Dog Canyon, New Mexico

[Wingnut]

Here are the pics from yesterday's hike partway up Dog Canyon... the trail is rated 'Strenuous' on a signboard at the trailhead, and it's definitely a grind up that rugged & rocky path. A hiker will frequently cross bare rock strata on the way up or down, and there are MANY trip hazards in other sections, so it is NOT a trail which I would recommend for elderly folks or folks with any kind of mobility issues, aye? There are some fairly level stretches of trail, but the elevation gain is over 3000' in 5.5 miles and the trail is heller steep in places, enough to have this old Infantry soldier gasping for breath at times, lol. And I don't even smoke... well, I DID take a small pipeload of chronic with me for my turnaround point, but again, I would NOT recommend this trail to heavy tobacco smokers, as it would just be a torture test, lol. It's a MEAN TRAIL, that's for sure, and I've seen my share of mean trails over the decades, but the great natural beauty, the long primo views and the glorious silence are worth it for those who don't mind getting a workout... enough said, let's get to the hike! As usual, I have a few rounds of pics to post, so I will only add captions when absolutely necessary, 10-4? Here we go, starting with pics taken on approach in 'The Mighty Camry!'

That's the 'Oliver Lee Memorial State Park' HQ building and campground you see at the mouth of Dog Canyon, and here's a sign with some details of the trail...

Before setting out on the Dog Canyon Trail, I hiked this 'Riparian Nature Trail' which runs along the creek bed for a short distance... dry as this place looks, there is running water in the creek!

After doing the 'Riparian Nature Trail' as a warm-up, we now set out on Dog Canyon Trail...

I see that signboard refers to the trail as "rigorous"---but the word "strenuous" was used elsewhere, perhaps on one of those notices in the enclosed billboard. Back in a moment with more pics...

 

[Wingnut]

Round #2 of pics, here's the back side of the Park Ranger HQ building:

Doesn't take long to gain elevation, lol... you can see 'The Mighty Camry' in this next shot, just right of pic center...

See what I mean about the elevation gain? Lol... this trail is an @$$-kicker, that's for sure! Hey, if ya look out in the Tularosa Basin, just left of center underneath the range on the horizon (San Andres Mountains), you can see the butte which I visited earlier, the pics are in my KLR 650 thread! It's the tallest of those three black buttes ya see out there!

Next two shots just show a short spur trail leading back down into the canyon from a switchback...

We continue upward...

 

[Wingnut]

Round #3 of pics, starting with a nice view to the SSE along the escarpment:

Here's a shot for Peanut... I was thinking of ya when I took this shot, Peanut!

Apaches used to toss victims into even larger cactus patches! Nice fellas, those Apaches, lol...

Ya know, that view along that escarpment totally reminds me of the shoulder of a breaking wave...

In that previous pic, you're now atop the 'First Bench' with a pretty good drop over to your left...

Nice serrated edges on these leaves or spines...

Here's a shot from the 1-mile yardstick... see how high we already are above the mouth of the canyon?

The same view without the yardstick:

BTW, as we get higher on this trail, y'all can see White Sands in the distance, underneath that dark range on the horizon to the west... some pics already show the Sands (Pic #4 in this round, for instance), but we'll have more views coming up soon enough, aye?

 

[Wingnut]

Round #4 of pics:

This little "Bonsai Tree" in the trail also reminded me of Peanut, lol...

As y'all can imagine, echoes were pretty good along this stretch of trail... can't tell y'all WHO was responsible, but SOME JACKHOLE was doing LOUD Tarzan yells & Alpine yodeling in this area, lol.

 

[Wingnut]

Round #5 of pics, I like this view looking back down the canyon:

Pretty nice scenery, yeah? BTW, I only met ONE other hiker during this excursion, a slightly older guy making his way back down the trail... just cruisin' along, not in a big hurry, lol. In fact, the descent can be treacherous in locations, as you'll see in upcoming pics... this is NOT a trail for high-speed activity, unless ya actually WANT some broken bones, rock rash, etc. This is a trail for slower, steadier hiking, with an occasional break thrown in for taking pics, lol...

