Peña Blanca- Organ Mountains Wilderness

It's been many years since I visited Peña Blanca. I didn't have a blog about  it until now. If there are any pictures of those earlier trips, they might very well have been taken with a film camera, because I can't even find any from a sub- megapixel digital one I used  way back when.
 I've been out in the area  quite a few times passing by on the way to other adventures, but a few weeks  ago I just decided to make our monthly LCPS Wellness Hike to Peña Blanca. I'm glad I did.
 We parked at the trailhead, where there is now a ribbon and  " NO VEHICLES" sign across the road that would normally be driven right up to Peña Blanca. The Sierra Vista bike trail which is also right here is the boundary of the wilderness, while the road, which more sensibly should be the boundary, is within it. So, we walked the mile  and then began exploring the cliffs, alcoves, caves,  and boulders formed in the rhyolite tuff that almost seemed to shimmer in the winter morning light. There are a very few pictographs to see, lines and shapes in red pigment, in some of the shallow recesses, but the black images are charcoal drawings from more recent times.

 Our group of eleven had the place to ourselves, which was nice, and the whole area had the aura of being less visited than in the past. Or maybe we just got lucky. On a detached outcropping we found our first ancient grinding hole, and then just down the hill I found a few fragments of brown pottery.  Although I wasn't expecting to find any, in this relatively well travelled location,  earlier I had given my customary speech  about what to do if one were to find any: " look at it, and put it back."
  We had only gone about a mile and half when four of our group went back. I wished they had hung on for a bit longer to see the largest cave  with its numerous grinding holes, just a short distance away.
From there we headed north along the base the larger mass of layered volcanics, admiring the varied and unusual formations as we went. There was even a hole in the wall natural arch.



The going got a little thick through the creosote and thorny brush as we headed towards our turnaround point. We passed a mortarless rock dam and then finally stopped at small thicket of hackberry trees where a spring may have been, or perhaps seeps water out seasonally.

 After snacks, we headed out. I found two more larger pottery sherds as I walked. We found a very faint road which led us to the  road that took us the two miles back to the  parking area.