Valles Caldera South Rim

Forest Road 10 to Peralta Pass

Submitted by Gary Salzman                                                            Hike of 16 October 2005

Here is a report on the hike organized by Ken Kutac along the Valles Caldera Rim portion over the top of Los Griegos.  Participants were Ken Kutac, Jean Jones, Yvonne Delamater, and Gary Salzman.

I have written a short introduction that includes a map of our track along the trail, a GPS waypoint list, and a very brief description of the hike.  Yvonne’s transcript is included as the next section of the report.  I have inserted pictures in her report to go with her text.  Ken’s text follows Yvonne’s transcript.  Under each photograph or map, I have put a caption that contains the file name of the image that is also on the CD.

The first topographic map below shows the hike in its entirety including waypoints at NM 4.  Note from the profile at the bottom of the image that we should have started the hike at waypoint 091 (east end) to save some climbing.

Overall hike waypoints and track.   The blue track is the drive to the parking area.  The red track is the hike.  TOPO!map1.jpg

The second topographic map shows the hike in more detail.  Yvonne’s description includes some of the waypoints on the map.

Detailed hike waypoints and track. The blue track is most of the drive to the parking area.  The red track is the actual hike from west to east.  TOPO!map2.jpg

The next five images are satellite images from Google Earth (www.google.com) with the hike waypoints shown on the images.  The first three images are direct overhead images of the hike start, hike middle, and hike end.  The two perspective images show views from the northeast and northwest.  These manipulations were done with the Google Earth software available on PCs for free from Google.

We drove both cars up FR 280 and then FR 281 to a parking area near the closed gate that gives access to some radio transmitters on top of Peralta Ridge. We left one of the cars there and then drove on NM 4 to the west to FR 10.  We drove up to the top of Cat Mesa and continued on FR 10 for about 0.3 miles to an unnamed dirt road that we followed up to waypoint 044 in front of a gate leading to private property.

The waypoints are provided in the following table in UTM coordinates:

Vallecitos de los Indios on FR 10 is in the middle of the satellite image.  FR10Image-HikeStart.jpg

PerspectiveFromNE.jpg

Los Griegos is the ridge extending from waypoint 068 to waypoint 076 where there is a “shrine.” FR10Image-HikeMiddle.jpg

The NM 4/ FR 280 junction is at 093.  FR 281 turns off of FR 280 at waypoint 092 and we parked one car at waypoint 091.  FR10Image-HikeEnd.jpg

Los Griegos extends from waypoint 067 to 076.  PerspectiveFromNE.jpg

Submitted by Gary Salzman

From: Yvonne Delamater <ydelamater@earthlink.net>
Subject: Los Griegos trip report
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:46:02 -0600

Here’s a transcription of my notes with some impressions and musings on the trail that we hiked.  Thanks for driving and all the work you are doing to help Dorothy.  You’ll make a really valuable contribution to the Valles Caldera Rim Trail effort.  Thanks also for   giving me the waypoints at various landmarks!  That was really some beautiful country we went through today and I feel very privileged to have been part of the hike.

BEGIN

We drive out FR10 through Sierra Los Pinos and follow logging roads to where the road gets too bad to go further.   We park near a gate that is posted private property.

We walk uphill, close to the barbed wire fence on the private property because that is the clearest path.  We are on national forest land and pass various forest boundary signs, some well outside the fence, some right next to it and at least one that is just inside the fence.

PrivateFenceWaypoint044.jpg

The route is clear at first but then we have to pick our way over some small diameter downed wood.  There are also small diameter (2-3”) stumps sticking up in the tread that could pose a tripping hazard. 
Fortunately, there is not much in the way of scenery on this part to distract from the slender stumps; but, between the downed wood, the small stumps and the barbed wire, I’ll be glad to get past this part as it is not the most pleasant walking.  I notice, though, that it looks like the private property owner takes good care of his forest because there are teepees of logs and branches that have been stacked to dry after thinning.

The path goes downhill to intersect a draw that had been paralleling our trail below the steep embankment to our left.  The route goes up to the private property fence corner where a dirt road continues past the boundary.  At the corner are some bearing trees and a survey marker.  [This information is on a bearing tree plaque: 
S0430(degrees)W, 17.918N, Sec 13; and T18R3E, C1/4S18, 1971 (I may be confused in my notes as this may be from two different bearing tree plaques).]  There are some very tall aspens in this area which let in more light through the forest which is cheering.  We follow the road that comes off the private property but that quickly becomes very clogged by large diameter downed logs.

