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New Mexico Off-Road: The Cloudcroft Recon

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Hahaha! :doh: When I read the first conversation I honestly wondered if you'd gotten a call Rusty, and had to beg off due to being newly employed...
 
WoodButcher said:
You left out the other call that went like this:

Phone: rrrrrriiiiinnnnnngggggg

Me: Hi Rusty, when do you start your new job? Because I'm going to New Mexico this weekend.

Rusty: I start on Monday, why didn't you plan this sooner?

Me: It just came up, but send me some routes ideas and I'll tell you all about the fun we had...

Rusty: Okay, I'll get right on it.

**click**

And then I delayed a day and had to email them to Tricepilot while they were on the road. :doh:
Click to expand...

This is all true.

Not only that, but I for sure know that blessings belong with the fact that Rusty's prayers, and all of our prayers, were answered with the fact that Rusty has a new job in hand :clap:
 
JT says:

...enough of an intro, let's hit the sack:

852326035_umYzW-L.jpg


We'll bite into the bulk of the pics this weekend
 
Bonus: New Mexico State Song



O, Fair New Mexico
Written by: Elizabeth Garrett

Under a sky of azure,
Where balmy breezes blow,
Kissed by the golden sunshine,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
Land of the Montezuma,
With firey hearts aglow,
Land of the deeds historic,
Is Nuevo Mejico.

O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o'reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.

Rugged and high sierras,
With deep canyons below,
Dotted with fertile valleys,
Is Nuevo Mejico.
Fields full of sweet alfalfa,
Richest perfumes bestow,
State of apple blossoms,
Is Nuevo Mejico.

O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o'reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.

Days that are full of heart-dreams,
Nights when the moon hangs low;
Beaming its benedictions,
O'er Nuevo Mejico.
Land with its bright manana,
Coming through weal and woe;
State of esperanza,
Is Nuevo Mejico.

O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
Our hearts with pride o'reflow,
No matter where we go.
O, Fair New Mexico,
We love, we love you so,
The grandest state to know
New Mexico.
 
Ride Report Just-for-Fun Fact #1:

Santa Fe, New Mexico's capital, is the highest capital city in the United States at 7,000 feet above sea level.

Nobody knows that, and knowing that fact can win you a beer :trust:
 
This thread was started 12 hours ago, you tease me with view of the White Sands, I can feel th ecool temps as I post. BTW it is just at 10 hours to get there from Austin I believe. :rider:
 
DaveC said:
....it is just at 10 hours to get there from Austin I believe. :rider:
Click to expand...

True statement. Give or take an hour depending on if you're trailering or riding your motorcycle (BMW GS might be faster than a DRZ - just sayin')
 
Well, I'm glad there are more of us wanting more of this trip. I know it's gonna be a good one once it all gets on here. Looks fantastic so far. And I guess it will be like Christmas when you are a kid. Seems like it will never get here soon enough.
I gotta retire someday and do more of this stuff.
Thanks for the camera info Richard. I'll run down to Precision on Monday and check it out further. It looks like it's just what I need.
OK, back to work.
Robert
 
The Recon. Recon?

The actual purpose of this trip was to discover if the Lincoln National Forest could become a type of "New-Mex Trek". Could Couldcroft or Alamogordo be a new Junction or Galeana? Was there enough good riding there and was it close enough to central Texas (an average Texas location) to make it a worthwhile trip? It was a Reconnaissance in Force, if you consider three guys on dirt bikes a force.

MexTrek started with a recon a few years ago. Recently, Arkansas also got its own recon. Start with an area on a map that looks good, then go there, get some advice from the locals and do some research, then ride around. On this trip, we stopped at the ranger station for some maps and a book on the Lincoln National Forest. We talked to people. One of the helpful people was a realtor who lived in Weed (a real town, not a joke). We talked to rangers on the trails. People in restaurants and coffee shops. Then you look at the maps and make up a plan. In three days, you ride as many of the trails as possible. Rusty even sent suggestions by email. Most of the trails and roads work out. Some trails designated 4-wheel drive trails work out. Some do not. There are a lot of trees down up there, and the forest service is trying to get them cleared out. The higher elevations had roads with snow on them. It has snowed up there the week before we got there.

Some trails, like the Rim Trail, would be do-able on lighter bikes. For the bikes we had, there was an early stretch of that trail that made it too much work. We probably could have fought through to decent terrain, but it was taking a lot of effort and bikes were dropping. We had a lot of road to cover, so we'll save the Rim Trail for a later visit.

New Mexico has an interesting law regarding trespassing that was explained to us at Forest HQ. Yes, there are pockets of private property pock-marked throughout the forest. We rode on public roads through private land each and every day. The law says, though, if you find yourself off public roads and on private land, the landowner has to escort you back to public property. Can't automatically go all ballistic on you. We didn't stray off the beaten path to test this theory.

Quality of riding is just one aspect of a recon. How about a hotel? Gotta have a Magdalena/El Jardin/Hills Motel type of ride headquarters. Places to eat. Camping, ok but needs showers/bathrooms. The stuff that people have come to like on one of Richard's rides. The real bottom line - would people make the trip to a destination like this, and want to come back?
 
Now this is getting good!! Sure looks like beautiful country up there.
Robert
 
Great pictures and looking forward to seeing the GPS file/tracks.

Here is a 225 mile route that someone could take from Carlsbad to Cloudcroft consisting of 60 percent dirt trails. I have not tried it yet.

RB
 
Ride Report Just-for-Fun Fact #2:

One out of three families in New Mexico speak spanish at home
 
Ride Report Camper's Tip #2

Some type of lightweight but effective hammer helps with both tent stakes and the axel on your KLR. DAMHIK.
 
Excellent recon! Do I see JT trying out your KLR in one of the pics?
 
solorider said:
Excellent recon! Do I see JT trying out your KLR in one of the pics?
Click to expand...

"Trying out" is kind. That's a really steep section of the Rim Trail, and after his bike bit the dust, I figured only he had the cojones to ride my steed down that part.:eek2:

Or in other words, I wussed out. :lol2:
 
Haha! Solo beat me too it. JT was looking like the designated rider there... pretty loose downhill, how did the KLR do?
 
Did you guys make it down to Timberon? Several of us from Houston used to go there and rent a cabin. We rode for several days with single track just north of Timberon and dirt roads everywhere. Thanks for the story.
 
Coolhand said:
Haha! Solo beat me too it. JT was looking like the designated rider there... pretty loose downhill, how did the KLR do?
Click to expand...

The KLR in general on the trip as a whole did fine. Any of the dual-sport bikes up to 650/800 are great on most roads, even a 1200 could do all the class 1 and 2 roads. The Rim Trail, different story. We wish we had lightweight trials bikes for that first portion. A 250 with no load might be ideal. We did ride some jeep trails and ATV trails with no problems. The roads in general after a rain would be "fun" in many sections. It had snowed a few days before we arrived but all the roads had dried out, except for snow still in the highest elevations. I need to clean the air filter on the KLR. It was gasping for air at almost 10,000 feet. So was I.
 
old1959 said:
Did you guys make it down to Timberon? Several of us from Houston used to go there and rent a cabin. We rode for several days with single track just north of Timberon and dirt roads everywhere. Thanks for the story.
Click to expand...

Yes we did. We made it to every major town and then some in the area. We took a GPS fix on the only (at the time) open gas station in Timberon. Right out of that town we followed a neat trail that dead-ended past a closed gate, so we back-tracked to the loop road. There is a tree grinder for sale in Timberon if you're interested in getting into the forestry business.
 
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