What to do when the mountains are *CLOSED*??

[Will Tatman]

Hey there, don't know if there are any other burquenos on here but I just wanted to tell everybody that we're hurting from wildfires in central NM… so much so that they CLOSED 2 whole ranger districts of the Cibola NF encompassing all of the Sandia and Manzano mountains. A sad day for Albuquerque hikers.

The good news is I have a small motorcycle and an open mind. Where should I go instead? Have others ever been denied the wilderness by red tape for a whole season? how did you cope? I'm also training for a big trail in the fall, trying to stay in shape.

Should I suck it up and do some summertime desert hiking? Suggestions, please!

[John S.]

I would be headed to Colorado or Utah. Sorry to hear about the wilderness closures.

[Jonathan Christensen]

I can't say I didn't see the closures coming. The NWS has drought conditions over most of NM listed as "exceptional", not just "extreme". I don't think the precipitation forecast is looking too good either. I don't expect the fire danger or forest closures to change any time soon. I won't be surprised if the most of the remaining open areas (most of which are in stage 2 fire restrictions) are closed before the end of June.

I was hoping to send a few days backpacking in the Pecos later this month. Unfortunately I too am now looking for a new destination. I agree that it looks like heading north to CO may be the best bet.

[J-L]

Even the Pecos is closed? I thought they'd have enough snowmelt to hold them over until the monsoons come.

[Nico .]

We were in a similar situation a few years back. A handful of big wildfires burned through large swaths of our NF over the course of the summer and the District Rangers of the affected districts shut down the entire forest for the remainder of the summer.

Luckily for us, summer isn't a great time to be in our local NF (too hot and dry), so we just turned our attention elsewhere for the summer/fall and focused on Sierra hikes. It would seem like your best bet is similar and to focus on cooler, less dry climes…

[Jonathan Christensen]

Here's the closure info for the Pecos dated 6/5/2013: Pecos Closure Info

PROHIBITIONS
1. Going into or being upon the restricted area.

RESTRICTED AREA
The restricted area includes all National Forest System lands, roads and trails managed by the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District, including the Pecos Wilderness, which is jointly managed by the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District, the Espanola Ranger District and the Camino Real Ranger District of the Carson National Forest, within the following counties within the state of New Mexico: Santa Fe, San Miguel, and Mora.

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