New Mexico Water Observations

Below are the observations I sent to Jim Wolf at CDTS about guidebook water sources in New Mexico. This information was correct when I observed it in October of 2005, but because water is so critical to survival let me emphasize what should be obvious in this region: Do not count on this information to hold true in a different month or a different year.

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El Malpais

Sect 1: All dry except the windmill at 21.2. 11.3 was dry as expected. I did not investigate the lava field spring and took the road not the jeep trail so did not check the stock tank at 13.2. The windmill and metal trough at 15.9 have been removed. Based on the appearance of the site, this is permanent. The tank and tub remain at 18.0 but there was no water. It appeared to have been used that summer but the electric meter was removed, presumably to be reinstalled next summer when needed. The windmill at 21.2 was turning, filling 2 open tanks, so water would be available even without the wind.

Sect 2: While muddy stock pond exists, the troughs at 8.2 were dry except for a bit of rainwater. Given the black plastic pipe strewn about it appeared that this was a permanent disconnect.

Sect 3: None expected and none observed.

Sect 4: There was lots of water in this section, but the quality varied. Windmill at the start was in operation and was as described. BLM Rd 2003 is closed and the gate locked so I had to climb through the fence to get to the road to the windmill. There was no jeep road I could find leaving there so I followed a cow path cross country until I ran into Cebolla Canyon Road. Doug Walsh reported that it ran into the highway about half a mile west of the windmill and while I did not walk back to confirm it, it looked about right from where I intersected it. Henson No. 2 was producing so well the biggest problem was getting to the tanks or the pipe because there was muddy water around everything. Sand Canyon was working well and a much easier location to get water from. Henson No. 1 was not spinning despite the wind, but I did not approach to investigate any further. Cebolla Spring was as described in the text, but there was a dead bird in the tank (if you have a contact with BLM in the area, please ask them to have someone remove it). The windmill at 13.4 was operating but it had been "upgraded" to the detriment of hikers. There is an 8-foot high, 10-foot diameter fiberglass tank that water from the windmill feeds directly into. The water then runs underground through a pipe coming up in the bottom of a small round stock tank with a float. As there were cattle using the tank, the water there was unappealing though with filtering or treatment potentially usable. I climbed up the ladder on the side of the fiberglass tank to see if I could loosen the cap on top, but quickly lost interest in working it loose when I noticed that the ladder was held on by one bolt that looked like it was about to tear loose and send me to the ground. A thirstier person might have succeeded but it clearly is designed to limit access to the cleanest water. I checked Woods No. 2 which was functioning and of the old style with pipes into 2 open tanks, so easily accessible. I did not visit the Pens windmill but it certainly looked to me like the top of the windmill had been removed. The metal tank at
20.8 was dry. It appears that someone is now living on the property in a travel trailer, but no one was there when I went by.

Section 5: There is water here, but I would carry from Section 4 if at al possible. The Cox Camp Windmill was functional, but access to clean water was an issue. They had brought in this huge old tank marked magnesium chloride and were running the water into it and then underground to a couple of unappetizing stock tanks with floats. No cattle around but the water looked worse than at the previous one with a similar layout. The Brown Windmill had the same huge recycled tank, only here they laid it on its side. Once again the stock tank it fed looked foul, but water was leaking out the top of the storage tank and dripping on the ground, so a patient person could capture some clean water as it dripped off. By the way, when I passed through the gate at 4.7 the sign on the other side indicated that I had been trespassing on private property. You might check the status of the land around there. No jugs on the back porch at 9.7 but the nearby tank may have water (not having permission or need I did not try it). The windmill is dead at 12.1 and it is heavily marked as private property anyway. No water in the tank at 12.4. The tank at 22.6 was also dry.

Tularosa

Section 1: Nothing in the guidebook seemed functional or drinkable, but there are 2 new sources that were good and convenient. I saw the Heibling windmill past 6.4 but lacking permission or need did not check it out. Given the rain and mud I did not go up the culvert at 12.3. The windmill at 12.5 was not working but I did not investigate. I did not follow the road at 14.5 to check out the windmill. Just past the cattle guard at 16.3 (N34,08.511' W108,15.900' Elev 7698') there is an electric pump on the right that per Buddha the owner leaves on for hiker use. You must flip the switches to get it to run but the water gushes out into a double tank system. Of course, return the switches to the original position when you are done. I was slogging uphill in the mud so was not tracking distance real accurately, but at about 19.0 on the left (N34,06.588' W108,15.887' Elev 7800') there is a similar electric pump/two tank setup, the one Buddha mentioned as taking 4 to 8 minutes to pump poorer quality water per the rancher. I did not do a taste comparison, but when I turned on the switch, water shot out of the pipe immediately.

