Hidden Gems of Northern New Mexico (Part One: Cañon de Coloures)

I've begun writing more frequently over the past couple months. As a result of separating from social media and dealing with personal crises, I feel the desire...no, the need to express my love for these places I visit and share the experiences with others. Who better than folks willingly visiting a hiking blog?
 

Parking Spot

Now, onto the purpose! Two weeks ago, I devised a plan to visit two special and relatively unknown destinations in northern New Mexico. A new, and trustworthy (FINALLY!), vehicle has made its way into my life and this weekend was to test its reliability and durability. It's also been an excruciatingly long period of time since I've had the opportunity to do some solo exploring!

It's not an adventure without coming across bones

I hopped into my new vehicle and was on the road by 6am, heading north on Highway 550. The stretch of 550 between Bernalillo and Cuba is so lovely in the mornings, as the early sun highlights the white cliffs of White Mesa and the orange soft sandstone mesas just south of the Cabezon turnoff and the various colors and stones and sediments on the east side of La Ventana Mesa to the north.

Elk tracks in the constant mud

From Cuba I headed northward for the first time, heading through the community of Regina and toward the town of Gallina. This region is so resplendent, with many unique formations and colors! The drive alongside the San Juan Badlands was a good introduction, but the simultaneous imposition of the mesas and openness between them west of Gallina was awe-inspiring. I may be easy to please, but I believe most folks will appreciate the beauty that resonates here.

Colorful cliffs on the other side of Dry Lake

First stop of the day? A little known slot canyon called Cañon de Coloures.

Teasing stretch, cutting through soft rock

This canyon starts on the far west side of French Mesa and drains to the south, cutting through various sandstone layers and creating some beautiful slot sections! After parking off a 4WD road near Dry Lake, I dropped straight into the drainage. Aside from some hoodoos across the canyon, some bones in the bottom of the wash, and lots of elk tracks, it was a relatively uneventful upper canyon. The open forest was beautiful and the canyon kept teasing me in regards to whether it was going to close in or not.

Looking down the first downclimb

Downclimb from below, water hidden

Wedged in tree

After some time, I came to the first obstacle, a short drop of maybe 8 feet down a chute with water at the bottom. After some contemplation, I went ahead and tried to downclimb it and stay dry. I chimneyed (is that a word?) my way down the chute and found stable footing on a log. I brought my pack down and continued. There were several spots where it narrowed and mud and water prevailed on the floor. Fortunately, my love for stemming came in handy and I was able to stay dry. Another short drop into a shallow pothole led to a short stretch of shallow but very narrow canyon that was such fun to traverse!

Boxy stretch

Downclimb into narrower section

Hallway ahead

Downstream from that, I reached a drop that was maybe 15 feet. It looked tricky, but I felt it was downclimbable. I left my pack at the top in case I would have to reclimb it, and made my way down the flaring chimney on the right side of the chockstone at the top, slowly squirming my way down. I hiked a little farther past this to see if I could find another escape route before I went to grab the pack, and I quickly found one.

Log wedge in a hallway

10-15 foot downclimb

Darker narrows lie ahead

Best stretch of narrows in the canyon

While not continuous, the slot portions of this canyon just kept delivering and providing such fun downclimbing, stemming, and more! Eventually a came to a drop of roughly 20 feet that wasn't downclimbable, one of two rappels in the canyon. Since I was alone, I circumnavigated this by climbing up and going right down canyon. Once I dropped back into the canyon, I hiked back "upstream" to see what I missed. It was a short stretch of deep and narrow beauty!

Looking down while navigating around rappel

Hiking back upstream

Looking at the rappel into the mud. Deepest part of the canyon

Really quickly while hiking down canyon, I came to the next rappel, a 30 foot drop from a limestone rim back into sandstone. It was here that I decided to end this short venture, as I was near the end of the canyon and clouds were starting to build. In order to beat the likely monsoonal storms expected around noon, I started up to gain the ridge and start heading back to the car, mostly following game trails that contoured along the hillside.

Peering over the final 30 ft. rappel

My words fail to justify the beauty of this region. Perhaps I'm just a bit rusty when it comes to writing, or perhaps that is a testimony to how beautiful this area truly is. This region is home to nearly a dozen known slot canyons, and this was my opener to it.

Looking over toward the middle fork, another technical adventure

The purple hoodoos that mark the end of the canyons

If you have interest in exploring these, Doug Scott's website is an invaluable resource! His maps and descriptions are so helpful. But be warned, most of these canyons are technical, requiring rappels.

So as always, don't just take my word for any of this. Get out and experience it for yourself!