Unit 5B is where the Santa Fe National Forest gets serious about timber. Most of the land sits between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, and it is heavily forested—hogback ridges and flat-topped mesas broken up by creek bottoms and grassy meadows. Below 7,000 feet you get desert grass, sage, and rabbitbrush with junipers in the draws. Mid-elevations are ponderosa, oak brush, and PJ. The high country is spruce, fir, aspen, and pine with those grassy ridgetop parks where elk like to feed at twilight. Gallina Peak is the landmark everbody uses to orient themselves. Most of the unit is Santa Fe NF with some BLM and state trust on the edges and private ranches in the valleys. The Jicarilla Apache Reservation borders to the north. NM 96 and FR 76 are your main roads; beyond that it's everything from maintained gravel to goat trails that require 4WD and optimism. Cuba and Coyote are the nearest supply towns. Cell service is essentially nonexistent in the forest interior—not reduced, not spotty, gone. Fall weather is classic mountain stuff: cold mornings that make you want to stay in the bag, warm midday sun that makes you shed layers, and the very real possibility of significant snow by mid-October. Carry chains and more food than you think you need. South of 5A, also bordering the Jicarilla Apache Reservation on the north. Santa Fe National Forest covers significant portions. The terrain is more timbered than 5A with better elk habitat in the ponderosa and mixed conifer zones. Gallina Peak area is the heart of the unit. Like 5A, the Jicarilla rez boundary is critical to know — crossing onto tribal land with a state tag is illegal. NM 96 between Cuba and Abiquiu is the main corridor. Access roads into the national forest are mostly dirt and can be rough in wet weather.