On Walkabout On: The Organ Mountains’ Pine Tree Trail – Part 2

Prior Posting: Pine Tree Trail – Part 1

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As I continued my ascent up the Organ Mountains the scenery on this craggy peaks continued to amaze me.  All around me I was surrounded green foliage and ponderosa pines:

Seeing this much green is something you have to live in a city like El Paso for a while to really appreciate.  Even little things like these wildflowers I appreciated even more because of the further color it added to the mountain:

Up ahead of me I could see the high ridgeline of the Organ Mountains and thus continued to climb upward in hopes of reaching it:

Looking down below me I could see the wash out I took to reach this high altitude:

However, the going was getting increasingly more difficult because the rocks I was climbing up was very unstable.  I could see the ridgeline’s summit just ahead of me, but I decided to turn around and head back down the mountain:

I had fallen twice on the loose rocks and after the 2nd fall I felt that turning around was the smart thing to do.  If I had a partner with me I would have continued on, but I was concerned I would fall down and hit my head or some other injury with no one to help me out if it happened.  So next time I come up here I will have to bring a hiking partner.  As turned around to head back down the mountain I saw this little squirrel who was having a much easier time going up and down these rocks than I was:

As I walked down this wash out eventually some water became noticeable flowing down the rocks:

There was enough water in fact that the washout had a lot of colorful wildflowers growing in it:

As I continued down the washout it continued to widen out and walking down it became much easier:

Looking back up the wash out I couldn’t help, but think how much easier my ascent up the mountain would have been if I had decided to use this washout from the beginning instead of trying to take the spur up to the ridgeline?  When I come back up here again I am definitely going to use this wash out to ascend the mountain with:

There was a portion of the washout that was a bit tricky to work my way through because lightning had struck a large ponderosa pine tree and dumped it into the washout:

After working my way through the remains of the pine tree I then came back upon Pine Tree Trail:

From the trail I looked back up at the high ridgeline I had tried to ascend:

As I followed the trail I entered into a section of lush forest:

However, even in this lush forest there was still reminders that I was in fact in the middle of a vast desert such as this yucca plant:

I also saw some more of the nice wildflowers that are sprinkled throughout these mountains:

As I continued down the trail I entered a clearing that provided some great views of the mountains.  Here was the view looking back towards the ridgeline I had tried to ascend:

Here is a view of “The Needles” that towered above me:

Here is the view looking back towards “The Rabbit Ears”:

Here is the view looking up to the northern reaches of the mountains and San Augustin Pass:

Finally here is the view looking down into the Tularosa Basin:

The trail then entered back into another section of lush forest:

The trail once again came to another clearing with this one representing the halfway point of the trail as well as being the location of a primitive campground:

The trail map I had wasn’t kidding though about calling this a primitive campsite because all there was, was a clearing with a circle of stones for a camp fire.  The campsite had a great view though of the surrounding mountains:

Here was the view looking south towards the always impressive Sugarloaf Peak:

From the campsite the trail again enters into the lush forest:

As the trail exited the forest I found out why the campsite was in a great location because of this major water source located nearby:

I used one of my empty water bottles to try some of this fresh water and it was quite cool and refreshing to drink:

Here was the view looking back up the creek towards the mountains:

From the creek the trail then begins its long descent down the mountain.  As I descended down the mountain I looked back and had quite a panoramic view of the mighty peaks of the Organ Mountains:

As I further descended down the mountain I eventually entered back into the dryer desert terrain from where I started the hike:

As I walked down the trail I ended up getting quite a surprise when this giant rattlesnake coiled up in front of me and prepared to strike:

I immediately jumped back in surprise at this highly agitated snake.  So I worked my way through the brush on the opposite side of the trail careful not to step on any more snakes that may be hanging around this area:

I have hiked all over the desert southwest and I have seen very few snakes because in general the snakes are smart enough to stay away from highly trafficked areas.  However, this trail was following the only major water source in the area and thus attracts small critters that these snakes prey on:

About 20 minutes after seeing the snake I was back at the trailhead parking lot where I started the hike:

All in all I had a great day despite not quite making it to the top of the mountains.  If in the Las Cruces area I highly recommend checking out this hike because it is the best walk you can take in the Organ Mountains due to the lush forests that are so rare in this part of the country plus the sweeping views from the summit of the trail.  So definitely check it out, but just watch for snakes.