I visited Potato Canyon in the Withington Wilderness, about 30 miles SW of Magdalena NM. My purpose was to scout the conditions of Potato Trail #38, part of the Grand Enchantment Trail, for a future trail project for NMVFO. Most of this blog post will be included in a project pitch for the Forest Service. This area was hit with the 2016 North Fire, and I do not believe any reconstruction has been attempted since.
The last time I visited Potato Canyon was 2021, and the trail was disappearing.
There was plenty of loose bare dirt, and many blowdowns that were making it difficult to stay on the path, so the tread was disappearing. I was afraid what I might find this year, but conditions were not so bad as I expected. Plenty of grass (and cats-claw and briars) had regrown, stabilizing the soil. At the higher trailhead the tread was still mostly visible.
Many briars need to be lopped near the top, and further down it is not so bad.
I was able to descend several long switchbacks and still find the tread. Old cut-marks helped. I placed a few pin-flags to help with me navigating back to the top.
Several places need tread work, with high outslope, or backslope work needed, or faint tread needing to be reconstructed. (Sorry, photos of tread really cannot convey seeing in 3D.)
Eventually, after about 0.7 miles from the top, I got to a place where it was hard to see where the trail goes next, after a large log-pile.
But I think we should still be able to locate the trail on the upper slope. When the trail gets closer to the stream, and bad erosion, and possible sudden drop-offs, the going may be harder. But I am proposing to concentrate on the upper slope for this project, and just go as far as we can. I think when my group sees the Potato Canyon vista they will be willing to come back for a future project, if necessary.
For the most part, trees have not started growing back in this section. A few tall ponderosas survived. No aspen or other opportunistic trees have made much of a beginning in growing back.
