Jornada Hiking & Outdoors Club

 
 
 

TIME 8:30 AM. We leave on time.

DETAILS: The Sagecrest Trail, off Sagecrest Park (corner of Roadrunner Parkway and Frontier Drive) is a 3 or so mile out and back walk on a paved path that parallels, part of the way, the Las Cruces Dam. We meet at 8:30 am sharp at the picnic table toward the rear of the park as you enter through the park gate on Frontier. Parking is on Frontier.

REMEMBER: Dress for the weather. Consider layering. Bring water. Wear appropriate shoes.

 
 
 

A morning beat-the-heat hike! Come meet us at Tortugas Mountain (aka "A Mountain", because it has a big "A" on it). It's an urban mountain with many, many hiking trails to explore. Imagine the refreshing moment of overviewing the city with cool morning breeze in the shade at the mountain top. It's a nice and quick workout to begin a day, and we will hike mostly in the shade (because we are early enough:)

Route
We will hike "Straight up" - This is the northern of the two trails on the west side of the mountain facing the city. It medium rocky terrain, medium incline. It is the quickest way up the mountain and reaches the observatory at the top.

QUICK REFERENCE

Distance - About 2 miles

Elevation Gain - Approximately 800 ft to the top of Tortugas Mountain.

Fees - None

Duration - 1 hour

Pet Friendly - Yes, if your dog(s) follow the rules and the pace of the group.

Skill Level - moderate

Terrain - loose, steep mountainside

Weather - Nice

What You Should Bring--Water, sunscreen, snacks, etc.

Miscellaneous

Medical Concerns - This hike might be strenuous at times. If you are unsure for any reason please consult your physician before attempting any of our hikes.

Late Arrival -- Expect arrival 5 minutes early (6:55). We will start the hike on time.

See you soon!

Caution/Disclaimer: Each individual hiker is responsible for their own personal safety/health and of their guests when participating in Jornada Hiking & Outdoor Club activities. The organizers of Jornada Hiking & Outdoor Club and the Jornada Hiking & Outdoor Club are not liable for any illness, injury, accident, mechanical break-down, or unforeseen acts that may occur while you participate going to, during, or after any activity. If you have a medical condition that may be aggravated by any kind of physical activity you must make your own personal decision about attending and not hold any of the volunteer organizers liable. All organizers are volunteers and are not compensated during any activity.

 
 
 

Technically, this shouldn't be too bad. However, it will be long endurance. Let's compare this to Grand Canyon's South Rim:
Alamo Canyon to Alamo Peak, NM: 10.3 miles 4,550 ft vertical.
Phantom Ranch to South Kaibab, AZ: 4,800 ft vertical 7.5 miles?
Phantom Ranch to Bright Angel, AZ: 4,390 ft vertical 9 miles?
Guadalupe Peak, TX: ~3,000 ft, 4.2 miles. (Easy by comparison)

Some of you have told me you want to get ready for Grand Canyon. Others are training for Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua.
This will also be great training for any of you doing the Ultramaraton de los Can~ones in July down in Chihuahua with me. I'll be doing the 63km.

Let's meet Friday evening say 1730 at the SW corner of Sprouts on Lohman in Las Cruces. We can drive over to Alamogordo or Cloudcroft and have dinner. We then drive out to the Alamo Peak Trailhead. We can then car camp by Alamo Peak upper trailhead. Directions are here for trail 109: https://lincoln-nf-trails.org/Trails/Sacramento/S-Trail-Pages/T109pdfweb.pdf. There is no water except for what you bring.
We can take a detour at High Rolls on FR 90 and drive out to the upper Alamo Canyon trailhead and stash water. https://lincoln-nf-trails.org/Trails/Sacramento/S-Trail-Pages/T104pdfweb.pdf.

Then, in the morning, we can leave half the cars. We will pile into the other half of cars and descend down to Alamogordo. We can grab breakfast and coffee real quick in town. (Burger King or something like that.) We go to the lower trailhead (see webpage above for trail 104).

We start hiking up. How to plan your gear? Do carry a headlamp. Somebody may become tired. We need to be prepared to hike in the dark at the end if need be. See Cloudcroft's weather forecast for the day to plan your gear accordingly.

What if somebody just can't make it up all the way? We can drop them at the upper Alamo Canyon trailhead and the rest of us hike up to the upper Alamo Peak trailhead. We will pick them up on the return to Alamogordo. Remember, we're stashing water there. You'll be set.

Ps. If you want to car camp with us and get started, a really pleasant hike you can do is to start in Alamo Canyon and then split off to do Round Up Ground which will reconnect you to Alamo Canyon. Just follow it back down to the trailhead. You should be comfortable finding your own way. Do have a map.

Having dinner in Alamo or Cloudcroft on Friday will leave us more time for staging water. Grabbing breakfast in town on Saturday will again save time.

Again, be ready to finish in the dark. It doesn't bother me to go slow if we need to. Have a head lamp.

My fastest ever rim to rim to rim at Grand Canyon was 14 hours 55 minutes.

 
 
 

Moderate hike.

Approximately 4 miles. We hike around the base of the peak.

Wear appropriate footwear and bring water, snacks maybe we will stop at the high desert brewing for lunch and a drink to relax.

4 hours excluding driving time.