Bluff Springs Lincoln National Forest

I recently had an epic running adventure in the Lincoln National Forest just south of Cloudcroft, NM. Bluff Springs waterfall is a beautiful little spot along the Rio Peñasco Rd off of Sunspot Scenic Byway. Water tumbles over a bluff that is adorned by a hanging garden of riparian vegetation including mosses and ferns as well as a smooth algae covered stone. Tall majestic spruce and fir trees tower above the cliff. A short trail leads to the top of the waterfall where water weeps out of the Sacramento Mountains into a lush marshy area before plunging over the scarp.

Bluff Springs, NM

After exploring this area for a while I began my long run, hoping to get between 20-25 miles. The morning weather was pleasant; in the upper 50s with a cool breeze. The altitude here is between 8000-9500’ so I knew I had my work cut out for me. From the Bluff Springs trailhead I took the Willie White Trail (T113) for a short while and then the Wills Canyon Trail (T5008) heading in a clockwise direction. I knew I would be out all day so packed boiled potatoes, a banana, almond stuffed dates and banana bread while carrying about 50oz of water. I would need to refill my water bottles at some point along the way so brought my Mini Sawyer water filter which I’ll talk about later.

Slender cinquefoil

The trail was mostly uphill and I could feel the altitude; my breathing was very labored and I had pressure in my head. Running through the pine and fir forest lifted my spirits though. Whenever I come to the high forest I’m reminded of my years living in Germany where I participated in a volksmarch almost every weekend. The smell of forest is like no other. The scent of pine is strong here especially when the sun warms the sap in the needles. Forests produce more negative ions than cities which are believed to improve our mood and give us a feeling of well being. 

White fir

I’ve recently read several books on the benefits of spending time in nature especially in forests. The Songs of Trees (Haskell), The Nature Fix (Williams) and Your Brain on Nature (Selhub/Logan) all talk about how nature helps us to feel better physically and mentally. Japanese "forest bathing" or shinrin-yoku has been proven to lower blood pressure, help with anxiety, improve mood and has a plethora of other benefits. One need not run many miles in the forest to benefit from shinrin-yoku. Simply walk mindfully in nature while taking in the sights, sounds and smells around you. I know! It totally sounds like a tree hugging Birkenstock wearing hippie thing, but I truly believe if everyone practiced forest bathing several times per week, the world would be a much calmer and happier place.

Sneezeweed

Anyway, I enjoyed running in the lush forest and tried to take in all the sights, sounds and smells all the while keeping an eye on the technical trail so I didn’t go ass-over-tea-kettle. Parts of the trail were full of rocks and/or roots which made the running tricky in spots. Pretty soon I came to a field of tall mountain sneezeweed and had to stop because butterflies galore were having a party sipping nectar through their proboscises. There were many different types and I thought I might be observing the rare Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly, but this species only lives within a six mile radius of Cloudcroft, NM. That’s it! Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti lives nowhere else on the entire planet! Unfortunately I didn’t see the Cloudcrofti, but many other species of butterflies, bees, and moths were indulging in nature’s sweet offering. I watched for a few minutes while taking some pictures and then continued on my trek.

Mormon fritillary butterfly

Many of the trails in the area are remnants of old narrow gauge railroads used during the heyday of logging so they aren’t too steep, but tend to be very rocky. After running the Wills Canyon Trail for a while I turned onto the Hubbell Canyon Trail (T9277) where I ran through the forest reaching a large open meadow. Soon I came to a bridge beside Mauldin Spring which creates a small water fall here. I thought about stopping to filter water, but I had plenty and thought there would be more streams further ahead. Big mistake! 

Photo: foresthistory.org

Read (PDF): Logging Railroads of the Lincoln National Forest 

The streams and marshy areas are critical habitat for the endangered New Mexico meadow jumping mouse. Yes, they can jump and how! Up to three feet or ten times their own body length. They hibernate for nine months of the year which means they need to do all their feeding and breeding during the three short months they are awake. Cattle grazing degrades their habitat so management plans have been put into place. Fencing has been installed to create water lanes across streams for cattle to use while at the same time preventing them from trampling jumping mouse habitat on the edges of riparian zones.

