Pecos Wilderness Pg 7 | starmountainoutdoors

Section 4: Eastern Area Hikes

Hike #18 – The Skyline Trail

Trailhead: #18 Elk Mountain

Directions: From the village of Pecos, take NM highway 63 north past the Terrero Store. Turn right on Santa Fe National Forest route 646. Follow it for many miles until you reach the top of the mountain. The road turns into SFNF route 393. Follow it for a short distance to the Trailhead. There is no kiosk or real parking lot. Just a trail register in a middle of a field of weeds.

Difficulty: Hard

Distance: 50+ miles

Time Required: 5-7 Days

Attributes: Great Views, Wildlife, Lakes, Peaks and ridgeline over 12,000 ft

Seasons: July - October

Usage: Light (in most areas)

Special Information: Expert route finding required. Trail may be closed on the eastern ridgeline due to the Hermit's Peak Fire.

Trail Description: None at this time. I may give you a description based on a hike that I took many years ago.

Part1 – Elk Mountain to Cibola Peak

Part2 – Cibola Peak to Truchas Lakes

Part 3 – Truchas Lakes to Horsethief Meadow

Part 4 – Horsethief Meadow to Tesuque Peak

Video: https://youtu.be/ajTVTrNJh28

Hike #19 – Hermit’s Peak & El Porvenir Loop

Trailhead: #20 El Porvenir

Directions: From Las Vegas, NM take State Highway 65 up through the Rio Gallina canyon. Go through the small village of Gallinas. Turn right in the small village of El Porvenir. This is still highway 65. Follow it to the end. The trailhead is just before the 90 degree turn into the campground.

Difficulty: Hard to Moderate

Distance: 19.75 miles

Time Required: 2-3 days

Attributes: Views, wildlife, stream fishing

Seasons: May - October

Usage: Heavy near trailhead & Hermit’s Peak Summit, but light around Beaver Creek & Lone Pine Mesa

Special Information: This area is most likely closed due to the Hermit's Peak Fire. This description was made before the fire.

Trail Description: From east side of the small parking area, there is a bridge that crosses the creek. It had no steps at the date of my hike, and it was hard to climb up onto. There is a place to ford or rock-hop across the creek to the left of the bridge. This route is preferable to the bridge because it is much easier to cross there. Continue following the trail as it curves around to the road just before the entrance to the campground. Here, the trail crosses the road and quickly begins to climb moderately up the hill. You will soon enter a stretch of trail that goes through private property. Please stay on the trail and respect the property of those that graciously allow the trail to cross their land. You will pass through two trail junctions here. The first branches right off the hermit’s peak trail, and it is for the La Dispensas trail that skirts around the eastern side of Hermit’s peak just outside the wilderness. The next is a private trail that leads to the El Porvenir Christian Camp to the left. Please stay off this trail without a permit from the youth camp. The Hermit’s Peak Trail continues up the hill winding its way through thinned forest. An occasional glimpse of Hermit’s Peak is available through the trees. You know that you are off private property when then thinned forest stops, but there is no sign. The next landmark along the route is Trail Spring. This is where the trail begins to climb more steeply as it makes its way between two cliffs on the southern exposure of the mountain. The trail basically keeps getting steeper the higher up the mountain that you go. You will begin to get glimpses of expansive views through the trees to urge you further up the hill. At the top, there is a viewpoint between the cliffs that rewards you for your hard work. The trail flattens out a little bit and heads for Hermit’s spring. It is a covered spring, and it is the only water source on top of the mountain. The water is hard to reach as it is three feet down. There is a shallow pool that may work to collect water if you have a scoop of some sort, because it is not deep. There is a trail junction at the spring that is not obvious. There is a trail that branches off to the north through the trees from almost right over the top of the spring. There are downed logs, and I doubt it gets much use or maintenance. This trail connects back to the Hermit’s Peak Trail on the North side of the mountain. It would be a good way to create a small loop hike on top of the peak. The main trail turns right at the spring and heads up to the top of Hermit’s Peak. You will hike over the hump that is the highest elevation point on the mountain while heading east towards the main viewpoint. You know that you will be close to the end when the forest opens, and you will see glimpses of the view through the aspen, spruce, and bristlecone pine forest. A trail sign is on your left just before a wonderful campsite. The sign points to the left, but there is no sign of trail here. The sign should be moved down about 50 yards to an area just before the main viewpoint. Here, if you turn left, the Hermit’s Peak Trail follows the edge of the drop-off around to the western side of the mountain. If you turn right, you will find the trail that heads south towards the Hermit’s Cave. Before you go either direction, go forward to the cliff’s edge and enjoy some of the best views in Northern New Mexico. This is one of the best places I have ever found to watch the sunrise.

To take a side trip down to Hermit’s Cave, go south from the viewpoint. This is not a maintained trail, but it is used enough to be fairly easy to follow. However, there is one spot where the trail turns that is easy to miss. It is marked by a small rock cairn on the right where the trail turns west to follow the edge of the cliff on the southern side of the mountain. If you reach the cliff edge, and it does look like the trail goes that direction, then you have missed the turn. There is a large rock pile on the edge of the cliff here, and it is an excellent viewpoint. The trail continues west from this area and eventually turns left and goes very steeply down the hill to the Hermits cave. Please treat the cave area with the utmost amount of respect because it is not only a historical landmark, but it is a religious one as well. You will find candles and religious icons here. Please leave them alone. These were left from members of the Sociodad Del Ermitano that make pilgrimages to this spot every year.

