Enhanced gpx file is available | Section 5 alt route

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Author

Pam Neely
September 21, 2025

The enhanced gpx file is available for purchase

It’s $9.99 and includes 275 waypoints along the route of the thru-hike, including water sources, campsites, cell service, parking, trail conditions, and more. Get it here. Get it for $5 off with the promo code “takeahike”. (That’s just for you, email subscriber. ❤️)

Get the enhanced gpx for free if you become a SF2T member. (If you are a member already, you’ll get an email with access to the enhanced gpx late this evening.)

I have successfully imported the enhanced gpx file/s into AllTrails, CalTopo, Garmin, Gaia GPS, and onX.

The Section 5 alt route has been verified

It’s a little rough, but remote and beautiful. See a short video of one bit of it here.

I also found a delicious spring while tramping around out there. Unfortunately the unnamed ponds ended up being unnamed bogs.

This is the best access to water at the unnamed ponds that I saw. This is the smaller bog/pond. The fallen tree does reach the water, but the limbs would have to be cleared, and then some kind of second structure added. It’s not workable as is, and actually quite dangerous. No one is out here. If you got yourself into a situation, it could be… we’ll just say “bad”. I’m not anywhere near done with these ponds, though.

The larger bog/pond. From this view, the smaller pond would be on the left, behind the trees. There’s a track that runs along the far side of both ponds. There’s also supposed to be a little drainage stream to the north of these. I didn’t see it, but I didn’t look very hard. Had to scurry to get back to my car before it got too dark.

Some of the forest tracks have quite a bit of blowdown. This might actually be a good thing, because there is a lot of offroading vehicle activity in this area. The Forest Service has dug out these berm/trench-style blocks to keep them out, but the fallen trees are good backup.

You can read more about this alt route on the website, though I wrote that before I had walked the route. At the moment, I’m wondering if just using the route I took from Ojitos Maes Trail to Trail 124 then coming out near Bernardin Lake and FR 438 might be the best way to go.

Just what I’ve scouted so far will take 10.0 miles of Forest Road walking off the current route of the thru-hike. And the trails are there. It’s just a matter of refining the route a bit.

It’s funny how reactive I am about people’s comments. Much of this scouting is because two people complained about walking along Forest Roads. When I asked a few other thru-hikers about their experience with the Forest Roads, I got back mostly a “meh - yeah, less would be better” about half the time, but also “I liked them. I was tired by then, and the views were nice, and it was good to have some easy miles.”

I am also scouting these routes because scouting is fun, of course. It was great to be out there. Finding the spring and the section of trail that’s shown (in part) in that Instagram video was one of the best things that’s happened this summer.

The Outdoor Economics Conference was great

I had incredible luck with booth placement.

I met so many people - some of whom signed up for this newsletter. Also met a couple of people who could be incredibly helpful to the thru-hike and its goals. We might even get a trail maintenance team.

(Oh yeah… and I’m in talks with a potential Medical Director. Stay tuned.)

Lauren Roerick finished her thru-hike last week

She had a really good time. Stay tuned to her Instagram, and her YouTube channel, and to the Trek’s channels, too (Instagram, their website). Lauren has a Patreon account, too. And a website (of course). Her documentation of the thru-hike should be published very soon - like this week.

I got to meet her at Panchuela while I was staying overnight at Los Pinos Lodge in Cowles.

You read to the end! Amazing. Thanks.


Pam Neely
Founder and Route Creator (and Endless Tinkerer), The Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike


PS: I’m speaking at the Los Alamos Mountaineers’ meeting on October 28th.