Barillas Peak

September 26, 2021

Hello everyone,

What an adventure I had on Sunday! I met my friend, Valentin, at his place at noon and we hopped into his little, red Toyota Yaris and went off for a ride. Every day at work we see Barillas Peak looming ten miles north of us at about 3000' above us. We decided one day that we wanted to try and take the old road from San Juan, just a few miles upriver from San Jose, directly north into the national forest and up into the mountains. Well, we got about a mile or so above our river crossing in San Juan and just couldn't go anymore. We bottomed out numerous time, but his little car just kept going. Finally, after a few particularly cringe-inducing noises from the bottom of his car coming into contact with the rough road, we just turned around. On our way back to the river, we stopped to check out some small cliffs to our west that had an amazing view of Rowe Mesa. From there, we spied some ruins on the other side of the road and soon hiked down to check that area out. We found old hinges with 'Stanley' stamped on them and deduced that maybe this cabin was from the 1930s or earlier. So, after hiking around and exploring for a while, and then realizing how sore and tired we still were from the work week, we hopped back into his little buggy and decided to go the long way around through Pecos to get to the same place. After a quick 20 minute drive up the interstate, we got to Pecos and stopped to grab some carne adovado burritos before continuing east into the mountains from this direction. In essence, we triangulated northwest from our original point to Pecos and then cut straight back to the east to get to Barillas Peak. We made it all the way to within a mile of it, where the road becomes gated and closed off to the public so that rangers can get to the fire tower up on top. This vantage point helps them to peer eastward out into the plains, southeast along the Pecos on its journey to Texas and then lets them look to the north and northwest to see the broad sweep of the southern end of the Rockies.

The terrain is so vastly different here. I started the day in juniper-pinyon forest and met Valentin in a little cottonwood bosque, or 'woods,' along the Pecos and ended up 3000' higher in alpine terrain with broad meadows, enormous Ponderosa pines and tons of aspen. We stopped and had a great lunch of the aforementioned burrito with a classic-style Dr. Pepper to wash it down. Valentin simply veered off of the road at some point where it was fairly level and we drove across a meadow to get to a nice, sunny spot on the other side. Speaking of veering around in his little buggy, that car is a beast. In fact, he himself calls it his pequenya bestia, or 'little beast.' He got into an accident last year on the ranch road where we work and his little Yaris totaled a Lexus SUV. The other guy came flying at him and didn't stop soon enough, as the ranch road is gravel and quite winding. Valentin's bumper fell off, but the other guy's whole front end imploded and he had to have it towed away! Valentin just backed up, went around and continued his lunch break. Chalk one up for the little, red Toyota! Since then, I think that he's been on a mission to slowly destroy it and seems to take great pleasure in seeing what it can do. We put it to the test all day and it didn't fail us, other than not allowing us to get up the road that both his father and brother have made it on(one in a pickup, the other in a Suburban!). So, now, we decided to hike the old road and we're going to have a little expedition from Barillas Peak back down to San Juan and San Jose. It's ten miles as the crow flies, but more like fifteen or so by road and trail. We're going to turn it into a real party and already his dog, Loka, and his brother will be coming along. We might just invite the whole village and turn it into a peregrinacion, or 'pilgrimage', complete with singing, torches and walking sticks! The Santa Fe National Forest is sprawled out to the northeast, north and northwest of us and it just begs one to go and explore it!

Now, for a special batch of pictures, a little larger than usual. First up, four shots of Valentin's little dream machine: coasting back down our first climb; idling at the bottom afterwards; then, from inside, barreling down the road; and finally way up in the forest at almost 10,000' before heading back home. Next, a shot of the road going north from where we decided that we needed to turn around...a little rough to say the least! Then, a shot of the Pecos River at the foot of Rowe Mesa from the bridge in San Juan. Next, nine shots of the ruins that we found and of the many window frames that were still intact. Then, a shot of Valentin scrambling around on the cliffs on the other side of the road from the ruins, followed by a view of Rowe Mesa with San Juan in the middle of the big bend in the river where all the really yellowish-green cottonwoods are. Finally, seven shots from the Santa Fe National Forest once we got up into the high country: first, a view of a ridge running north from right above Colonias, a little village halfway between Pecos and Barillas; then, looking south from the same spot across the mountains to the mesas in the distance; then, the alpine meadow that we had lunch in; next, a view from the backside of Barillas Peak, through the trees, to the northeast towards Fort Union and the plains; then, a shot of the road on our way back down from Barillas Peak; next, a view of the transition country just west of Las Vegas that sees the land transform itself from plains to mountains; and, finally, a descanso, or 'resting place', at the top of the mountain above Colonias. These are very sacred and nobody bothers them, as they typically signify a spot where a loved one was unexpectedly lost. There's literally an adventure around every corner out here and a story at every bend in the road in this most rugged of landscapes!

Take care.