San Pedro Peaks Wilderness

May 25th, the start of the Memorial Day weekend, what better time to go camping?  On a whim, Mark and I headed off to the Northwest corner of the Jemez to an area where satellite images claimed that there'd be water.  Surprisingly, for New Mexico at least, we ended up in a lush, creek and swamp filled wilderness situated at some 10,000 feet.  I almost hesitate to say where this is - similar to finding a true gem of a restaurant, there's the distant urge to keep it secreted away so that you never have to find yourself waiting for a table...though at least in the case of a restaurant, the desire to see them take off trumps and so you tell all about it. 

We put in at the Clear Creek trail head late in the afternoon since we both decided to work on our off day.  Clear Creek was true to its name as idyllic, clear water flowed constantly beside us during our whole journey up to the San Gregorio Reservoir, then up along the upper Clear Creek trail. 

San Gregorio Reservoir

One thing that constantly struck me was how devoid of people this wilderness was.  I mean, water in New Mexico?  I had a hard time fathoming why it wasn't ten times more crowded than it actually was (this wonderment was quelched when we hiked out and discovered about 100 people - I kid you not as we counted - at the reservoir fishing for the day).

The truly marvelous aspect of this backpacking trip, though, was that after just 2-3 miles, we were able to find a dozen beautiful camp sites that afforded privacy and the constant babble of the creek to lull us to sleep.  That, coupled with the runnable trails that Mark and I took advantage of the next morning, made this experience something that we'll be looking to replicate later in the summer with more crazy friends that'd be willing to backpack and run for a weekend.

Dinner in style: curry over brown rice with Tecate.

And, let's not forget how the trip ended.  After getting lost on our trail run (turning a short five mile jaunt into a muddy 9 mile adventure), we were able to wash off in the creek by our campsite (thank goodness for camping towels!), then pack out.  Once on the road, it was just a short 25 minute drive back to Cuba and El Bruno's.  For those of you that haven't been there yet, you're missing out!  El Bruno's is one of the few bright spots along 550 that I look forward to when driving between Bernalillo and Bloomfield/Farmington.