Hike Mount Sedgewick Cibola National Forest, NM

Oct 30, 2022 — Mount Sedgewick is the high point of the Zuni Mountains, but it's a quick hike with a lengthy drive. Kevin and I spent the day in the area hiking various bumps and cinder cones to feel like we got a good sense for this somewhat uninspiring range in western New Mexico. Despite being a trivial hike, I included this on my site because it's the high point of the range and the views were decent. Maybe that interests some? A combination of perpetually not undertanding time zones and having ambition to hike all day resulted in too early a start. Kevin said, greeting me cheerfully as I exited my car with multiple energy drinks in my hands, "That orange stuff to the east? Don't worry. It's not the world burning. It's just dawn."

If coming from the south, the road is rutted and muddy in parts, definitely unexpected. However, from the north the road is graded well. Navigate to this overall decent spur road (35.17469, -108.12873), but some erosion creates a couple of scary rivulets that passenger cars likely wouldn't want to attempt. We drove up and parked before the road curves north and become too rough for our taste. We hiked the short distance to Mount Sedgewick's summit, where we could see the lumpy terrain of the surrounding Zuni Mountains and Mount Taylor in the distance. Really, there's nothing much else to say about the hike or mountain. We were happy we had a bunch of other little things lined up to make the drive worthwhile.