Cimarron Range, New Mexico: (6/15-17/2006)

[Scott Brady]

Overland Exploration and high altitude adventure:

6/16- Leave Prescott for Northern NM and the start of the climb.
6/17- Climb Wheelers Peak
6/18- Explore Northern NM and start the drive to Colorado Springs


This trip will be featured in Off-Road

[datrupr]

Scott, I might be up for this, put me down for the overlanding and camping section. I am not a climber, but I can be pursuaded:rolleyes:

[Ursidae69]

Wish I could join you, but I'll still be out of the country this weekend. Email me if you need any help with NM questions. I know the area up there pretty well.

[blupaddler]

Sounds REALLY interesting...But the drive is a little far for a short trip.



Let me know when you want to start planning for #9 and #13.


:archaeolo

[whitethaiger]

Nice mountain, too bad it's so far from here.

BTW, the hike up Wheeler Peak was the first outdoor adventure Srisuda and I ever did together. Kind of like one of our first dates :) All the pain she went through on/after the hike and the monster thunderstorm that totally scared her I had some doubts about 'our' future... And look where we are now

[Scott Brady]

Wish I could join you, but I'll still be out of the country this weekend. Email me if you need any help with NM questions. I know the area up there pretty well.

Thanks Chuck, I will get with you more on the overland route soon. I am starting to plan the details.

[LexusAllTerrain]

I am very much interested in this trip, however how difficult would it be to hike, at that altititude it should get somewhat difficult if you are not well fit!

[Scott Brady]

Regarding the climb:

You should consider yourself to be a strong climber, with above average conditioning. The climb is non-technical, but does exist (well) above 10,000'.

[Scott Brady]

I am very much interested in this trip, however how difficult would it be to hike, at that altititude it should get somewhat difficult if you are not well fit!

It would be great to have you along. Start training today :)

[LexusAllTerrain]

Well sign me up, let's see if I can keep up with the big boys!:)

[Scott Brady]

All is still on for this trip. Who do I have still a go? :beer:

[durango_60]

If the trip was on the 17th-18th I would certainly be there, just don't have the time this year. I hate to miss a trip so close to home.

[pskhaat]

Come on durango_60, step it up a little. Life is too short...

[datrupr]

Scott, unfortunately not going to happen for me this time. With a week in L.A. at the end of the month, a week in CO at the beginning of next month, and a week in Mexico in August, I have used up all of my vacation and then some for this year.

[LexusAllTerrain]

Can not make it, I just got back from mexico, fishing time and got very sun burn:chowtime:

[Scott Brady]

This trip is changing.

With no commited participants, I am going to leave from Prescott on Friday and climb the mountain Saturday, then explore the area on Sunday. This will put me in Colorado Springs earlier on Monday for my conference.

[whitethaiger]

Oh man, no one is up for a great hike? If it only was something that could be done in a weekend from here....

Enjoy the hike!

[blupaddler]

Have fun Scott!

I wish I could be there. Heck, I am supposed to be at Mt. Shasta right now...but can't get any time off. Oh, well.

[goodtimes]

Scott, I am leaving Tucson Saturday morning, and stopping somewhere around the NM/CO border for the night. IIRC, you won't be too far off of my track, and I certainly would be interested in exploring a bit on Sunday before heading north to Denver. If you have some GPS coordinates, it won't be hard to find your camp. Let me know if you are interested in a travel partner for the day.


:wavey:

[Scott Brady]

Brian,

That would be awesome! We could meet for camp on Sat. night and explore on Sunday. I will work on a good meeting point and let you know :)

[goodtimes]

Sounds good Scott!

:rappel:

[Scott Brady]

Brian,

I am having difficulty finding a decent camping area, though the ones near the Wheeler Peak trail look ok

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/carson/recreation/camping/images/carson_camp_map_east.GIF

That would of course be easy for me after the hike, but I would actually like to get further east, which should be more convenient for you too.

It looks like this would be interesting: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/recreation/trails/spl_n_twin_cone_4wd.shtml

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/recreation/trails/images/n_twin_cone_map.jpg

But, I really want to explore the Panhandle and get to the top of Black Mesa. There looks to be plenty to explore there, and quite remote.

