Organs Loop
by Chet Szymecki
Today is the day that I will report my failure and lessons learned during my recent attempt of the Organs Loop trail just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Here is a view of the 97-mile trail as found on Gravelmap.
The trail did not appear to be anything out of the ordinary so I performed just a bit of research. The only information I was able to locate appeared to be notes from motorcyclists which included, "that's a lot of climbing, I wanna there" and "I did the southern segment of this loop last week. I highly suggest >= 45 or 2 inch+ tires. I poorly routed my loop and ended up hiking through the desert for hours. Cat 1-3 gravel, sand, and clay-dirt. Stunning and vast views."
Let's first back up and set the stage. Following my recent completion of the Cheeseburger Loop in Texas, Panhandle Adventure Trail in Florida, and Georgia Adventure Trail in Georgia - it felt as if I were back in the groove and looking forward to much fun in New Mexico and Arizona. All was going well - my AEV Prospector was serviced and although I had not completed a few additional modifications I was carrying the parts and tools and planned to complete these non-critical upgrades in the desert.
When I rolled into Las Cruces, New Mexico, I was smiling so hard mt cheeks hurt. I found some great local food, gassed up my rig with at a TOP TIER Fuel Station, as I always do, and was ready for adventure. I noticed the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument was just outside of town so I decided to go spend the afternoon out there exploring some of the trails, searching for fossils, and just relaxing in the warm sun.
The trail were lightly used and a bit on the rough side compared to those back east which were mostly dirt, clay, or small gravel. I was still at my 45 psi street pressure and just took my time - the ride was not that bad although I would have benefited from airing down. This was a short trail though and I was spending more time relaxing compared to exploring.
Late in the afternoon I figured it would be a great time to shower up and change into some fresh clothes. I was just under a mile-high and there was no one else around so I stripped down, showered up, and dried off in the warm sun. Later, I fixed some dinner and decided to exit the area and head over to Organs Loop which was just a few miles to the west.
Arriving at the trail I proceeded in a clockwise direction not realizing I had already made a few fatal mistakes. It was dark and I would be attempting a trail I was unfamiliar with. Add to that the fact that many of my recent adventures had been back east so my expectations regarding potential difficulty were somewhat skewed. I was also running street pressure and during the first few miles in on paved roads...I asked myself, when will the fun begin. Be careful what you ask for.
The trail became very rough only moments later with a wide assortment of fist and cantaloupe sized rocks, everywhere. Sure, some were smaller, but others were larger with some being like a soccer ball or small watermelon. I attempted to convince myself that the trail could only be like this for a short amount of time.
Three miles in things became even worse as I began to drop in and climb out of steep gullies. This was not what I had been expecting. I began one climb in two-wheel drive and experienced much tire slip so I shifted into four-wheel drive. As I began the climb again in the loose fist-sized rock my progress halted and the front end began to pull over to one side. Gravity was not going to give me a break tonight and not I had myself in an interesting predicament. I was all alone, without cellular service, it was dark, I was not able to move forward, and did I mention I had earlier identified signs of illegal aliens passing along the trail?
I stopped to consider where I was and what I had done. It was time for me to set my pride aside and scrub this mission. As I backed down and backed up things went from bad to worse. I was climbing a narrow shelf-road and although I had my rear camera, even it was not enough in these conditions. During this process I scraped the harmonic balancer on my rear driveshaft on one of the larger rocks and now it was free. I walked the trail to locate the strip of rubber that is part of the assembly and then tied the ring back on the nose of the differential using zip ties. Time to tuck my tail and limp off the trail. This may note have been a significant failure but it was a clear sign that things were moving in the wrong direction and I better slow down and move away from this area.
After scrubbing the mission I performed additional review and decided to cancel it entirely. Maybe someday I would reattempt but for now I would roll into Silver City, New Mexico, and relax for the day. This was a fin little town and I am looking forward to visiting again and staying even longer.
Here is some colorful art painted on a wall downtown that I enjoyed while eating ice-cream after lunch.
I am back on the road and heading in the direction of Sedona to meet friends and knock down some beautiful trails in the area.
Edited by ramblinChet, 12 February 2024 - 09:37 AM.
