Hello Skiers,

Dave Gabel removed numerous down trees from the lower segment of Coyote Call Trail on the Valles Caldera NP in the Jemez Mountains.

Alan Shapiro from Santa Fe reported 18 down trees on the upper segment of this loop trail and provided photos of all the down trees.

I put Alan’s photos in a Word document that is attached to  this email. As you can see, most of the trees are small enough that they can be cut and removed with manual saws.

Photos on pages 7 and 8 show a type of down tree that I have never seen on a trail. On page 7 is a view of a huge root ball of a large tree. The view of the upper part of this down tree is presented in the photo on page 8 looking to the west down the trunk to the other side of the root ball. This tree with it’s root ball was blown over and then rolled down the mountainside onto the road!!!!

The tracks in the snow in the photos indicated that skiers and snowshoers have been going around the south side of the root ball and trunk.

Although skiers and snowshoers have been stepping over and going around the down trees, visitors would enjoy their outing more if the down trees were removed.

Michael Arndt and I will lead an outing on Saturday, January 29, to cut and remove parts of these trees so that visitors may safely enjoy the trail. We will be using 19-inch Silky saws with aggressive teeth to remove most of these trees. Volunteers may also bring hand saws to help cut the trees. The length of the loop is about 3 miles with an elevation change of a few hundred feet.

Meet at 8 am on the west side of the Target parking lot at the intersection of I-25 North and Paseo del Norte. We will arrive at the trailhead at about 10 am and leave by 3 pm or earlier.

Wear warm clothes and boots. We plan to ski the loop clockwise in order to go up the steep east segment of the loop. We will be taking skins but may not use them. You may also hike on snowshoes. I advise using ski poles with the snowshoes.

Bring snacks, drinks, lunch, sun glasses, and warm work gloves. We will plan to carpool so that we will not have a large number of vehicles. Parking space at the trailhead on NM-4 is limited. The trail is across the highway from Valle Grande.

Please let me know if you plan to go on this outing. samgbeard@msn.com

Please email or call me if you have questions. 505-828-0673

Sam Beard, Trails Chair

N. M. Cross Country Ski Club