I’m considering extending my current section hike into New Mexico. Is the trail from Cumbress Pass, Co. south to Antiquiu, NM (Ghost Ranch) generally as well blazed and easy to follow as I have found the trail from Beartown Road (Silverton, Co.) to Cumbress Pass to be? I just wonder if New Mexico trail maintainers do as nice and as diligent a job as the Colorado ones obviously have. Thanks!
Matt
I’m speaking from experience gained in '06, so things may be different now, but you’ve just finished one of the best marked and maintained areas of the Trail. Going south from Cumbres, if you take the fence line route around the Tierra Amarilla Land Grant (I assume you’re not considering the road walk), you’ve got a whole different story. I only saw a couple of blazes and had to bushwhack and walk the fence line for long stretches. It’s not a problem with the maintainers, it’s the route designation, from what I understand. That being said, it’s one of the best parts of NM, especially the descent into the canyons around Ghost Ranch–beautiful! Bring good maps and the Wolf book.
Garlic
Thanks Garlic. That’s just what I needed to know. I thought Colorado was surprisingly well blazed based upon the stories about the CDT that I had heard in the past! I’ll be prepared for more challenging conditions in NM.
Matt
In 2006 there were several brand new sections of trail in NM. Often the new sections would dead-end unexpectedly, leaving us high and dry. We’d end up bushwhacking back to Jim Wolf’s route, if we could figure out where it was (once we went three miles in the wrong direction before we figured it out.) Sometimes there are pink ribbons to follow – for a while.
The Wolf guidebook is easier to follow if you’re southbound, and it is a good route, through some beautiful country, especially in the fall.
Ginny
Is Wolf’s book and Jonathon Ley’s maps enough to get you comfortable through the section on a southbound hike? I guess my concern is that I’ll have to spend every moment micromanaging every step, i.e. veering right at this rock, angling left away from that creek bed, hugging this contour line, rather than enjoying the scenery. Am I imagining the routefinding to be more difficult than it really is?
Matt
Matt - yes and yes. And if not, then the solution is to hike it anyway, after which this experience, and others like it, will cease to be a concern.
blisterfree