In my youth, my friends & I would've "steamed" up this trail at speed, because we were young and we reveled in the fact that we could move quickly through such terrain, but now that I'm OLDER, I tend to slow down a bit and enjoy the primo scenery, ya know? Stop and smell the roses, so to speak... there are no roses along this trail, but there are still some cool plants and even some wildflowers, if ya look hard enough, lol.

 

[Wingnut]

Round #6 of pics, starting with one of those "cool plants" I just mentioned, an Ocotillo growing laterally out of a crack in the rock... ya don't see this very often, they usually go vertical:

On the way back down here, you can see White Sands in the distance, that line beneath the range on the horizon:

Here are more shots of the escarpment, I never get tired of these views...

This next shot shows the rugged descent, as well as a nice view of the Tularosa Basin! There's that butte I climbed earlier on the bike, the black butte in the center of the pic just under the distant San Andres Mountains! Look at those roads below, those look cool in this pic! Hey, if ya slip on some of those "ball bearing" rocks or gravel on your descent, ya might just wind up doing a "face-plant" in some of that spiky or thorny growth, lol...

And one last look at the escarpment before we drop outta view...

 

[Wingnut]

Round #7 of pics, this should be the final round:

And here's the Park Ranger HQ in sight again...

Here's a signboard showing Oliver Lee's Dog Canyon Ranch, which looks like a pretty nice spread! I'll go take the tour of the historic ranch home one day, it's open to the public at certain times when somebody is handy to give the tour:

This other signboard showed the boundaries of the Chihuahuan Desert:

Didn't quite get that pic centered correctly, but here's the paragraph below the diagram:

Okay, hope y'all enjoyed the hike, now I'm starving and I'm gonna make a big ol' breakfast or brunch at 1300 hours, lol... if I should take a nap afterward, don't worry, I'll be back later to work on that 'Road Safety' thread, 10-4? CHEERS!!!

 

[Pearl]

Any wildlife encounters? How long (time wise) was your hike?? AWESOME sky and scenery!! THANK YOU, great pics!!

 

[Wingnut]

Over 3 hours, and I'm glad I turned back when I did, because as expected the descent was slower than usual, due to the rugged nature of the trail. The Canon cam always makes things look flat or easy, lol... the lying piece o' junk, it should've been a politician, aye? I only went a couple miles up the trail, then turned around because that sun was dropping in the west... this is one trail you would NOT wanna do in the dark, even with a headlamp! WAY too many trip hazards, "ball bearing" rocks underfoot, cactus leaning into the trail etc.

The only wildlife I saw on this hike were birds, butterflies & lizards... though one gal who works at the park told me some bighorn sheep had recently been spotted. I probably would've seen some larger critters if I had gone farther up the trail, as it runs clear up into the Ponderosa Pine forests at higher elevations. I saw plenty of scat, looked like coyote cr@p, maybe some other varmint scat too... otherwise, the place was pretty quiet. I didn't mind, the silence was awesome, though I DID hear an occasional LOUD Tarzan yell & some Swiss yodeling, lol.

P.S. I had a canister of bear spray on my belt, in case "Tarzan" or the "yodeler" appeared and caused trouble, lol...

 

[Bacpacker]

Great pics. I'd love to do some hiking in places like that.

 

[Wingnut]

I only met one other hiker the whole time, and it was a beautiful day too... many of the RVers in the campground below were just riding out some time over the winter. I did see folks in camp chairs enjoying the sunshine, but up on the trail it was pure solitude, which doesn't bother me at all, I like it. And the one hand I met was cool, we stopped for a moment or two and chatted, as hikers will do, then we went our separate ways. He probably had ten years on me, age-wise, but hey, he was still out there cruising around, lol. More power to him... I hope to be cruising around on trails when I'm 70 years old, but first I gotta make the age, aye? A lot can happen in 9-1/2 years, lol.

 

[Bacpacker]

Solitude is priceless

 

[Wingnut]

Definitely good for the soul... and I was never truly alone, I had birds & colorful butterflies to keep me company. Didn't see any bighorn sheep, though they'd been sighted in the area recently, but I've seen bighorns in Kalifornia and Colorado, so no worries. The sunshine was primo too, I was in it much of the way because the canyon mouth angles to the WSW.