QuestionableTrail.jpg

There is a brief debate on whether we should have followed the fence line as it turned the corner or if we should continue across the draw. 
We decide to go up to the ridge to the left, crossing the short distance over the downed timber in the draw.  We top out at a nice trail in pine duff.   This may be waypoint 48.

Continuing on this trail, we pass by various forest boundary signs to the left of our line of travel which state that the forest boundary is behind the sign.  This is confusing as we haven’t crossed any private property fence and are still on forest land.

GriegosMeadow.jpg

We intersect what is perhaps the Los Griegos Road.  There are some pretty aspens about which lighten the forest.  We see an enormous Douglas fir that has shattered and fallen yet doesn’t block the road.  There are low stumps probably cut by a chain saw so they are from post W.W.II (thanks to Dorothy Hoard for this information on how to tell the difference!)

We pass a junction to the right and there are touch and go views of far off scenery including Redondo.  Redondo’s full glory (and it is glorious!) doesn’t really come until we hit the Los Griegos rim ridge.

Meadow&Mounds.jpg

We come to a meadow (above) and for me, this is the prettiest part of the trail so far.  I walk over to two conifers, their trunks touching one another, one’s a ponderosa for sure, that have a mass of currant bushes growing beneath.  There are a few aspens in the meadow.  The sun is lighting up the meadow brilliantly and dew is glistening on furry mullein leaves.  Animals have dug in the meadow leaving mounds of dirt.

We start from the meadow up through an open area with a floor of pine duff.  There are glimpses of what are probably some cliffs above San Diego Canyon toward Jemez Springs.  We are going through tall, tall ponderosas.  We cross a downed barbed wire fence and, inexplicably, a BLM and NFS boundary at waypoint 60.  At times, this is like a real trail going up the hill and at other times we are just following the open forest floor.

We come to a cadastral survey marker that reads T18NR3E, 1/4 S13, 1971. [I’ve also written down 8127, 1989 but didn’t give myself a clue as to what that is!]  There are bearing trees here too.  There are also two wooden posts next to each other, in back of the bearing trees, and one of them has written on the side Placer 47.  [There was other writing too but I didn’t transcribe it.]  There is a white PVC pipe that has a block of wood closing off the end but no mining claim is found inside the pipe!

OpenAspenForest.jpg

We are starting to see tufted grasses in the duff and getting into a beautiful open aspen forest.  The aspens have not turned completely yet though.  One hiker volunteers that this is a 30 degree slope.  We are an hour and 30 minutes from the car.  The walk, despite the steep slope, is so much more pleasant now because the forest is open and there is not as much downed wood to step over.   Some stones are mixed into the trail tread but don’t present a hazard.

At waypoint 65, we see Cerro Pelado to our right.  There are tremendous views to the west and south opening up.  Some of it looks like it’s toward San Diego Canyon country.  One hiker suggests that the peak to the southwest may be Cerro del Pino.  Looking back at the views makes hiking up this steep part more pleasant.

CerroPelado.jpg

After two hours of hiking, we are on the part of the Valles Caldera rim that runs across Los Griegos.  There is a precipitous pitch on both sides and on the right, more great views of Cerro Pelado with the fire lookout on top.  The trail on the somewhat narrow ridge is easy to follow, even as it goes over and around rocks and boulders.  While it is on a ridge and the trail does get close to the sides of the ridge at times, I don’t feel any sense of exposure.

LosGriegosPeak.jpg

There are cascades of golden aspens flowing downhill into the Cerro Pelado drainage.  The views have opened up riotously--to the Sangres, to El Cajete and Redondo--how beautiful this side of it looks with its extensive meadows--to Peralta Ridge with the electronic site towers, Tschicoma, Valle Grande, Cerros del Abrigo, Cerros del Medio, the Sandias--great views every which way!  We lunch on the rim and ladybugs alight on us.  I discover one still alive in my lunch bag when I get home!

RedondoPeak.jpg

When we resume walking, it is 12:30 pm.  We go down at first on a short, steep part but the footing is fairly good.  We go up to the ridge again and stop at another splendid view of El Cajete and Redondo.  I notice views of Cerro la Garita on the northern rim of the caldera and Paliza Canyon.  Right behind us, there is an old telephone box nailed to a tree.

TelephoneBox.jpg

We drop left off the ridge and walk toward a rock shelter/shrine at the edge of a meadow, waypoint 75.  I theorize that it is a shrine because it overlooks the best view yet of the sacred peak of Redondo!     There is piece of orange plastic flagging tied to one of the conifers near the rock shelter/shrine.  I see a view of a pumice mine far below.