Section 2: Lower Cat Tank had filthy water in it. (I am going to stop reporting on these impoundments as with recent rain they all have dirty water in them, but so do all the potholes in the road. Both I would consider water sources only if desperate.) Valle Tio Vinces Spring is exactly as described in the guidebook with 4 more years of deterioration. With all the abandoned tanks and lines in the area it looks more like an archeological site than a functioning source of water. The flow into the trough was barely detectable but you could get water here if you filtered or treated it.

Section 3: The tank at the Aragon Windmill was full with the windmill spinning intermittently. Given the height of the tank and the length of the pipe pouring into it, I found it impossible to get water from the pipe directly. The green water in the tank was full of sediment, requiring me to stop twice and clean my ceramic filter to get a gallon of water. Damian Spring at 7.7, on the other hand, had excellent water if you were willing to hike all the way to the end. You follow a no longer functioning 2-inch black pipe, but when you get to the spring, water is coming out of several smaller black pipes, giving you the option to take water directly, but slowly, from a pipe or to filter it from a small pool below the black plastic pipes. The water in Govina Canyon at 12.6 looked stagnant. There was no water reappearing anywhere near 13.2. I looked carefully but could find no spring in the vicinity of 14.1.

Section 4: Dutchman Spring at 0.9 was flowing. The fence protecting it was breached but small logs had been dropped around the source to keep the cattle out, making fairly clean water available. Were this developed and fenced it would make a great water source. The black pipe leading into the trough at Davis Spring at 3.9 was flowing. I followed it up the steep hillside, only to discover the fence around water source was down and cattle had tromped all around the area, making the water coming out of the black pipe below less than pristine. Some large rocks keep the cattle away from the source and I pumped somewhat cleaner water from that area. There was no water in the Cox Canyon creekbed from 5.2 to 6.8.

Section 5: You did not ask me to check these out and as most of them were off-trail, I did not. I got water from the campground by Snow Lake. I did, however, want to call your attention to an alternate route with excellent water this time of year. Because the fire base is closed in October and not a source of water, I believe most southbounders are skipping the guidebook route that heads that way and then down Ewe Canyon. Instead they are following a Ley route taking the jeep road that heads south from 9.5 and dropping into T-Bone Canyon to intercept the guidebook route at about 19.8. It is easy to follow and saves about 3 miles. Here is a very rough description of the route with mileage guesses: "At the intersection of FR 28 and FR 141 proceed straight ahead on a jeep road that heads a little east of due south. Continue at that bearing on the road in a vast park (T-Bone Grasslands per the map) passing through a gate about 1.0. Pass under a utility line about 3.0 staying on the road as it bears south and then a little west of south. When the road turns west at about 4.0 proceed south and pick a route down into the canyon below. Once in the canyon follow the stream using cow paths for about 2.5 miles. The canyon narrows and then widens before you leave it. You pass through 4 fences along the way, 2 in the narrow part with gates and the last 2 in the wider part by crawling through. After crossing the fourth fence look to the right of the stream about 100 feet and take the jeep road there tending to the southwest. In about 0.3 miles you will hop Snow Creek and intercept a jeep road running parallel to the guidebook route road. At this point you have 3 options: 1) turn right and intercept the guidebook road in about 50 yards probably at 19.7 (the GPS reading at this point was N33,26.989' W108,29.845' Elev 7382'); 2) turn left on the jeep road and intercept the guidebook road at the car camping spot at 20.0; or 3) do what every thruhiker I know would do, that is, cross the jeep road, clamber through the ditch along the road up to the road and turn left." The mileages are not exact but you ought to be able to follow the general route on a topo map. None of this involves any rock climbing and the only steep part is dropping into the canyon, but that is easy to do gradually.

