Cabresto Canyon -Valle Vidal summit(u)
The divide between Cabresto Canyon and Valle Vidal is not
named. It offers equal proportions of confusion about the
topography and excitement about the scenery, while
crossing into one of northern New Mexico's most
interesting valleys, Valle Vidal. Back in spanish colonial
times the horseman could enter Valle Vidal from the south
by way of the old Costilla
Pass. Today's mountain biker has to cross a higher
ridge to stay away from private property. Today's route
consists of a combination of dirt roads, abandoned lumber
paths and fence line trails, that are not shown on any
maps, unless they are handdrawn by a local forest ranger.
It's advisable to take along an extra supply of time and
flexibility for a dayride across this divide.
Approaches
From North. To start at the bottom, topographically
speaking, one has to start in Questa (7500ft). The
route follows a gravel road to Lagunita
Saddle. The first right after the saddle goes to Trail
Canyon ( or similar name ). The route to Valle Vidal continues
straight. A short distance later, at the next junction, stay
left on the road that winds uphill through a meadow into a
higher forest. There another smaller road takes off to the
left. Stay right. Cross a cow grate and take the next right
onto a forest road closed to motor vehicles. Meanwhile the
cycling conditions have improved considerably since the
saddle. The closed double track leads past a prime viewing
area of Wheeler Peak (2nd picture), through an old tree
harvesting area and curves back towards the west. This is
where it becomes tricky. At a junction a path towards the
right appears to dead end. At this point the route crosses the
Valle Vidal boundary. A straight fence line, from which the
wire has been removed runs along the ridge. An old fence line
trail heads in a westerly direction just inside the old Valle
Vidal boundary. This trail eventually tops at a forested
summit with a microwave facility at about 11100 feet
(altimeter measurement).
From South. The approach is described in a downward
direction continuing from the last paragraph. Several minor
hills after the 11100 feet summit the trail eventually turns
north to descend into Valle Vidal. Great views from here.
Below treeline the trail becomes quite faint. It crosses a
small meadow with an old cabin. The trail exits the meadow
uphill towards the right and soon skirts a large blowdown
area. After further faint meadow crossings my own route
detoured upvalley substantially. I was tempted to head cross
forest to the road clearly visible in the valley (3rd
picture). But the upvalley route did eventually dump me onto
FR1750 within half a mile east of Comanche Point (which is
shown on the Carson National Forest Map).
Tours
Dayrides. A circle ride from Questa, climbing Lagunita
Saddle via Cabresto Canyon, continuing over the divide as
described, returning to the starting point by paved road
through Amalia and Costilla measured 69 miles, 5310 feet of
climbing in 7.1 hours using a Cateye 100A cycle computer.
back to a roster
of bicycling passes
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