Backpacking New Mexico's Pecos Wilderness

[tomcat32]

There are many places in the west that are on every hiker's radar. Perhaps not quite on the radar is the Pecos Wilderness in NM. I recently did a 3 day 50 mile trip and the area far exceeded my expectations. The Pecos Wilderness lies just north of Santa Fe and south of Taos in the southern reaches of the Rockies in the Sangre de Cristos. My hike had nearly half above treeline with nonstop views except for a little snow on my second morning. I saw 3 dozen elk, 18 bighorn sheep, and only 1 person that I actually crossed paths with. While not quite as high as the Colorado Rockies I routinely traversed above 12000 ft. Just off my route was the 13000' peaks of the Truchas Group. I climbed to about 12,800 at my highest but passed within many of NMs highest peaks. The route traveled miles at a time above treeline with no trail and just a few spread out cairns that weren't always visible marking the way. I have 1000s of miles of backpacking experience and this was one of my favorite trips. The only bummer was after my trip. 15 minutes after getting in the door I jumped in the shower, nice and greasy with trail funk. I slipped in the shower cracking a rib. The full TR and well over 100 pics are at my blog at the link below.

http://tomcatoutdoors.blogspot.com/2016/10/backpacking-new-mexicos-pecos-wilderness.html

 

[jniehof]

Nice trip and nice report. As you noticed, in the fall you're far more likely to find hunters than hikers in most of the Pecos. And yes, information tends to be low, unofficial trails/routes abound, and people not in the know tend to overlook the whole area.

 

[jniehof]

People should also be warned: trailhead breakins and vandalism are fairly common at many of the less-used trailheads around here. Aspen Basin is probably the safest. Santa Barbara and Jacks Creek are pretty busy and reasonably safe. There are other trailheads, e.g. around Truchas, where you don't want to leave a car overnight and there are bullet holes in the trailhead outhouses. Do some googling for recent notes.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Really liked this report, thanks

 

[wardsgirl]

Great trip report, and beautiful pics.

I am planning a vacation in the Santa Fe/Taos area in spring. I'll be referring to your trip often this winter!

 

[iAmKrzys]

Great trip report, and beautiful pics.

I am planning a vacation in the Santa Fe/Taos area in spring. I'll be referring to your trip often this winter!

I also thought about Pecos as a possible destination for a spring backpacking trip, however, I suspect that at these elevations (as high as 13k) the snow may not be melting until early summer...

 

[tomcat32]

I recommend the Santa Fe/Truchas Trails Illustrated Map. It covers the entire Pecos Wilderness and the trails around Santa Fe proper and has mileages between points. Taos/Wheeler Peak is a separate map. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions on any of my route. There isn't a whole lot out there on parts of the Pecos.

 

[wardsgirl]

Thanks for the advice, tomcat and iamkrzys. A work friend just gave me the Taos/Wheeler Peak map in a holiday gift exchange. I'll be taking a close look at it.

This vacation is airbnb style, with a friend who doesn't hike often. We will be limited to scenic dayhikes, sightseeing, fine dining, and a horseback ride or two. Also, we do realize there will likely be snow at most elevations, so we may throw in some skiing.

 

[jniehof]

I do think it's worth the trip out to the Hill and Bandelier. Depending on what part of "spring," probably won't be much snow to deal with...by April it's really the wind that's the issue below about 10000'. One of the best bang-for-the-buck hikes, IMO, is out to the rim of Alamo Canyon from the Bandelier visitor's center...8mi RT, pretty easy. If you're feeling good then it's worth crossing the canyon to check out Yapashi and the Stone Lions, but that adds on a pair of stiff 1000' climbs and gets into a bit of the trail system that's been far less rehabilitated post-fire.

The Manhattan Project Historical Park stuff is spinning up pretty nicely and should be worth a visit. There's also some fantastic short hikes you can make...seeing the Caldera (there are short hikes around the rim, or even driving through), going even five minutes up Pipeline gives an incredible view of five or six distinct ecosystems. (You can get physical copies of the trail map at the nature center.)

 

[wardsgirl]

I haven't checked back in a while, but I want to say that we had a great trip to New Mexico! We went the week of April 22-30 and, although we got some snow in Taos, the weather was pretty good. We did many little hikes using the Taos/Wheeler Peak map, which covered the area we vacationed in. We hiked along the Rio Grande gorge, Columbine Canyon, hikes off the Enchanted Circle, etc. We also visited Petroglyph Nat'l Monument and Great Sand Dunes National Park (in southern CO). I never would have thought to hike in this area, if not for Tomcat's post. The elevation was very trying for us flatlanders, but we enjoyed out trip very much. I hope Tomcat's ribs are healed by now and that he's off to more adventures!