San Pedro mtns area?

[threecats407]

Hi all. First post here. Years ago on one of my twice yearly trips to my beloved NM I thought I would explore a bit along hgy 344. I can't recall exactly where it was south of 344 that I found a place to pull off and hike around a bit. Off track a bit but this is why I remember the day so well. It was the morning I finally saw my first rattler. I'll lay out the circumstances and hopefully you will get the mental image.

It was early a/m and still quite cool. I found a log. I decided to get up and find a more comfortable spot. Luckily I did because that coiled but lethargic rattler would have been ground zero. Just switch a word in that phrase "Don't tread on me" sums it up.

Anyway after my heart rate returned to normal I began hiking around a bit. I ran into an older guy waiting for some of his pals to arrive. I guess he was a member of some prospecting club in ABQ and the location we were at was indeed called rattlesnake canyon. I guess since that day I have always been a bit curious about the area. It seems it's mostly private land surrounding and access is not easy and I believe I have seen photos of old cabins, mines, etc.

I am almost certain it was off 344 because after I took off I headed further east and remember that long N/S straightaway and semis hitting the brakes going south. I think too the views were awesome from that point where the road suddenly heads west.

Thanks.

ps was reading a bit on Malpais gold/treasure. To that I can only say one thing. Out of all the badlands I have often hiked, the lava fields at Grants malpais is the only place that spooked me. Talk about a 'take no prisoners' area! Heck, I hear they still find skeletons now and again in those deep crevasse

 

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I know a response is a tad late but yes 344 does go past ts San Pedro's also known as the New Placers. The Old Placers are just to the North in the Ortiz mountains where a large gold deposit was found in the 1800's and was still active last I heard.
I got a chance to go to a mine in the San Pedro's in July. Lots of garnets. It was mostly a chrysocolla copper mine but the mountain also had gold. The GPAA has a claim there too.

At Malpais a few years ago a father and daughter disappeared while hiking. Even though a large number of people joined the search they were not found. Some years later their bodies were found right in the search area but missed somehow. So ya it's is a challenging place.