Nambe Falls - Nambe Pueblo

Nambe Falls

Staying in Santa Fe for the weekend, we went out to Nambe Falls. The fee is 20 dollars (per vehicle) payable at the ranger station.  Further down the road is a large parking area with shaded picnic/camping sites that surround it.There is an upper trail which we took first. It is short ( less than a half a mile) but very steep with crude "stairs"  in places to aid in your ascent. The last section has very off-camber curves which were a bit slippery because of recent rains. One thing that surprised me upon reaching the top was a massive concrete dam above the falls ( l left it out of the photos). 

There is a reason this fence is here. Do not venture beyond it.

The falls are in a massive (but short) box-slot canyon

It detracts from the naturalness of the setting for sure, but on the other hand it  provides a reliable flow to the falls (which of course can be problematic for many New Mexico waterfalls). The falls are beautiful in photos, of course, but definitely better than I expected in person.

 Nambe Falls

 The lower trail isn't much of a trail, just use paths through the narrow strips of grass and trees along the creek. I initially did a lot of rock hopping, but as I entered the narrow box canyon where there is just the rio and cliffs on either side, the only option was to walk in the water, which during our visit, although flowing gray and murky (from recent rains I guess?) wasn't very deep. There is a lower cascade  that falls may be 10 feet from an upper "pond" that the second tier of the upper falls pours into.

 There are also  many springs that emerge directly from the rock of the cliff face on the left ( facing upstream). I climbed up a rocky slope to the right of the small falls very carefully to see if I could get further views of the upper falls. I could see the bottom half of the second tier, but that was it. 

 I had expected that this was touristy place (and it is at other times, I assume, for sure), but here we were, on a warm Saturday in mid-September and there was only a handful people to be encountered. I was alone in the canyon almost the entire time and was much in gratitude to have this very special place to myself.

Bottom half of second tier of the upper falls.

Rio Nambe 

Lower cascade

Pond below the upper falls.

Narrow passage of the Rio Nambe

Cibola National Forest, Crosby Mountains - Slaughter Spring

Downstream from Slaughter Spring

Near the pass

Badger along Saulsberry Road

Pull-tab Schlitz can near where we parked

We went out a few weeks back on this nice little walk through the newly lush Crosby Mountains of the Cibola National Forest near Datil. We drove out on the Saulsberry Road (which is also considered FR63 when it enters the National Forest), which was in good shape despite all the recent rains, and then used Forest Road 063 and Forest Road 508 to ascend Flying V Draw. It's bit confusing on maps ( where it appears that FR 508 and FR 063 are the same road for a stretch) and on the ground as well. We were looking to walk up a short tributary to a low pass and then walk down the other side to Slaughter Spring. It worked out. We parked in one of the few wide spots on FR 508 past Flying V Tank Number 2. 

FR 508

The grasses were delightfully clean, bright, green and tall enough to sway in the intermittent breezes as we walked down the road.  We went through one gate and then where the road turned to the west a bit, we followed the fence line along the incised stream bed itself. Eventually, at the side canyon where we wanted to head east, we had to get through the fence. Maps show there in no longer a road here (most likely to discourage anyone from driving down the other side to Slaughter Spring where the road is truly abandoned and mostly vanished) but we used the two tracks through grass and wildflowers as our path to the pass.

At the pass Andrea and Nessie rested at a large Juniper while I made my way down the rocky, rough road remnant  to Slaughter Spring. I never found any flowing water (although I did search for awhile), just an old metal trough that I guess was used catch and hold the spring water.

 

There were abundant chest high summer wildflowers sprung from the damp sands and the fecund appearance of place stood in sharp contrast to the conditions earlier in the summer. I walked a bit downstream from the spring area to where the stream bed narrowed between walls of light colored sandstone ( entirely derived from volcanic rocks I'm sure) and then began my steep trek back up to the pass.

 We walked back down pleasantly through the pines and oaks, finding a fragment of a projectile point along the way. 

We turned south and stayed with the road ( on maps this section is not shown) instead of going through the fenceand walked on the other side of the stream course. At an intersection (with a road that I think must connect to Forest Road 550) we went through another gate and then marched along straight back to the 4Runner. It was warm, but not unpleasantly so and there was enough shade to be had for  taking a break here and there. Beautiful morning.

