DESTINATION Generic 57 Photosets
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| Eagle Eye Peak & Chocolate Peak, NM | |
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| | Eagle Eye Peak & Chocolate Peak, NM | | | |
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Eagle Eye Peak & Chocolate Peak, NM
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| Hiking | 15.66 Miles |
2,724 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.66 Miles | 8 Hrs 14 Mns | | 2.06 mph |
| 2,724 ft AEG | 37 Mns Break | | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Day 2 (NM Peak Bagging Trip)
I kicked off my first New Mexico hike with a solid double: Eagle Eye Peak and Chocolate Peak in the Burro Mountains. My launch point was off Gold Gulch Road, [located about mid-way between Lordsburg & Silver City, right off Hwy 90]. I have not posted a route for this one given: the loop nature of my hike; along with the fact that there were a few places where the private property signage was not particularly clear, [including a spot with the remains of an old homestead that is very reminiscent of Reavis Ranch where the extremely explicit, ‘visits by invitation only’ / ‘violators will be prosecuted under [name of specific code]’ signs were situated at only one end of the homestead]… but trust me when I say, the adventure was totally epic and absolutely beautiful!
Eagle Eye Peak has relatively gradual sloping sides [for an off-trail peak], but the top part is very craggy [and likely not doable without ropes/gear from most sides]. It reminded me a bit of China Peak in the Galiuros and Castle Butte in Patagonia. However, just like with China Peak and Castle Butte, Eagle Eye also has a few breaks in the crags, allowing the summit to be attained with just some Class 2+ scrambling, 3- at worst. Go figure, I made things more difficult on myself by eagerly scrambling up the first gulley I spotted that was not Class 4/5, [only to reach the summit and notice a full out route off the other side. Given that bouldering is my forte [and that I like variety], I didn’t mind the slightly more technical ascent… although I did have a brief scare as I prepared to scramble up the final portion of the gulley when I came within just a few feet of a bee. Fortunately, whether it was the very strong winds, [or the fact that the bees in the parts of NM I visited seem more docile than those in AZ], the bee I encountered just before summitting Eagle Eye Peak stayed focused on pollenating whatever it was that it was pollenating… nonetheless, I moved my can of BeeAlert from the outside of my hiking pack to the front pocket of my jacket, ‘just in case.’ The views from the summit of Eagle Eye were absolutely awesome, [as were those from the fun, craggy prominent points I hit up en route to the summit of Eagle Eye]. There was a register, which was placed by none other than AZ peak bagger, Mark Nichols [back in December 1996]. Aside from Mark, the most recent & only other sign-in prior to me was a small group from Gila, NM back in January of 2000.
Next up was Chocolate Peak. Just as I anticipated from satellite imagery, there were no surprises: this was a small peak with a few rock outcroppings but no real crags/cliff. The footing proved to be very good, and it was a rare off-trail ascent where I was limited by leg/lung fatigue vs. brush / less than perfect terrain. The highlights of my trip to Chocolate Peak were actually on the approach & return versus on the peak itself. The first occurred on the approach as I was preparing to drop in to Chicken Canyon. I was about 20’ above the canyon floor and about 1/3 the length of a football field from where the ridge I was standing on joined with the canyon floor, when I spotted what appeared to be a very small coyote, upon quick glance. The animal was on the floor of the canyon when I first spotted it, and a moment later it darted *straight at me. *Granted, given the thick brush that was present between me and where I first spotted the animal – along with the natural curve of the ridge – I figured the animal was just running out of site into the brush and not actually coming at me… nonetheless, I did find it odd how the animal had very briefly looked straight at me before making a beeline in my direction. Given the thick brush directly in front of me, I wasn’t planning to go straight ahead anyways. As I stood examining exactly where to drop into the canyon, I heard the brush rustle very near me, and looked up in disbelief: the animal I’d seen emerged about 8 feet away from me, and as our eyes connected, it slowly moved another 1-2 feet closer and then stopped, looking at me with a curious, non-threatening expression. I’ve never seen anything like it, and [based on a post-hike Google search], my best guesses would be either a ringtail or a grey fox [the face looked identical to a ringtail… but the tail looked more like that of the grey fox]. The tail was HUGE and bushy [but I don’t remember seeing the characteristic rings of the ringtail; rather, mostly solid greyish color]. The animal was not very large, about the size of a small to medium sized dog; and it was definitely not a coatimundi, as the face was roundish and definitely lacked the pointed snout that is characteristic of the coatimundi. I took a photo but I must have been shaking because it came out completely blurred. About 15-30 seconds later, the animal very slowly started to come toward me, [again, it still had a curious look and did not seem threatening]… but at this point I was not about to take any chances and simultaneously grabbed a small rock AND my gun. Luckily no warning shots were needed… but raising my voice alone did not deter the animal… nor did gently tossing rocks in its direction [with each rock toss, the animal would simply run a few feet the other way and then turn back to look at me]… although the combination of tossing rocks and then advancing straight toward it while making crazy sounds like I was coming after it, was what finally did the trick and got it running away from me for good. The encounter was definitely a bit unnerving; and, while I still don’t know specifically what animal I was dealing with, it just did not seem natural for an animal of that small a size to approach me like it did… although it showed no aggression towards me, the possibility that it was rabid definitely crossed my mind. As freaky as the whole thing was, it was still a really neat experience.
Fortunately, my return trip offered a more predictable surprise: the Chocolate Peak Dam. I had way-pointed the dam, fully intending to check it out; but the surprise was just out awesome this dam proved to be. It’s situated in a relative flat drainage right in an area where there are some big boulders, and it was constructed such that the bottom & side parts were actually cemented right in to the natural boulders. There is also a basic design on the front side of the dam [facing upstream]. It was very beautiful and among one of the top three best / neatest dams I’ve seen on this kind of *scale to date, [*obviously comparing it to something like say the Hoover Dam would be like comparing apples to oranges].
For the final few miles of my adventure, I decided to traverse a small ridge bordering the large drainage that I utilized on my approach. Along this ridge, I hit up a UN peak and, [given that I was able to find registers on only 3 of the 15 named NM peaks that I bagged on my trip], I was rather surprised to find a register… apparently Mark Nichols has hit up this area more than once because, [in addition to the register he left on Eagle Eye Peak in ‘96], he had also planted the one on this UN peak, [in 2013]. Aside from Mark, I was the only other one to sign this register… AZ peak-bagging representin’! |
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| God save the Prom Queen, cuz [reality check!] AEG's King...! |
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