Overnighter in Pecos River canyon near El Cerrito, NM

[Alex (he/him)]

Country United States
State New Mexico
Area Santa Fe National Forest, parcel near El Cerrito, NM
Trip Month (04) – April

Report / Notes
I did a lovely little one nighter in a Santa Fe National Forest parcel near El Cerrito, NM. Would be good for up to 2, maybe 3 nights. No trails, just lonely 2 track and cow paths and some full off trail. Most of it was typical New Mexico; the canyon of the Pecos River was super beautiful.

I did the “shorter trip” at this CalTopo:

https://caltopo.com/m/QAP66

Taking my kids in the near future weather allowing! We’ll do an out and back on the eastern half of the loop to skip the off trail.

Seen: about 30 cows, 0 people, 0 vehicles. The cows weren’t overwhelming like they are some places. It was actually fun to see them!

2 hours from Albuquerque. Best weather in spring or fall. Can be super windy – edge of Great Plains.

[Alex (he/him)]

I wrote a short report the day I got back to make sure I got something up. Here are some more notes / anecdotes:

The ranger warned me to “watch out for cliffs!” Well, I felt pretty secure from my topo & satellite map research that I could access the river at some point along each route.

So, I went down the western side of the short loop, generously drinking our 2L and giving water to the dog. (It was in the low 60s and sunny so although there was a dry wind, not really dangerous dehydration territory). Anyway, went down the wash, almost no water left in my bottles, both of us eagerly anticipating the river, and… cliffed out!

It was trivial to walk around onto the bluff and down to a gentler slope down to the river, but the disappointment, problem solving, and reward is actually one of the things I like most about backpacking!

Other notes – very high turbidity in the Pecos River, presumably due to (New Mexico not in the mountains) + (spring runoff) + (huge Hermit’s Creek / Calf Canyon burn scar far upstream). Sorry, filter!

I taught myself the big rock / little rock method in earnest on this trip. It didn’t result in a blue ribbon XMid pitch – very flappy in the high wind and a pole fell down once in the night – but it kept the wind off me and relieved any anxiety about a thunderstorm rolling through and soaking me.

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