Trail conditions, April 5

Fire conditions
Campsite and road closures
Bridge near Santa Barbara Campground out
Trails are increasingly clear
Weather forecast

Fire conditions

Santa Fe National Forest has been put under Stage 1 fire restrictions. These are effective until September 30th. Stage 1 means:

No campfires and no charcoal fires unless you are using an established metal fire ring at a developed campsite.
No campfires in the backcountry are allowed.
No alcohol stoves are allowed.
You can use stoves with an on/off switch in a cleared area. “Such devices can only be used in an area that is barren or cleared of all overhead and surrounding flammable materials within 3 feet of the device.” Extra credit: Get an piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and put it under your stove and immediate cooking area. It’s super light, folds, and gives you another layer of protection between your stove and all those dry pine needles. I also like to pour a liter of water under and around the edge of where I put the aluminum foil down, just so I’m cooking over a damp area.
No smoking unless you’re in an enclosed vehicle or a designated developed campsite.
“A violation of the above prohibitions is punishable as a Class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.”

I greatly appreciate the SFNF doing this. It’s a big relief. Carson National Forest has no such restrictions yet, but I hope they will implement them soon.

There’s a good article in the Taos News about fire conditions. Highlights include:

“Precipitation in February was below normal across the region, mostly 30 to 50 percent of normal, with portions of eastern New Mexico and Southwest Arizona receiving less than 10 percent of normal precipitation,” Martinez reported. The combination of low precipitation and higher than average temperatures has created extremely dry conditions.
“Above normal fire potential is forecasted across eastern New Mexico in March, followed by normal potential area wide in April,” he said. “Then with that above normal, significant fire potential forecasted across portions of the Southeast Arizona and Southern New Mexico in May, that will expand to most higher elevations in June.”
“Driskell said trees may even begin to die ‘in the next month, six weeks, because there’s no moisture to continue the growth.’”

High-altitude trail conditions on the Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike, April 5, showing energy release an.

From the Taos News article, Projected wildfire season defies description

The “V” bridge on Trail 25 near Santa Barbara has collapsed

This isn’t a new situation: The bridge collapsed last year in October. I spoke to a hiker who had been out on trail the day it happened. She spoke to the people who were on the bridge when it collapsed. They were injured, but obviously pretty stirred up about it.

You can still get across the Santa Barbara River, even with the bridge out. The river is wide and shallow at this point. There are plenty of nice big rocks to make your way over, especially if you have hiking poles to balance yourself with. Hopefully you’ll be wearing boots that can handle 6 inches of water, or you’ll have footwear than can be submerged and not cause a problem.

Carson National Forest has a status page on this situation here.

Campsites and Forest Roads are still closed

Panchuela, Cowles, Jack’s Creek, Santa Barbara, and Agua Piedra campsites are all still closed. Big Tesuque campground is open.

Forest Road 437, 442, and 438 are closed until May 1. This means once you climb up La Cueva Canyon from Tres Ritos, there is no way for anyone (who isn’t from the Forest Service or Search and Rescue or the police, etc) to get to you until you come out at El Nogal about 40ish miles later.

The trails are increasingly clear

Bailey Newbury got all the way up to Santa Fe Baldy last week. We did get some good rain down in town this week, which means there’s a few new inches of snow in the high country, but not much. Not enough.

Trail conditions on the Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike, April 5, with rocky and snowy sections. — Photo by Bailey Newbury, published on Instagram. Taken April 1 from near the summit of Santa Fe Baldy. Apologies/thanks to Bailey for using his photos. I haven’t been able to get on trail, which kills me (kinda… actually… literally).

This reel from Sipapu, taken last week, shows the level of snow on the slopes near Agua Piedra.

These are from March 22nd, but ✨huge thanks to J ason Halladay✨ for sending me photos of a hike he did up from Agua Piedra to Ripley Point on March 22nd: