For our Spring Break of 2007, Beth and I opted to return to New Mexico and spend a few days hiking and staying at the Faywood Hot Springs between Deming and Silver City. Our plan was to hike two peaks, Hachita Peak and Burro Peak, sandwiched around a full day (and two nights) at Faywood, then on the way home, a night in Safford and the hot springs there. We enjoyed our visit to the region over last Thanksgiving, and were eager to return. This time of year promised to be nice as the real heat is still a few months away. We loaded the truck with our camping gear and rolled out of Chandler on Monday the 12th, with plans to drive to Lordsburg, New Mexico, that evening. We took the 'back way' - a more direct route through Globe and Safford via US highways 60 and 70, directly into Lordsburg (the Interstate-10 option is about 40 miles longer and requires us to pass through Tucson). We pulled in around 6 p.m. and stayed the night at the Super-8 Motel. Nothing special. It was convenient to some nearby fast food places and mini-marts; this is about as sexy as Lordsburg gets.

Hachita Peak was our first objective. The peak is the highpoint of the Little Hachita Mountains located about 35 miles southeast of Lordsburg entering into the bootheel of New Mexico. The range sits north of the much more prominent Big Hatchet Peak (Hachita is the Spanish diminutive word for Hatchet - literally, 'little hatchet'). The two ranges seem to have little in common other than geographic proximity and it seems to me to be a lazy name for the range. The Little Hatchets don't look like hatchets. The main body of the range is nicely-rounded summits and ridges, thick with cactus and brush and very very few trees. Many of the foothills are more sharply defined, rocky spires and knobs obviously weathered over the years into their dramatic profiles. The whole range is obviously volcanic in origin.

From Lordsburg, we took Interstate-10 from Lordsburg to the Playas exit, then south 20 miles to highway NM-9, and fifteen miles east on that toward the little community of Hachita. We missed out turnoff and doubled back, finding what is supposed to be named Little Hachita Mountain Road about 2.2 miles west of town (the sign was missing, but it's the only obvious, well-tended public-access road off the highway in that region). From here we drove 7 miles south and southwest to a ... gate. It was brand new, but we weren't expecting a gate since this was (supposed to be) all BLM lands. The gate itself was unlocked. A 'No Trespassing' sign hung on the fencing to the left (south side). I walked past the gate and saw a small corral off to the south. We surmised the 'no trespass' sign refers to the corral and lands to the south, and not to the road. Given the gate itself wasn't posted or locked, and that our maps showed this to be BLM, we made the decision to go in and deal with any locals who might think otherwise as we met them. Turns out the only locals we met were some cattle. We drove in another 2 miles to a small rise, then took a sketchy road south about a quarter-mile and parked within a small arroyo to stay (mostly) hidden. It was close to 9 a.m. when we rolled in. We took some time to get ready. The Border Patrol helicopters were up and around, buzzing the range. We were certain they'd seen us (or our dust cloud) and would want to check us out. The range is about 15 miles from the Mexican Border, so meeting crossers was on our minds as a possibility. We stuck around a bit figuring that a BP vehicle would roll up behind us. Yes, I'm a bit paranoid: I've been pulled over twice (once alone, once with Beth) and tailed another time while in this region. Not that I get into any trouble, but I figured let's just get it over with so we can go hike. In one case the helicopter was buzzing the hills about an air-mile to our west. If they didn't see us then I wonder about their observational skills!

By 10 a.m. we were ready to start our hike. I left a note in the truck window explaining our presence just in case. We started hiking up the old road, which leads up onto a small grassy bench marked by a windmill and a stock water tank. There were a few beefs milling around, eating the grass and watching us. They would scamper off as we got near. The road soon gains onto the foothills and contours left, coming to an old mine adit. After this the road gained a small bit, then we could see it lose some elevation as it went beyond behind some ridges. But just above us we could see the road high up on the ridge. So we decided to cut the switchback, so to speak. This is not good style, we know. We followed some cattle paths through the open terrain, hiking by sight toward one of the few trees anywhere on the hillside, by which we could see part of the road. This little stretch gained us about 60 feet vertically but probably saved us 20 minutes of time. We were back on the road, which we followed up. After a few more minutes we took our first break, finding some relief from the winds in the lee of a small ridge bump. We brought out the maps and GPS and laid out our plan from here.

