This location is a couple of miles east of the GDMBR (looking north) July 4, 2007
Cabazon, facing north (a couple of miles off route) July 4, 2007
Cabezon, facing east on route. Water is available, but must be filtered or purified. Spring 2007
Looking west from water facuets. On route. Spring 2007
Cabezon facing east on route spring 2007
Cerro Cuate (The Twins or Close Friends) facing south from road to Cabezon Peak July 4, 2007
Facing south with Bear Mouth on left and Cerro Pelon towards the right
Cerro Chafo
Arroyo Chico facing south with Cerro Ojo Del Frio in the distance on the right (pointed top)
Gurrrr
Arroyo Chico from bridge facing north
Arroyo Chico on another day
A bridge across Arroyo Chico, which feeds into Rio Puerco a little southeast of here
A view of another arroyo that feeds into Rio Puerco further down the wrong road towards Guadalupe
A mile or so south of the bridge the road divides. SOBOs take the road up the hill to the Hunters Camping area about a mile from here. If you take the downhill (heading east - wrong way) road there is a water faucet about a half mile from this intersection. Remember to filter and/or treat the water!
Looking towards the north from further down the wrong road towards Guadalupe you see Cabezon Peak, Cerro Santa Clara, and Cerro Guadalupe.
Cabezon from looking north from the north rim of Arroyo Chico
Cerro Parido (not to be confused with Bear Mouth from this distance)
Looking southwest out of Arroyo Chico towards Bear Mouth
Cerro Santa Clara on the left and Cerro Guadalupe in the middle from the wrong road off the GDMBR several miles!!
Looking northward at Cabezon at beginning of SOBO descent into Arroyo Chico
SOBOs go right and up the hill to Hunters Camping area. There is a water facuet about a half mile down the road to the left as shown in the next picture.
FILTER and/or TREAT the water!!!
Looking towards Cerro Cuate
Looking back towards the road up the hill you should have taken instead of this one. There is a spring at the base of Cerro Ojo Del Frio about a mile beyond the Hunters Camping area. (You still need to filter and/or treat the water!)
Cerro Cuarte from Hunters Camping area
Bear Mouth from Hunters Camping area
Hunters Camping area on the left and Cerro Cuate in the distance on the right
One of the very very few CR 25 signs. I think they are mostly used to get out your vehicle out of the mud, and then they make great firewood.
Bear Mouth in the background from across the road from the Hunters Camping area on CR 25
Turn off to Ojo Frio (Cold Spring)
Don't be fooled by the gross cement tank down below. The spring box is up here. Move the old toilet tank cover and nasty plywood back and the relatively fresh water is right there just a foot or so down. Nevertheless: FILTER and/or TREAT the water!
Down in the valley between the Hunters Camping area and a wicked climb up the mesa across the valley that you can see in the Ignacio Chavez Grant album. Nice bull!
Bear Mouth from the valley
CR 25 crossing the valley between the Hunters Camping area and the mesa
Just a slight grade compared with what is up ahead SOBOs.
Probably not more than 12-13%. Good for SOBOs, but not so good for NOBOs.
This is a 15-18% Grade! The steepest part is almost always near the top
The road comes around and up from down below. This is west of Cerro Ojo Del Frio 2-3 miles, which is to the right (not in the picture). The Jemez Mountains in the background. Cuba is about 30 miles north of here, but at least forty miles on the GDMBR.
Cerro Parido Parido is the past participle of parir which means to bear or give birth to. I am told that it is used differently in New Mexico and is only used for animals giving birth. Cerro means hill. It does kind of look like the earth giving birth to some monstrosity.
Cerro Parido from CR 25 facing south
A clearer shot of Cerro Parido from CR 25 on July 4, 2007
Yet another view of Cerro Parido from CR 25 on July 4, 2007
Don't even think about this crossing if it has been raining recently!
The other side of the road coming through the, hopefully, dry arroyo of the previous shot.
El Dado (the die singular for dice). Legend has it that there was a stage coach station nearby where the station master use to roll dice with the stage coach passengers for drinks. Typically he won, because his dice were loaded. I guess then he got pretty loaded too.
Another view of El Dado
El Dado in the spring.
Facing south on CR 25 (CR 75 according to Google Earth) at the intersection of the Wide Haul Road. Shortly after I made this turn on to the Wide Haul Road as per the GDMBR map and GPS waypoints I was told by a cowboy that I should have gone straight here. Later I did try that route and it actually was pretty good and somewhat shorter. However it is not easy to find NOBO because there are no signs.
The same cowboy told me that the GDMBR was suppose to be up in these mountains. Later in the year I drove that route and it took me 5 hours to drive 50 miles. It only took me a couple of hours to drive this way, and it is about the same distance.
Signs like this did not encourage a lot of discussion.
The Wide Haul Road facing west from CR 25
The right direction (east) on the Wide Haul Road. Can you notice the remains of some hay that was thrown down on the road for the cattle. If there are cattle in the area, they are probably not blasting any time soon.
Looking north at CR 25 at the Wide Haul Road intersection. That is little Alensa in the background (Alensa means awl)
This is the road that climbs out of San Mateo to get to Grants via the backside of Mt Taylor. It is also the same road that heads south from the Hunters Camping area about 50 miles from here. The grade is 5-8% for about 5 miles from here.
Same road in the spring
Same road on July 4, 2007 and that is Bruce Dinsmore from the UK who was a GDMBR racer (and finisher).
Trying not to create dust, I pulled up and offered him a cold drink, which he gladly accepted. After a liter of cold Gatorade Endurance forumula and some Trader Joe Jo-Jo Cookies we soon parted company so that he could continue in the race and I could continue my GDMBR scouting.
From the same BLM/FS road looking towards San Mateo. There are no services at all in San Mateo, but you could ride around Mount Taylor and get on the alternate route about 10 miles from here.
Climbing and gradually turning towards a snow covered Mt Taylor
Still climbing and swinging around towards Mt Taylor
A little snow as we go
It was snowing slightly at the higher elevations
Near San Mateo spring and a good camping area. I have hiked quite a ways up the hill to find the spring box, but never did get there. A plastic pipe from the spring is actually at the sharp curve in the road slightly east of here. See the next caption for more information on San Mateo Spring.
San Mateo Spring has a plastic pipe to control water from running across the road and to keep cattle from wrecking the area. There are some radiator type clamps on some connections near the road. You can probably discreetly open the line and get some water if you did not make too much of a mess. I didn't ask permission, because it is easier to ask for forgiveness. Especially since it is about 30 miles to the BLM enclosure and the next reliable water source for NOBOs. It is only 18 miles to Grants for SOBOs.
The road to Grants through Lobo Canyon. It is a pretty good climb for NOBOs or descent for SOBOs.
Mt Taylor from my house fueling my obsession first thing in the morning
