I’m happy to report that Middle St Vrain and Coney Flats are as scenic and enjoyable (and busy) as ever. We headed up with 3 trucks, 3 adults, and 4 kids, to enjoy a day of sunshine and high mountain air.
The ‘wheelin was excellent with good challenges and no breakage. The kids also did well, with no injuries and only 2 tumbles into the creek…
Photo gallery follows: Read more »
Anyone that has traveled the roads of SW Colorado and NW New Mexico will likely report that the driving experience is both beautiful and challenging. Small highways full of high passes and tight curves, long distances between towns, and unpredictable weather conditions, make for an experience that is either uniquely enjoyable or potentially nerve-wracking.
I experienced a bit of both on a recent route finding mission in the area.
While traveling on business I had to find my way from point A of Farmington, to point B of Los Alamos. Simple enough, right? My worn road atlas showed 2 or 3 possible routes, none of which seemed particularly direct, so I decided to trust the decision to my Verizon phone maps and GPS (never trust the phone company…).
The result was an unexpected, but welcome day of mild 4 wheeling on Hwy 126. Why this road is called a Highway, I have no idea. I assume at some point it was the primary route in the area and earned the hwy designation. Be advised that it in no way resembles a Highway by ordinary standards. It also carries the designation of Scenic Byway, which it definitely deserves.
Here is the description of the road from Wikipedia:
New Mexico Route 126 is a state highway in New Mexico, United States of America. Its total length is approximately 40 miles (64 km). New Mexico Route 126′s northern terminus is in the small town of Cuba, at U.S. Route 550. The route passes through the Nacimiento Mountains and Jemez Mountains, then descends past Fenton Lake to the small, unincorporated community of La Cueva (east of Jemez Springs), where it ends at New Mexico State Road 4.
New Mexico Route 126 is part of the Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway. [2] It is paved near Cuba and La Cueva, but is graded dirt road for much of its middle section. This section is usually closed during the winter months, and may be impassable for a few days at other times because of muddy conditions resulting from rainstorms.
I, of course, knew none of this (I was just following my GPS). I probably would have gone this route anyway, but it would have been useful to at least know the part about 40 miles of dirt, possibly winter closing, and potential for mud…there was also no cell service for most of the drive.
Camping report, March 2009. An early season outing on the actual Sevenmile road.
Amazingly, Sevenmile was open top to bottom and there was very little snow to be found until reaching the higher “optional” sections of the trail.
Weather was perfect except for some overnight wind, with mild temps and no rain/snow. This was a pleasant surprise, as the original forecast called for nasty Freezeout style conditions.
Movie night, a tradition established one year ago on the 08 Freezout, came off without a hitch. This year’s selection: Caddyshack. Ah…the classics.
All three vehicles present performed admirably. This included a family truckster Suburban, which proved that a stock rig can go crazy places if piloted properly. The Nismo also had a successful shakedown run on new tires and suspension, dealing with questionable snow depths and muddy climbs better that expected, and the Rubicon naturally mashed trough the snow with no effort and provided the peace of mind of having a recovery vehicle if needed.
Overall an outstanding outing and another example of why this road, group, and area has an entire website devoted to it.
Happy ‘wheelin.
-Webmonger
Let’s say you find yourself 4 miles back in the woods, at 8500 ft, in January. It’s about 15 degrees (if you’re lucky) and the wind has been blowing most of the day…
Given these “questionable” conditions and a few friends to share it with, there’s really only one thing to do: open another beer and watch a movie on the Big Screen.
I would like to commend the crew for finally pulling of the the living-room-campout we have been threatening for 20 years. It’s not as though we ever “rough it”, but this was a new low (or high) of some sort.
“And that foot is me!”
More pics of the great trip can be seen here.
Cheers.
I found myself in Keystone (CO, not SD) this weekend with some time to kill and decided to do some exploring. The result was my “discovery” of Peru Creek and Cinnamon Gulch. These appear to be very well known trails, but I had never done any serious exploring in this area, so they were great new scenery for me.
Peru Creek (FR 260) is basically a mild (mostly 2wd) road that offers access to Argentine Pass. I followed Peru Creek to a locked gate. Based on internet write-ups, it appears this is a seasonal thing, with more trail to be explored on the other side of the gate. There are several abandoned mines and structures in this area, so this was a great trip for me (given my minor preoccupation with Ghost Towns). Here is the photographic evidence – sorry for the crappy quality, I only had my phone…
There are 2 main trails/spurs off of Peru Creek, Cinnamon Gulch and Chihuahua Gulch. Based on the trail descriptions, I chose Cinnamon Gulch. Fairly easy wheelin’, but it did require 4lo and a bit of crawling. The scenery and abandoned buildings were well worth the trip. This area also has the look of being a good fly fishing area, but having seen the mine tailings and color of the water I doubt there are fish to be caught here.
This would be an easy Day Trip destination and I definitely want to get back up here with another rig or two and check out Chihuahua Gulch.
I found my way around the area with some very good info and details from TrailDamage.com (which I learned about from Grin).
Links: Peru Creek, Chihuahua Gulch, Cinnamon Gulch [traildamage.com]