To continue along the Hermit’s Peak trail, turn left just before the main viewpoint on the eastern side of the mountain. It keeps heading northwest down the ridge that connects Hermit’s Peak with the rest of the mountains of the Pecos Wilderness. There is one steep descent after a lightning struck fir tree, but the trail stays moderate to level for the rest of the hike. It mostly follows the top of the ridgeline through thick forest for about five miles. You will pass two trail junctions. The first is at two miles past the top of Hermit’s Peak. This is the Rito Chaves trail that makes a sharp right and goes 2.6 miles back to the Rito Chaves trailhead. The next is a small no-name connector trail that turns left down from the ridge and takes you to the El Porvenir Divide trail and Beaver Creek. You can use this trail to shorten the loop by a few miles. Otherwise, continue heading north or northwest along the ridgetop. The trail becomes less and less heavily used up here, and due to deadfalls may be hard to follow. If you find yourself off the trail, the general rule is that the trail follows the top of the ridge. As you approach the end of the trail, the forest will start opening up into aspen stands. You will go through a metal forest service gate. The trail is very hard to follow just past the gate. Look for evidence of cut deadfalls to guide you to the trail. However, there are many other deadfalls too. There is a faint trail through the grass. That is the best I can do to help you get through. Mostly it takes good trail instinct and route-finding skill. GPS would be an asset at this stage in the hike. Anyway, if you follow the trail correctly, you will find yourself in a large opening on the north side of the hill with excellent views down into the Rociada Valley. Look for cairns though the grassy field. However, when I was there, they had been knocked down by cattle. I of course set them back up. If you do not see any cairns, then just head straight across the field towards the largest bristlecone pine that you see. This is where you will find an unsigned junction with the Lone Pine Mesa Trail. Turn left on this trail.

You will climb gradually to the western side of the hilltop though a small group of trees and into another opening. You will see a nice view of the western side of Hermit’s peak from the opening. At the other end of the opening is a cluster of large trees where there is another gate. Go through the gate and you will see a trail sign on the other side. The sign marks a junction with the Hermit’s Peak Trail that is just not there. It needs to be moved to the other side of the hill. It may of passed that way at one time, but not anymore it seems. The Lone Pine Mesa Trail continues downhill at this point, and you can see down into the Beaver Creek canyon from here. Follow the trail on moderately steep trail down to the El Porvenir Divide Trail. There are several cow paths that lead off the trail that look better used than the main trail. It is OK to make a wrong turn on one of these as they all seem to end up in the same place. The trail junction with the El Porvenir Trail is in the bottom of a small valley near beaver creek. It is marked with a cairn only. There is no signage. Keep going up stream just a little way on the El Porvenir Trail until you cross the creek. If you look to the tree line on the left, you will see an excellent campsite. If you want to continue to follow the loop, turn left and follow the trail downstream. There is another campsite about a quarter mile downstream in a small group of trees next to the creek. Even though Beaver Creek is extremely small up here, there is fish in the creek. It is probably best fished with a tenkara fly rod due to the size of the stream and the amount of willow trees lining the banks. The trail continues through beautiful grassy clearings at the bottom of the creek valley. Watch for cattle through this area. Also, the path may split and follow both sides of the stream. This is OK. They both sides wind up in the same place. You may find a collapsed trail junction sign on the east side of the valley. This connector trail goes up 0.8 miles to the Bluebell Ridge Trail. Eventually, the valley bottoms end, and the canyon gets narrower. There are many creek crossings on this trail. Too many to count. You will begin to see rock formations up on the canyon walls. The creek will begin to widen, and trout filled pools will be seen next to the trail. You will pass the junction with the little connector trail the climbs steeply up the hill to your left back to the Hermit’s peak trail. Eventually, you will reach another trail junction. This junction is with the Hollinger Canyon Trail. There is a good campsite just north of this trail junction. It was on the left-hand side of the trail near a stream crossing. After the Hollinger trail you will pass through another gate or two. Eventually, you will find yourself in the main part of the beautiful El Porvenir Canyon. You’ll be amazed at how tall the cliffs are around you. It’s truly a wonderful place. The pools in the creek will keep getting larger. It is a good place to take your time and maybe cool off in the creek on a hot day. There are fish that dart away from you at every creek crossing. The vegetation is lush. I found a small group of Yellow Ladyslipper orchids on this section of trail here in 2009. It is truly a remarkable place. Soon you will find an old rock and mortar fireplace sticking up all by itself along the trail. It is the only remnant of an old homestead cabin. Keep going and you will find a suspension bridge over the creek. Then you will come to a covered bridge. You will pass another side trail to the youth camp, and a diversion pond that brings water to the camp. The trail passes through some private property again. Please respect the signs. There is no fishing here and stay on the trail. Eventually, you will find yourself back at the parking lot.

Video: https://youtu.be/nXf_BC8EAAI