Hike Doña Ana Mountains Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument, NM

Nov 04, 2022 — The Doña Ana Mountains are a small clump of cool-looking peaks just outside of Las Cruces NM. Unfortunately, much of the range is on private property for research purposes. My original plan involved a large loop that would include Summerford Mountain and a bunch of small bumps within the range. However, I drove up to a locked gate and a passing employee in a truck kindly answered my questions regarding access, explaining there is no way on the property. Sure, I could probably sneak on the research area from another direction and never get caught, but I figured rather than disturb whatever research they had going on I'd begrudgingly be okay with a great reduction in number of peaks I'd get from my originally planned loop.

To reach the legal trailhead, navigate here (32.45130, -106.73203) and head west on a good dirt road suitable for Crossovers, though passenger cars might have trouble in some of the dips. Dona Ana Peak is the only named summit of the three I'd be getting today, and despite being the namesake for the range it's apparently actually lower than Peak 5840. My plan involved those two peaks, but I tacked on unranked Peak 5655 to start the loop. I started north along a good trail that led me to the base of the peaks. I could see the impressive faces of the mountains, particularly the sheer wall on the east side of Peak 5840. The trail I was on ultimately forms a loop in the foothills, but as it started to descend I left it and headed up the somewhat steep slope toward Peak 5655. There was a bunch of Class 2 to contend with, as well as larger boulders that either required me to pull a Class 3 or navigate around them and their surrounding brush. I made my way up to a wide basin-like feature that separates Peak 5840 from Peak 5655. Rather than initially continue all the way to the saddle, I started up the steep slope and was able to get to the flatter sumit area of Peak 5655 with only some Class 2/2+. Once up here, I headed toward the bouldery high point of this minor summit. I reached it by wrapping to the left of the boulder pile and scrambling a short Class 2+ section. The views from here were nice and I lamented not being able to hike the other peaks of the Dona Anas.

I headed south along the ridge, descending the steep, loose Class 2 slope to reach the saddle of Peak 5655 and Peak 5840. Overall the brush wasn't bad, though an occasional thorny plant did manage to snag me. Class 2 and more steep terrain got me up to the summit of Peak 5840, some navigating around rock outcroppings required. The summit has two high points vying for the honor, so I hiked to them both before starting south from the summit.

I'd read previous reports hinting that this peak is more commonly cimbed from the south using a specific weakness, so I was confident there was a way down. A couple of people seemed to actually fail to locate it on the way up, and I can sort of see how since it's a jumble of big boulders and seems pretty steep everywhere. Fortunately, coming down allowed me to see farther ahead, and with only a little bit of confusion I made a descending traverse on Class 2 until a Class 2+ section allowed me to get down to the slope below. From here I headed to the saddle with Dona Ana Peak and headed up, this being my final peak for the loop. Nothing exceeded Class 2 to gain the summit, and the views were quite nice. Colorful deposits to the west brightened the otherwise pretty bleak New Mexican landscape.

I headed back down and continued through a major drainage, the brush slightly more annoying, but still totally fine. As the drainage began to open, the watercourse itself became a bit more choked with boulders, introducing short spurts of Class 3 that can likely be avoided. The drainage ended at a dirt road, which I followed east. I picked up a trail that took me north to the trailhead.