National Forest











 Sometimes I spend a little too much time scanning Google Earth. All the places I want to explore are right there in front of me, getting more and more ripe for the visiting each time I look.  In the end it can actually start to make me anxious and cognitive dissonance occurs,  as my desires and the practical logistics of getting out to any of  the destinations begin to battle in my mind.
 I had noticed the dark shadowy gash of the box of East Red Canyon several months ago and the itch started. I 'm not sure why I was looking at the San Mateos, but there it was with the two obvious, similarly shadowed box canyons of tributaries Deep and Cold Spring Canyon right nearby. Over the last few days I finally  worked out how get there, including  the rough distance from my home( approximately 135 miles). It became clear that since  most of driving would be at 80 mph on I-25, the time involved wouldn't be any more than traveling to places like the Lake Roberts area or Bonito Creek: places I've been to many time for day trips. This realization led to a more generalized epiphany. The way my mind works, there are always many, many reasons not to go; it's too far for a day trip, the weather could turn bad, it's too hot, it will be disappointing, it's too remote, the roads will be horrible, you shouldn't go alone,the snakes will be out etc, etc, etc and there's only one reason to go: because I want to.
 Well,  I'm beginning to let the one reason win more lately, and it's not been a bad thing yet. This was especially true on my recent visit to the impressive box canyon of East Red Canyon.  I saw a mama antelope and baby close to where I turned off NM 107 onto FR 478( or 378 depending on which map you have) which, since it seems I see antelope so infrequently these days, I took as sign of good luck. I found the rough but reasonable FR 86 easily, which took me right to the canyon bottom, and I was off and walking around 9:15 after having left my house a little after seven.

I first noticed mud and puddles from recent rains in the center of the shallow creek bottom of dry gray dust, but still had hope that there might be at least a short perennial stretch of stream within the box.

There wasn't, and it became clear that there was little left of what surely had to have been a wonderful riparian area. Vegetation such as hackberry trees, juniper, live oak more closely resembled desert box canyons( such as Broad Canyon) close to my home here in Las Cruces. There were no willows, or cottonwoods streamside and what little grass there was had been nibbled to the nub. Persistent drought conditions and little rest from grazing may have brought this on, but perhaps  because the canyon remains dark much of the time  due to fact that is only 20-25 feet wide and several hundred feet deep,  a more typical riparian area for its 6000 foot elevation has never developed.
 In the deeper parts of the box, a few box elder showed up as well as as few walnut trees( including one large specimen right at the mouth of Deep Canyon). Grapevines  spread luxuriantly over large expanses of the volcanic rock on north facing cliffs as well.

 
When I first entered the mouth of the box at least  three different species of raptor screeched at my approached to tell me I was not welcome. Later, a hair raising hissing sound made me aware of a vulture chick pressed against the trunk of hackberry that was growing from a  crack in the base of the cliffs. I was a little wary that mama vulture might show up so I gave it wide berth.


 I must say I was not prepared, but wonderfully surprised when the height of the canyon's cliffs began to exceed my expectations as I penetrated further. The brown and black walls were at least 200 feet high and I wouldn't be surprised if someone informed me that the north edge was closer to 300 feet or more from top to bottom.


Near the western edge of the box, on the south side, there is a short slot that is mouth of Deep Canyon. I walked up it and then climbed out briefly to look longingly at that canyon's box further upstream. Unfortunately to reach it would have meant crossing a wide shade-less stretch of open valley. It had been hot and humid when I started, and being in the box was less relief than I expected. Being unsure of the weather conditions also gave me pause to add additional hours to the hike, so I opted to return another, perhaps cooler, day.

 Back in the main canyon and shortly before I turned around, I noticed a small arch formation, then the cliffs began to diminish into softer hillsides of gravel and grass.


On my return I took the time explore several alcoves in the rock.   At one, I found manos, obsidian and chert flakes and nice fragment of red pottery. I found metates and more pottery further down, but no rock art was evident at any of the sites.


 Once again, it seemed, I had come to a place that would be a destination, if not for it being so remote; smack dab in the middle of what I call New Mexico's " empty quarter."

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16 Comments:

Blogger Alex V. said...

Thank you yet again Devon. For some reason this one really got my imagination going and will head out there once things cool off. Alex

July 20, 2017 at 9:03 AM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

I want to get back there myself. Deep Canyon's box is probably not as deep,but it looks very narrow and should be a lot of fun.

July 23, 2017 at 2:13 PM  
Blogger jkruse said...

