Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

''''Fourteen hikers parked at the Horseshoe Canyon Corral and began their long journey to the Pothole Dam. The sky was cloudless and brilliant blue; the temperatures were unbelievably warm for late February, somewhere around  80 degrees. Some hikers had shorts and short sleeved shirts. We all drank more water that is typical for this date.

Because of an ongoing cattle operation in the canyon we parked farther out than intended and had a longer than expected journey into the canyon. 

Walking was generally pretty easy, with a gentle uphill grade on the way to Pothole, but the distance was great at nine miles round trip. Eight of our hikers went all the way to the dam, three stopped just before it and three turned around earlier in the day. All had a good hike and everyone was tired afterwards, some more than others.

Horseshoe Canyon is at first very open and the effects of the drought were evident with sparse vegetation on the ground. There are nice rock formations along the way. There is evidence that spring flowers will appear, however, and you can see small patches of green on the floor of the canyon. Outside the canyon there are already some flowers in bloom, indicating that we may have an interesting spring wildflower season??? Below is a single Mexican Poppy.

The turnoff to the road/trail leading to the dam is marked as North Fork Canyon. Years ago this sign was put there by mistake as we were actually entering Pothole Canyon. Elaine’s All Trail's App agreed with this assessment. Nevertheless, this North Fork sign has been in place for such a long time that many people refer to the canyon as North Fork. Confusing … 

The Pothole Dam must have been very important to the ranching efforts in the area because it is a massive structure, but it is long filled in and now holds no water.

Our day was NOT over when we returned to our vehicles. We have two ultimate pie makers in our group — Al and Becky. Today it was Becky’s turn to provide us with pies, both chocolate and Key lime. Many of us tried both. Thank you, Becky! It was a perfect ending to our day.

Next week we will hike to an undisclosed destination in the Peloncillos. It will be a substantial hike so please bring the usual — lunch, hat, lots of water, sunscreen, good shoes, etc. It should be a bit cooler than it was this week. One can hope. Meet at the Rodeo Post Office at 9:00 a.m. If you have any questions, you can contact Carol.

Happy Trails!

Report by Carol

Photos by Carol and Elaine