Route: Skyline Trail #251 (NM)

The Skyline Trail #251 is the longest trail in the Pecos (and I'd reckon the entire NM Sangres too.) This elegant, but sometimes rugged and slightly overgrown, point to point trail runs along the ridgecrest for roughly 70 miles from near Barillas Peak east of the town of Pecos, NM making a giant horseshoe bend around the Pecos river valley to just beyond the summit of "Deception Peak" at the Santa Fe Ski Basin. The trail does not travel over the summit of the major peaks of New Mexico's Sangres and, instead, passes by numerous high alpine lakes at the base of the high peaks. 

Old burn scars on the southern/eastern portion of the trail sometimes make for difficult travel but some of the worst areas have been partially cleared. Good navigational skills and intuition help manage these sections. It is these burned sections that have confined most users of the Skyline Trail to the more northern/western half of the trail. The trail's reputation of gnarly deadfall and burn scars on the southern/eastern portion have, as best I can tell, deterred anyone from ever attempting the trail in a single push. Instead, the hearty few that have done the entire trail did it in sections while backpacking. 

However, the reputation for deadfall and gnarly sections is not fully warranted and certainly not a reason to avoid the trail. It goes well enough and the tough sections are short enough and tolerable enough to not detract from the awesome experience of running the entire trail in a single go. The views of the high peaks of New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo mountains while running along high, open slopes are a treat not offered by many trails in New Mexico.