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| Hiking | 8.00 Miles |
4,150 AEG |
| | Hiking | 8.00 Miles | 5 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.52 mph |
| 4,150 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | On my trips to New Mexico to get Chiles for the restaurant I often stay in Las Cruces. When I do the Organ Mountain Range to the East always captures my attention. If you have been to the area you know what I mean. They stand above anything else and are very jagged and rugged looking. I have been wanting to summit the high point which is called the Organ Needle and today was the day.
Yesterday one of my employees "Eric" and I set out to Hatch to get a bunch of Chiles for the Restaurant. I told him that today was going to be a little more fun and that I had planned a hike. He isn't a hiker so I wasn't sure he would be able to do this one since it is over 4300 feet of gain in a fairly short distance. He is young and pretty active so I figured why not. Anyway we headed out this morning and started a little after 10am.
I had pulled some directions for the hike off the internet which is a good thing. The route finding isn't hard as long as you don't make a wrong turn and head up the wrong trail. Also as you reach the summit it requires some minor scrambling. The directions made this much easier. The hike/climb itself isn't one that can be accomplished very quickly as it is steep and rocky in many places. I believe I could do it round trip in 4 hours without much trouble but it is only 8 miles!
Once up at the Dark Saddle and on top of the Summit you could see the White Sands Missile Range to the East. We could also hear some "Thunder" sounds from over there but the skies were clear so I assume they were doing some testing.
It was a slow go at times but Eric was a trooper and made it to the top! It felt like a great accomplishment and we celebrated with a high five!
The main thing to know is that once you get to the end of the 4x4 road is to continue on the trail that goes straight (south). The one that has a cairn and goes east is not the one to follow. After that if you look for the cairns and follow the use trail carefully you should be fine.
If you are in the area I would highly recommend this hike if you have the time. It is a beauty! |
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