After crossing the bridge, I continued my run along a rocky road and then entered Hubbell Canyon where cattle were grazing in a lush marshy meadow. throughout the day I saw a many herd of cattle, but nary a person. The one exception was when I ran into an older couple riding a four-wheeler. “Are you lost?” the gentleman asked. They were perplexed to see a lone runner so far from civilization. I tried, as best as I could, to explain my madness of running marathon distances alone in the wilderness. They were very nice folks, explaining how they used to live in the area near Cloudcroft (population 693), but had to move away because it became too overpopulated. I assured them that I had everything I needed and would be OK so we parted ways.

I had everything I needed except for one very important commodity. Clean drinking water! I was starting to run low and the day was heating up. I didn’t want to drink from the cattle grazing area for obvious reasons, even though I had my filter with me. I kept going in hopes of finding a better water source. I reached the end of Hubbell Canyon trail and consulted my map on my Avenza app on my smart phone. The map showed the Sacramento River and lake at the end of Thousand Mile Canyon Trail (T9216), a 1.5 mile route that dropped almost 1000 feet to the valley below. I knew I would have to slog back up the mountain, but I really wanted that water so I went for it.

The path down was steep and treacherous, but at least it had a bunch of rocks and other tripping hazards to keep me alert. I stumbled a few times going down, but finally reached a highway that I crossed to look for the lake. Well, to my surprise the “lake” was more like a swampy marsh and the “river” was also a swampy marsh and to top everything off, cattle were grazing in this area too and the water had a suspicious looking sheen to it. I was completely out of water at this point though, so had no choice, but to test out my Mini Sawyer. 

Typical trail

The problem was that the clear water was three or four feet on the opposite side of tall swamp grass growing out of thick black muck. I had to take my shoes off and wade through the muck leaning over the vegetation to scoop out some “clear” water. I poured it into the pouch of my Sawyer and screwed on the filter part. I squeezed the pouch like a bag pipe and voilà —in goes cattle excrement contaminated H2O; out comes pristine potable drinking water. At least that’s the theory. I filtered about four 20oz. bottles worth, drinking some of it as I filled all my flasks. It takes about one to three weeks for giardia symptoms to set in, so time will tell how effective my Mini Sawyer really is. It was easy to use in the field, except for the taking my shoes off and wading through the murky water part. 

Quaking Aspen

I dried and shod my feet and was soon back on the trail slogging back up Thousand Mile Canyon. At this point I was at mile 12 of my little adventure. When I was half way up, I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures of the lake and river because I was too busy filtering water. Oh well. The climb was tough and I stopped frequently to catch my breath, but at least I had “clean” water to drink. I finally reached the top of the mountain and then backtracked through Hubbell Canyon. When I reached Mauldin Spring and crossed the bridge, I decided to dump my swamp water and filter some fresh water from the spring as I should have done the first time through here.

Mauldin Spring

Eventually I made it back to Wills Canyon and made a turn to continue a loop on the Wills and Willie White trails. I was really beat by this point and was struggling on the rocky terrain. I climbed another steep section and started to run down where there were a lot of dead tree branches all over the trail. I kept tripping over them and then one popped up, got lodged between my foot and the trail almost causing me to eat it. I managed to stay upright but the stick jammed into the top of my foot and I thought I had broken one of the hundreds of bones we supposedly have in our feet. Or is it 1000? Anyway, it really hurt for the next several miles, but eventually the pain subsided or maybe my foot was just numb by this point; I don’t know.

After running for seven hours, covering 24 miles with 3100’ of elevation gain, I finally made it back to Bluff Springs where some tourists were hiking around and photographing the falls. I was very hot and tired so took my shoes and shirt off and cleaned up in the stream. I felt fresh as a sneezeweed following my natural bath and headed back to my campground in Cloudcroft. 

Sleepy Grass campground is a pleasant place to stay and I was kept company by three cows who moseyed through the grounds each evening and then by a herd of mule deer at dusk. There’s something about waking up, unzipping your tent and seeing trees, smelling pine needles and hearing the chorus of birds and coyotes, that restores your soul. Have you gotten your nature fix this week? 

See you on the trail.