Hey imike, NM questions he might be able to answer.

[Jim]

Mike,
Are you familiar with the Capitan Mountains north of Lincoln? I understand there was a fire there in early summer of 2004. Have you been in the range, and if so, how does the area look following the fire? Also, how is this areas hiking? It looks like it could be a great place to get some altitude.

[imike]

Mike,
Are you familiar with the Capitan Mountains north of Lincoln? I understand there was a fire there in early summer of 2004. Have you been in the range, and if so, how does the area look following the fire? Also, how is this areas hiking? It looks like it could be a great place to get some altitude.

I have yet to hike over there... I still have another year before I finish covering the ridges and canyons over here in the Cloudcroft/Alamogordo area... which has turned out to be a much better area than I ever would have thought of... great for elevation training. It made last year's Mt. Whitney ascent a piece of cake.

[Jim]

Does that mean you plan to hike/poach Blanca?

[imike]

Does that mean you plan to hike/poach Blanca?

yep...most of the trail is out of the reservation... just the last tiny bit on top requires entering the boundary... and, since that is all on top, there would not be anyone to raise any issues up there... but first, I have to get back in shape to make the hike. 30 days of no activity have left me out of it!

[azbackpackr]

imike, I still want to climb Allegre by Pie Town. The whole peak is privately owned, but a friend of mine knows one of the owners. Actually, she probably knows all of the owners. She had promised to get permission and climb it with me last year, but she blew it off. I asked her about it the other day. She is more into horses than hiking. So, what I am thinking, maybe through her I could get permission for a small group to go up.

FYI for those who aren't familiar, Allegre Peak is 10,244 feet tall, is an isolated peak, not in a major range, and sits squarely on the Continental Divide in western New Mexico, east of Quemado, west of Socorro, by the little place called Pie Town, on US 60. It is about 70 miles east of Springerville, Arizona.

[hippiepunkpirate]

@azbackpackr
I know Pie Town well, actually the whole stretch of US 60 from Springerville to Socorro. My grandparents on my mom's side lived in Truth or Consequences for years.

[imike]

imike, I still want to climb Allegre by Pie Town. The whole peak is privately owned, but a friend of mine knows one of the owners. Actually, she probably knows all of the owners.

Sounds like it would be a fun hike... at least it would once I get back into shape to hike again!... keep us posted!

[Jim]

Hey imike,

How familiar are you with the vegetation of the mountains of southern NM? What kinds of oaks are there (aside from Gambel Oak) in them or below the mixed Conifer belts? That is, is there much Arizona White Oak, what about Emory, or others?

[imike]

sorry... have not studied NM flora... quercus newmexicanass?

[Jim]

So, imike, you like Alamogordo, correct? If one was able to land a job there, would it be a good place to move to?

[imike]

Interesting question...

...for years I always regretted having to drive through the town on my way to Cloudcroft... just did not like it. then, a bit over a year ago, I moved here to work (...if you call what I do work). I knew of one trail that was close to the 1000' per mile grade that I wanted for training, and I spent most of my time just going up and down that.

Then, I began to play in the drainages... and the hiking really opened up. To date, I have over 70 routes available that I can hike from my house! Winter climate is about as good as it gets in the USA. !6 miles up the road you're hiking, snow shoeing and skiing at 9,000'. No one uses the trails. There are some exceptional road bike rides... and 100's of miles of old forest logging routes for mountain biking, in addition to the established trails. Other than a total lack of other hikers, it is likely one of the better hiking base locations you can have.

White Sands is a nice bike ride out of town.

If you can not get away for more exotic adventures over the summer, the temps on the mountain rarely get above the 70's. I tend to spend a couple months up there.

In town, summer is hot, but at 4200', nights are cool...

In town... lot of military. Lot of parks. Lot of family oriented stuff. Honestly, I don't mix in that much except for volunteer work (habitat for humanity, meals on wheels, library)

Living is cheap... I bought two homes for $22,000 each!

There is a health food store... and a book store... Wally World rules the shopping. Home Depot/Lowes/Foxworth/and two other lumber/hardware stores... lots of churches... there is a branch of University of New Mexico.

it really would depend on the lifestyle desired.

I'll be here for 10-15 years!

[Jim]

Around the Coconino and other ponderosa pine dominated National Forest in Arizona, thinning is a pretty widespread occurrence. Sometimes they try to burn the area after they have been thinned, but often overgrazing and then the thinning remove any fuels so there is nothing to carry the fire. In the Lincoln NF, are you aware of areas of mixed conifer or ponderosa pine dominated stands which have been thinned, thinned and burned, or just burned?

[imike]

they do a bit of all of it... there is an ongoing process of controlled burns. Additionally, they rotate areas for the public to harvest firewood... and prep that by having crews go through thinning and dropping trees. The greater impact here, going beyond simple thinning will be happening as they clean out the dead trees from the latest beetle infestation that ran through the forest after the 8 year drought... 2007-2009 was bad, then they sprayed, and we've had rain and snow, so hopefully that infestation is past us.

Additionally, we still active active logging going on, mostly in the upper elevations...