we went through this section in early october of last year. approx. 2 miles after leaving the highway out of cuba (going south) there is a waymarked route of wooden posts tipped with white and big cairns. very easy to follow. This route takes you up the mesa, along it's edge for several miles, and then winds you down the other side. It goes past jones canyon spring, arroyo chico, and up the second mesa (I can't quite remember the name). The entire section south of cuba which is on BLM land (roughly 50 miles) is marked in this manner, varying from excellent quality (giant cairns) to mediocre quality (smaller cairnes in the grass). this is the off road route that was marked on jonathan's maps in purple. It now exists, is fairly easy to follow, and I highly recommend taking it (it is also very beautiful). we found the route finding problems to start when you cross over to forest service land at the gate.<br><br><b><i>Jonathan Ley <jonathan@phlumf.com></i></b>
wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> Based on the feedback I got from last year's hikers, I think they did, and<br>it follows the rim of the mesa for about 1.5 miles, eventually heading north<br>down the Arroyo... Of course, I wasn't there myself, so the info is always a<br>bit suspect. :-)<br><br>-Jonathan <br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: cdt-l-bounces@backcountry.net [mailto:cdt-l-bounces@backcountry.net]<br>On Behalf Of Ginny & Jim Owen<br>Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 2:22 PM<br>To: cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>Subject: Re: [cdt-l] Difficulty of Routefinding<br><br>In May the trail was marked/cairned from Ojo de los Indios to the top of <br>Mesa Portales. After about half a mile the cairns vanished. We followed <br>our noses down the backside of the mesa to Kincaid Canyon. Did they put new<br><br>cairns in beyond the gate on top of the
Mesa?<br><br>Ginny<br><br><br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>>From: Remy Levin <fellowship_of_yatzek@yahoo.com><br>>Reply-To: cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>>To: cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>>Subject: Re: [cdt-l] Difficulty of Routefinding<br>>Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:17:40 -0800 (PST)<br>><br>>There are some amazing new sections that have just been added (they <br>>literally de-brushed them a few days before we got there in october)- <br>>specifically south of Cuba. I agree with mags- that section of trail up and<br><br>>over Mesa Portales is one of the finest desert trail sections I've seen.<br>><br>>Slyatpct@aol.com wrote: In a message dated 2/22/2007 12:54:14 PM <br>>Eastern Standard Time, pmags@yahoo.com writes:<br>> My favorite section in New Mexico was around Ghost Ranch and the mesa <br>>walks outside of Cuba and
between Grants (awesome new trail!).<br>><br>> -------------------------------------------<br>><br>> Yeah, those were awesome sections. Anyone know if the NM Hiking Club <br>>has done more work since 2002?<br>><br>> Sly<br>><br>><br>><br>><br>>---------------------------------<br>>AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free <br>>from AOL at AOL.com._______________________________________________<br>>cdt-l mailing list<br>>cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l<br>><br>><br>><br>>---------------------------------<br>>Don't be flakey. Get Yahoo! Mail for Mobile and<br>>always stay connected to friends.<br><br><br>>_______________________________________________<br>>cdt-l mailing
list<br>>cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l<br><br>_________________________________________________________________<br>Find what you need at prices youll love. Compare products and save at MSN. <br>Shopping. <br>http://shopping.msn.com/default/shp/?ptnrid=37,ptnrdata=24102&tcode=T001MSN2<br>0A0701<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>cdt-l mailing list<br>cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/cdt-l<br></fellowship_of_yatzek@yahoo.com></blockquote><br><p> 
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