2019-11-03 Potato Canyon (San Mateo Mountains)

Overview:

A feast of iconic western imagery, Potato Canyon proffers sheer canyon walls, gigantic trees, wildlife, a brief slot canyon and easy hiking into the heart of the lonesome Withington Wilderness. In the hike’s uppermost reaches (barely touched in this route description) there is evidence of a recent fire. This route would be a national treasure were it not for the last six miles of the drive. Those miles are hostile. Hikers possessing a high clearance vehicle and a high tolerance for care-filled driving should pack packs and go.

Driving Directions:

Stretches of this drive are ugly. A high-suspension, four-wheel drive vehicle is required (alas). In its steeper sections the forest road slaloms between boulders and quakes under extended piles of loose rock.

It is a shame because the hike up to the waterfall is as family-friendly as any hike in New Mexico.

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• Drive to Socorro, NM on Interstate-25 (I-25)
• If you are coming from the north (e.g. from Albuquerque) 
  • Take Exit 150 from I-25.
  • After 0.4 miles on the off ramp, at the stop light on the ramp end, go straight ahead onto California Street.
  • After 1.3 miles on California St, at a stoplight, go right onto Spring St.
• If you are coming from the south (e.g. from Las Cruces)
  • Take Exit 147 from I-25.
  • After 0.7 miles the ramp “invisibly” segues onto California Street, reset your odometer as you go past the first gas station.
  • After 0.6 miles on California St, at a stop light, turn left onto Spring Street.
• After 0.6 miles on Spring St, at the first stop sign, go left onto US-60 (well signed).
• After 26.4 miles on US-60, at the far end of the town of Magdelana, turn left onto NM-107 South (well signed).
  • NM-107 is paved for the first 4.3 miles, then turns to gravel. The current roadbed is in exceptionally good shape.
• After 16.8 miles on NM-107 turn right onto Forest Road 52 (FR-52).
  • FR-52 is very rough. High clearance vehicles only. The Subaru made it, but at the cost of abuse to the suspension and tires.
  • The junction is well signed.
• After 3.3 miles on FR-52 turn left onto FR-56
  • FR-56 is signed “Not fit for passenger cars“. This is correct.
  • The junction is well signed.
• After 2.7 miles on FR-56 pull out onto the two-track going up Potato Canyon.
  • FR-56 drops into Big Rosa Canyon and stays there. This could be an exceptionally poor choice of parking during monsoon season.
  • At 2.1 miles the road enters the main canyon wash and the roadbed becomes significantly better!
  • The Potato Canyon trailhead is signed (see below), although the sign is getting shot-up.

Trailhead:

The trailhead is a flat spot beside a two-track going up Potato Canyon. Don’t leave your vehicle on the two-track. On this date there were ATV tire tracks in the canyon bed for the first half-mile. Clearly, people do drive here. There is a shot-up sign saying, “Potato Tr”. There is no water, toilet, or trash service at the trailhead.

Data:

On this date I used a new GPS, which gathered only 44 data points. My old GPS would have collected more than 1000. Know that the track does not reflect the twists in the canyon, so distances are likely to be underestimated.

• lowest point: 6706 feet
• highest point: 8728 feet
• net elevation: 2020 feet
• distance: 5.7 miles (one way, may be understated)

Hike Description:

Depart Big Rosa Canyon by hiking the two-track west into Potato Canyon. The two-track gets lost amidst small waves of gregarious boulders and a web of gullies. The terrain is not bad for hiking, but a battering to wheeled vehicles. The canyon has the feel of a movie-set; a dry land of lonesome ponderosa, ancient alligator juniper, layered sandstone, numerous deer tracks and vertical canyon walls. The broad wash writhes, yet the footing is usually so good you can afford to stare at your surroundings. 

In a quarter mile, just past a sign for the Withington Wilderness, enter the first deep section of the canyon. Here the waters have cut down through a tall intrusion of hard rock. The south side of the canyon is a wall of this rock, but the north is far less steep; grassy and sunlight even in the early morning of a late fall day. Rather chilly (early in the morning) but the shaded nature of this hike is one of its biggest attractions. 

Inside the canyon there is an unexpected mixture of trees. Ponderosa pines have crept down this cool and moist environment, oddly competing with alligator juniper for the canyon’s resources. Many trees are outsized. Gray oak, for example, is typically encountered as brush. In this sun protected bottom, however, one old Gray flaunted a foot-thick bole armored with bark as corrugated as the bark of a Douglas fir. Similarly outsized Gambel oaks and big pinyon pines are everywhere. Amazing.

