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| Hiking | 6.90 Miles |
2,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.90 Miles | | | |
| 2,600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | up too late, so grabbed some extra sack time this morning... still made it over to the trailhead on time, but sat there watching listening to very strange "guy"... pushing three carts along Pipeline Track. He'd push the first 100 yds... retreat, push the second up to the first... retreat... push the third up with the first two. Bottom line: for every mile of progress, he logged five miles!
One of the carts held a small chair... he dislodged the chair, sat... and took in the view of the foothills. Basically, he was doing what I was doing, enjoying the land-escape.
He was also singing... talking to himself... mumbling and wearing a skirt and blouse, along with a large bra. Okay, he seemed happy. After awhile he diverted off the main track and headed up towards the "A". This raised an interesting issue; was this the hoarder/hobo who had ten thousand items stashed up Short Canyon! In five years of hiking this area I'd never come across anyone up in there; I assumed it was all long abandoned.
I should have stayed and observed. Instead I took my lack of motivation as an incentive to write out a list of exploratory hikes I still had in the local area. I was very surprised to see the list pass the mid 30's without much thought. Expanding out to the West Side road area the list grew beyond 50... all within easy day hiking from my house. At one per week I have a year or more of new adventures.
Finally, decided to drive up the hill and hike in the cool. I needed GPS tracks for a couple of the Rails to Trails routes recently re-routed. Truck made an odd sound driving cross town so I diverted over to MNSU, recalling spotting an interesting potential heading out from the rear of the University (noticed it from atop the Garden Wall).
and
I parked at the "Road Closed" sign and proceeded up the old jeep track. Nice... wound around and up eventually following a ridge splitting MNSU Cut... then climbing very steeply up to the Garden Wall. I followed the right cut, the left hand looked to be "Less than"... and more of a ridge hike.
On top the Wall, I headed west thinking to loop down that other fork, but once around to the top of that cut I noticed a much more interesting drainage; I opted to descend it.
It was exceptional, save for some idiotic flagging marking the canyon every 30 feet. I cannot figure what someone is thinking to mark the bottom of a canyon cut. Marking exit points makes sense... flagging 30' intervals when ranging across or along ridges can make some sense. Marking or cairning the bottom of a canyon??? How can you get lost in the bottom of a drainage!!?
Other than that, this was one sweet little canyon; a great Beginner's cut...
It included a double drop dryfall about quarter mile before the mouth of the canyon with an old track leading off on the north side ridge, running over to yet another jeep track I'd not been aware of. The Jeep track would around and down, and around and up. It ended up hitting Scenic directly across from the Hospital... which conveniently would connect up with the NMSU walking trail on the west side of Scenic. So: Scenic Canyon and Scenic Ridge Track... combined with the MNSU Cut track, a great moderate looping hike, with the augment of connecting up with the Garden Wall.
Exceptional!
Hard to believe that these exploratories can continue to yield such great routes. |
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| Ageless Mind... Timeless Body... No Way! Use It and Lose It. Just the way it is... |
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Route Editor
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