Patrick's Backpacking Reports: Pecos Wilderness -- New Mexico -- 2019

Hamilton Mesa, Beatty's Flats, Rito Azul & Trailriders Wall -- Pecos Wilderness -- New Mexico -- July/August 2019

Trip Summary:

I planned this trip with Tyler's love of fishing in mind, but I learned pretty quickly that back-country fly fishing the Pecos River would require more time to be spent at the camps than we could allow in order for him to really have a decent chance to be successful. In hind sight, maybe setting a base camp at our first night's camp on the Pecos River and staying there for a few nights with a day hike over to Pecos Falls and that area would have been a better idea. Instead I decided it would be good for the group to break camp from the Pecos River and head up into the real high-country of the Pecos Wilderness to experience the amazing scenery that makes the physical demands of backpacking well worth the effort. A few hard hail/thunderstorms and a disappearing trail put a little bit of a damper on things, but I still feel like much of the trip was very worthwhile - and definitely memorable!

Tyler and I left my place early Sunday morning (July 28th) and drove to Wimberley to meet James. We headed out to New Mexico in James's truck and spent the night in Las Vegas, NM. After a good breakfast in Las Vegas we headed into the Pecos and the starting point of our hike, the Iron Gate campground. High clearance and 4WD is definitely a good thing to have in order to get to Iron Gate, as the dirt road is pretty bad in several places. Our first day took us across Hamilton Mesa to the Pecos River in the area of Beattys Flats. A very nice first night camping spot was available on the banks of the Pecos River, a little past Beattys cabin.

The next morning we broke camp and headed up about 1,500' in elevation to get near the Truchas Lakes basin. I planned to set camp at the head of the Rito Azul creek for two nights, allowing side hikes into the Truchas Lakes and saddle between North Truchas Peak and Chimayosos Peak. Thankfully, the spot I saw on the topo. map did contain nice springs that formed the headwaters of Rito Azul creek. After a physically tough pull up to that camp site from our initial camp on the Pecos, and enduring the first of two heavy thunderstorms with hail, we set up camp next to the springs.

The next morning we headed with our day packs out towards the Truchas Lakes Basin. It was to be a short 2-1/2 mile hike out there, but unfortunately the very faint trail we were following disappeared a few times, and then disappeared for good about a mile from the lakes and peaks. Even up to that point I was relying too much on my Gaia GPS app. & topo map to figure out where this trail was supposed to be. A bushwhack from that point to get to the lakes would have required climbing through too much thick, wet brush and down timber for my comfort. So we headed back to camp.

During the following day (the last day we would spend in the back country) we finally reached the real high alpine scenery I had been wanting to share with Tyler. Trailriders Wall and Pecos Baldy Lake did not disappoint, but our lunch at Pecos Baldy Lake was cut very short by the second round of heavy thunderstorms and hail we endured on this trip. After that weather cleared out we had a nice long hike along the Jacks Creek trail to the parking lot at the Jacks Creek campground. From there we caught a ride from some campers at Jacks Creek back to the car at Iron Gate and headed out of the Pecos. We spent our final night in New Mexico at a hotel in Santa Rosa before heading home on Friday (August 2nd).

Route Map (red)

PICTURED BELOW: You know you're in New Mexico when your breakfast is swimming in chili sauce. I'm partial to the green. Pre-hike breakfast at Charlie's in Las Vegas, NM. I've eaten at this place before. It's very popular with the locals and travelers.

PICTURED BELOW: Tyler at the start of the hike

PICTURED BELOW: Nice view of the Truchas Peaks from Hamilton Mesa

PICTURED BELOW: Tyler on the Hamilton Mesa trail

PICTURED BELOW: Nice view of the Truchas Peaks from Hamilton Mesa

PICTURED BELOW: View from the Hamilton Mesa trail

PICTURED BELOW: Setting up our first campsite just outside of Beatty's Flats on the Pecos River

PICTURED BELOW: Pecos River at our campsite

PICTURED BELOW: Our first campsite just outside of Beatty's Flats on the Pecos River

PICTURED BELOW: Tyler fishing the Rito Del Padre between the Pecos River and Chimayosos Creek

PICTURED BELOW: Is this the magic mushroom that turns small Mario into Super Mario?

PICTURED BELOW: Campsite at the springs that form the headwaters of the Rito Azul (north fork)

PICTURED BELOW: Me making a pour over cup of morning coffee.

PICTURED BELOW: Me cooking fry bread (aka "bannock bread") for breakfast at our camp. recipe I used - At home: (for 3-4 people): put 1 cup white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2 tsps baking powder & pinch of salt into zip lock bag; At camp: add water a little at a time into zip lock bag until you have a good bread dough consistency, kneading very well in the bag as you add water. Take your multi-tool & cut a small opening in the corner of the zip lock bag & squeeze biscuit sized pieces of dough into pan. The pan should be coated with a little olive oil (about 2 Tbsp). Flatten biscuits as you cook and fry on low heat until cooked through (golden brown on both sides). You can add all kinds of things to this bread: honey, fruit, gravy, meat, etc.

PICTURED BELOW: Fry bread breakfast. (added instant gravy & heated some pre-cooked bacon)

PICTURED BELOW: Tyler & James resting under the tarp. I'm a little proud of this tarp I made. I bought some tyvek & added grommets & tie-downs. The tyvek makes for a very, very lightweight shelter material.