This such a great source of inspiration as a fellow resident of southern NM. I too can find myself spending time scouring Google Earth and dreaming up hikes and bike trips. Best advice, go do it! Thanks for updating this blog, always enjoy it.

July 24, 2017 at 1:30 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I was just looking up n browsing places thatvwud b Kewl tongue n came across ur post. N ur pics are awesome! It's good u got to seek an adventure! Love the fact that thur are new Mexico hidden treasures!

November 2, 2019 at 6:20 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Sorry... The stupid smart phns ruin every simple text...

November 2, 2019 at 6:21 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Can you send me more detailed directions to get there , thanks , Hunter . htenbroeck@gmail.com

May 24, 2020 at 6:03 PM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

How are the roads FR 378 and FR 86 to East Red Canyon? How long a drive from I-25. We are thinking of exploring this weekend. Thanks advance. Hunter Ten Broeck Albuquerque

March 17, 2021 at 5:23 PM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

378 is great. 86 might be little slow, but doable in a sedan, but if you've got a truck or SUV it's fine. I might be going out there soon further upstream to some tributary canyons of East Red. Enjoy!

March 17, 2021 at 6:12 PM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

We have a Forester. Thanks, how far up did you go?

March 17, 2021 at 8:17 PM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

If you are wanting to see the deepest part of the box, you have to head west( from 86) in the canyon bottom on an unmaintained road for about 1/3 of a mile in order park off of the private property. At that point you'll be almost to the mouth of tributary Cold Spring Canyon. I think the Forester will be fine. I only went a little less than 2 miles up that first time. It was pretty hot once I got away from the shade of the tallest cliffs. This time of year, one could definitely go farther.

March 18, 2021 at 6:19 AM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

Thanks !

March 18, 2021 at 8:40 AM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

We went yesterday and explored various side canyons as well. Beautiful! Where is Dark Canyon in relation to this? Just a note that the first road off 107 is FR is 478 not 378. Thanks again.

March 21, 2021 at 10:15 AM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

Thanks for the correction. It is called 378 on the Forest Service map but 478 on Forest Service topos. Perhaps it changes numbers at the 3 way intersection with 86. To make matters more confusing, the road in West Red Canyon is called 478 and does not go through to the other side. I think there is Dark Canyon on the south side of the San Mateos. I know there is a Dark Canyon fault, but I'm not really sure where the canyon is, as it doesn't seemed to be named on any maps I have. Deep Canyon runs directly into East Red on the south side of the box. The Dark Canyon ( of which there are many) I'm talking about several times in this blog is over in the Sacramento Mountains in the Lincoln National forest. It's about 10 miles southeast of Cloudcroft or about 110 miles southeast of East Red Box, but I'm not sure if that is one you are talking about. If you are talking about Deep Canyon I have blog about that from 2018.

March 21, 2021 at 12:47 PM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

Yes, I meant Deep Canyon. When we did East Red Canyon we did a bunch of little side canyon explorations.In the midst of the deepest part of the canyon there was a short slot off to the south. It quickly opened up into a wide valley so we headed back to the main canyon. Not to much further the main canyon opened into a wider more gradual valley. Maybe a quarter mile later we explored another canyon off to the north that split again after a while. We then climbed out of the canyon for some views of the San Mateo Range and south Baldy. We returned to the main canyon which quickly split again into two slot/box canyons. We took the north fork for a little more than 1/2 mile . It was another beautiful canyon though not as deep as the earlier canyon. This also opened up into a wide valley so we backtracked to the Y and went up the south slot/box. Not far up there was what looked like an electric cable across the top of the canyon. Again we went up about 1/2 mile to where the canyon opened up into a broader gentler albeit meandering valley. We then returned back down East Red Canyon to the car. On the way (maybe 1/4 mile from the mouth of the canyon there were two rock climbers from Socorro climbing the south wall of the canyon. Were any of these canyons what you referred to as Deep Canyon?

March 25, 2021 at 7:32 PM  
Blogger Huntertb said...

I have photos if that would help.

March 25, 2021 at 7:36 PM  
Blogger Devon Fletcher said...

The one that started as small slot that opened into a wide valley was Deep Canyon. If you were to continue about 3/4 mile upstream, it has a nice box section that runs for about 3/4 of a mile, as does Cold Spring Canyon just to the east. It's box section is longer but there are two sections of private property to deal with. I did a hike in between the private inholdings last year in Cold Spring.

March 26, 2021 at 5:59 AM  

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