The plan was to ride over Mt. Taylor to South San Mateo Mesa, and explore! San Mateo Mesa is NOT in the San Mateo Mts near Magdalena, but instead is a Mesa NW of Mt. Taylor and the town of San Mateo, New Mexico. This ride was inspired by Jeff Boggs, who pointed out San Mateo Mesa and mentioned the trails hidden there, when I led the Mt Taylor Mesa views ride.
We were prepared for all weather conditions, though this was a weather contingent ride. If there was an excess of snow or the roads were too slick, the route would change... and it did. During my scouting trip I determined we would NOT be able to complete the up and over Mt Taylor due to an excess of snow. Instead 13 rigs, 16 people, and 4 dogs zig-zagged the western and northern Mt Taylor forest roads, and conquered part of the lower elevation Mt Taylor / La Mosca peak loop. We encountered snow above 8800', which was deeper the higher we climbed. We had to use a winch for a vehicle without lockers in a steep section of road with deep runoff damage. Otherwise playing in the snow was great! We found a sunny spot in a meadow, with zero wind for lunch.
After those fun challenges we headed to NW to San Mateo and toward the Mesa. We used an underutilized MVUM road into Marquez Canyon, which was found to have a challenging and potentially dangerous washout spot. Road management and careful spotting allowed the group safe passage.
We had a brief stint on pavement. Four rigs went back to civilization, while the remaining 9 rigs headed up South San Mateo Mesa. The Mesa is very unique, with stunning views, valleys with a prehistoric feel, and a quietness / silence not often encountered in our modern world. The Mesa's seasonal road was only open for a few more days so we explored as much as we could, before the setting sun challenged our pursuits. We discovered and played on some underutilized sections of MVUM road and enjoyed the stunning views from the Mesa.
Nearly 50 miles of dirt was traveled.
All in all, it was a great time.
