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| Shaggy Peak Overlook |
...[we're gonna just roll on back like we never left]...
Been a fair amount of new terrain popping up the last several years. Most of it planned and permitted, some of it rogue. All the new pathways are lovely and well built, with an eye toward graceful bends and loops as well as shedding water.
I could choose to write about the best one but I won't because few seem to know about it just yet and I kinda prefer it that way. Instead I'll note the new tracks south of the Santa Fe Watershed, up Forest Rd 79, through the village of Canada de Los Alamos. The drive is shorter than to Galisteo, Glorieta, or Pecos, though the road and wayfinding are more difficult (vehicles with clearance recommended).
The really keen thing about this area is its isolation. It just won't be the first choice for most (or 2nd or 3rd) to seek out mileage or a weekend ride, certainly not for visitors due to navigational challenges, and similarly unlikely for runners or most hikers due to its distance from town and lack of a creek or water way. A note to always assume that quiet places like this are beyond cell reception, which is mostly true here except on high points and along some ridgelines.
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| fucking run away |
The Forest Service worked with a few local outdoors groups to lay down 4mi of new trail. Some of this connects and runs along decades-old access and wood cutting roads, to the east the network will connect down and into Apache Canyon. Sorta fun and dramatic until you have to haul yourself and your rig outta there. While the isolation can be rather peaceful it also can get uncomfortable if you lose your bearings or find that you're turned around somehow. Just has a different feel than the Winsor watershed - best illustrated by the ghost house which I came upon on maybe my third exploration of the area. Nothing spooky or demonic-adjacent here, nope. Curiosity drew me closer to inspect - because WTF? - however I found it to be just one of those places with dark unhappy vibes and I set to mashing pedals to quickly get the fuck outta there.
As so often happens, I scurried directly up what happened to be a leg-bursting ravine ascent. All hexes and cursed intentions confirmed. Should you find yourself at the top of cursed ascent, you'll want to bear to rider's right for a bit more hike-a-bike but also a linkup to a winding (new) mile descent of singletrack which is really first rate stuff.
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| Cursed Ascent |
Riding options generally run north-south from the main parking(ish) area. There's not a good way to describe this since nothing is signed but you head up the FS 79 for a few miles (~15min from the forest service gate/signage) and this is just beyond the second of two wood-cut access roads on the right. Trail runs along and below the east side of the road. Bien aventuras perdidas.
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| First ballot Hall of Fame caterpillar |
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| fucking run away |
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