<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<font face="Arial">Question for anyone familiar with new trail
construction in the Black Range of New Mexico:<br>
<br>
CDTA NM Guidebook Segment 13: Lookout Mountain to NM 59. There appears
to be new trail construction at both the beginning and end of this
segment. At the southern end, just north of the FR 226A crossing, new
trail heads straight (northwest), ignoring the old alignment that
climbed east, heading up around the head of Stiver Canyon, now through
a burn area. Where does the new trail go and does it connect yet with
the rest of the trail corridor at some point? I've only hiked this
section southbound since the new construction, and did not see any
linkage between the old and new trail. The point of the new trail here
appears to be the avoidance of a recent burn along the old trail.
Anyone heading northbound from FR 226A would undoubtedly take the new
trail, while those heading southbound in this section would undoubtedly
miss it!<br>
<br>
At the northern end of Section 13, new constructed trail continues all
the way to NM 59 about a mile west of the Divide. This avoids the old
alignment's <mile dirt roadwalk to an at-Divide crossing of the
highway. Apparently new trail will also be constructed at the start of
Section 14, so that the trail crosses NM 59 west of the Divide, then
turns east, north of the highway, and roughly parallels it until
reaching the physical Divide. There it will rejoin the existing trail
alignment northbound. As of fall '08, the new trail north of NM 59 was
apparently incomplete and was not seen to connect with the old
alignment. Wondering when this is anticipated to be completed?<br>
<br>
- blisterfree<br>
</font>
</body>
</html>