Kiowa Moutain Lookout Ride - North NM - Fall 2011

Route as ridden (this is a great route w/ all sorts of terrain):









Renegades and their bikes


























Early part of the ride heading North on FR97 in Comanche (fairly dry here) with some great sections of wet sand.



elgato gordo:





selaznog:







MontyCarlo
















This is the turn off of FR97 that takes you west toward Las Tablas /NM519..was just enough mud for fun.









elgato gordo took a wrong turn in this section while we waited.










the mighty XRR:









Hey, there he is.. Don't want to get speared by that lone Cali bow hunter.







More of the road heading toward Las Tablas/NM519














Loading up ready to roll again...we got a 120 mile loop.






Points North in the Loop:

Ok, this is section near US64 where things got a little cold.





Here we dare not forget to close the secret gate in US64 or risk getting shot.









Fall meets Winter:










Continuing with the area around Deer Park. Surreal scenery:









But then there was some real mud.













We finally got out of the "high (9500ft+)" portion and stopped for some on the trail snacks:


















It was suppose to be a sunny day...still the scenery was nice.













The Goal of this ride was the Kiowa Lookout Tower. We're headed there next.....


Ok, this post started because of my interest in the Kiowa Lookout as an epic ride report









Getting there and taking in the sights was well worth it all



Great little hideout with some 360 deg panoramic views:
















Yep.





















Some friends too!














You can see really far from this tower. This is looking north in the far horizon









San Antonio Mtn:










Who would've thought the outhouse also had a nice view?























At this point is was 3PM and was time to move on...we still had about another 60 miles of good ledges, riverbed sand, and a water crossing...so it was time to move on.






Final Pics...

These are pics of FR122 which is a great section between a canyon as you drop from forest pine to pinon.















I didn't get a pic of the ride thru the sweet sand of the river bed, but this is a video of the Rio Ojo Caliente crossing: