Feeling the need to stretch our legs some more, we returned to Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks NM. But this time we hiked on the east side of the mountains in the Aguirre Springs Wilderness Area. We selected the Pine Tree loop trail (4 miles) which took us through a high desert environment before transitioning into a high Alpine type of Ecological zone. Our research on the trail indicated most people hiked the loop counter-clockwise because it made the up hill portion a bit less steep since the climb is spread over more distance. But we hiked it clockwise. Not because we really wanted to, but because from where we started, we completely missed the turn to go in counter clockwise direction. In the end, we were happy we did it clockwise. Some of the stuff we had to climb up we would not have wanted to have to go down. So it worked out well. The views of the rocky peaks of the Organ Mountans were spectacular as well as the view looking out over the White Sands Basin. Looking into the basin we had very good views of White Sands Missile Range Army Base as well as White Sands NM. Our critter sightings were finches, doves, beatles and one lizard. The altitude (6000-6900 feet) defintely took its toll, but so did the steep climbs and long decent. By the time we got back to the truck we were ready for a cold brew and a green chile cheese burger! So we made a bee line for the High Desert Brewery!
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| Trailhead |
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| Only halfway? Really? |
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| Organ Mountain Spires |
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| White Sands Basin |
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| The wild flowers were spectacular |
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| Organ Mountain Spires |
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| The Spires backlight by the setting sun |
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