Magdalena Mountains, Mesa Trail Loop

[Noun Sequitur]

This is a brilliant double loop day hike in the mountains near Socorro New Mexico. The weather was wonderful for our hike, except for a brief hail storm that hit us at the peak. Most trail reviews recommend hiking the lower loop counterclockwise, and I agree. The north leg is beautiful, but very steep with loose rock and switchbacks. Downhill was hard enough and a couple of my toenails are still purple form being jammed in my boots. Here are some trail pictures....














After climbing for a while, the ponderosa give way to alligator juniper and a botanical garden full of other curiosities.







The alligator juniper is a beautiful tree with a distinctive bark. On this mesa, it's been twisted and burned into fanciful shapes.








The views from the mesa top loop are beautiful.








I'll definitely be dong this hike again!

 

[Titans]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing- always looking for some NM ideas. Super nice views and Alligator Junipers are cool.
We all appreciate you didn't post any photos of your purple toenails, ha.... So part of this trail was just super steep?

 

[Noun Sequitur]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing- always looking for some NM ideas. Super nice views and Alligator Junipers are cool.
We all appreciate you didn't post any photos of your purple toenails, ha.... So part of this trail was just super steep?

Yeah... steep with bad footing on the north part of the loop. The scenery on that section is really good, but you could just go out and back on the southern part. The upper loop on top of the mesa is mostly flat.

 

[Titans]

Yeah... steep with bad footing on the north part of the loop. The scenery on that section is really good, but you could just go out and back on the southern part. The upper loop on top of the mesa is mostly flat.

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Thank you!