January 10 Hike, Canoncito del Puertocite del Lemitar

Canoncito del Puertocito del Lemitar

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Public land at the base of the Polvaderas. Leaving at 9:00 A.M. from the Socorro Public School Administrative Office parking lot on Franklin Street. Dress for the weather, wear good hiking shoes, bring a walking stick, hat, water, food, camera.

Note: this hike was originally scheduled for January 3 but it had to be rescheduled to January 10.

November 8th and November 16th: Veranito Wilderness Study Area

Mike Bilbo writes:

I'm leading the hike into a wilderness study area that not many people visit. It's going to be a 4-5 mile loop. We'll go over the Escondido Bridge to Arroyo de la Parida and up Johnson Hill Road. Wear good hikng shoes, bring a walking stick. I've heard there's petroglyphs so maybe we'll find them.

Note: There has been some confusion about the date of this hike. The resolution of this confusion is that Bob Merkel will lead a hike on this route on Saturday, November 8, and Mike Bilbo will lead a second hike over the same general route on Sunday, November 16. Both days the plan is to meet at the Socorro Consolidated Schools office at 8am.

SUNDAY OCT. 12 HIKE AT CANYON TRAIL

SUNDAY OCT. 12 HIKE AT CANYON TRAIL

Thanks to the late summer monsoon rains there are lots of interesting plants blooming in our area and I want to walk the Canyon Trail to enjoy them one more time before frost. Those who want to go should meet me at the Socorro Public school administration bldg parking lot on Franklin Street at 8 a.m. btw I chose Sunday morning because every Saturday this month is chock full of other interesting activities. Bob

September 6 Hike

Sept. 6th (a first Saturday!). Leaving at 8 a.m. from the Socorro Public School admin. office parking lot on Franklin Street. We'll enter the Quebradas road from the S. end off US 380; the trailhead is 10 miles or so north from there. High clearance vehicles preferred.

This hike will be ~3 miles r.t. through a spectacular arroyo with several narrowish passages and lots of cliffs, including one visible from across the river (see attached photo). The rocks and plants are very diverse. We've found layered gypsum and fossils along the way too.

As usual, wear good hiking shoes, bring a walking stick, water, snack. We will car pool as much as possible.

Bob Merkel will be leading this very interesting educational hike. For those of you who don't know Bob, he is quite a naturalist and has so much to share about plants, geology, and animals of this area. We are in for quite a treat on this hike. Thanks, Bob!

August 16 Hike, Mesa Trail at Water Canyon

Our August hike will take us up another side canyon off of Water Canyon to the top of the mesa above Water Canyon and a scenic overlook with a view towards Socorro and the Rio Grande. For those who went on the July hike, this one will be somewhat longer, but the view from the overlook should make up for the added effort.

Trail 13, the Mesa Trail, starts from about 0.5 mile beyond the picnic area at Water Canyon at the pull-out where you can currently find some road construction equipement parked. There's no need for four wheel drive or even a high clearance vehicle on this road.

The trail starts at 6,800 feet elevation and then follows a stream bed up a canyon to about 8,000 feet over 1.8 miles. Once you've gotten past this steep section of the trail, it's about 1.4 miles along a ridge line and across the mesa to the scenic overlook, which is at an elevation of 8,200 feet. The total round trip distance is 6.4 miles.

Here's a link to a map of the hike.

We'll meet at 8am on Saturday, August 16 at the Socorro Consolidated Schools offices and then car pool to the trail head. As always, remember to bring water, a snack or lunch, sun screen, hats, walking sticks, etc. Depending on how quickly we climb and how long we spend at the overlook, this hike should take about 4 hours.

July Hike, Copper Canyon Trail

Sat. July 19th
Planned distance about 4 miles
Copper Canyon Trail
Leader - JoAnn Wade

Meet at 8 am at the Socorro School Administration Building parking lot for carpooling. High Clearance vehicle, not 4 wheel drive, needed to get to trail parking area. This is trail #10 out of water canyon in Magdalena Ranger District. It is an out and back trail so we can turn around at any point. The whole trail is about 8 to 9 miles round trip. The trail ends at 10,200 ft. elevation at the North Baldy Trail, #8 but we will not be doing all of it. There are a variety of trees along the trail. As usual, bring water, snack or lunch, sunscreen. By the time we get there I don't think we will be done before 1 or 2 pm depending on how far we walk.

Red Canyon Ranch Hike, June 14

Announcing our June hike for the Hiking First group.

