Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Nail Trail/Pajarito Canyon Loop

This one is repairable. The Las Conchas fire seemed to seek out any tree that survived the Cerro Grande fire and burn it, but in the Pajarito Canyon area there wasn't much left to burn. The trail tread on this 4-mile loop is either intact or repairable. There are plenty of hazard trees along both trails, but once they are removed, the loop is a candidate for some worthwhile trail work in the spring.

Much of the Nail Trail is in moderate burn severity, but the trees are mostly killed. It would be great to add some erosion controls this spring to stabilize the trail in preparation for the summer rains.


The post-Cerro Grande aspen regeneration here was set back 11 years.


Ruts are forming along the trail where the forest above was burned.

Volunteer-built retaining wall in 2005 and 2011. The wall held.

This side canyon in the section of Pajarito Canyon near the climbing area was hardly noticable until it was the focus of a small storm cell in July 2011.


The section of the Pajarito Canyon Trail just above West Jemez Road will take the most work to re-establish.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for these great updates on areas most of us haven't seen yet, and for all your work with all of this.

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  2. Thanks for the updates. I hope the Forest Service will reopen some of the burned areas soon.

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  3. Is the walk along the river open yet? Safe for kids 4+? I see the loop listed in EveryTrail, but not updated here. Thanks!

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    1. Ah, sometimes I miss updating one of the 15 different ways I try to provide trail information. Yes, open!

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    2. Thanks! I figured, but I didn't want to take a group of kids there without checking.

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