On May 22, 1995, at 0830 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172H, N2840L, impacted mountainous terrain near San Ignacio, New Mexico. The pilot and passenger received serious injuries and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for this local area personal flight which departed Las Vegas, New Mexico, at 0745. According to the FAA inspector who conducted the on scene portion of the investigation, the flight was proceeding up a canyon with the occupants looking at real estate. The FAA inspector said that the pilot reported that the aircraft could not out-climb the terrain or reverse course. The pilot said the aircraft entered trees while attempting to turn and climb. The accident site elevation was 8,500 feet above mean sea level (msl) and the density altitude at the time was 11,500 feet msl.