Eagle Peak tops the Tularosa Range in western New Mexico, near the interesting little town of Reserve in Catron County. A pretty good gravel and hardpack dirt road leads from the highway to near the top, while a lesser (but still pretty decent) road goes all the way up, to where an active lookout tower sits. We have traveled this part of New Mexico a number of times and always enjoy coming back, especially to Reserve, which has to be one of the smallest county seat towns we have ever visited. The countryside is beautiful rolling hills and mountains, all dotted in juniper and pinon lower down, and spruce and fir higher up. The objective of this trip was to hike Eagle Peak and then double back into Arizona and spend a few days in the high country of Greenlee County.

We left our home and went the 'north' route, following the highways through Payson, Show Low and Springerville down into Alpine, then from Alpine into New Mexico through Luna and finally Reserve. The Alpine to Reserve leg was virgin for us; neither of us had ever driven this stretch of road before. Luna itself wasn't very interesting - mostly scattered homesites over a wide area, but at 600 people it is Catron County's largest town (which just goes to show how unpopulated Catron County is). However, the drive 'down' - the highway loses a couple thousand feet elevation from Alpine to Reserve - was quite beautiful, highlighted by a bear spotting! A nice black bear was ambling along the highway as we rounded a bend. We saw him and he saw us, taking off into the trees, but we were close enough to get a good look. Cool! We finally rolled into Reserve about 7:30 p.m. in the setting sun, and grabbed a hotel room at the Rode Inn, barely in time to catch the 2-hour season finale of Lost.

Reserve is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Catron County, but its population is only about 300 or so people. The town is basically a T-intersection of two highways, with everything situated along the two highways, including the two-story Catron County Courthouse next door to the grocery and diner, and across the street from the hotel. The town's populace live in homes scattered on the fringe. The town's biggest employer seems to be the Forest Service. I asked the hotel clerk if they get busy on Memorial Day weeked, and he said 'only when there's a fire'. The light-green FS trucks were everywhere. In fall, hunting is the big activity: the main restaurant in town has a wall full of photos of hunters and their quarry. The whole place is set amid high rolling hills and nearby mountains; the San Francisco River cuts through the north end of town. It's all very lovely.

The next day we awoke and got moving around 8 a.m. in very pretty calm weather. The mornings were very cold - in the 30s - but once the sun was up it warmed fast so that by 8 a.m. we didn't need jackets anymore. After gathering some provisions at the grocery across the street, we hit the road. We followed highway NM-12 north and east out of town for just two miles, coming to the Gila Forest Road 233 access, signed with "Eagle Peak L.O. 18 miles". In we went.

We have to admit that 18 miles of dirt road sounded kind of tedious but we were quickly proven wrong, as this road ran up and down through some beautiful scenic country. At first it descended into a lovely canyon and wide river bottom, where the Tularosa Creek was still running. Part of this land was private; they had fenced off some areas, and there were some cattle in one area, and some horses in another area. The canyon walls were sometimes very sheer, with interesting rock formations, and notably, bands of strata contorted over the eons into wild shapes. The road fords the creek, which wasn't a problem at all. Then it gains steeply up the side of a mesa, where the views are again just amazing, including full-length views of the canyon we had just driven through. Shortly the road surmounted this broad mesa/bench, and for the next three miles it was flat and straight, passing through a forest of juniper and pinon. The grasses were green and the whole place looked like a park. We noted, for future reference, that this area might offer some good places to camp. In time the road started to gain again, working up some defiles and steadily gaining elevation. After 12 miles (according to my truck's odometer), we came upon the junction with Forest Road 38, and a sign pointing to Eagle Peak, "5 miles".

Ironically Eagle Peak itself was mostly invisible along our drive in, blocked from view by foothills and forest. At the FR 233/38 road junction, we could make out some distant peaks looking up the canyon, although trees still blocked most views. We angled onto FR-38 and started up the now narrower road. I put the truck into 4-wheel drive just for the handling. We gained a mile to where FR-38 flattened out a bit at a wide clearing, which again, for future reference, would make a great camping area (others have evidently thought so, as we saw some fire rings here). On the topographical map, this is where FR-38 loses its 'all-weather' road designation and get that double-dashed designation, signalling an inferior road. But to us it looked good so we continued up. It was rough, but never too bad. The 4-wheel drive made for easy traveling. We decided that we would park at the next best wide area. We were able to get another mile or so up the road, parking at approximately the 8,660-foot elevation contour. There was an ad-hoc pullout here, just wide enough for me to do a 15-point u-turn here to orient the truck downhill and off the main track.

