Carrizo Peak is a beautiful hump of a mountain, rising dramatically above the rangeland and lava plains near Carrizozo in central New Mexico. There are no real foothills surrounding the peak, so it rises right up from the flat, showing off all of its roughly 3,500 vertical feet height above this section of the plains. I was on the third day of a week-long swing through New Mexico, and I had already had success on three other peaks nearby. Carrizo Peak is a big hike, all along trail, but I felt it wise to save it for last before heading north for some more hiking. The weather had been very active the past few days, with summer thunderstorms a daily occurence, sometimes building by 10 a.m. Although the previous day had been somewhat tame, I didn't want to take any chances. This hike would demand a very early morning start so as to be down and off the peak no later than noon. At 10 miles round trip and about 2,800 net feet of gain, I figured 5 or 6 hours for me, so I figured I should be moving by 7 a.m., and not a minute later. From my hotel in Capitan I drove west on US-380 about 12 miles to the O-Bar-O Ranch sign along the highway. The O-Bar-O ranch is located up in the hills a ways, but the road is publicly accessible. Carrizo Peak is one of about four distinct subset ranges of the Sacramento Mountains, and is managed by the Lincoln National Forest.

The drive up the O-Bar-O Road went quick as it is a well-maintained all-weather gravel road for the first 5 miles or so. It's laid out slightly different than the map shows it, but navigating it is very simple. It runs up a gentle slope across pinon and juniper countryside before entering into some canyons and tight turns. Quickly it enters onto the actual O-Bar-O property, where signs point the way to get to the Forest lands. The O-Bar-O house looks pretty spiffy, so I guess they do alright as a ranch. I stayed on the public right-of-way and met the local O-Bar-O barking dog, who chased my truck for a few hundred feet. The ranch ends at a cattle grate, and the road is now Lincoln FR-441. It is not in good condition. Fortunately all I needed to drive was about a mile further along FR-441, but in this short distance it fords a creek about 4 times as it works north up Benado Canyon. The road is very rocky with tight turns. Along the way there's a sign for Johnnie Canyon, which would be my trail route, but the sign is somewhat misleading (and superfluous). I ignored it and drove a few hundred more feet to a clearing in a meadow. The Johnnie Canyon Trailhead and sign are located on the left (west) side of the road. I backed my truck into the lone ad-hoc campsite in this meadow, up against the forest margin. It was about 6:30 a.m. when I showed up. I got my pack in order. The weather was cool and stable, but very humid. No clouds yet, but it was still early. I stayed true to my schedule and started hiking by 7 a.m. sharp, heading up Johnnie Canyon Trail.

The trail is easy to follow at first, but somewhat rocky for the first mile or so. Just big rocks lying in the trail, too many to avoid, and sometimes loose enough to turn an ankle if I wasn't careful. The forest is mostly juniper, and the undergrowth somewhat light, and even including some cactus. I got about a mile in and had to take off some layers of clothing. Even though it was cool and I was still mostly in shade, the still, humid air was very uncomfortable. I literally dressed down to my t-shirt and trunks. Hopefully no one would be on the trail at the same time, otherwise I would be quite a sight. No one was, it turned out. In time the trail started to be hemmed in by some ridges coming off the mountain, and the flora changed to more stately fir and pine. The trail itself improved, losing a lot of the rocks and now a nice dirt foot-pad. I made good time up this section as the trail was never too steep. Higher into Johnnie Canyon it passes through some little openings and on occasion the trail became a bit faint in the grasses, but common sense and some strategic cairns helped me stay on the correct path. Finally, the trail does begin to steepen as the canyon closes in on it. The last half-mile and few hundred feet of gain up the headwall follow some steep switchbacks and rocky bits. Nothing too troublesome. At least it goes by quickly. The trail then flattens as it gains onto the ridge, where it comes to a junction with another trail. To here I covered about 3.5 miles in about 90 minutes, hiking at a quick pace. There were no views other than trees so I didn't stop much. The weather was still holding up, but again, the humidity was killer. I turned left onto Carrizo Peak trail #72.

