Author, Trip Leader,
and Slide Show: Francesco Grilli
Participants: Rishi
Sharma, Tianshu Li, and Francesco Grilli
Schematic
Trail Map: click
here (see page 39)
We
were looking for a relaxing walk and were fortunate to find this hike.
It was replete with beautiful meadows, creeks and forest. From Los Alamos we
drove through the Jemez Mountains on NM 126 until we came to the trailhead of
the
San Pedro Parks Wilderness. We followed the well marked Vacas Trail (n.
51), which passes by the nice San Gregorio reservoir, follows Clear
Creek for a while and then climbs gently until reaching the Rio de
las Vacas at 5.25 miles, and the Anastacio Trail (n. 435) at 5.5
miles. We followed trail n. 435 on the left (northwest) for about a
mile, looking for an unmarked trail heading back to the trailhead.
.
This
unmarked trail is very faint and continuously appears and then disappears, but by
heading south it is quite easy to reach the Clear Creek basin from
here and
follow it until hitting trail n. 435 again. The meadow of Clear
Creek basin is quite wet, but there is a faint trail on its east
side (by the trees), which allows one to keep feet dry. Close
encounters with cows are very probable. I think that the gentle
slopes of these trails are particularly suitable for cross-country
skiing.