The first navigation challenge comes at 1.7 miles, in the junction of two canyons. The confluence bed is quite broad, flat and densely forested. You may need to scout around, but take the fork going southwest, not the very-prominent fork heading north of west. (That is, stay to your left, heading uphill). On this date a pretty run of water surfaced in mid-wash just west of this junction. Tracks show that turkey, deer and a cat (likely a bobcat) use this watering hole.  

Hiking on a sandy tread can blow out your calves. It is much more stressful than walking a regular trail of similar grade. Grit creeps into your boots. Even with gaiters you may need to stop now and then for a break to clear the those insoles. Deadfall crosses the wash, wherever running waters have undercut a tree. (In these cases you can often get around the barrier by walking past the rootball, the fall usually pulls the rootball from the bank). Some of these fallen trees make excellent benches.

At 4.0 miles the bed of the canyon rockets skywards and water sluices down its face. In early November the shadowed walls of this box can be decorated with ice. The waterfall is a navigation puzzle – look to the north side (to your right looking upstream) for the path forward. The last few steps of this path are right at the edge of the waterfall and somewhat exposed. For acrophobes it may be best to have lunch at the base of the falls and return. Others should continue on. There is a short but terrific little slot canyon immediately above the waterfall.  

Above the slot canyon the wide wash regains control. At 4.3 miles come to the another navigational issue at a confluence of canyons. A wide, smooth wash sweeps into the junction from the southerly branch (to your left), very tempting! A much more jumbled wash comes in from the northerly branch and ends atop a three foot embankment, forming a “hanging wash”. Go northerly, clambering onto the hanging wash and continuing uphill.

This mellow beach stroll continues onward and at 5.2 miles swings due west to open up views of Mt Withington. So close! Here the grade begins to increase significantly. Scan the northern bank (on your right while ascending) for cairns that lead you steeply up into the northerly branch of the next junction. Almost immediately above this junction the trail takes a four-foot vertical leap straight up off of the canyon floor and onto the terrain that separates the two branches. The ground directly above this “leap” is only slightly less than vertical. Imagine rock-climbing, but on marginally consolidated soil. Turning back before the leap would have been the reasonable thing to do. Without making any recommendation, it is possible but exposed to climb from tree to tree until reasonable “footing” reappears. On the narrow strip of land between the canyon branches continue on the steep climb. The tread, submerged under blackened debris, dodges between roasted tree trunks. A cluster of stone pillars topped by “middle finger rock” appears. Is that a sign? Have something to eat, think over your options, and if retreat seems good then return the way you came.

(Note: for those aiming at the summit of Mount Withington, keep an eye out for a fork in the trail that appears before you encounter that rude rock. This fork is obscured by a huge old log that has fallen into the tread in three, large and rotting chunks. One fork of the trail goes down to the “southerly” canyon branch – left on ascent – and that may be the best way forward).

Recommendations:

Go.

Don’t go if there is rain in the forecast. The bottom of Big Rosa Canyon (part of the approach drive) is said to be subject to flash flooding. The slot canyon is short, but for a slot canyon it is unusually awkward to negotiate.

Wear gaiters to keep sand out of your shoes.

Check your vehicle’s spare tire and jack before going. Have spare water and warm backup clothing in the vehicle. The Withington really is wilderness.

The remoteness of this hike makes extra care worthwhile. If you’ve been lightening your pack by sacrificing some optional medical supplies you may want to temporarily restore them.

Links:

A rock climbing site explains that Potato Canyon is named for The Great Potato rock formation found on the San Mateo ridgeline, high above the canyon. The photos are great.

A. Jackson Frishman has done an excellent job of capturing the feel of Potato Canyon at the FrishmanPhoto site. Scroll down to the second photograph.

Similarly, the writeup at DoughScottArt has a terrific photo of the waterfall, which gets named as the “Pink Cascade”. The text cautions that the Cascade disappears during the dry seasons, and a very clear map indicates exactly where to expect to find the cascade.

At the Wilderness 50 Challenge site the author makes some pointed remarks about the inadvisability of taking a sedan into the Wilderness (based on actual experience).

There is a thoughtful writeup of this trail (PDF, scroll to page 35) from the Forest Service. They give a pretty detailed description and caution, as mentioned above, that water does not always flow in the canyon. It is surprising to see this trail given a “most difficult” rating, but they explain that the primitive condition of the tread and the remoteness of the area serve to weight the decision.

A writeup in the Albuquerque Journal suggests that passenger vehicles can make this drive, despite the signs suggesting otherwise. Please note that this writeup comes from 1999!

The NMTrails website includes a trip report from 2017. The author notes the difficulty of finding the trail once you enter the old burn, and the stark incisions made into the flanks of Mount Withington by flooding after the fire.