On Walkabout At: Dog Canyon, New Mexico – Part 3

Previous Posting: Dog Canyon, New Mexico – Part 2

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After completing my hike to the top of New Mexico’s Dog Canyon Trail, I still had another 7 miles ahead of me to walk back down the trail  However, walking down the trail provided me many great views of the surrounding canyon walls and the below Tularosa Basin which I never seemed to tire of:

Before I knew it I was on the edge of the tree line and about to re-enter the high desert that encompasses most of this canyon:

While hiking this trail I was surprised that I didn’t see any wildlife, but there was plenty of signs of wildlife along the trail such as this batch of deer crap:

I eventually found myself back at the deadly Eyebrow:

While walking towards The Eyebrow I had a nice view of the 2nd Bench that I crossed earlier in my hike:

As I walked across The Eyebrow the 2,000 foot cliffs were just extremely impressive.  Anyone that looks closely at the below photograph can see Dog Canyon Trail and the steep drop off down the mountain below the trail:

Here is what the US cavalrymen would have saw if they looked up They Eyebrow when they were under attack by the Apaches:

Here is another picture of the steep cliffs of The Eyebrow:

Up at the top of the cliffs I could easily imagine the Apache Indians rolling those boulders off the top of the cliff down on the US cavalrymen below:

As I walked across They Eyebrow I made sure to continue to take in the beautiful views back down the canyon:

I also noticed the black smoke mark left on the side of The Eyebrow that I wondered was of recent vintage or something left over from the canyon’s Native-American past?:

When I finally crossed The Eyebrow I made sure to take a look back at those impressive cliffs:

From The Eyebrow I was soon back at Frenchy’s cabin and the nearby spring:

The high cliffs are even more impressive to view from Frenchy’s cabin oasis:

From Frenchy’s cabin I was once again cross the 2nd Bench:

While crossing the 2nd Bench I could see where rain water has eroded dirt from above down the canyon to form the 2nd Bench:

From the 2nd Bench here is the view back towards The Eyebrow:

Here is the view out towards White Sands National Monument:

Here is a view of a prominent rock feature out in the Tularosa Basin that actually looks volcanic when viewed from this vantage point:

Here are a few more pictures from my trip back down Dog Canyon Trail:

Eventually I found myself back on the edge of the Sacramento Escarpment:

Here is the view from the escarpment out into the Tularosa Basin:

Before I knew I was exiting the Lincoln National Forest and saw the visitor center of Oliver Lee Memorial State Park below me:

I also had a better view of the rock walls that Frenchy had made to enclose his cattle in Dog Canyon:

Here is the final picture I took looking back up Dog Canyon from the edge of the escarpment:

Once back at the visitor center I officially ended my round trip hike of 14 miles through Dog Canyon.  This hike is really a must do for anyone living in southern New Mexico or the El Paso, Texas area due to both its scenic beauty and historical significance.  It took me just under 4 hours to reach the top of the hike and 3 more hours to walk back down.  In total I spent 7 hours hiking on the trail which most other people it would probably take a bit longer since I am in pretty decent shape.  So if planning to hike this trail make sure to budget an entire day and to get an early start in the morning.  This hike is not to be missed, so get over to Alamogordo and check it out.