Sawtooth Mountains
September 20-23, 2024
We've been itching to return to the Sawtooth Mountains ever since we washed up there after our disastrous foray into the Withington Wilderness. Ken and Badger joined us there for four delightful days of camping and hiking.
Ken found us a great spot tucked between the two primary mountain ranges, with fantastic sunset views.
There were quite a few vehicles in the area, and they weren't hunters, but Native Americans — young men, old men, couples, families with children — gathering piñon nuts! The pine cones were exploding with them, and they were fat and juicy with paper thin shells. I had to learn the hard way that you don't pick them off the tree. After cleaning my hands with Coleman fuel, we realized that there are plenty of nuts on the ground, and you can shake the branches to get more.
Happy Hour.
We were camped near the foot of an unnamed peak with an elevation of 9085', and lots of hoodoos and windows. For our first hike, we tried to make our way around the south side of the mountain, bushwhacking cross-country through a piñon forest. By trying to avoid the steepest ravines, we eventually found ourselves high on the southern flank.
But from there we had a great view of the window!
Cliffed out just below one of the hoodoos.
Ken and Badger, working their way down from the precipice.
Back in the lowlands, we continued trying to make our way to some hoodoos on the west side of the mountain. Only on our way back did we realize that we had stopped just shy of the pinnacles.
Redirect to intriguing Monument Rock.
Monument Rock is an "erosional pillar of undeformed 37-million-year-old volcaniclastic conglomeratic sandstone beds that contain andesitic-to-dacitic clasts".
The next day we headed east along a two-rut track that eventually wound around the far side of an unnamed peak that the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Minerals describes as "complexly contorted volcaniclastic sandstone and debris flows".
A closer look.
When the road gave out, we continued up and around the back side of the mountain, following a narrow wash that was remarkably free of debris.
We made it to an elevation of about 8600', where there was a bit of a view from a high saddle.
Heading back to camp.
A golden sunset over peak 8919' ...
... and Monument Rock.
On our last day in the Sawtooths, all four of us piled into the TacoMa to explore an old forest road that tracks northwest toward a gap between peaks 9085' and 8945'.
From there we were able to scramble up to the base of some of the pinnacles. The "bridge" between the prominences was all fine red sand swales littered with colorful river rock. Verrry coolll!
Right below the pinnacles. We made it!
I've heard there are plans to reroute the CDT through the Sawtooths, avoiding part of the dreaded road walk north of Pie Town. A fine idea!
Mandatory stop for lunch at the Pie-O-Neer.
"I don't always take pictures of my food. But when I do, I'm in Pie Town." What a great place!