Season Finale, NM & AZ - October 2021: Part 1

Southwestern New Mexico (and a day in Arizona)

October 18 - 23, 2021

Part 1 of 3

I thought it would be a good idea to go south for my last trip of the season where I might find warmer temperatures. I had researched some areas in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona last winter, but failed to get my act together last spring. The long range forecast seemed very favorable other than wind the first day and a bit the second. Spoiler: there was a lot of wind most days this trip.

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Monday, October 18

Water Canyon

I wasn't going far today so started out in the late morning. I would reprise Water Canyon west of Socorro. I had a pleasant stay once previously. I drove down I-25, against the south wind, to Socorro where I topped off my gas tank. Read about my previous visit April 2018

Entrance to National Forest - Water Canyon straight ahead

The campground was almost deserted with one neighbor and was very attractive with a bit of a view across the canyon. There are vault toilets that were very clean. I found a nice site and settled in. It was breezy, but I figured out where to place my chair, with a view across the valley, to minimize the effect. Very relaxing.

My campsite

I took a walk later up the road past the group camp as I had done last time. I continued up the dry wash and found the tiny stream that runs a hundred feet or so from what must be a spring. The only wildlife I saw was a skittish flock of about 20 Chipping sparrows that came to the spring to drink.

Chipping Sparrows benefiting from the nearby spring.

I stopped at the USFS bulletin board on my way back to my campsite. There was a notice soliciting public comment on a proposal to begin charging fees for the staying at the campground. It is currently free. The proposed $5 per night fee is more than reasonable for a family campsite. And they certainly should be charging for group reservations as a ranger has to drive out from Magdalena to open, then drive out again to lock the gates. Public input ended in September, so I missed the deadline.

View of forest and canyon

The wind tapered off in the evening and I thought it was done. Shortly after I went to bed it picked up again with a vengeance. It wasn't as bad as I had experienced a couple times in Utah, but it was fierce. I was unable to get to sleep for an hour or two hearing it scream and having little bits of vegetation strike the camper roof. At least it did stop during the night.

Tuesday, October 19

Water Canyon (continued)

I hoped the wind had blown itself out the night before, but it picked up again in the morning, though not as strong, fortunately. I slowly gathered myself up and packed up.

VLA

Back on the highway, headed west through the small village of Magdalena. I don't come through this way all that often, but I do enjoy seeing all the radio telescope dishes of the Very Large Array (VLA) National Radio Astronomy Observatory across the Plains of San Augustín. 

The dishes are positioned using these full-size railroad tracks.

Historic Marker across the highway from the photo above.

Datil Well

I thought I'd stop for my picnic lunch at Datil Well Campground. It was convenient and I wanted to remind myself what it was like. I'd stayed in the group site back in 2016 when I was there for a trail rebuilding project with the NM Volunteers for the Outdoors. Read about that here.

It's a very nice BLM campground in piñon/juniper woods with a few ponderosa pine mixed in. The vault toilets are very clean and there is trash pick-up. It's a bargain at $5 per night (half that if you have the requisite pass.) There are small sites for small campers and bigger sites for RVs and trailers.

Plains and Mountains

After lunch I headed down NM-12 toward Reserve. I enjoyed the wide open vistas of the southern stretch of the Plains of San Augustín and managed to remember to stop and take a couple of photos that include the small boundary mountains.

Horse Mountains (and a cattle ranch)

Sugarloaf (left) and the Crosby Mountains

As I left the plains the highway begins to climb up into the Tularosa Mountains of the Gila National Forest. About twenty miles farther is the village of Reserve.

Five miles west of Reserve the highway ends at US-180 where I turned south. This is a pretty stretch of highway winding, as it does, between the San Francisco and Mogollon  Mountains. They are not going to compete against the Rocky's, but the Mogollon's do have several peaks above 10,000 feet. I continued south to Glenwood.

The Catwalk Recreation Area

I'd been hearing about The Catwalk for years as an interesting place to visit. In 2013 the area was hit with damaging floods, due to the 2012 wildfire scar east of Mogollon, and was closed for a number of years before it was rebuilt. It reopened Memorial Day 2016.

Information sign at the entrance explaining the history of the canyon.

Whitewater Creek at the park entrance.

The area is approximately 5 miles from Glenwood, NM, at the east end of NM Hwy 174 (Catwalk Road). There is currently a $3 fee to park, but it's free if you have an annual or senior pass. I almost turned around as I drove up the road as the riverbed was nothing other than dry rocks, but I'm glad I didn't. Just before the park is a water crossing and it was flowing. I guess the volume of water is so low it just sinks into the ground outside the canyon. However, it was high enough to keep all the plants in the canyon green and the air cool and moist.

View up the canyon from the first bridge.

You walk up the canyon on a paved trail that passes along the picnic area, through tall Arizona Sycamore and narrow-leaf cottonwood trees. At the first bridge you choose to walk ahead on a dirt trail that is listed as difficult or cross the bridge where the paved path continues up the other side. There is more climbing and steeper steps (from what I could see) on the north side; more catwalks and gradual incline on the so-called easy side. Both lead to the same destination. 

The catwalk in the lower, wider part of the canyon.

The designated Catwalk Trail is one mile in length, though the all-access portion ends in half that length. The end of the Catwalk Trail connects to the Gila National Forest Trail System.

The canyon narrows; the catwalk crosses to the other side.

My photos don't do the canyon justice as I had to do extensive Photoshopping to counteract the strong shadows. Also, even with my wide angle lens it is difficult to encompass the steep walls of the narrow canyon. You should really see for yourself if you are ever in the area - highly recommended.

Tricky stepping-stones to cross the creek.

Formerly the Pipe Bridge. Beyond here the trail becomes steep & challenging.

I returned to the highway, turned left, and stopped at the Glenwood Trading Post to top off my gas tank. Farther south along the highway I saw signs for the Leopold Vista Point. Thinking it would afford a nice view of the Gila Mountains, I signaled for a right turn. Coming toward me was a black Tacoma with a FWC camper signaling a left turn.

They parked next to me, a nice couple from San Francisco, Tom and Cheryl. They were relatively new to the pop-up camper world and had bought the used Tacoma and Fleet as one unit. They were having a great time wandering around the southwest and I tried to be helpful.

When they went on their way. I took a picture of the flank of the Mogollon Mountains from the vista point.

Mogollon Mountains of the Gila Range

Continue to Part 2 - The Gila River