Shrine.jpg

We go back across the meadow, crossing another downed barbed wire fence, and head to the left downhill through a meadow toward the Paliza Canyon drainage.  This meadow is beautiful with golden grass tussocks as well as very green grass.  There are aspens at the edge of the meadow.  I spot some dried up cow pies but not to excess and the meadow doesn’t look overgrazed.

As we continue downhill, we find another meadow and this one is ringed by tall conifers.  The trail has become scuffed mud from either elk or cow.  There are a few more recent looking cow pies around.  We are walking alongside a dry drainage that is on our right.  We come to a logging road blocked by a log.  There is a cow trail going down into another meadow.   As I look ahead at the other hikers going down alongside the drainage, they look so tiny next to the tall trees.

Meadow&PeraltaRidge.jpg

At waypoint 81, we see a bridge of logs wired together across the Paliza Canyon drainage.  The drainage is damp here but not running water.  Half of the log bridge, which is no more than 4 or 5 feet in length and maybe 4 feet wide, is collapsed into the stream bed.  Just up from this, one of the hikers thought he had spotted a spring which put a bit of water into the stream bed so this may be where the dampness under the bridge is coming from.

LogBridge.jpg

Where the bridge is, we are at a junction of a road to the right and one to the left and a trail running down the middle of a pretty aspen meadow.    There is a dendroglyph dated 1979 on an aspen tree at the head of this meadow.    After some route discussion, we take the logging road going uphill to the left.  At first it is fairly open but this soon turns into a trail along a barbed wire fence with large diameter cut logs on the right alongside the trail but not blocking it.

Dendrogram.jpg

We get to Paliza Pass at yet another beautiful, open meadow.  It is vast and grassy with a tiny, tiny pond in it.  There are aspens on either side.

Further up, we intersect a road with blue diamonds at waypoint 85.  This is Paliza Canyon Road.   There is a barbed wire fence there but it’s to mark a grazing permittee’s allotment.  It is now 2 pm.  There are more beautiful views of Redondo and views back to Los Griegos while we are going up this road.  We come to another meadow with a road to the right and uphill that is blocked by a fallen log but this is not our road.  Along our road is a brown, flat, plastic post with 2548 on it which is the road number.  I continue to see more blue diamonds on the trees.

PalizaPass.jpg

We intersect a trail to the left that goes around Las Conchas mountain at waypoint 87 and is the continuation of the blue diamond XC ski trail we have been following.  We continue to the right on our road which heads back to the car.  In places, the uphill portions are muddy and badly eroded, possibly from ATV’s.  We intersect another logging road from that left that follows the east side of Paliza Canyon but we continue on our road.

RedondoFromEastOfPalizaPass.jpg

Our road now becomes rocky with post W.W.II stumps to the side and is steep and is bermed in places.  There is a rutted road to the left but we take our road to the right.  Then there is a road to the right and we go left.  How in the world would this trail be marked so hikers without GPS’s would not get too lost?  :   )

We intersect Peralta Electronic site road, FR281, and turn left.  At waypoint 92, we intersect a cattle guard which itself intersects the Valles Caldera Rim Trail coming in at a right angle.  We see a view of Cochiti Lake and maybe even of Rabbit Mountain and Scooter Peak.  The aspen colors on  FR281 are really beautiful and walking the road is easy and pleasant.  We reach the car at 2:45 pm.

On the drive back to pick up the other car, the issue is raised of what the access to these trails would be for someone who wants to start the hike from SR4 and not drive in on FR10 or FR 281 like we did.  One thing that has always struck me about a lot of the Jemez Mountain trails is that a 4WD is almost de rigueur for access.  That is why I am so thrilled with the recent opening by Bandelier of the Cerro Grande and Alamo Boundary trails and the decision by the Valles Caldera National Preserve to make free and open all year around, including winter and hunting season, the Valle Grande and Coyote Call trails because these trails can all be easily accessed from SR4 or a very short drive on the mostly well maintained Dome Road.

FR281.jpg

Also, while walking, I wondered if this hike should be a day hike with a car shuttle just like we did it or a backpack  or even two separate day hikes, minus the car shuttle, started from either end.  There is a lot of beautiful scenery to see and tons of other logging roads and trails to explore and breaking this hike up into two hikes or even a backpack would allow more time to do this.  I’d be very interested to know the total mileage we hiked today.  I’d also be curious what the elevation gain is the way that we hiked it and what it would be if it was hiked in reverse, i.e., starting at FR281 and ending at the private property gate.  This information could be factored into deciding how to do the hike.