Pipeline-Perimeter Off-Trail

When you walk up Pipeline Road in Los Alamos, NM, starting from Quemazon and Torreon in Quemazon Community, after about a mile you come to a saddle that separates the north Pueblo Canyon drainage from the south and a ridge that trends south from the saddle. Follow the ridge and at first there's a distinct trail which soon ends at the top of a  rough, steep downhill to the Perimeter Trail on the hillside above Quemazon Community.
I've always wondered what happens if you continue further south on the ridge, into the trailless Cerro Grande burn area. I usually quash these off-trail explores with inner warnings to not go it alone because there could be mountain lions, bears, coyotes, rabid bunnies, I could break ankle. Or, I chide that I really need to get back home soon because there are chores to do. But this time, the end of March, I took the bait and diverted from an easy, familiar downhill on Pipeline Road to instead follow the ridge into the burn area to see what I could see.  Pipeline Road is the road cut on the mountainside.

These young trees were planted by volunteers after the 2000 Cerro Grande wildfire. It's wonderful how much they have grown since then! To avoid falling, I walked very slowly over all the downed wood from the forest here before the fire. I followed wherever it seemed most open and least full of tripping hazards. Purposely placed rocks here and there showed that others had been here too.

Looking across a south branch of Pueblo Canyon toward Pajarito Mountain, a veritable forest is growing back. The green patch, lower left, is kinnikinnick. It was still early spring and I saw very few flowers.

I would have chosen it to be less windy for my walk here.  Some of the snags are so fearsomely massive that I waited until the wind stopped gusting  to walk by. I knew this to be a largely ineffectual strategy since snags fall when and where they want but it made me feel better! On the way downhill, I stuck close to Pueblo Canyon and eventually intersected the Perimeter Trail which I followed back to my car.

One of many "last looks" back to appreciate the scenery. The cairn was built by someone before me. Even though walking over and around all the obstacles made for very slow travel and the wind speeds got too high, this area has a raw, unforgettable beauty. And even though the forests that used to thickly cover the Jemez mountains west of town are gone forever in my lifetime, I feel joy in having traveled through this transformed landscape. The thick forests before the wildfire were mysterious because in them, I couldn't always see where I was. The off-trail sections of the Cerro Grande burn area beckon me all the time but mostly remain mysterious because I'm less likely to be patient enough to walk within. Trails are, of course, easier! When I do go there, though, it is worth it.