Day 6 has us heading out from our motel in Taos to start the day on forest road to make our way out east towards White Peak. But, this is not happening, because the access point I drew to get on to forest roads just outside of Taos has a massive locked gate! I see a big water tower, and inquire of some city water system workers in a truck if it’s a public road, they say only for walking or mountain biking. So, after looking for an alternate route in, this was not panning out. We jump on 64 to get to Angel Fire and then White Peak. This actually turned out for the better, because we were poised for a butt whoppin in White Peak and the extra time was needed!
I still want to go back and use and alternate route to access the forest roads outside of Taos. Looks like incredible riding in some excellent mountains.
This section of the report is dedicated to LOSTRIDER who suffered an untimely get-off on his BMW just before our trip and could not make it. Lostrider is the one that turned us on to White Peak and its possibility.
White Peak was a total unknown to me, and mired in controversy. While I don’t know all the details, a previous Land Commissioner in New Mexico made some dubious land swaps, trading some public lands for some private lands, which upset numerous folks that hunted on these lands, and accessed them for recreation. These deals were not well publicized and done somewhat under cover which caused political problems and accusations of self-dealing by the Land Commissioner.
Also, several public parcels around White Peak were slated for sale for oil/gas exploration after promises White Peak would be spared. Some how, these deals were almost “inadvertently” done, and halted at the last minute. In the end, a couple years ago the NM Supreme Court reversed several of the public/private land swap deals because they violated certain public trust provisions.
So in the end, I am sure there were a lot of pissed off ranchers, hunters, oil/gas companies, and the public. As a result…..its not really clear if your on public roads all the time or not in White Peak! This would take extensive research and getting maps from the NM Land Commission to determine.
With this dubious history, UlyBrad and I wander into White Peak! The holy grail of Gunslinger Divide Ride!
After topping up on gas in Angel Fire, we hit 120, the main road to access the White Peak area. I did not have my track log on, and White Peak has a lot of tricky navigation, so best I can tell we made a smaller loop which dumped us out on White Peak road and the route back down towards Las Vegas.
We first come up on Sawmill Lake and the riding is excellent, smooth nice double track going long the scenic lake and pine trees. Note the fence, likely denoting some private property…
Wow this is starting off great!
The clear double tracks around the lake look well used, and even have signs of recent grading as if being prepared for hunting or an event. The road starts to get more faint, and in some areas more rocky. But overall, it’s a beautiful and idyllic area, I remember thinking no wonder parts of it came into dispute, who would ever want to give this up?
The roads meander around several old adobe houses, on more of a high plains area. Several of the roads you can see meander off into the fields, where they become very faint. We stop at this old place for some pics…
Maybe an omen of what is to come?
The tracks I am on start to narrow up, and the trees begin to envelop you more, becomes more rocky, and we go up and down over a few streams. We have NO idea to what extent we are on actual public or private road. We pass several private property signs on fences, but no locked gates.
As we ride on it gets hotter as we hit high noon, and are confronted with some sudden, sharp curving, and steep rocky climbs…hmm this is getting interesting! We meander over rougher, tighter roads…..UlyBrad hits a few at good speed, ends up with a couple of get offs. As I come up on rockier sections, I just have to punch the gas, hang on and concentrate!
UlyBrad comes up over a rocky climb and hits the gas hard over the rocks!
Then, we hit a monster 45 degree rocky climb with a sharp turn at the top….and no idea what it leads to! Gulp!
UlyBrad clears it, and comes back down to catch some carnage. I’m at the bottom trying not to talk myself into falling, and get focused for my run up.
Half way!
Er, I guess not! I loose my MO on the climb, have a brain fart and there goes the front end, opps! Catch a bit of rock on the side of my helmet, but my bell is not rung thankfully. So, its your classic, stuck mid-way on a steep climb with a bike I have to kick start! This was the only time my XRR, a bit flooded, needed about 8 kicks to get it going.
I have to put all my weight up front, to control the front end because if I don’t, I know the bike will loop with all the gear on the back.
Note the fully extended front fork!
Off we go!
From here it gets more interesting. Up top, we hit several massive rock garden roads…..sharp turkey sized rocks all back to back….we blitz several sections, but UlyBrad takes a couple of falls and I nearly do. There is no looking back for your riding buddy because you have to focus on what’s up front. We come up to one section, 30 feet that is impassible. We have to walk the bikes over. We have NO IDEA how long this will continue!
Now we are feeling some exhaustion, UlyBrad has to kick start his bike, and that is taking a toll also. Here I slow it way down and take stock.
Time: its 2 PM, so we have lots of day light left. Good.
Water: Concern about dehydration at 8,000 ft, and about 85 degrees. I have an extra bottle, so refill my 100 oz. Good.
Fatigue: We are both tired and getting worn out. Both have fallen a few times. We need good long breaks to recover, so we take time and keep our heads about us.
White Peak is serving up a royal butt whopping, were feeling it! But loving it!
I start to get concerned……how long could these rock gardens get? Could they become impassible or will we suffer an injury now that we are tired? I hike up a ways and find that it clears out for a bit….so we carry on, eventually getting to more passable roads.
But, I have a decision to make, and am TOTALLY dependent on a functional GPS to navigate. We need to try and access something familiar to get out, and back to the main road. Late in the day its too risky to try and hit more tracks that will take us further out…so fortunately I am able to get us back on a more accessible track.
I make a critical, and good decision….we come up on a gate that says no trespassing, and no vehicles…..but the gate is not locked. I consider turning back, which would put us on a farther loop out and more time to get out…but I go for it, we open the gate and drive on through. Were we on a private road? Not sure…..
We finally dump back out on White Peak road and the main southern road to Ocate, and find a small tiny store, for a cold drink. Inside is one guy, sitting in an arm chair, with a fridge and some candy bars in a cabinet. That’s the store. He’s about 85 and lived there, in and out, since he was 15.
Finally, out of White Peak, exhausted, but feeling great! The toughest most challenging part of the whole ride!
Its awesome, but enter at your own risk! I think the better approach is to camp at Coyote Lake campground close by, and spend a day exploring without carrying all the gear. I would also get good maps from the Land Commission and get a better handle on private vs public lands.
Sitting there, in the shade of a 100 year old building, I reflect to UlyBrad how odd it is, that we seek out the most remote, rugged corner of New Mexico, where nary a soul is….all for FUN! Are we crazy? Yeah!
Not shy about how some of the locals feel about fracking…lingering resentments against previous Land Commissioner attempts to sell of White Peak parcels to the oil and gas industry? Conflicts over use of what little water there is for fracking? Maybe some things you just cannot escape from, no matter how far out you are!
We make the final run into Las Vegas and a state campground just outside of town. Not super pretty, but I am sure when the water was up in the lake it was nicer. We are greeted by high blustering winds, but thankfully they die down. A cold refreshing shower awaits! The night was so nice, we just lay out our bed rolls in the shelter for the night.
After this night, its our last day on Gunslinger Divide Ride to roll back to RDS HQ!
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Shoot there was one rock field I though I was gonna tear my Jeep up...All basketball and beachball rocks
Looks like you guys had fun...I plan to take HP2 up there later this year.