White Mountains Wilderness (NM) Backpack

September 20-26, 2002

Friday September 20, 2002

I left the Motorola Parmer Lane site in the afternoon, and drove up US
183 to Texas 29, which I followed to just west of Llano, where I
picked up Texas 71. I followed Texas 71 to Brady, catching US 87. I
followed US 87 through San Angelo to Big Spring, arriving late in the
evening. I car camp and set up my tent at Moss Creek Lake Recreation
Area, a reservoir operated by the City of Big Spring. I set the alarm
on my pager for 5:30 the next morning. 

Saturday September 21, 2002

I woke early, lit my Coleman lantern, disassembled my tent, packed the
car and left. I stopped at Tencha's Lunchbox, across from the
courthouse in Brownfield, and had a nice breakfast. I continued west
of Brownfield on US 380, and filled up my Sable at a farmer's coop
just west of town. I continued west into New Mexico, through Roswell,
and onto US 70. I continued through Lincoln, Capitan, arriving in
Nogal, NM. At Nogal, I followed NM 37 south, then turned onto Nogal
Canyon Road, a good graded dirt road. I followed it for several miles,
with the intention of following it to the Crest Trail trailhead.
Eventually, it arrived at some switchbacks I considered too rough to
take my passenger car up, so I changed plans and headed back to NM 37,
and drove further south to FS road 107, which I followed westward past
Bonito Lake to South Fork Campground and the South Fork Trailhead
(which was a paved road all the way). I pulled into the parking lot,
changed clothes into my hiking clothes, ate the last of some grapes
out of my icebox, and did the final packing of my backpack. I began
hiking up the South Fork of Rio Bonito, to the junction with the
Peacock Trail (Trail 18). This trail proceeded steeply uphill for 1.5
miles, to intersect the Crest Trail (Trail 25) on top of a ridge. I
hiked southwestward, and near dark, I hiked a little off the trail and
set up my tent (a new Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight I purchased
earlier this year; a 3 season tent) in some trees. The site wasn't
very level, but it was the best I could find under the circumstances,
and it was getting dark. I threw a line over a tree limb for
bear-bagging my food, and lit my candle lantern, which I hung from a
small tree branch. I made some bean burritos for supper with sliced
onions, instant refried beans, sharp cheddar cheese, and flour
tortillas. I had some trouble keeping my candle lantern lit because
of the wind.

Sunday September 22, 2002

I woke in the morning to find myself immersed in clouds and with the
weather appearing to deteriorate. I had breakfast (instant oatmeal),
broke camp, and decided to head back down to the Peacock Trail and
backpack up the South Fork Trail instead. I was concerned I might have
difficulty following the Crest Trail in the fog. I reached the
junction of the Peacock and Crest Trails, and began heading back down
the steep trail to the South Fork of the Rio Bonito. As I was hiking
down, the fog burned off amazingly quickly, and the sun emerged. I was
a little disappointed that I had abandoned hiking the Crest Trail,
since the weather turned so nice. I encountered another backpacker
heading up the Peacock Trail. I reached the South Fork trail, and
continued hiking southwestward, along the creek. I didn't encounter
any other hikers along the creek. I hiked all day, and found a
pleasant clearing and flat spot on which to camp. I set up my tent and
threw a bear bag line from a nearby tree branch. In the evening, I
again made bean burritos for supper. After cleaning dishes and hanging
my food, I turned in and went quickly to sleep.

Monday September 23, 2002

I woke in the morning, had a quick breakfast of granola with powdered
soy milk, and broke camp. I continued up the trail, which began
climbing near the head of the canyon. Just before the trail began
climbing steeply away from the creek, I stopped and filled my water
bottles (I was carrying a 1 quart army surplus canteen and a 3 quart
bleach bottle). The hillsides were covered with beautiful groves of
aspen, which hadn't begun turning yet, and some Douglas Fir, too. The
trail continued climbing, until it reached a junction of the Crest,
South Fork, and Blue Front trails. Here I turned southward onto the
Crest Trail, along the ridge top, heading toward the Ski Apache ski
area. The trail continued for a couple miles just below the ridge top,
until just north of the ski area, it gained the ridge and led to a
trail junction. I set up camp and hung a bear bag line near the sign
for the trail junction, at about 11,200'. I searched around for a
spring, 'Ice Spring', which was indicated nearby on my map, but
couldn't find it. I prepared supper (instant bean soup), and enjoyed
the views from the area. Elk in the area were bugling. After hanging
my food, I turned in for the night.

