- NNML 2019 Day 6, June 15, Saturday
- Start mile 80, Calaveras Well
- End mile 106, near NM96
- Miles walked: 26
The route continues on a pipeline road, steep and not maintained for general use. Then on to good dirt forest service roads, with a few campers and tents. Finally the route to cross country on ridge which broadens into a mesa.
Sometimes the trail is swampy, and grass starts getting higher.
The cross country route merges with Penas Negras Trail 32. Many dead trees have fallen, and there has been some attempt to saw logs and clear the trail, but trees fall faster than they can be cleared. About a mile of scrambling over fallen logs is a tough obstacle course.
Our route joins the CDT at San Pedro Parks. (Park here means high meadow, I think.) Several elk graze, too far to photograph.
There is snow on the trail at 10.5k elevation, at least in shady spots. Good to know when I hit higher elevations. Most of the trip to date has been around 8k elevation.
The Parks trails are still soggy from snow melt.
Coming down the mesa one sees many dead trees. I do not remember so much tree kill when I was here in 2013, so need to refer back to my journal.
I meet Backcountry Horsemen, Jemez Chapter, just finishing sawing logs.
The CDT seems well maintained here, and one can navigate by edges of logs.
Rain threatens all around, and finally gets serious, so I quit early, camping among the first stand of sagebrush seen on this trip.