For that plan, we should try to meet in Springer, at the 25 and 56/412 highway connection. Then do a remote camp there. I can probably make it there between 5 and 6 p.m. on Saturday. If you cant make it there that early, I will make camp and get the Ribeyes started. We can communicate via the 2m.

Lets also plan on staying in contact via cell. I will pm and email you mine.

I think I have yours, the one ending in -1681

[Scott Brady]

Quick assent headin dowbasscrnt

[flyingwil]

You on your lap top link with the crack berry?

[BajaTaco]

Quick assent headin dowbasscrnt

LOL! He sounded better on the phone ;) He called me at about 13,000 ft. Successful summit, he was feeling good. He said it was a steep route!

Right on! :victory:

[flyingwil]

I figured it was just the altitude. LOL

[blupaddler]

Good job Scott!!!

:rappel:

[Scott Brady]

HA! The Crackberry started acting up, and wouldnt show the typed in words after heading. So I just kept typing. Looks like the autocomplete had a field day.

Beautiful summit. I had a great hike and really enjoyed the challenge and thin air. Climbing is a very cleansing process for me. Just putting one foot in front of the other.

Lots of Marmots too. Cool critters :elkgrin:

I will post some pics tomorrow.

[BajaTaco]

:clapsmile way cool!

[goodtimes]

I caught the tail end of this trip...very cool! It was SOOOO nice getting back out in the middle of nowhere in good company, with good food and good beer. I felt so much better after the black mesa walk (hate to call it a hike.....).

While the campsites were less than phenomenal, I still got to see some cool stuff that I have never seen in the wild. Sunday morning, I took a walk down to an abandond house. While checking things out, I had an unnearving feeling that I was being watched. I kept looking around, not seeing anything, or anyone. As I turned to leave for camp, the corner of my eye caught a pair of yellow eyes staring at me through the window of the house (seriously). Not what I was expecting to see, to say the least! It took a couple of seconds for my brain to process the information, and realize that there was an owl inside the house, watching me and the dog! I have never seen an owl in the wild, and this little guy was perfectly content to have a staring contest at a distance of about 3 feet. Very cool. Pics have to wait...my card reader is in Tucson.

After wandering around a bit more, I made my way back to camp and somem coffee. After sitting for a bit, I noticed 3 black "objects" on the hill across the trail from camp. I had walked through there earlier, and didn't remember them. I started to think I was losing my memory, when they started to move! They were still in the shadows, and were simply black...."things". As they moved into the sunlight, I realized that they were wild turkeys! Again, I have never seen them in the wild...and these guys weren't small. They would have made one heck of a meal, but Cherokee didn't want to go get one for us. They passed on by, within 50 - 75 feet of camp, and headed on up the hill about the time Scott crawled out of the ExpeditionsWest condo. It was a awesome way to start the day.

The rest of the day was relaxed with nothing more than a general destination. Route finding was left for Scott, and was done on the fly. He did an awesome job, and we reached our destination with little difficulty, and a short hike.

On Sunday night, I discovered I had a frozen brake caliper, which destroyed the inner pad on the drivers side front brake system...which destroyed the rotor in the process. Of course, I just put new pads and rotors on it about 10 months ago. Not happy. I limped it into Golden yesterday and put on a new set of pads and replaced the bad rotor. All is well now, getting ready for the next one.

Pics will have to wait....

[Scott Brady]

Great trip... Pics to come soon :)

[goodtimes]

A few misc. pics.....

1: Camp sunday morning
2: Some random tree
3: Staring contest (I lost)
4: In search of a road to the top of Black Mesa
5: Damn border crossers. They should have built a better fence.
6: Leaving Black Mesa

Hey Chkuck or Captain America, what did I lose the staring contest to???

[Ursidae69]

A few misc. pics.....
Hey Chuck or Captain America, what did I lose the staring contest to???

It's a great horned owl. Cool photo. :victory:

[goodtimes]

It's a great horned owl. Cool photo. :victory:

Cool. At least I didn't lose the contest to some less worthy owl opponent. :sport_box

[BajaTaco]

Nice pics! That owl shot is waaaay too cool :bowdown: You are a lucky d00d to have experienced that.

Regarding the "border crosser", I wonder why I haven't seen that hat?! It looks very similar to a tan one that I know well.

Hey GT, I'm really glad you made it up to CO after NM. It was fun to yuck it up with you and Chuck again on the summit trail... LOL Man, you guys are bad.