Little Apache (FT 124), Sleepy Grass (FT 11) and La Pasada Encantada Trail (FT 233) - Lincoln National Forest

 

Sleepy Grass Trail

Little Apache Trail

Little Apache Trail

It was dry, hot and dismal in mid-July at the cabin on Horse Mountain. I had a few chores to take care of, but if it had been nice, I would have stayed several days. Instead, I called my wife and told her not to come up. I was heading back after just two nights. My wife threw out the idea of going up to Cloudcroft and staying at The Lodge for a couple of nights. It would be a mid- week stay ( I do not go to the Lincoln National Forest in vicinity of Cloudcroft or Ruidoso on weekends anymore), so I thought what the heck, lets try it. No sooner had I gotten back home, then we were off to the Sacramento Mountains.

Well it worked out really well. It had been raining up there so it was wonderfully green and mercifully cool.   I had it in mind  take this opportunity to do these hikes that are very close Cloudcroft for two reasons: first, my wife generally is not a big fan of driving long distances just to begin a hike, but also I was hoping that  because it was a Thursday that these trails would not be swamped with people as they almost always are on warm weather weekends.

 The Little Apache Trail is a loop (sort of) that we began at the back of the overflow camping (a big parking lot).

 It stays relatively level for quite a while in a shady forest of mostly smaller pine, oak, white fir and doug-fir. The amount of downfall on these ridge-tops is always a little unsettling, but it was so pleasant with sun breaking through shining on the oak leaves and the grass green at our feet, that it was easy not too worry.

 After about a mile the trail descends a small valley heading west toward Little Apache Canyon. The trees on the sides of the meadow were larger here and the stumps even bigger. Right before reaching the canyon, the trail crosses a road and skirts the edge of a large quarry. It's a bit of jarring sight to come across in the forest. For some reason it didn't bother me a whole lot.

 Now the trail began heading up Little Apache. There was tall grass in places accompanied by yellow wildflowers. We passed the only other hikers ( one couple with dogs) we saw in this section. The trail ends at the paved campground road, which was a little odd as they could've easily made it reconnect with the trailhead we started at. Still it was only  a quarter mile walk on the road and across the parking lot back to our vehicle.

Later that day we did the short La Pasada Encantada Trail right before a thunderstorm hit. The trail is graveled and has interpretive stops for sighted people and the visually handicapped. It would a great trail to introduce young children to hiking in the forest. 

 Friday morning after breakfast at Dusty Boots Cafe, we drove the short ways to the Sleepy Grass Picnic area and did a short hike up Apache Canyon ( directly across US 82 from Little Apache Canyon from the previous day). The trail is a now closed section of Forest Road 24B and I've seen it called Forest Trail 11 in a few places (though not necessarily on every map you might encounter). It ends where there is a gate on the paved road in Sleepy Grass Campground ( accessed at from the western end from NM 130). This walk is along one side of an open valley about 150 feet wide ( fairly typical for this area of the Lincoln National Forest). It's probably best done early in  the morning or late afternoon because there is not a whole lot of shade to be had. We stopped after about 6/10 of mile where we saw some not particularly shy wild horses  shuffling about in the precious shade of some aspens and conifers very close to the trail. It was still another half-mile or so to get to the very end.

 All in  all it was probably only about 6 miles of hiking for the two days, but it went a long way in lifting our spirits.

JTS Park, Devil Canyon - Gila National Forest

 Devil Canyon

Where my forward progress ended.

JTS Park

 Forest Road 49A

I was a little bit disappointed last year after my hike to the San Francisco River that I didn't get to explore further into The Box. The lengthy approach hike, which also gains and then loses about 500 feet of elevation, on Forest Trail 762  left me not enough time for both fishing and continuing deeper into The Box  without the prospect of walking  at least part of my return hike in the dark.  I choice fishing, and if I had caught even a single trout would not have regretted my decision. An earlier start would have helped especially when I ended up being delayed by not finding the turn-off ( twice) and then not driving far enough to find the Higgins Flat Road. Alas.  By the time I got back to my cabin, I knew a couple of things. First, I hated Trail 762. Second, I would find another way to get down to the box.  I quickly thought about going down Devil Canyon, whose confluence with the river is right at the western entrance to The Box.  Soon after we found a Youtube video made back in the early 2000's of a couple guys looking to be about my age or older doing just that thing. So now I made my own plan. I would drive FR 49 ( Torriette Lakes Road) to Forest Road 49 A which I would take until it first crosses the upper reaches of Devil Canyon and the I would hike down the canyon itself to the river.

