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Post by offtrail on Jun 11, 2020 11:56:11 GMT -8
Anyone been in the Pecos recently? Thinking about going in Santa Barbara and up to the divide. Wasn't sure about snow conditions on the north slope. It was a good snow year in New Mexico this past winter and I have run into snow there on previous trips. Thanks.
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Post by cweston on Jun 11, 2020 17:43:51 GMT -8
I've been up there in late May & early June a few times--while there may be some snow yet in the timber between 11,000 and the treeline, I'd be very surprised if it's enough to seriously hinder routefinding or provide a terrible long slog of postholing (as is often the case in late May.)
(If you hit snow in the switchbacks, you know it's going to really suck. But I'm confident that you will not.)
Looks like all the SNOTEL stations in the NM Sangres have zeroed out: wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/reports/UpdateReport.html?report=New+Mexicolink
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null
Trail Wise!
Posts: 578
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Post by null on Jun 13, 2020 7:21:23 GMT -8
I was up there between Horsethief Meadow and the Southern Flanks of Truchas Peak at the end of June 2019 and there was still a fair amount of snow, not to mention all the blowdowns. This info probably doesn't help you since it was last year and further South, but I'd be interested to hear about the conditions when you return.
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Post by offtrail on Jun 23, 2020 7:22:43 GMT -8
Got back from a 5 day loop through the Pecos starting and ending at Santa Barbara campground. Up the West Fork, across the divide, up the Jicarita ridge and then down trail 27. Encountered very little snow. Entire route up the north facing slope to the divide was free of snow. Saw lots of wildlife, large herd of elk in East Fork Basin, many Bighorn sheep along the divide and Jicarita ridge. Overall a great trip. Perfect weather too. No rain at all and no storms in sight, perfect time to go before the monsoon starts.
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Post by cweston on Jun 23, 2020 7:48:00 GMT -8
Got back from a 5 day loop through the Pecos starting and ending at Santa Barbara campground. Up the West Fork, across the divide, up the Jicarita ridge and then down trail 27. Encountered very little snow. Entire route up the north facing slope to the divide was free of snow. Saw lots of wildlife, large herd of elk in East Fork Basin, many Bighorn sheep along the divide and Jicarita ridge. Overall a great trip. Perfect weather too. No rain at all and no storms in sight, perfect time to go before the monsoon starts. That's awesome! I attempted that exact route once years ago (with a side visit to Truchas Lakes and Peaks) in early June. But by the time we were headed toward Jicarita along the divide, there was persistent lightning starting before noon every day, so we just didn't feel we could continue safely on that route, so we bailed down the East Fork trail. We also saw lots of elk in that basin, including an up-close-and-personal encounter with a bull on the trail in timber. It's really beautiful country. Was trail 27 fairly followable? Did you have to ford at the trailhead, or was there a log? That ford could be pretty fierce in June, I imagine.
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Post by offtrail on Jun 23, 2020 13:49:12 GMT -8
cweston,
That's a great loop and I highly recommend it with one exception, crossing Rio Santa Barbara! We discovered that an early start is highly recommended as the wind on Jicarita ridge is fierce! We made camp in upper East Fork, then climbed back to the ridge heading north, but we didn't start real early and by 11am the wind was howling 40mph. Weather was great except for the wind. Made camp high above Serpent Lake just below the switchbacks past the spring. Next morning we did start early and had a great walk along the rest of the ridge and up Jicarita Peak too with very little wind. We continued north all the way to Trail 27. That junction is marked with no sign, just a post with some color coded markers, but it was a very distinct trail. The trail is fairly steep going down as the junction is at 11700 feet and the trailhead is around 8900 feet and that's in 4.2 miles. I would not want to go up it for sure! Once we got to the bottom, there was a log across the river, but it was pretty sketchy getting over. Log narrowed and moved quite a bit with ever step. I made it, but wife was not very happy and jumped off log halfway into the river. Should have just croced it instead.
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Post by cweston on Jun 25, 2020 11:48:57 GMT -8
Once we got to the bottom, there was a log across the river, but it was pretty sketchy getting over. Log narrowed and moved quite a bit with ever step. I made it, but wife was not very happy and jumped off log halfway into the river. Should have just croced it instead. I guess the nice thing about river crossings within sight of the car is that you don't give a crap about getting wet at that point. But the Rio Santa Barbara is pretty formidable at the campground IIRC. Kind of like when it rains on car day. "Oh well, I don't care, I'll just get wet. I've got dry clothes in the car."
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