Sagebrush Trails

• CDT NM 2025 Day 27, Saturday May 3
• Start mile 682.6 near Mesa View Trail
• End mile 703.3
• Miles walked: 19.8 (using Ghost Ranch Alt)

I take Rim Vista Trail down from the edge, admiring the rock-work used to build the trail.

I also admire how old trail is closed with interlaced logs.

At the bottom I can see cliffs that would be familiar to anyone who visited Ghost Ranch before , including Chimney Rock,

On Ghost Ranch property, I try to follow the Alternate route, but it is tricky. Here I cross a bridge over an arroyo…

… and then see a Bridge Closed sign on the other side.

Chimney Rock comes into better view.

Finally getting to the Visitor Center, the friendly staff give me my food box I mailed here, and I repackage food on the porch.

Spokes and Mama Troll show up while I am working, and then Southern Comfort, who is staying the night. The rest of us will press on today, after snacks and perhaps exploring Ghost Ranch a bit.

Nearby is an Anthropology Museum, and I browse the displays.

I particularly like how they show this vase was reassembled.

They also have a dinosaur museum, with a display of researching fossils.

And I appreciate the dinosaurs. 

Ghost Ranch has so much more to see, including art exhibits and interesting architecture, but I must move on. A hogan can be explored on Box Canyon Trail.

The route takes us into a box canyon, with no visible exit. Many fine cliffs are on display.

A trail, hard to find, is used to climb out of the box.

Just as soon as we are on Forest Service land, the cliffs lose their color. I guess the USFS did not have budget for paint.

A long green lizard dashes over several boulders, before stopping on this rock that has green lichen. He hopes I cannot see him on the green rock.

Climbing up, we can see Chimney Rock from the back side.

Continuing to climb, the route goes up a final rim, so I am about back to the elevation I started with this morning.

After climbing gradually, I am at 9.2k, facing a cold night.

A grove of aspens are all scarred, likely from elk rubbing antlers.

This area reminds me of Scottish highlands, except higher.

Finished audiobook The Great GatsBy, by F Scott Fitzgerald.

• CDT NM 2025 Day 26, Friday May 2
• Start mile 656.4 past stream
• End mile 682.6 near Mesa View Trail
• Miles walked: 26.3

The route begins today on a mesa, through thinned Ponderosa forest.

Starting to descend the mesa, I notice a high number of standing snags, with a sharp transition on when the snags begin.

Thinking about it, I realize the standing dead trees probably resulted from a fire.

Continuing to descend, the route follows a stream for a while.

Coming out of forest, I can enjoy sandstone cliffs of many colors, among the sagebrush.

A rattlesnake on the trail makes no noise at all, though the rattle is visible. I am hearing anecdotally that more silent rattlesnakes are being encountered because misguided persons kill this useful predator when they hear them, so quiet rattlesnakes are becoming more numerous due to natural selection.

The trail crosses the Chama River at Skull Bridge.

Most hikers will now take the Ghost Ranch alternate for resupply, which stays at low elevation. On this hike I am trying to take alternates which I have not done before, so I stay on the main CDT, which climbs up a mesa, past cliffs, going from 6.4k elevation at Skull Bridge to 8.0k.

The route follows along the edge of the mesa, with fine views of landforms below for many miles.

I can see Abiquiu Reservoir.

And I can also see some of the sandstone cliffs near Ghost Ranch.

I try to get to the intersection with Mesa View Trail, but lightning and rain threaten. Tomorrow I will be able to take this trail towards Ghost Ranch. The trail is not on the app that most hikers are using to navigate the CDT, but it probably should be.

Finished audiobook A Trace of Memory, By Keith Laumer.

• CDT NM 2025 Day 25, Thursday May 1
• Start mile 628.5 Cuba
• End mile 656.4 past stream
• Miles walked: 27.9

Several hikers had commented that loose dogs are a problem on NM126 going out of Cuba. One time I was challenged by three dogs at once, and I was in danger of them flanking me.

Yelling, bluff charging, and threatening with my trekking poles eventually allowed me to pass.

The route leaves the highway at Nacimiento Mine. I am familiar with this section up to the reservoir, because I did a trail project a couple of years ago. We hiked past the mine, but most of the trail work was closer to the lake.

Climbing, I can see Cuba, and bid a fond farewell.

The forest is Ponderosa pine here, and as we gain altitude aspen and fir appear.

I get to look at the results of some trail work we did. This part is not too bad.

Along this slope our work did not hold up too well, and we really need to do a reroute.

And in this area, hikers are still missing the turn, and taking the wrong trail to the lake. And fallen aspen leaves continue to hide the trail here. Oh well, we tried, and I did the work as instructed by staff.

Southern Comfort passed me climbing up, and later I passed him as he stopped for lunch.

Ducks take to wing as I approach San Gregorio Lake.

The forest is thick here, mixed conifer plus aspen, with many downed trees.

Snow begins to appear in patches. The route has climbed to 10.4k elevation. Snow begins to fall, and the sun is hidden by clouds, and the temperature drops.

Snow showers continue off and on for hours. Now meadows appear, where the soil is too wet for tree roots to work well. This is the San Pedro Parks.

The trail is often filled with water from snow melt, and crossing swampy areas without shoes getting soaked is a challenge.

Snow patches become more frequent, and larger, and begin to hide the trail.

It is cold and snowing and wet, and camping up here would be a challenge today. But suddenly I am past the Parks, and losing elevation on a trail with a vast amount of blowdowns.

Down at 8.4k elevation, the sun appears, the temperature is restored to normal levels, I get water at a stream, and make camp for a well-deserved rest.

Finished audiobook Lord Tony’s Wife, by Baroness Orczy, a Scarlet Pimpernel novel.