Backpacking New Mexico's Pecos Wilderness

[tomcat32]

I'm new to this site so I thought I'd share my first TR. This is from the end of October in NM's Pecos Wilderness. I was on a 3 day 50 mile trip starting at the Santa Barbara TH climbing Middle Fork Trail to the Skyline Trail, following it past Truchas Peak and Trail Riders Wall. Then dropping to Pecos Falls before climbing back up to the Skyline and finishing on the Divide Trail.
This was an awesome trip with nearly half above treeline. I saw about 3 dozen elk and 18 bighorns. Had a little snow the first night. A great trip until I took a shower, 15 minutes after getting back home and slipped in the shower cracking a rib that I'm still nursing. The full trip report is at my blog link below.

http://tomcatoutdoors.blogspot.com/2016/10/backpacking-new-mexicos-pecos-wilderness.html

 

[tomcat32]

Here are a handful of pics from this trip, there are well over 100 pics with the TR

 

[Janice]

I just saw information about this trip on Amazon, looking at pages of Mike White and Douglas Lorain's book Best Backpacking Trips in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Is that the book you used to plan your route? Or do you recommend another book? Have you been back to this area in the summer? If so, how did you like it then? Are there good water sources along the way? We would not be able to do nearly as many miles per day as you did, so we'd need more places along the way with water. I'm always thinking ahead to future trips and am wondering about whether this should be added to the list. I enjoyed your TR on your blog and am curious how you like this trip compared to other similar length ones you've done. We only get to do one or two backpacking trips per year and try to figure out what trips will have the best combination of scenery and solitude (or at least not-too-croweded). We'd love to hear your thoughts about how highly this trip ranks!

 

[Stephanie B]

Thanks for sharing. Love the shot of the baby bighorn. Ouch for the ribs. Hope you mend quickly.

 

[tomcat32]

I used the book you mentioned as a starting point. I then used the Trails Illustrated to put together my own loop. I have done numerous 50-100 mile trips in Colorado. I have done similar trips in the Weminuche, Uncompahgre, West Elk, and Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wildernesses as well as the 160 mile Collegiate Loop which goes in and out of the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. I also have done similar length trip in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness but that's canyon country and not really mountains. While they all have great scenery some are busier than others. I would do them all again and the Pecos in NM was every bit as impressive. Weminuche is awesome and huge. Some areas see more traffic than others but both CDT and Colorado Trail go through here and are popular. Uncompaghre Wilderenss has stunning terrain but can get busy near the 14ers. Maroon Bells-Snowmass is very busy but stunning. The Collegiate Loop is a combo of the CDT and Colorado Trail and busy. The closest in CO to Pecos is West Elk. It sees very few people. I wouldn't recommend West Elk unless you are very comfortable with your map reading. The trails often disappear and signage is minimal and vague. The Pecos also has areas where trails disappear but not as bad as West Elk. One point I had to bushwhack with map and compass on a lost trail but it was straightforward if you have these skills. Of all the trips I mentioned above for solitude I'd put West Elk at 1 and Pecos at 2. For Scenery, I would rank Pecos as 4th but it's still wonderful and my particular loop spent a ton of time above treeline, The Maroon Bells, Uncompahgre, and Weminuche are hard to beat for scenery because the mountains are so jagged and the Pecos isn't quite as dramatic. For wildlife, I would have to say I saw the most in the Pecos, tons of elk and bighorn sheep. The Weminuche is a close second with a lot of moose.
I never returned to this area in mid summer. You do need to plan water, particularly on my route since there are long stretches on ridges above treeline with no sources. The section on the Divide Trail was particularly long, high, and dry. In the lower areas water was plentiful. I have nothing but great things to say about the Pecos.

 

[tomcat32]

And to the ribs comment, it was a slow 6 weeks to heal. Not super painful after a few weeks, but annoying.

 

[Janice]

I used the book you mentioned as a starting point. I then used the Trails Illustrated to put together my own loop. I have done numerous 50-100 mile trips in Colorado. I have done similar trips in the Weminuche, Uncompahgre, West Elk, and Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wildernesses as well as the 160 mile Collegiate Loop which goes in and out of the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. I also have done similar length trip in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness but that's canyon country and not really mountains. While they all have great scenery some are busier than others. I would do them all again and the Pecos in NM was every bit as impressive. Weminuche is awesome and huge. Some areas see more traffic than others but both CDT and Colorado Trail go through here and are popular. Uncompaghre Wilderenss has stunning terrain but can get busy near the 14ers. Maroon Bells-Snowmass is very busy but stunning. The Collegiate Loop is a combo of the CDT and Colorado Trail and busy. The closest in CO to Pecos is West Elk. It sees very few people. I wouldn't recommend West Elk unless you are very comfortable with your map reading. The trails often disappear and signage is minimal and vague. The Pecos also has areas where trails disappear but not as bad as West Elk. One point I had to bushwhack with map and compass on a lost trail but it was straightforward if you have these skills. Of all the trips I mentioned above for solitude I'd put West Elk at 1 and Pecos at 2. For Scenery, I would rank Pecos as 4th but it's still wonderful and my particular loop spent a ton of time above treeline, The Maroon Bells, Uncompahgre, and Weminuche are hard to beat for scenery because the mountains are so jagged and the Pecos isn't quite as dramatic. For wildlife, I would have to say I saw the most in the Pecos, tons of elk and bighorn sheep. The Weminuche is a close second with a lot of moose.
I never returned to this area in mid summer. You do need to plan water, particularly on my route since there are long stretches on ridges above treeline with no sources. The section on the Divide Trail was particularly long, high, and dry. In the lower areas water was plentiful. I have nothing but great things to say about the Pecos.

Oh my gosh, this is so helpful - we really appreciate your detailed reply! We've also got the Winds on our hopefully-someday-soon list. The list keeps growing and growing!