On the second Tuesday in June, I was off. I got an earlier, but not early enough start. FR 49 was great, if a bit narrow in places. Problems began when I reached the definitely inauspicious intersection with FR 49A ( JTS Park Road). I'm glad I didn't just turn down it willy-nilly and hope for the best. Instead, I got out for a little look-see and I didn't like what I saw at all.  The initial quarter mile or so was a steep descent on a mix of bedrock and loose rocks ( some football-sized and larger). I made up my mind fairly quickly that I was not in the mood for that kind of driving that day and drove a short ways further on FR 49 and parked at a convenient pull out. I got everything in order, called my wife to notify her where my truck would be parked and that I would be walking FR 49A now, and then headed down the hillside. I got to the road more less at the base of the hill I had declined to drive down, it definitely didn't look any better from the bottom, so I turned and continued on happy with my decision. Sure, there were places further on where the road improved, that would give me a moment of regret, which would soon be dissipated at the next rocky gouge in the roadway.

 The forest was hideously dry all around, but the walk was jaunty enough at least until arriving at JTS Park, a mostly open area with large ponderosas scattered about an old corral and a dry (of course) livestock tank. 

Now the trail did a backwards "S" curve as it ascended and then descended a steep little hill. At the top there was a bit of confusion, as the road I wanted turned to the right, while a spur road, that seemed to be the more obvious route went straight ahead. I did walk down the spur road briefly until I thought better of it. The descent off the hill was quite steep, and I briefly thought about how it would feel trudging back upwards on the return trip. At the bottom the road ran right along a very mellow stretch of Devil Canyon. Where the road veered to the right to leave the canyon and climb another hill, I headed left to follow the stream course. It was going pretty well for awhile, and I felt pretty good about the whole enterprise.  It was the typical rocky dry creek that you can see all over the Gila. I had to climb down a couple of small falls that were very manageable. But then the canyon got very narrow and crumbly looking cliffs and towers rose up on either side, and I came to an undercut pour-off which was not manageable at all.

 I could see larger box elders and other deciduous greenery below that made believe I was just above Devil Spring.  I backtracked and I climbed up to the top of the dividing ridge with the help of an animal trail to see if the branch of the canyon immediately to the west would be more easily negotiated. Here was the first major flaw in my research that I didn't know at the time: I thought I had been in a branch of Devil Canyon and that the canyon I had climbed the ridge to have a look at was really the main stem. I only learned  when I got back to the cabin that I had things exactly opposite of what they were. If I had known I probably would not even have tried to get down to the branch canyon. But I didn't  and I did, try, that is. My first attempt, had me inching down the very steep incline on the other side where no animal would even try. I came to my senses only a few feet down and very carefully and slowly turned around and got back up to the top of the ridge. Pretty stupid to have even tried that route when I think back on it.

 Now I climbed up the ridge a bit higher and soon afterward I did find a way following some obvious animal paths this time. Once again, I felt happy that I would be able to continue down the canyon all the way to river.  I climbed down a dry cascade and then another and then. . . another undercut pour-off with no safe way to get around or down. I was done. I started heading  upstream and soon I came to yet another undercut pour-off, that of course I couldn't climb up. 

I exited on the east side with a very laborious climb (on all fours much of the time) up the very, very steep (but grassy) canyon side. So steep in fact that it was easy to begin slipping back down involuntarily, unless I took the precaution to take my several rest breaks on the uphill side of the few pines that had taken hold on that precarious perch. Finally, after literally clawing my way to a point on the hillside where I finally overcame the grip that gravity held me in for the previous 15 minutes or so I stood up  and walked ( at first in opposite direction of my ultimate desire, but no mind) upright, like a human, to the ridge top. Now I turned around and began hiking out toward the road. I briefly thought that when  I got there I would take the road to its bitter and then walk down the mesa which would very gradually take to me to the lower end of Devil Canyon and to the river. But there was no time for that now. It was hot and I was hot. All that was left to do was find the road and go back.   I did get to the road, somewhere between Devil Tank and where I originally had left it to hike in the canyon. I ate lunch a little while later at the shady top of a hill that I reached via a short walk on a side road to FR 49A. Squirrels and ravens were interested.