The Mountains of New Mexico
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Tadpole Ridge • Eighty Mountain I returned to the Silver City area about three weeks after I was last here. I had a few days open between teaching semesters and wanted to get away, but the weather in southern Arizona and New Mexico has been either way too hot, or way too stormy, or both. I had two peaks of interest here, Tadpole Ridge about ten miles north of the city, and Eighty Mountain, which is just north of the forest boundary abutting the city limits. Both have trails, which is a must this time of year. Both were high enough so that the warmth should be mitigated. The weather sites all agreed that for a few days, the storms would not be as active here. Everywhere else, especially in Arizona, was calling for thunderstorms. So I decided to come back to Silver City. I left Bisbee at 2 a.m., this time taking US-191 through Elfrida into Willcox, where I topped the gas, then following Interstate-10 to the Love's Truck Stop in Lordsburg, where I stopped for its facilities and to buy some drinks and snacks. At this time of the morning, traffic was very light, just truckers. I was in Silver City just as the sun was rising. I was curious how many extra miles this would entail versus the usual route via AZ-80/NM-80. Turns out, not much, about twenty extra miles. Plus, I did not want to chance another "speeding" ticket on NM-80. From US-180 on the east side of town, I went north on NM-15 past Pinos Altos. The road narrows but stays paved all the way to the Gila Cliff Dwellings about 30 miles north of here. I only needed to go about another seven miles. The forest is thick and lush here, growing up to the sides of the road, reminding me of some of the highways in the mountains in Virginia. I drove to Gila Forest Road 149, signed for Meadow Creek, and parked in a camping spot hidden from the main road by trees. It was 5:30 a.m. going by my car's clock, 6:30 going by the time zones. I had been driving for three and a half hours, covering 205 miles. The sun was still low, but the day was clear and calm, and cool for now, in the 50s.
Date: August 14, 2024
• Elevation: 8,611 feet
• Prominence: 1,137 feet
• Distance: 7 miles
• Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
• Gain: 1,440 feet
• Conditions: Sunny, calm, very pleasant
New Mexico
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Main
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PB
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LoJ
I walked across the road and caught an old track heading uphill. This track was rocky with a couple trees lying across it, forbidding any vehicle access. In about five minutes, it met with the Tadpole Trail, which actually starts lower down about a mile to the south. I continued up on the trail, which makes a swing left (southeastish) then onto a ridge where it swings hard right, now going west again.
The forest here is dense and although it shows the scars of a burn, appears to be mostly healthy, mainly big oaks, junipers and pines, with light undergrowth. Up ahead is Scott Peak, with cliffs on its east and south faces. I emerged into the open, then followed the trail as it gained moderately steeply toward Scott Peak, angling to the right to cross below it on the north slope. So far, the trail was in excellent shape and easy to follow.
After rounding the northern flanks of Scott Peak, Peak 8339 rose next. I knew there would be a number of false peaks on this hike, so I was not going to get my hopes up too quickly. The trail also stays low and bypasses Peak 8339 on its north. Here, the trail started to get obscured by tall grasses and flowering plants. It was easy to follow but I had to pay more attention.
The trail swings around this peak and drops about fifty feet, then up again and coming onto the ridge itself, just west of Peak 8339. My phone beeped a couple times, getting some text messages now that it could see the transmitters on Pinos Altos Peak to the south. I stopped for a break in a small cleared area. I'd been hiking a little under an hour so far.
The next peak along the ridgeline was Peak 8336. Like before, the trail stays on its north flanks, but once around it, starts to gain uphill steeply again, now on the final push to the top of Tadpole Ridge. The trail makes one more pass below a ridgeline bump, then after some more steep uphill, emerges onto the summit ridge. I had hiked about two and a half miles so far, the trail being about 95% clear to here.
Now on the summit ridge, the brush and grass grew tall and heavy, completely occluding the trail. The grass and brush grew about 4 feet high. The trail was only evident by the clearing amid the trees, many of them burnt, here the older fire being much more destructive. Cairns along the way helped, but the grass was so tall it hid the cairns. I'd walk in, find a cairn, go where I think the trail was, see another cairn, and repeat. This segment wasn't difficult, just slow-going. The flowers were blooming, with swaths of red, pink, lavender, white and yellow amid the green. My nose was working double time breathing in the pollen and sneezing it back out. But it was very pretty.
The topographic map shows five areas that reach 8,600 feet or above. The first one (easternmost) is marked as 8,609 feet, then the next one, the presumptive highpoint, at 8,614 feet (newer data says 8,611 feet). The trail either crosses over or swings very close by. I could not tell just by looking what was highest. The 8,614-foot area looked highest, but it was covered in grass and brush, a lot of it thorny. My legs got a bunch of new scratches on them.
I followed the trail to the ridge's west end, arriving to Point 8603 about a quarter-mile later. It looked "high" too. I figured this way, I covered all bets. Afterwards, the trail starts to drop heading west. Views were good but mostly blocked by trees. By now, the sun was up but it was still cool, in the 60s, with no breeze, everything calm. A few clouds rose on the horizons but nothing above me. The trees provided a lot of shade.