The hike will be the 14th of June through East Red Canyon on the Red Canyon Ranch. The hike will be led by Larry Cary; who is also the Steward of the Ranch. The Ranch is Approximately 50 miles South Southwest of Socorro including 3 miles of gravel road on State Road 107 and 2 miles of two track dirt road onto the Ranch at an elevation of 5600 feet. Two wheel drive vehicles are fine unless it has rained shortly before the visit.

The hike shall start at the Ranch's camping shelter parking lot and is easy to moderate in difficulty. The hike will consist of a one mile leg on rangeland, a 200 foot path descent into the Canyon, a one and one forth mile hike through the canyon, a 200 foot ascent out of the Canyon, and a one quarter mile grassland stroll back to the parking lot. About 3 hours depending on sightsee timeouts.

The day will start at 0730 AM at the County School Administration Parking Lot, convoy South on I-25 to Exit 115 (Santa Fe Diner), Right onto SR 107 for 12 &1/2 miles then left onto the Ranch road for 2 miles to parking. About one hour driving time. After the hike, club members are invited to remain on the Ranch for picnicking and/or overnight camping if desired, or return back to Socorro. Children and Pets are welcome as well.

The special beauty spot of the Ranch is a mile long section of East Red Can yon. The Canyon is characterized by 200 foot tall rock cliffs on each side and a flat sandy floor up to 1000 foot wide. The walls are punctured by crevasses, cracks, caves, benches and many photographic vista's including pictographs. The floor is a forest of Cottonwood, Walnut, Pine, Juniper, Hackberry and other trees; Rabbit Bush, Apache Plume, Gooseberry and other shrubs; and numerous wild
flowers and grasses. The fauna includes javelina, rabbits, squirrels, rodents, deer, antelope, snakes, lizards, toads, cats, coyotes, skunks, large and small birds and more. The flora, fauna and vista's make this the most beautiful spot in Socorro County!

Please Come and enjoy.

Larry Cary

Timber Ridge Hike, May 3

Are you up for a visit to Timber Ridge high in the Magdalena mountains on May 3rd? But let's meet at 8 a.m. at the Socorro schools admin. offices on Franklin St. and get an early start on the hike in case of afternoon storms.

We've been on Timber Ridge before and the views are fantastic. If it's clear enough one can even see over the San Andres mts. to part of White Sands! The trail starts at about 9,900 ft. and Timber Peak is at 10,510 feet according to my topo map. With all the snow on South Baldy this past winter there should be some good wildflowers up there too.

Please observe the usual precautions. Sun protection, snack and water, maybe a walking stick. Also it could be chilly up there, . . ., or not.

March 8 Hike

We have an exciting hike planned for March 8! There is a bit of driving, so let's try to carpool as much as possible.

Meet 9 am at Socorro Public School offices Saturday March 8th. We'll drive to Magdalena and then ~10 miles north toward the Alamo Reservation to pick up the dirt road that goes to a mile or so below the Bear Mountains ridgeline.

Because of the long drives, plan for most of the day, bring snacks, water, and as always, good shoes, layer clothing. And be ready for GREAT explorations of Socorro County that most of us have never seen!

March 1 Hike-Planting at Sevilleta

Tree pole planting at Sevilleta is Saturday, March 1. Please to meet at 9am, March, at the Sevilleta Visitor Center, or 8:30 at Central Office to carpool. Anyone who plans to attend MUST call the Sevilleta at 505-864-4021 to let them know so they have a count.

As always, wear good walking shoes, bring water and a snack, layer clothing!

Feb. 9th: Exploring Nogal Canyon

Hi all:

This Nogal Canyon (there are others) is located west of San Antonio, NM, and runs through the Chupadera mountains to the Magdalenas. The plan is to drive to the first really narrow part of the canyon, hike through that, up a side canyon, then down to the farther narrow canyon, and finally back to the cars. It is a very dramatic area with a wide variety of volcanic rocks that we'll walk through. Might even find some very early spring flowers (?)

Meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 9th, at Socorro schools administrative offices, 700 Franklin Street. This trip WILL require 4-WD vehicles in the canyon because the bottom is very sandy, so everybody who has one ought to bring it. Don't forget to dress for the weather, bring water, snacks, etc.

Bob & Debby

Black Butte and Sevilleta NWR

Today, we went to Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge north of Socorro.

We started by climbing to the top of Black Butte. The butte is just outside the boundary of the refuge, but it provides a wonderful view of the refuge and the Rio Grande valley. Here's a view to the southeast, towards the Los Pinos mountains.


Then we drove through the refuge and stopped at a couple of spots to view the plants and geology. Here's a picture showing the landscape at the foot of the Los Pinos mountains.


Along the way, we saw two bald eagles and some pronghorn antelope.