The campground is still technically closed, but I visited the campground and did the Hermit’s Peak hike after parking further down on the road and walking in the extra quarter-mile to the campground. Following the devastating fires of this spring, 2022, I wanted to see how the landscape was recovering: there was extensive green groundcover and lots of plants returning to life, as well as verdant, green canopies from the variety of tree species. However, between the ground and the canopies, almost all of the tree trunks were charred from the fire, and will likely take ages to recover. Additionally, all the burnt groundcover meant that any rain turned into sloughing and subsidence everywhere. There was tons of sand from all of the flash, flooding and lots of debris in each of the drainage channels. That being said, it’s still one of the most beautiful hikes in New Mexico and I’m glad I was able to do it.