Beth's arthritis had been acting up lately and after a spell she decided that she would not be able to go on the hike. We had planned for this and had brought along books, etc. In fact, since we were set up for two nights camping later in the week, we had full and complete provisions. The area looked safe and it was evident this road saw little traffic, especially on a weekday. We set a chair up, got the cooler handy, and she was good to go. The weather was just superb and the scenery outstanding, so we felt this was a safe environment. Just in case, we had some pepper spray handy, plus Beth kept the truck keys and could drive down if things got nasty.

I, on the other hand, got suited up for the hike. Whatever cold I had caught in California was still with me, so while I generally felt okay, I still had a cough and a general weakness and malaise. I felt maybe 80% of my usual self today. The hike itself looked doable if I went slow. The distance looked like maybe 2 miles each way and 1,120 feet of gain, and all of it was road. It was about 10:30 a.m. when I finally took off. And within minutes I was keeled over, coughing and catching my breath - Yikes! The altitude change had really affected me. Normally I wouldn't feel such a change so dramatically. After I caught myself, I made sure to go real slow, deliberately slowing myself as best I could. This worked well. I still didn't feel great, but I did alright. Interestingly, once I got into a good breathing regimen, my cough subsided, and only returned whenever I took a break.

From the truck I followed the road maybe a half-mile to a bend where I had some very good long-distance views of the summit, including the lookout tower. Fortunately the road was pitched at very lenient grades for the most part, and by going slow I did okay. I lost sight of the summit again in the trees, but quickly came to an open gate (closed if the tower is not in use). After the gate the road steepened and switchbacked a couple of times, then cork-screwed up to the summit. The lookout guy saw me and said hello as I came upon the top. He invited me to come up for a visit, which I did, escorted by his dog Shadow. From the lookout tower, the vantage was fantastic (it better be for a lookout!). The man's name was Skip, and he was the 'relief' guy, spelling the regular guy. Skip was doing a 3-day stint atop the peak. Nice guy; he described the big 1995 burn that swept the range and some of the summit. From the top I could see sections of forest that still looked mostly dead, and sections that had 12+ years of growth, plus sections that were untouched. The new growth contrasted sharply with the old growth, with brighter greens and yellows against the darker greens of the mature forest. It was all very interesting and quite pretty. It's interesting to see how forests rebound after a burn. The view to the south was of Whitewater and Mogollon Baldy peaks. In the other directions was most of the rest of the Tularosas, plus distant peaks across the Plains of San Agustin to the northeast. I spent maybe 20 minutes visiting with Skip, but figured I better get moving so as not to go over my time I had promised Beth. Despite my malaise I had covered the one-way trip to the top in about 75 minutes.

The hike down went very well, and I didn't stop once, making the one-way journey in about 45 minutes, for a total time gone of just under two and a half hours. Beth was relaxing in her seat, and the weather and conditions were so lovely that I decided to do so as well. After I changed into drier clothes I sat with Beth and had a coke, and we both just enjoyed the scenery for about another hour. We were in no hurry to get moving. However, eventually we did, leaving the area about 2 p.m. The drive out took about an hour, then back on the highway we backtracked through Luna and Alpine to our next destination, our campsite at KP Cienega. Two days later we made a fun day hike of Blue Peak.

General notes and comments:

• The elevation on the sign at the top reads 9,802 feet, but the topo map has it at 9,786 feet, without any contours higher than 9,800 feet. The map is newer (mid 1990s) so I figure it's a more accurate figure. Either way, a nice summit.

• The road to the top could be drivable by any decent stock 4-wheel drive vehicle with good clearance. The road to the FR 233/38 junction is in excellent shape and drivable by any vehicle in dry conditions. The road gets narrow and steeper just below the lookout but is manageable if you go slow and ease it over some of the rocks. Good pullouts exist at N 33.70878, W 108.57378, N 33.69599, W 108.57535, and N 33.67954, W 108.57958 (potential camp space here!). The gate is about N 33.67983, W 108.57771, and the road starts to get narrower about N 33.67592, W 108.57469. The worst part of the road was some small humps that need high clearance. My wife's Subaru Outback probably would have been okay, but might have labored with its 4-banger engine. Ironically, very large 4-wheel drive vehicles like those big king-cab trucks with long wheel bases, and wide vehicles like hummers, might have trouble with the narrow bits. But then again, who in their right mind takes a hummer off-road?

• Mileages: We figured about 16 miles, maybe plus/minus a half-mile, to the summit from the highway via the road. I had 12 to the 233/38 junction, and we drove in two more miles, and the hike couldn't have been more than two miles one-way.