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| | | Two NM County Highpoints, NM | | | |
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Two NM County Highpoints, NM
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| Hiking | 9.53 Miles |
2,541 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.53 Miles | | | |
| 2,541 ft AEG | | | | |
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none
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| no partners | | This was two separate hikes on this day, with each hike going to a New Mexico County Highpoint:
1) Manzano Peak(elevation of 10,098 feet and prominence of 3,238 feet), the highpoint of Torrance County
2) South Baldy(elevation of 10,783 feet and prominence of 3,803 feet), the highpoint of Socorro County
Manzano Peak
I took the shortest route to the summit, which was an out-and-back hike starting on the Kayser Mill Trail. I wasn't sure about the condition of this trail, but it turned out to be in good shape. There were 5-6 downed trees, but it was easy to step over all but one of them, which I went around. The first 3/4 mile or so of the trail was on a road, which I guess that I could have driven since it was not in the wilderness; but I was happy to walk it and enjoy the area. After leaving the road, it was a single track trail most of the rest of the way. There was vegetation lining the trail, including some of the dreaded New Mexico locust. Fortunately it was not encroaching over the trail.
After hiking 3.3 miles I made it to the Manzano Crest Trail, which was a little less than a mile from the summit. There was a bit of snow on some sections of the Crest Trail, but not enough to merit using microspikes, although I went a bit gingerly in a few places. Most of the elevation gain was on the Kayser Mill trail, so it was relatively flat once on the crest of the mountain. I made it to the summit, which had nice, unobstructed views in 3 directions.
South Baldy
I drove most of the way to the summit on this one, parking at a locked gate about 1/2 mile from the summit. I picked up the trail, which followed the road to the summit.
The road up was narrow in many places, and I was glad that I did not meet any other vehicles either ascending or descending. There were quite a few pullouts, but there were a few places where it would have been uncomfortable meeting another vehicle.
As the name of the peak implies, there are no trees up there, so the views were great! It was definitely worth the drive up there.
Synopsis
I enjoyed both of these county highpoints. The hike to Manzano Peak was the more interesting and challenging of the two peaks, but South Baldy did have some really nice views.
Distance and elevation gain for the two hikes are below. Stats above are the sum of the two.
Manzano Peak: 8.41 miles with 2,220 feet of AEG
South Baldy: 1.12 miles with 321 feet of AEG |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
There were no flowers on the short hike to South Baldy, but there were a few isolated flowers on the hike to Manzano Peak. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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