A sign had Carrizo Peak as just 1.5 miles away, but the thick forest blocked all views. The trail works up onto a subsidiary peak's ridge, eventually getting as high as 9,200 feet. It runs for about a half-mile in a mostly level trend south, amid pine and aspen and lots of shrubby undergrowth. There was some deadfall to negotiate and on occasion I lost the track here and there. Finally, about a mile past the junction and a half-mile short of the top, the trail lets onto an open grassy meadow, straddling the ridge that connects Carrizo Peak with the subsidiary peak to its east. The trail is pretty much gone here, and only occasionally visible in the waist-high grass. Some pink ribbons tied to tree branches helped, but I had to memorize where the trail would re-enter the forest for the hike down. In the meadow the route drops about 100 feet in elevation. This put me at the base of the final 600-foot push to the summit, with just under a half-mile to go. I had my first views of the peak from here. From the meadow's vantage, it looked like a smallish ridge with two or three summit knobs. Trees went all the way to the top but the very summit looked bare of trees. There were also some sections of grass on the hillside, too.

I started up this last steep bit. The first third was a good trail through trees. Then it broke into the open, into one of the grassy meadows I viewed from below. The trail here was very overgrown, but some more orange tape was tied in strategic places again to help out. The grass was waist-high and sometimes higher. I have a slight allergy to grasses of all types and even through all it did was brush against my legs, I ended up with a lot of raised pink welts - almost like hives. Annoying. Toward the top of the grassy bit the trail works through a small set of trees then enters onto another bare patch, this time with very low grass. The top was in view! I huffed and puffed the last few feet to arrive onto the main summit ridge, coming upon a simple cairn of piled rocks with the Carrizo Peak sign laying on its side. Cool! I leaned it up for a photo opportunity. Immediately I notices higher land to the north, so I walked over that way, no more than 500 feet, and came upon another hill with another cairn, this one more substantial and built of flat flagstone-like rocks. This one seemed to be higher than the one to the south. I signed in at both registers. I had left my pack back at the first cairn, so I returned to retrieve it. I had been on the top for maybe 10 minutes, but a distant roar of thunder caught my attention; looking south toward Sierra Blanca was a serious-looking storm, already in full vigor, dropping rain and lightning. Looking east I saw more clouds. Even though it was just 10 a.m. the storms were kicking up already! I decided to get moving. Fortunately, there is very little ridge-walking (and exposure) on Carrizo, so once I started down I was immediately off any exposed ridges and in with the trees.

I descended to the meadow in about 10 minutes, then up it to the trail again in another 10 minutes, moving pretty quickly. I heard a rumble of thunder every few minutes, and the sun was now occluded by the haze of clouds above me. Although relatively safe where I was, I moved fast as I wanted to take no chances. I wanted to be back down into Johnnie Canyon as soon as possible, so I pretty much hustled this bit, descending into Johnnie Canyon after maybe just 30 minutes. The thunder was still evident. Every minute or so, a rumble. But so far, nothing directly above me. No loud sharp 'cracks' of thunder to suggest lightning close by. No drizzle or rain either. Actually, it was pretty warm where I was, and very humid, which was cause for alarm as well. Once back onto the gentler grades where the trail wasn't so rocky, I almost jogged. I could see the clouds better too. A big cell was forming kind of north and east of me. The last mile, where the trail was rockier, went slower, but I was back to my truck by noon exactly, a five-hour hike overall. Only now did a slight drizzle begin to fall, but it was very light. I changed into drier clothes and made the drive out carefully. Back onto the main highway I stopped for some photographs, those you see here. You can see the storm clouds above Carrizo pretty clearly.

The hike of Carrizo was fun and enjoyable, but the scenery is somewhat limited, except at the summit where the views are outstanding. It tired me out pretty good. I headed north with no real destination in mind. The plan now was to look at a few peaks in the Taos/Espanola area. But four peaks in the past three days tired me out pretty good, so I opted for an off day in between. Driving north on US-54 near Corona (and Gallinas Peak from the day before), I drove headlong into one of the blackest, scariest storms I've ever been in. Just as I entered town the wind really kicked up and bolts of lightning were hitting the ridges east of town. I decided to lay low at a gas station and sit it out in my truck, enjoying some lunch while there. The worst of it passed the town to the south, and in about 30 minutes it was slightlier sunny, so I drove up the extra hour or so to the town of Vaughn, where I came headlong into another mean-looking cell. This one wasn't so bad however. I got me a hotel in town and enjoyed a nice, long night's sleep, not having to awake before dawn and letting my legs rest. Vaughn sits on the fringe of the plains, so the next day (all storms gone, by the way) I did some driving and sight-seeing, plus getting some photos of old county highpoint mesas I did years ago. By the end of the day I had worked my way north through Las Vegas and Mora and into the Sangre de Cristo Range for the next day's hike up Cerro Vista.