The old mine road, as shown on the map, works its way to about the 6,000-foot contour high up on the hills, directly above us. Whatever the purpose of this road was, it's long since been erased. The road itself is steep, rocky and probably last saw a vehicle in the 1940s. It just ends at a loop, curiously. For our purposes it was great. Steep and tedious, but short and quick. We were at the end of the loop in short order. Stats so far: maybe a bit over a mile from the truck and about 850 feet of gain in a bit over an hour. We took another break. The big mass of peak 6,572 stood above us to the southeast. Off it came a ridge, eventually coming down to our position. We found some good paths - probably human-enhanced cattle paths - and these led us pretty much directly to the saddle just below peak 6,572. The hiking here was easy, but sometimes rocks would scoot under us and we had to watch our ankles carefully. We came onto a small clearing and flat section near this saddle and took another break. Here, Beth's back and neck started to give her trouble, and she decided to skip out on the remainder to the top, and wait for me while I went on to tag the top. We had planned for this contingency with a picnic blanket and some books (carried in my pack), so we set her up and she had an enjoyable hour laying out in the sun. Can't say the views were too bad. All around us we had clear skies and hundred-mile views: the Playas Valley below us, with the giant Playas Smelter easily visible below. Animas Peak rose to our west, while Big Hatchet rose high to the south. The weather was warm and comfortable. I bid Beth a goodbye kiss and promised an hour round trip to the top and back.

I found the continuation of the path, and went on my way. A big pointed peak was visible in the immediate distance. I had hopes this might be the summit but knew better and sure enough this was just another false summit, marked as peak 6,579 on the map. The path/trail was much rougher here than before, and the way not always obvious, although the few occasions that I got off the path I easily found my way back onto it after some common-sense cross country. Eventually this leads to a small saddle just north of peak 6,579. I couldn't find any obvious paths after this so I started up, then trended right and figured my own way past this sub-summit. I probably got myself within 30 vertical feet of this peak's top, but then I saw the true top and some open terrain to get there, and I was on my way. I had to descend about 100 feet to another broad saddle, then it was easier slopes up the 240 feet to the top. The top is marked by a post stuck in some rocks. I found a register and signed in, then took a few photographs of the surrounding peaks. However, I didn't stay long, as I wanted to return to Beth and get out of the ever-increasing wind. The hike back went quickly, and I retraced my steps as best I could, periodically getting 'lost' and then working my way back onto the paths. I was back to Beth in exactly an hour, how about that.

Beth was having a fine time where she was, reading and writing, enjoying the quiet and solitude, but not so much the wind. It had really kicked up in the last hour and was becoming quite strong and very annoying! We bunched all her stuff together and back into my pack, and we started down. The downhill hike went pretty good, save for the wind which was sustained at least 30 mph, gusts up to 45 perhaps. Fortunately the whole hike itself isn't very long and we made good time back down to our truck, arriving about 2:30 p.m. So far as we could tell, no one had ever come by, which was good. We changed quickly and drove out, stopping after the gate to take down some information. I have sent the BLM Office in Las Cruces an email about this gate - it's probable they know about it, but there's the chance it was put in illegally. We shall see.

The drive back to the highway went well and we had a nice leisurely drive along NM-9 through Hachita and then through Columbus, where we stopped for cold drinks and a potty break. Then from here to Deming for groceries and then on up to the Faywood Springs, where some hot tubs with our names on it were waiting for us. We had a wonderful two nights and one day here, enjoying the soaks and the kitties who came by to visit us. The hot water was just what we needed for the leg muscles! Two days later we went onto our next objective, Burro Peak.