The Northern New Mexico Loop – An Overview

The Northern New Mexico Loop is the creation of Brett Tucker that starts and ends in the historic Santa Fe Plaza.  For five-hundred or so miles, I’ll be exploring one of my absolute favorite places in the world: New Mexico.

An overview map of the Northern New Mexico Loop. Overview map courtesy of Brett Tucker.

Starting on August 2nd, I’ll be hiking this route, and I expect to finish later in the month.

Being a loop route, the logistics are easy: Park my car at a friend’s condo in Santa Fe, grab a delicious breakfast the following day, walk, end back in Santa Fe to have a celebratory meal and beer, shower, and drive back home to see my kick-ass partner that I miss quite a bit. 

The Pecos Wilderness.

Why the Northern New Mexico Loop?

My original plans involved walking from the Canadian border at the northern end of the Cohos Trail, cobbling together other trails, single track, old stage roads,  paved road walking, and ending on the Atlantic Coast of Rhode Island via the North-South Trail.   My youngest brother is getting married, and a New England trek of 500+ miles ending in my home state seemed a perfect way to spend some time before the wedding.

Blue Sutters Beach on the Atlantic Ocean and the end of the NST. From the Providence Journal.

However, my equally important adopted Boulder family invited me to a bar mitzvah earlier that same week. I am also honored to be on the family list. And I’ve seen Avery grow from an infant to the young man he is becoming today. No way would I miss that occasion. And it did not make sense to fly back and forth to Providence in such a short time.

So, instead, I am driving all of six hours away to Santa Fe and hiking a route that I wanted to explore for a few years now.

And what’s not to like about New Mexico? The food, history, culture, and exquisite scenery all add to a place I love. I look forward to seeing northern New Mexico one step at a time.

Did I mention the food????

A route that is a loop

AS mentioned, this route a loop. I’ll begin and end in Santa Fe.  Though I’ve seen most (almost all?) of the places on this loop, I never get tired of northern New Mexico. And seeing them as part of a complete journey lets me get a feel for the land. And it hs been a while since I’ve seen some of these places.

To avoid the thunderstorms in the high country, I plan on saving the high peaks regions of the Sangres for later in the hike.

Among the highlights I’ll see:

• Bandelier National Monument with its Ancestral Pueblo dwellings and Rock Images.
• The Jemez Mountains 
• Back on the CDT for a bit in New Mexico
• The Wild Rivers Recreation Area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument
• The Latir Peaks Wilderness
• Columbine-Hondo Wilderness and Wheeler Peak
• and the grand finale in the ever-gorgeous Pecos Wilderness

Of course, I am starting and ending a the Sante Fe Plaza with its rich history and arguably the best food available for any long hike! 🙂

Zia symbol from the Painted Cave in Bandelier National Monument.

Maps and Navigation in general

I’ll primarily be navigating by:

• Brett Tucker’s map set
• Gaia GPS with GPX waypoints provided by Brett as well.

It helps I am reasonably familiar with the terrain I’ll be traveling through, too.

Resupply and food

Brett has an excellent town guide available with all the needed information. The town info and databook is available via email from Melissa and Brett.

Other than Ghost Ranch, I’ll be resupplying as I go. I’ll also mail some maps along the way.

Issues and Concerns

Having hiked most of the area and a good chunk of the route separately over the years, I do not expect to see an issue covering a reasonably moderate 20-25 MPD overall esp with the daylight available. In some areas such as Bandelier, I plan on slowing down as the cultural artifacts aren’t to be missed and I’ll savor them.

Depending on the snowmelt, fording the Rio Grande could be interesting esp getting into Bandelier.  It is August, so the water levels aren’t as high vs. earlier in the summer. On the other hand, the snowpack levels are high this year upstream in the San Juans; which means a lot of snowmelt. I don’t think I’ll need my poor man’s packraft, but I am bringing a small blow-up pool toy to for some flotation in this languid water.

Gear

On Mt. Peale. PCO Joan West.

What I always write… 😉

Yes, yes. The question everyone seems to ask for some reason^[1]:  What gear am I using?  Eh..go here..pretty much the same.

I’ll be going stoveless.

^[1] Imagine you enjoyed a delicious meal. You savored the ingredients. The conversation ended up being delightful. And that last sip of wine really tied it all together. A perfect evening with good company and dishes that delight the tongue.  And then someone starts a discourse on what kind of knife you used to chop the garlic or what pan you used to braise the vegetables.  Just sayin’…  🙂 

Misc

Can I justify a side trip into Los Alamos for the Bathtub Row Brewery?

I plan on posting updates about once a week.  Some updates will be more frequent, some less so. I’ll have a few photos per update.  I’ll upload the bulk of my photos when I finish the trip.

This trek is my third year in a row going on a roughly month-long hiking trip.  I like this lifestyle a bit better than the one in my recent past!

As always, many thanks to a few people…

• Thanks to both Melissa Spencer and Brett Tucker for route information, maps, and getting all the needed data to me promptly. Appreciate it!

• I must mention Pam M. for letting me stay in her condo in Santa Fe, keeping my car there, and resting up when I finish the loop. That’s such a tremendous help!

• My many friends and family in my community for their constant encouragement and support during the past two years. A two-year span where I transitioned from an IT Monkey to whatever it is that I am doing currently. 🙂

• And of course to Joan. A kick-ass hiker herself, my favorite hiking partner, and a person in the middle of her 500+ mile hiking journey. I am gleefully looking forward to seeing here again later in August.

Onward!

All the entries:

• The Northern New Mexico Loop – An Overview
• Part 1 – The Pilgrim’s Path
• Part 2 –  Top of the loop
• Part 3 – Southern Bound
• Part 4 – In and around The Sangres
• Part 5 – The Pilgrimage Ends
• Overall thoughts on my journey in “The Land of Entrapment.”