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Estante Rim Trail and Lower Water Canyon Trail

Another little hike on back-country trails out of White Rock, New Mexico
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The trail untrodden except by wildlife, and then by me. After the fist leg on Estante Rim Trail I turned off onto the trail to Lower Water Canyon. To get to Lower Water Canyon you first had to climb over the mesa on the right here.
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The trail untrodden except by wildlife, and then by me. After the fist leg on Estante Rim Trail I turned off onto the trail to Lower Water Canyon. To get to Lower Water Canyon you first had to climb over the mesa on the right here.

26 JAN 2019 - Lower Water Canyon Trail, south and west of White Rock, New Mexico

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  • The trail untrodden except by wildlife, and then by me. After the fist leg on Estante Rim Trail I turned off onto the trail to Lower Water Canyon. To get to Lower Water Canyon you first had to climb over the mesa on the right here.
  • Lower Water Canyon Trail where it goes up and over the mesa into Water Canyon.
  • The trail untrodden up over the mesa top, except by wildlife. This trail is over a thousand years old and is worn deep into the rock. It is visible in the lower part of this photo with snow in it.
  • The trail up to the top of the mesa (to the right) was covered with thick and crusted snow.
  • The trail up was covered with thick crusted snow with only a few wildlife tracks in the snow.
  • A veiw back at the trail I had hiked up. The temperature was in the upper 30s (F), but the sun was out and felt good.
  • Once up and over the top of the mesa the trail turned west along the mesa side. It wound through the rocks and as you can see the south facing side of the mesa was snow free.
  • This is a zoomed in view from the trail, looking east towards the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe.
  • This is a view from the same spot as the last photo, but this one is looking west towards the Jemez Mountains.
  • Looking towards the southeast you can see the north facing side of one of the mesas. The sun doesn't hit the north facing slopes in the Winter.
  • Another view westward. The trail continues along that ledge, west, in the center of this photo.
  • At the fatherest point I reached on the trail today I stopped to enjoy the scenery and take a few photos before heading back towards home. I spotted a "balanced boulder" down in this canyon. See next photo for a closer look.
  • Here is the photo I took of the balanced boulder. I did not see the mule deer near it until I got home and loaded the photos onto my computer. You can see it in the previous photo if you look closely.
  • This canyon joins White Rock Canyon where the Rio Grande flows about a mile farther away.
  • The view east towards Santa Fe.
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