Trail signs in Pecos Wilderness to prevent lost hikers

Oct. 17—The ease of access to the Pecos Wilderness lures many travelers to Santa Fe up to the Winsor Trail for an opportunity to take in the natural splendor that sits a few thousand feet above the country's highest state capital.

A 15-mile drive up Hyde Park Road transports visitors from the shops and restaurants around the Plaza to a beautiful alpine setting with the possibility to visit a high-elevation lake or bag a towering peak.

But some people arrive unaware of just how unforgiving the environment can be and end up getting more of a wilderness experience than they've bargained for.

Al Webster, an incident commander with New Mexico Search and Rescue, said over the last five years there's been an average of about eight search and rescue operations out of the Santa Fe ski basin and nearby Vista Grande Overlook area each year.

Many incidents, he said, stem from a lack of preparedness by visitors and a lack of clarity provided by the minimal signage along the trails.

"They don't have a map; they don't have the

10 essential things we talk about people needing when they go out into the wilderness," Webster said of unprepared hikers. "They've never scoped out the situation. They arrive from low altitude not being aware that when they hit 9,000 or 10,000 feet, they may have some problems getting enough oxygen. We run into that a lot.

"So they're having a wilderness experience, but people have died out there having these wilderness experiences."

In early September, a 74-year-old woman from Venezuela who was hiking with her niece got lost when she and her niece separated on the Winsor Trail. Instead of heading back to the ski basin parking lot, the woman took a wrong path off the Winsor Trail and was missing in the forest for more than 24 hours before being rescued by a National Guard helicopter in the Nambé drainage area the next day.

It was one of a series of search and rescue operations that prompted Santa Fe National Forest to work with the TERMITES volunteer trail maintenance crew and install temporary signs to add clarity to the current signage.

"We thought, 'Well, we really don't want to keep having these searches because we've had several this past summer,' " said Lynn Bjorklund, recreation team lead with the Española Ranger District of Santa Fe National Forest. "So the TERMITES, they did their own scouting and recommendations, and they said where they saw some problem areas that were right in line with Al Webster's recommendations."

Walter Futrell, project coordinator with the TERMITES, said his group has installed several temporary signs along the Winsor Trail including signs at six junctions between the ski basin and the trail's junction with Skyline Trail 251 that goes up to Penitente Peak.

Bjorklund said she's ordered about 20 new permanent signs that are expected to arrive this winter and will replace the laminated temporary signs when conditions allow.

U.S. Forest Service regulations stipulate minimal use of signs in wilderness areas.

According to the Sign and Poster Guidelines for the Forest Service, "hiking in a wilderness with few signs enhances the hiker's feelings of self reliance, self-discovery, challenge and solitude."

The guidelines say signs should be used "only when necessary to protect the resource or to provide for visitor safety." Only directional arrows to destinations are allowed on wilderness signs, not mileage to the destinations. And signs are not to indicate major destinations at the destination locations.

For seasoned hikers with navigational skills and tools, the limited signage isn't usually a problem. But for visitors to Santa Fe who don't have experience in the mountains and haven't studied the trail system, it can often lead to confusion.

"Part of the issue here in Santa Fe is you get novice people who show up here, and they really aren't wilderness people, and we get a bigger dose of those than at other places," Futrell said.

One of the main problem areas identified by search and rescue personnel and the TERMITES is the Winsor Trail junction with Trail No. 400, which goes up to Nambé Lake. The lake is one of the most popular destinations in the wilderness.

There are multiple social trails and paths created by grazing cattle along Rio Nambé that can perplex hikers trying to get to the lake or to return to Winsor Trail from it. On the way down from the lake, a few different paths come out on the Winsor but just one had signage, leaving some people unsure how to get back to the trailhead. The TERMITES installed temporary signs to try to make directions to destinations more apparent.

The TERMITES are also identifying areas in Santa Fe National Forest outside of the Pecos Wilderness where signs are damaged or confusing. Areas include the popular Borrego/Bear Wallow Trail and Chamisa Trail along Hyde Park Road.

Jim Knight, a field team leader with Santa Fe Search and Rescue, said New Mexico seems to lag behind other Western states when it comes to proper trail signage.

"I've hiked in a lot of other areas like in Colorado, Washington state, California, and I have noticed by comparison that the signage in those places is better than it is in New Mexico," Knight said. "So I don't think it's a hurdle for the Forest Service to do this. I think it's just a matter of we need to address the issue and put some action behind it."

Bjorklund said due to the close proximity between Santa Fe and the Pecos Wilderness, she's able to make some exceptions when it comes to U.S. Forest Service signage guidelines as Santa Fe National Forest works to address the issue.

"It is wilderness, and there is a wilderness policy to have minimal signage and have it natural in character, however, this is also an urban interface forest, and so safety prevails," she said.

The TERMITES have been finishing up another sign project just below the ski basin at the Norski Trail, which is used for hiking in the warmer months and cross country skiing in the winter.

The self-contained trail system can be a bit of a maze, and they've installed permanent wooden junction signs created by member Stuart Castle to help keep users from getting disoriented.

Bjorklund and the search and rescue personnel expressed gratitude for the volunteer work of the TERMITES in helping to reduce confusion in the forest. They hope the new signage will cut down on the number of times search and rescue operations are required to find lost hikers.

Lee Kolosna, another field team leader with Santa Fe Search and Rescue, said it takes more than clear signage to keep hikers safe in the wilderness.

Having suitable clothing for drastically changing weather conditions, a proper amount of food and water, a map for navigation and an understanding of the formidable terrain are vital in making sure a day hike doesn't turn into an unpleasant and possibly deadly overnight in the forest.

"I say this in all seriousness — these mountains here can kill you," Kolosna said. "We find a lot of people going out with a very cavalier attitude. We can end up having a snowstorm on the top of

Santa Fe Baldy in the middle of June, even if the weather is nice at the trailhead.

"Anybody who doesn't give a very healthy respect to the mountainous terrain that we have here does so at their peril."