Lookout Mountain and Crest Trail

The stinging nettle plant contains thousands of tiny hollow hairs that release histamine and formic acid when broken off, creating a nasty burning sensation on the skin. Well, that sounds like something to avoid, doesn't it! More on stinging nettle later, but what I wanted to tell you now is that I recently went to the White Mountain Wilderness near Ruidoso, NM to do a little altitude training to get ready for my upcoming race, the Mt Taylor 50K. This race takes runners to the top of sacred Mt Taylor (11,300’) which is near Grants, NM. Near Ruidoso, I climbed Lookout Mt (11,580’) which is a bit higher so this was a perfect training run to help me prepare for my race. I tried this hike over spring break, but the snow was still very deep and I wasn’t able make it to the top.

Lookout Mt and Sierra Blanca Peaks

Crest Trail

I began my adventure at Ski Apache at around 10,000’ elevation and took the Scenic Trail (T15). The narrow path climbs a grassy slope with lots of wildflowers. In a little more than a half mile, I reached the Crest Trail (T15) which is a 20 mile route that traverses the mountain range. Unfortunately, the Little Bear Fire burned much of this area in 2012 and parts of the this trail are difficult to travel. More on that later.

Soon I entered a forested section with some trees down across the path that I had to hop over. I missed a turn at about 2.5 miles and continued on to a seep which is the source of the N. Fork Rio Ruidoso. I didn’t realize my mistake until my return, but I was able to continue on a shortcut trail to finally reach Lookout Mountain Trail (T78). This shortened my trip by about a half mile, but I recommend staying on the main trail unless you plan to get water at the spring.

Sierra Blanca Peak as seen from Lookout Mt

By this point I was feeling the altitude and was very winded with a lot of pressure in my head. My goal in this training was to trigger my body to start making the physiological changes necessary for high altitude acclimation. According to Untamed Science, when you travel to higher elevation, “your kidneys begin producing a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates stem cells in your bone marrow to produce more and larger red blood cells. You begin growing more capillaries throughout your body to deliver more blood, and hence more oxygen, to your tissues.”

Check out this short video for more:

I continued slogging upward and finally reached a sign for “Ambush” ski slope where I continued climbing. Soon I reached the gondola that spits out tourists and mountain bikers at the top. From here I took a dirt road along more ski lifts and then reached a zip line launch pad with a dude getting rigged up. I stopped and gawked for a few minutes until the guy took off. NO THANK YOU!

There's a big ol’ bag o’ NOPE right there!

White Sands National Monument in the distance

I continued on while shaking my head and arrived at the Lookout Mt overlook. The panorama was spectacular with Sierra Blanca Peak next door and the White Sands National Monument on the desert floor below. I soaked it all in for a while and then continued down the same way.

wildflowers aplenty

I reached the Crest Trail and headed north for a little while. I lost the trail a few times because of tall grass and rock gardens, but was able to follow the route with the help of rock cairns. Several sections had a precipitous drop off on one side and the footing was tricky in several areas. Lush green mountains dominated the landscape with areas of burned lifeless trees interspersed. Wildflowers flourished in abundance —Milkvetch, purple geranium, tansy aster, wild onion, Indian paintbrush, goldeneye. Beautiful!

Geranium

Aster

Cairns help mark the route

I reached the junction of Bluefront and Southfork trails which form a loop, but my map showed that there was significant fire damage and the National Forest describes these trails as, “…burned during the Little Bear Fire and many dangers still exist.” Therefor, I kept going on Crest hoping to reach the Three Rivers Trail (T44) that connects with the Crest Trail. This is a beautiful hike with a trailhead north of Alamogordo, NM near the Three Rivers Petroglyph site that boasts over 20,000 Native American petroglyphs. I ran this trail from the forest floor to the Crest Trail several years ago and highly recommend it.

Read: Three Rivers Trail

Pretty soon I grew hot and weary and my water was getting low so I turned around to head down the same way I came, minus Lookout Mt. After passing through a wooded section I popped out into a large open meadow and saw the most amazing sight. A harem of about 20 elk cows and calves were grazing in the field and, on closer inspection, I saw one bull with beautiful antlers. I watched in amazement as they went about their business of eating. They didn’t seem too bothered by my presence, but one little calf kept giving me a funny little look of curiosity. After watching them for a while I ran down the mountain finishing up with about 13 high elevation miles. I drove down the Ski Run Rd to the Oak Grove Campground. It’s pretty basic, but close to the Crest Trail and only $6.00 per night. 

Elk Herd

The boss!

The curious one

The next day I took off for the lower trailhead of the Crest Trail near the Monjeau Lookout on FR 117 off of Ski Run Rd. It was a foggy morning and the wind created quite a chill in the air at 9000’. I skipped going to the lookout since there wouldn’t have been much of a view with all the fog. I started running and realized right away that I should have worn long pants. The narrow trail was lined with tall wet grass that brushed against my legs soaking my shoes. On the upside, wildflowers were spectacular here and I stopped frequently to get photos in the filtered sunlight.

Wild onion

Dead trees were shrouded in fog creating a ghostly atmosphere as the wind whistled through the mountains like a spirit song.This area was also severely burned and I had trouble staying on the trail especially in the grassy areas. Rock cairns sometimes marked the way, but at other times I had to rely on a map app on my phone. Pretty soon I reached a very overgrown section that was like a green tunnel. I wasn’t even sure I was on the trail, but I eventually passed a couple of hikers; one guy whacking away at the vegetation with a machete. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a machete so I simply plowed through with bare legs. That is until the briars and stinging nettle began slicing and piercing my legs at which time I had no choice but to continue plowing right through. This was probably the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing “Rat Jaw” at the Barkley Marathons.

Anyway, that was a big mistake because, along with scratches all over my legs, the stinging nettle hairs were injecting burning toxins in my ankles, shins, calves, knees and thighs. At the time, my adrenaline was pumping though, which masked the pain so I just kept going hoping to pop out into a clearing. I paid for it dearly. For the next several days my legs went from tingling and burning to stinging and finally itching. 

I continued on at a painfully slow pace for a while and lost the trail several more times. When I came to an area with huge trees down everywhere I became discouraged. I wasn’t into route finding and bushwhacking on this particular day so decided to turn back having to go through the briar patch, stinging nettle gauntlet again. I made it back to my car and drove up to the ski area where I made a another trip to Lookout Mt just for good measure. 

Mt Bike track at Ski Apache

The trails near the ski area are pretty clear, but check with the forest service on other nearby trails. Ski Apache is a great place to bring your family because there are plenty of activities for them to do. In addition to hiking trails, there’s a buffed out track for mountain bikers only. You also have the option of riding the gondola to the top and then zip-lining down. As for me, I’ll keep my feet on terra firma. 

See you on the trail.