Hello Skiers,
On Saturday, March 9, Carl Smith and Sam Beard will lead a Class I-II outing in Mistletoe Canyon in the Jemez Mountains. This east-west route lies between NM-4 and the East Fork Ridge a few miles east of Redondo Campground.
Snow is forecast for the latter part of this week, and we expect spring skiing conditions.
From Los Griegos Trailhead parking lot on the south side of NM-4, we cross the highway and ski down the canyon through large trees to Mistletoe Meadow. From the west end of the meadow we descend the narrow part of the canyon
on a logging road with moderately steep slopes. We then exit the canyon, ski past the west end of a reclaimed pumice mine, and follow a shallow canyon across Bennett Lane (near the many mail boxes) and continue across another meadow and past a power line.
We go up a short south-facing canyon to the intersection with the East Fork Ridge Trail.
At this point, skiers have two choices:
1. Follow the ridge trail 0.5 mile to the East Fork Ridge Trailhead at NM-4 where we will have left a vehicle earlier. The total length of this route is 3 miles, and the elevation change is about 400 feet.
2. Return to Los Griegos parking lot by skiing back past Bennett Lane and the pumice mine, up the narrow part of Mistletoe Canyon, and through Mistletoe Meadow to the Los Griegos Trailhead. The round-trip distance of this
out-and-back tour is about 5 miles with an ascent of 400 feet on the return leg.
Meet at 8 am on the west side of the Target store at the intersection of Paseo del Norte and I-25 North. We will carpool. Bring $15 for fuel expenses if you expect to ride with another driver.
We expect to return to Albuquerque by 6 pm.
In order to help the leaders plan the outing, please let Sam know if you plan to attend.
Carl and Sam
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