Tuesday September 24, 2002

I woke, had breakfast (instant oatmeal). It was pretty cold at this
campsite, the highest point on my trip, and there was frost on the
grass and my tent. I broke camp, and began hiking down the Crest
Trail, heading northeastward. There were signs along the trail
indicating some of the ski runs. I followed a small side trail and,
voila! ... here was Ice Spring! I hadn't gone downhill far enough the
previous evening to find it. I was delighted to find it, as I needed
to stock up on water after the previous night's dry campsite. I looked
for a small waterfall which would make it possible to fill my bottles,
but ended up using a small ziplock bag to fill the bottles with. I put
the bottles back in my pack, and continued hiking downhill toward the
ski area. I encountered another spot where there was a small seep,
which would have worked okay for water, though the flow was alot less
than at Ice Spring. At the ski area, there was some heavy equipment
doing some work on the area, possibly adding an area for a parking lot
or leveling an area for a building. I reached a trail junction with a
trail that headed up from the ski area parking lot. The trail crossed
a dirt road a couple times, that headed up to a hilltop site with alot
of radio antennas. Many years earlier (1984?), I had participated in
an amateur radio contest, 'Field Day', with some friends from
university on that hilltop, so had driven my pickup truck up that dirt
road. The trail passed just northwest of the hill with the radio
towers. The trail reached a clearing on a saddle at about 10300', and
there was forest service 'White Mountain Wilderness' sign. I stopped
here and had a snack, including a slice of bread from a loaf I had
made in my bread machine. There were some clouds overhead here, and a
few raindrops came down. The views here were dramatic; the Capitan
Mountains could be seen off to the northeast, where there appeared to
be a fire of some type, and the San Andres to the southwest. After my
snack, I continued following the Crest Trail downhill. I missed the
junction with the Peacock Trail, but after realizing my mistake, I
decided that I had plenty of time, so followed the Crest Trail the
rest of the way eastward, past the junctions with the Telephone Canyon
and Rodmaker Canyon trails, to the trailhead parking area on the road
to the Monjeau Lookout. I stopped here and took some photos, and
filled out a wilderness user card (they had all been gone at the South
Fork Trailhead). Then I continued back along the Crest Trail to the
junction with the Peacock Trail. I turned onto the Peacock Trail, and
made camp a short distance from the trail junction, at a flat spot
that had clearly been used by previous campers. I set up camp,
prepared and had supper (another legume soup of some type), and after
cleaning up and hanging my food, turned in for the night.

Wednesday September 25, 2002

I woke and had breakfast, then broke camp and proceeded to head down
the Peacock Trail. I reached the trail junction with the South Fork
Trail, and headed northeast to the junction with the Bluefront Canyon
Trail. I briefly contemplated spending another night in the
backcountry in Bluefront Canyon, but found that it was dry, and I was
beginning to look forward to having critter comforts again, so decided
to head out. I continued up the South Fork Trail and reached the South
Fork Trailhead. Here I loaded my pack in the trunk of my car, and took
my suitcase to the campground restroom. I washed off at the campground
water spout as well as I could, and changed clothes in the
restroom. Then I sat down at a picnic table in the campground and
studied my NM state map for a while. I decided to stay that night at
Bottomless Lakes State Park near Roswell. So I returned to the car,
and drove back, leaving the national forest, and headed on NM 37 and
48 to Ruidoso. I turned onto US 70, and followed it to Roswell. In
Roswell, I stopped at a Walmart to buy a comb. I continued to
Bottomless Lakes State Park, and set up my tent at one of the three
primitive campsites in the campground near Lea Lake. I enjoyed my
first shower in many days in the bathroom for the campground, and
cooked one of my remaining backpacking meals on my Coleman stove. A
young couple in a small SUV came and camped in the tent camping spot
next to me. We were the only people camped in the primitive camping
area, though there were several RV campers. I lit my Coleman lantern,
washed dishes, and put everthing except my tent and sleeping bag in
the trunk to get ready for the next day. I set the alarm on my pager
to wake up early.

Thursday September 26, 2002

I woke before sunrise, took down my tent, and drove from the
campground back to US 380. I stopped in Tatum, NM, at a small
steakhouse, and had a huge stack of 3 pancakes for breakfast. I
continued on US 380 into Texas, and stopped at a Lowe's grocery in
Plains to get a six pack of grapefruit juice and a bag of ice for the
rest of the trip home. I continued home along the same route I
followed on the trip going, until I reached my home in Dripping
Springs.