| West Slope via The Crest Trail Route |
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| West Slope via The Crest Trail   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: New Mexico, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 33.42870°N / 105.8358°W Route Type: Hike Time Required: Most of a day Difficulty: Class 1
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| Page By: Alan Ellis Created/Edited: Jan 6, 2004 / Nov 23, 2004 Object ID: 159782 Hits: 805 Loading... Page Score: 63.48% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Overview
This trail/route will give you a grand tour of the White Mountain Wilderness and is a highly recommended hike. It is best done with two vehicles, leaving one South Fork campground, and driving the other to the trailhead. Although it can be done in a day, an overnight stay is recommended to fully enjoy the area. Doing the route as described will save you several hundred feet of climbing with the trailhead elevation at 8800 ft and the end of the trail at 7400. The shuttle hike to South Fork is around 17 miles. Another option is to overnight at Spring Cabin spring and climb White Horse as a day hike.
Approach
From Bonito Lake, drive west on a dirt road (FS 107) for about 6 miles. At the intersection of FS 107 and FS 108, turn right (north) and begin driving up to the ridge. At about 3 miles, a cattle guard will appear with a sign for Crest Trail #25. This is the trailhead.
Route Description
The trail begins on a ridge and after a brief climb, remains level until reaching Nogal Peak. Take advantage of the opportunity to bag Nogal while you are there. On the south side of Nogal is a wonderful view off to the northwest. After Nogal Peak, the trail continues level and traverses Argentina Peak to the west. Along the way, several springs will appear along with several trail junctions. Be careful about where you get water from these springs due to cattle use. The trail will turn south near Argentina Spring.
After about 5 miles, you will reach Spring Cabin spring which usually hosts an outstanding water source as well as wonderful campsites. Continue south on the Crest Trail for about 3 miles, passing Spring Point, Point 9395, and Point 9466. Great views of White Sands Missile Range are along this section. The trail turns east after Point 9466 and you will arrive at Bonito Seep and the junction of trail #36. Good water is available at Bonito Seep. At this point White Horse Hill will loom directly above to the east. Bonito Seep is at the base of the mountain and the trail will begin switchbacking up the west slope. Eventually, the trail will traverse around the north side of the mountain. At any point you can leave the trail to the right (south) and do a quick bushwhack up to the summit. Or, you can continue on to the east side and do the summit from there.
After reaching the summit, either retrace your route or follow trails #35 or #36 to the Big Bonito Trailhead. From Big Bonito Trailhead, you will have a 3 mile hike up FS 108 to your vehicle. The best option after summiting, is to continue on the Crest Trail #25 for one mile until reaching a saddle and the intersection of trails #19 and #33. Take trail #19, first southeast, then northeast for 5 miles following the South Fork River. Finish at South Fork campground for a total of 17 miles.
Addition by ATTM on January 7, 2004:
If you want to bag Nogal, it would be best to use trail #16 which begins about 1/4 of a mile up the Crest Trail from the parking lot and goes up Nogal's east face rather than trying to bag Nogal from the Crest Trail up its north face. There is a very dense section of scrub oak and thorn bushes that will make an ascent up the north face a difficult and cussing experience. Trail #16 (you will find a route description on the Nogal Peak page) does a good job negotiating through the dense scrub oak and shrubbery.
I chose to scramble down the north face after taking trail #16 to the summit, which will save you some time rather than going back down to the Crest Trail and taking it around to the north face of Nogal if you want to continue along the Crest Trail, but it was a very difficult bushwack. If you so choose to do it, stay a little to the east on your way down through the scrub oak. I chose to go down the steeper route a little to the west because the shrubbery looked thinner. It was an optical allusion. There were less of the taller scrub oak, but more of the shorter but nasty throrn bushes. Was I glad when I finally made it out into the meadows.
Essential Gear
Backpacking gear if done as an overnighter. Otherwise, day hike gear is appropriate.
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Sierra Blanca Range
