I took a hike on Thursday, November 15, 2007, with the Valles Caldera Rim Trail volunteers. Dorothy parked her car at the intersection of FR 10 and the Cat Mesa Road, FR 135. This is just up the road from the Sierra de los Piños housing development, in the Vallecitos de los Indios, in the Jemez Mountains, NM. We started east from the intersection on an unnumbered dirt road.
The idea of this Valles Caldera south rim explore was to connect in with the route of an earlier trip to the top of Los Griegos done in Autumn 2005. We would follow the true rim east from FR 10 whereas the 2005 trip was only on the Valles Caldera rim whilst hiking up the western ridge of Los Griegos.
Right away, Ed spotted turkey tracks in the dry dust. I hardly ever see the turkeys--just their tracks. As we walked, I envisioned myself quietly watching a flock of turkeys walking across the road at sunrise.
We followed the unmarked road for about 3/4 of a mile, but then left it for the woods and a fence just north of and parallel to the road. After a little bit, we intersected an abandoned road that was at a right angle to the barb wire fence. The road continued north of the fence and we wanted to see where it went. We decided that we’d come back to follow it if there was time at the end of the hike. We turned south and followed the abandoned road back to the main dirt road.
Throughout the day, we didn’t see much in the way of real, live animals. I can’t remember if it was elk or cows that Ed spotted in the distance on one of the roads we intersected. We saw an aspen that had perfect bear claw marks going up the trunk further than I’d like to think a bear could climb! We saw lots of deer and elk tracks in the dust.
What’s surprising is all the signs of people we saw in the woods--the dirt road bed had yellow warning ribbon exposed by erosion that cautioned about the electrical line buried underneath. We passed an electric fence with a warning sign from the forest service to go very slowly through the gate but the gate was missing. We saw a sign for Jemez Mountains Electric Co-op next to some manhole covers for what could have been meter boxes. We could hear the racket of heavy machinery somewhere below and Ed said that was from a pumice mine. It was most likely Copar’s South Pit Pumice Mine, off FR 270, located immediately south of the road we were on. There is another pumice mine--the Cerro del Piño Pumice Mine, on FR 10, run by Utility Block, an Albuquerque maker of cast concrete that’s been mining pumice deposits in Santa Fe National Forest since the 1940’s--but it was even further south of our road.
Strolling along, we saw a sign posted on a tree that said it was a Northern Arizona University (NAU) School of Forestry Silviculture Lab Experimental Research Area. Here and there in our wanders, we saw variously colored plastic flags dangling from trees. We saw groups of trees that had three white bands painted around them and one that had white numbers arranged vertically on its trunk, probably to mark an archeological site but other than a moundish area, there was nothing much to see. We found the ruins of what was once a very sturdy timber structure in a pretty meadow.
Throughout the day, we saw a Clamato jar, beer and soda cans, rifle and shotgun shell casings--all had been carelessly tossed aside. Why don’t people litter money or gold or silver?? Dorothy found a Bureau of Land Management benchmark at a fence corner. The only person we saw was in an old Suburban-type vehicle that passed by with dog yapping inside. We were impressed at how well he drove over the deep ruts but had no idea where he had come from.
The views along our route were bashful ones of mountains glimpsed very distantly through the trees--Redondo, Los Griegos, Pelado, Cerro del Piño. To the west, we could see the cliffs above San Diego Canyon and rising smoke from a prescribed burn beyond the cliffs. Dorothy pointed out a very far off view of a prominent roadcut on NM-126, above La Cueva, and the Valles Caldera west rim. At one point, early in the hike, I glimpsed a very distant view of what I’m sure was Pajarito Mountain’s tree speckled south meadow.
By following twists and turns of dirt roads, with a few short passages through the woods, continuing generally east toward Los Griegos, Dorothy was able to intersect, via her Garmin GPS track, the path of the 2005 trip to the top of Los Griegos. At that point, we headed uphill toward Los Griegos through a lot of dead fall to have our lunch in a leafless, towering aspen woods, but still far below the top of Los Griegos.
At the end of the hike, Dorothy said she had found out that it was possible to follow roads east from the FR 10-Cat Mesa Road intersection to Los Griegos. Dorothy always makes a map of our route when she gets home. I would like to know if we were always on the true Valles Caldera rim. The Valles Caldera rim makes a big southward bow to stay on the high points which form the rim in this area.
We started the hike a little before 9 am and got back to Dorothy’s car around 3:30 pm. The hike was 7.67 miles total. We’ve saved for another day exploring the old, abandoned road that crossed the barb wire fence.
A bashful, through-the-trees view of Redondo Peak, the resurgent dome of the Valles Caldera, looking northward.
Ruin of timber structure in pretty meadow.
Los Griegos which is on the Valles Caldera south rim.
Dorothy and Ed going through terrible deadfall on the way toward Los Griegos. On the way down, we went more to the south (right) and there was less deadfall.