Mimbres to Deming

Mimbres River, Sect 2: Mimbres River at 0.1 is dry. There is good water in East Canyon from 9.2 to 12.6. The small spring at 13.2 had clear water in it. The spring at 19.8 is down in the draw you are ascending. It is shallow, has very little flow and is full of leaves, but I pumped good water from it. I put a small rock cairn beside the trail where you need to descend to reach it or if you have a GPS, go to N32,57.090' W107,47.578' Elev 9071'. The trail to Hillsboro Spring at 21.2 is still signed, but I did not check it out.

Cookes Range, Sect 1: I did not check the source down Grandview Trail at 1.9. I searched for the spring said to be at 8.1 but could not find it. At 10.0 I went down the jeep road into Donahue Canyon for more than .2 miles and found no water tank or water of any sort. The metal tank at 12.3 was rusted through with no sign of Berrenda Spring. There was a bit of water in the creekbed below that and occasionally thereafter, but no good flow until you reach McMullen Spring at 15.7. There someone has dug a trench with a backhoe and laid a 3 inch black pipe that spills water on the ground a few feet short of the concrete tank described in the guidebook. This appears to be a work in progress as there is other black pipe in the ground that it could connect to leading I know not where. There was also water in the creekbed about 50 yards away. There was no further observable flow in the creek until it enters private land after 19.5. The easiest place to access it is where theroad crosses the creekbed just past the ranchhouse at 20.6.

Cookes Range, Sect 2: Berrenda Creek is dry at 0.1. The stock pond at 1.4 has ducks floating on it and looked more reasonable than most such impoundments, but still not great. Walnut Spring at 4.3 appears to have been highjacked for private use. A fenced cistern has been sunk by it and a solar panel driven pump appears to be sending the water elsewhere via black plastic pipe, though it looked to me like the black plastic pipe was disconnected. The large cistern was too deep for hiker access, leaving only a small muddy pool in the streambed for those desperate for water. The windmill at 5.8 has been retired and replaced by a solar pump that appears to pump underground into a metal tank. Given the quality of the water it should be easy to heed the no trespassing signs here. The windmill at 7.9 is also out of service, apparently replaced by an electric pump. There was a water tank and cows behind a locked gate and I did not investigate further. The shallow pond at 8.2 is vile. The windmill at 11.7 was working as described and a worthy source. China Tank was seriously cattle-contaminated. I found water in a draw at about 17.4 (GPS N32,33.037' W107,34.708' Elev 4915') also destroyed by cattle. It was interesting, however, in that it was a natural source, not an impoundment, so that if cattle were ever removed from public land (dare I dream?) it might be an option. The stock tank at 18.2 is about as bad as you would expect. The windmill at 19.5 was working fine and another good source. The metal tank at 25.3 was stagnant but when I pushed down the float more water rushed in. It was usable as is but would be much better if the tank were cleaned. Cookes Spring at 26.8 is a tourist attraction signed “Keep Out” and not a source of water.

Cookes Range, Sect 3: Fryingpan Spring at 2.8 is flowing slowly into the tank. Not great looking but drinkable if filtered. The gate at the windmill at 6.4 was locked and I did not climb it. The wind was not blowing so it was hard to judge but the system appeared functional. The windmill at 8.6 was turned off, apparently recently as there was water in the tanks, though stagnant. Spider Windmill at 11.1 was spinning and putting water into a large tank that looked ok if the wind were not blowing.

Deming to Border

Florida Mtns, Sect 1: The state park visitor center was open and had water at 13.5. The White Dome windmill was working and all the tanks were full at 20.0. At 21.8 I did not walk up the road to check on the Blue Water pump, but did not hear the gas-powered motor operating.

Florida Mtns, Sect 2: I did not make it far enough up Box Canyon to check on the reported source at 4.8. I did go down canyon and found water dripping through an old rock-cemented dam lower in the canyon. The area behind the dam was filled with sand and water tanks below that used to be fed by it had been abandoned and dry for many years. The jeep road I took out of Box Canyon did not connect with the guidebook route, so I did not see the McBee Windmill at 10.0. I did intersect the road alternative that comes out at 12.8 and .2 miles before it hits Highway 11 there is a functioning windmill visible from the highway (GPS N31,59.342' W107,40.919' Elev 4137').

Florida Mtns, Sect 3: I did not stop at the Borderline Cooperative, but they are still there. The well was off at 2.1. The tanks at 8.5 and 8.9 were dry and appeared unused for several years.

© 2006 Mark C. Davis • Page Last Updated January 8, 2006