The Organ Mountains lie in southern New Mexico, separating Las Cruces to the west from White Sands Missile Range to the east. The Organs are an impressive series of rocky "needle" outcrops, with imposing cliffs; the range was apparently named for its similarity to a pipe-organ (so I've read). Organ Needle is the highest point of this range, although it is impossible to identify it from below without having someone point it out for you. The topographic map does not give an elevation reading for the summit other than a single 8,980-foot contour, but older books (specifically Ungnade's Mountains of New Mexico) list the peak as 9,012 feet. In fact, the topographic map just muddles the situation. The needles and cliffs are so packed that the jumble of contours confuses rather than helps; important features like approach canyons and saddles aren't necessarily obvious. Lastly, Organ Needle is arguably the most challenging of New Mexico's 33 county highpoints in terms of technicality: most of the climb is up a steep, unmaintained trail with a short rock-climb pitch just below the summit. I figured my best chance to summit this peak would be to tag along with some locals who have climbed it before, which is what I did. In our group were 11 people of various ages (30s-70s) but all with good climbing backgrounds. Most were from the Las Cruces area; four of us came in from Arizona, and most knew one another through various hiking clubs. We were blessed with fabulous clear blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

My journey began friday, March 30th. I left work at 3 p.m. and hit the road for the 6-hour drive to Las Cruces, where I stayed at a motel. I met up with the others the next morning at 7 a.m. We came in from the west, taking University Avenue (off of I-25) east, past "A" Mountain, to the end of the pavement. I didn't keep close track of road names since I was following the others, but I knew we followed Dripping Springs Road a ways, turned left (north) at a major junction, then turned right onto a lesser dirt road up toward Modoc Mine. Mileages are vague. It was about 8 miles from I-25. Here, we parked and started hiking in. We followed the road up to a saddle, down the other side, and up over another small ridge where the road petered out. We were headed up Fillmore Canyon. Our initial goal was to attain a saddle near point 7,778 just to the southwest of the Needle. The Needle looms high above in full view; just below is a lower set of cliffs (the ones below the peak at 7,778). Here, we went cross country generally straight up before coming to a use trail not far below the cliffs. Cairns mark the route; it's easy to lose otherwise (we did so a couple of times). At the cliffs, the trail is more established, but obviously not a regularly maintained trail. It undulates for a short bit, then climbs steadily and steeply below and to the side of these lower cliffs before finally coming to the big saddle near point 7,778. We arrived at this saddle at about 10 a.m., about 3 miles of hiking and 2,500 feet of gain.

At the saddle, we relaxed and looked up at our objective. The Needle sat high and impressive directly above us, still about 1,600 of gain to go, in about a mile (i.e. almost a persistent 30% slope, but steeper toward the top). The use trail continues up the obvious slope, hugging the cliffs to the left for a short ways, then traversing some rocky slopes where running water may be present. Some orange dots and cairns help mark the route. The trail steepens as it gains higher and higher. The loose rock and soft dirt in places was mitigated by the numerous trees (maple, fir) that gave us hand-holds and assistance. Eventually the trail abuts the cliff directly below the Needle itself. The trail gains steeply up a narrow canyon (Dark Canyon) before coming to a saddle just south of the Needle. From here, some of the most amazing views are present, both to the west and east. It should also be mentioned that Dark Canyon is not at all visible from the saddle down below; it looks like one big cliff in places!

From this final saddle, we descended down the other side about 100 feet, gently crossed a small rocky outcrop, ascended a small canyon briefly to our final obstacle, a short 20-foot rock climb pitch. It is mostly vertical but aided by bomber hand-holds and a nice wide slit that runs diagonal, allowing for good footing. We all free-climbed this pitch, although it did take a while to get us all up. Finally, we were just below the summit, an easy 5 minute hike up boulders to the rocky top! A large cairn sits at one point, a plaque at another. There was enough room for all of us and we relaxed for about an hour, picking out nearby ranges and taking in the view. Absolutely incredible; this is why I climb mountains!

Coming down, the first obstacle would be that rock-climb pitch. Climbing down is always harder (mentally), so I brought along a rope so that those who desired a belay could use one. Of the 11, three of us used the belay, and one of the climbers mentioned she wouldn't have felt comfortable at all without it. The rope definitely came in handy. It took a bit to get us all down and we pretty much back-tracked out along the same route. Coming down was nasty: the steep slopes were full of soft spots and loose rock, and in places we used five-points of contact (two arms, two legs and the butt!). I got a nasty rip in my pants from this technique. Oh well. Our group splintered into a fast group and a slow group. Naturally, I was in the slow group. Another hour or so and we were all back at the big saddle near point 7,778. The fast group then got moving. The slow group (4 of us, including me) got moving a little later. I was getting pretty beat and exasperated by the loose rock and found myself resting quite often. We finally descended down toward Fillmore Canyon (though not to its bottom), then... lost the trail. We futzed a bit, wasting about 45 minutes and some crashing through cactus to regain the old road/trail near Modoc Mine. We finally came out to our cars at sun-down and parted ways (the fast group had departed an hour or so ahead of us).

I opted to stay the night in Deming, about an hour west of Las Cruces along I-10. While driving out of Las Cruces, I witnessed a roll-over accident right in front of me: an SUV had been driving erratically, swerving and drifting for no good reason for about 5 miles. I stayed behind to watch (a little nervous to pass for obvious reasons). Finally, the driver drifted into the median, lost control, over-corrected and rolled her vehicle, landing in the median on its side. I pulled over, called for ALS on my phone, then ran across the highway to render what aid I could (I am an EMT, but I didn't have my stuff with me). Others had stopped and somehow, the driver extracted herself from her vehicle. She was in remarkably good shape after her wreck. I made sure she had an airway (she did), kept her head immobile, and with others, helped lay her on a blanket and kept her warm and in a position of comfort until medics arrived. She was scared and in obvious pain, but it seems she'll be fine, although not fully healed for a while. No alcohol present, but she did mention feeling sleepy, taking a Tylenol, and not wearing a seat belt. In my mind, she got very, very, very lucky she wasn't ejected during the roll-over, and didn't suffer more tragic injuries.