Aspens near our lunch spot.
I only took a few waypoints but they show the trend of our hike was toward Los Griegos.
The idea of this Valles Caldera south rim explore was to connect in with the route of an earlier trip to the top of Los Griegos done in Autumn 2005. We would follow the true rim east from FR 10 whereas the 2005 trip was only on the Valles Caldera rim whilst hiking up the western ridge of Los Griegos.
Right away, Ed spotted turkey tracks in the dry dust. I hardly ever see the turkeys--just their tracks. As we walked, I envisioned myself quietly watching a flock of turkeys walking across the road at sunrise.
We followed the unmarked road for about 3/4 of a mile, but then left it for the woods and a fence just north of and parallel to the road. After a little bit, we intersected an abandoned road that was at a right angle to the barb wire fence. The road continued north of the fence and we wanted to see where it went. We decided that we’d come back to follow it if there was time at the end of the hike. We turned south and followed the abandoned road back to the main dirt road.
Throughout the day, we didn’t see much in the way of real, live animals. I can’t remember if it was elk or cows that Ed spotted in the distance on one of the roads we intersected. We saw an aspen that had perfect bear claw marks going up the trunk further than I’d like to think a bear could climb! We saw lots of deer and elk tracks in the dust.
What’s surprising is all the signs of people we saw in the woods--the dirt road bed had yellow warning ribbon exposed by erosion that cautioned about the electrical line buried underneath. We passed an electric fence with a warning sign from the forest service to go very slowly through the gate but the gate was missing. We saw a sign for Jemez Mountains Electric Co-op next to some manhole covers for what could have been meter boxes. We could hear the racket of heavy machinery somewhere below and Ed said that was from a pumice mine. It was most likely Copar’s South Pit Pumice Mine, off FR 270, located immediately south of the road we were on. There is another pumice mine--the Cerro del Piño Pumice Mine, on FR 10, run by Utility Block, an Albuquerque maker of cast concrete that’s been mining pumice deposits in Santa Fe National Forest since the 1940’s--but it was even further south of our road.
Strolling along, we saw a sign posted on a tree that said it was a Northern Arizona University (NAU) School of Forestry Silviculture Lab Experimental Research Area. Here and there in our wanders, we saw variously colored plastic flags dangling from trees. We saw groups of trees that had three white bands painted around them and one that had white numbers arranged vertically on its trunk, probably to mark an archeological site but other than a moundish area, there was nothing much to see. We found the ruins of what was once a very sturdy timber structure in a pretty meadow.
Throughout the day, we saw a Clamato jar, beer and soda cans, rifle and shotgun shell casings--all had been carelessly tossed aside. Why don’t people litter money or gold or silver?? Dorothy found a Bureau of Land Management benchmark at a fence corner. The only person we saw was in an old Suburban-type vehicle that passed by with dog yapping inside. We were impressed at how well he drove over the deep ruts but had no idea where he had come from.
The views along our route were bashful ones of mountains glimpsed very distantly through the trees--Redondo, Los Griegos, Pelado, Cerro del Piño. To the west, we could see the cliffs above San Diego Canyon and rising smoke from a prescribed burn beyond the cliffs. Dorothy pointed out a very far off view of a prominent roadcut on NM-126, above La Cueva, and the Valles Caldera west rim. At one point, early in the hike, I glimpsed a very distant view of what I’m sure was Pajarito Mountain’s tree speckled south meadow.
By following twists and turns of dirt roads, with a few short passages through the woods, continuing generally east toward Los Griegos, Dorothy was able to intersect, via her Garmin GPS track, the path of the 2005 trip to the top of Los Griegos. At that point, we headed uphill toward Los Griegos through a lot of dead fall to have our lunch in a leafless, towering aspen woods, but still far below the top of Los Griegos.
At the end of the hike, Dorothy said she had found out that it was possible to follow roads east from the FR 10-Cat Mesa Road intersection to Los Griegos. Dorothy always makes a map of our route when she gets home. I would like to know if we were always on the true Valles Caldera rim. The Valles Caldera rim makes a big southward bow to stay on the high points which form the rim in this area.
We started the hike a little before 9 am and got back to Dorothy’s car around 3:30 pm. The hike was 7.67 miles total. We’ve saved for another day exploring the old, abandoned road that crossed the barb wire fence.
A bashful, through-the-trees view of Redondo Peak, the resurgent dome of the Valles Caldera, looking northward.
Pretty meadow.
Ruin of timber structure in pretty meadow.
Los Griegos which is on the Valles Caldera south rim.
Dorothy and Ed going through terrible deadfall on the way toward Los Griegos. On the way down, we went more to the south (right) and there was less deadfall.
Aspens near our lunch spot.
I only took a few waypoints but they show the trend of our hike was toward Los Griegos.