I made no effort to locate any registers. Walking along the trail amid the grass was a challenge at times. There was no way to see what was hidden. As I turned to walk out from Point 8603, my foot hit a rock, slid down and into another rock and before I knew it, I pitched forward, whacking my knee hard on another rock. It was a hard fall and I bashed my knee pretty good, but nothing was damaged. Then, five steps later, I again step funny onto a hidden rock, doing some ballet maneuvers to stay upright.
I walked slowly through the tall grass, looking over each highpoint as I exited. I did not get that definitive feeling of success other than at some point, I walked over it, but who knows if I missed some rock hidden in the grass somewhere. I am sure being here in August after the monsoon rains helped with the growth. Being here in May would probably be easier, before everything greens out.
The hike out went well, now on the trail where I could follow it easier. I took a break about halfway, then just put in the steps to get back to my car. It was 8:30 a.m. (Arizona time, or Scott's Car Time), meaning a round trip just under three hours, covering about 7 miles. The net gain was about 1,150 feet, but with the ups and downs added back in, comes to about 1,440 feet of gross gain, being conservative.
The hike had gone well and I enjoyed it. When I had views, they were impressive. The trail was easy to follow most of the way and I made good time, and the delays weren't that troublesome. My knee was feeling tight. I got into my car and proceeded south back into the city, now looking at Eighty Mountain.
Elevation: 7,471 feet
• Prominence: 799 feet
• Distance: 4.5 miles
• Time: 2 hours
• Gain: 1,050 feet
• Conditions: Warmer, more puffy clouds
PB
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LoJ
It took about a half hour to get back into Silver City then up Little Walnut Road, heading north again to where it crosses the forest boundary near Gomez Peak. Having dropped about a thousand feet in elevation, it was warmer, but still pleasant, temperature about 80°.
I parked in the same lot as I did when I hiked Gomez Peak. Being a weekday, it wasn't crowded, just a couple other vehicles. I was on the move quickly, going light with my buttpack and a couple drinks.
Now wiser to the trails here from my first visit, I knew what trail to take and how to find it. I followed Trail 1, where the 1 refers to the parking lot itself. This trail runs on the lower slopes of Gomez Peak for three-fourths of a mile, ending at the saddle between Gomez and Eighty Mountain.
I followed a trail marked 9 or 10 which angled northeast from the saddle, but then caught another trail that went left (south), obviously toward Eighty Mountain, so I followed it. This trail circles around a lower subpeak marked by spot elevation 7008. It gains a little steeply here, which was good because I needed to start gaining at some point. I also had my first open views of Eighty Mountain along this segment.
The day was warming, now into the mid-to-high 80s. I would stop in the shade of massive junipers, which formed big canopies. In the shade, it felt ten degrees cooler. Soon, I was at the saddle below Eighty Mountain, looking at another half mile and about 550 feet of gain to the top.
I was lagging a little, now on my ninth mile of the day and feeling the effects of the warmth. I took a drink break underneath another lovely juniper, then started marching uphill to the top. It was about this time a cloud blocked the sun, which suddenly made everything feel cooler. The clouds were just the single puffy kind, not collecting into any developed storms. This Glorious Cloud blocked the sun for about ten minutes, which was perfect. When it moved aside, I was very near the summit.
The last few dozen feet went quickly and I was at the rocky top, surrounded by low trees. I took a moment to snap some images and give the place an inspection. I did not locate a register but wasn't expecting one. One of my photos also caught a bird in mid-flight, which I thought was cool. Now in the sun and warmth again, I did not linger, and started right back down.
The hike out went quickly, gravity assisting me the whole way, there being no bothersome drops to regain along the way. Back at the saddle, I stopped for another drink break and gulped down most of my remaining liter of water. I was back to my car in another fifteen minutes, a round trip of about two hours covering 4.5 miles and just over a thousand feet of gain.
I was pleased to be successful and to be done, now officially tired. My two hikes together came to over 11 miles and 2,500 feet of gain. I had given myself a bit of a sunburn too. It was about noon, going by Arizona time, but I had no more peaks on the agenda and the warmth was now too much. My car's temperature thing said it was 91° outside.
I met a couple hikers on my way down, both running up to the peak, obviously this being their exercise peak. I surmise a lot of the locals come here for their conditioning. Both Gomez and Eighty Peaks offer short, strenuous routes, once you learn the confusing trail nomenclature. The faster one also passed me on the way down, but I was near the cars anyway by this time.
I did not want to just head back to Bisbee. I had planned for at least a night away and would make the rest up as I went along. I contacted this lady I met on the internet who lives here and she said I could come by but only if I had a bag of enchiladas from Mi Casita in hand. I got them, plus some pollo tacos for myself, and had a couple hours' visit with her. She wasn't feeling too well, so I did not stay too long. Based on a suggestion from her, I stayed at an old-time hotel called the Drifter, which wasn't bad. They still give you actual keys for the rooms, not a card. I did a quick store run and then napped, and had a peaceful night. I mainly watched ESPN and some older Family Guy episodes.
I was up at dawn the next morning, and feeling a bit of malaise myself. I was sore and my sunburn was painful. I hit the road, and made a very half-hearted effort to explore a peak south of town, but passed on it. I could see a way up but figured not today, maybe when it's much cooler. I took the most direct route through Lordsburg, Road Forks and into Douglas, back to home.
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