Brown Canyon Loop trail (5.3 miles)

It's my last day of summer vacation. My last early-morning walk with Bill for a while.

Today's walk was much like Sunday's hike up Carr: steady and slow.  Bill and I met at 5:20am off Ramsey Canyon Road and the trailhead parking area and walked the maintenance road toward the Brown Ranch.  Sunrise was at 5:36am but the cloud cover was too thick to offer much splendor  The ground was damp from last night's lingering rain, and cool air kept me moving.  I only wore a t-shirt as a top, leaving water and pack behind in the truck.

Yellow sunflowers dotted the fields along the road.  There wasn't much variety here.  I spotted some white clover and the Golden Banner.  The one flower I saw here that I didn't see around Carr Peak is the Sweet Four O'Clocks (Mirabillis longiflora), white tubular flowers on spiny brushes.  The brush itself is rather nondescript, but the flowers make this brush stand out for a while.

We didn't see many flowers once we were in the canyon.  The juniper, pine and oaks must prevent flowers from growing here.  We spotted a few firecrackerbrush, some mushrooms, and saw some plays with light as the sun began to rise above treeline.  The woman with the young chocolate Lab Lance was out today.  When we hit the high part of the loop, we started running into the high school mountainbike team.

I was surprised to see no fresh water in the trough.  Neither Sadie nor Zeke would drink from it today.  They found some water puddle father up the trail.  I could tell there was a short flood from the rain, but nothing stayed.  We will need much more rain to get the creeks running again.

The one unique flower today was near Ramsey Canyon Road, growing from stalks in a ditch.  This flower stalk had white spherical bulbs and bees were digging into the flowers.  It looked so out of place in that ditch.  Perhaps it was a stray domesticated hydrangea, but then the leaves didn't match.

Cool air had been replaced with warm air as we finished our walk.  It took us over two hours, but we weren't concerned.  With our schedules filling up again, we won't be seeing much of each other unless we continue our evening walks.

I was concerned, however, of my itchy, runny eyes.  I waited 15 minutes for the Dollar General in Hereford to open at 8am so that I could get some generic allergy pills.  I'm not starting the new school year looking like a blood-shot zombie.

Carr Peak with Bill, Sadie and Zeke

Bill and I agreed this would be a photographic endeavor, to see what kind of wildflowers would be blooming.  We last were on the peak in late June and were already surprised of the variety.

I missed the sunrise and arrived ten minutes too late for us to drive up to the Sawmill trailhead and see the sunrise from above.  The pinks and purples of today's pretty sunrise remain unrecorded.

We got to the trailhead at 6:15am.  Two other cars were already in the parking area.  I figured we would have company on this trail.  We only encountered one group, a family of three and their young Weimaraner, and they had just ascended the peak.

We both held a steady pace as we hiked uphill.  The hike was easy for me, having bagged two peaks over 10,000' just a little over a week ago.  I don't want to lose my conditioning.

We agreed not to wait for the other since we knew the route.  With both of us taking photos, we knew we both would be stopping and going.  We both have a strong pace.  We never lost each other, though.

The first flowers we encountered were the white asters.  There were across the elevation range up to the higherl 8000' range.  Also saw some primrose.  Then came purple verbena. Firecracker penstemons then began to dot the fields once we hit the Miller Peak wilderness.  Once we got on the main trail heading toward Carr Peak, we hit the sunflowers and bright-eyed Susans. For a long stretch of today's hike we walked across fields of asters, sunflowers, and verbena.  What a lovely color combination.

Many of the same flowers that had been blooming in June were still around.  The red thistle is now blooming in the higher elevations and turning to seed in the lower elevations.  Most of the goldenrods have gone to seed, but other yellow flowers are taking over.  The only place where we found the white snow thistle, though, was in the middle, along the switchback of the main trail.  It seems to thrive in direct sunlight.

Chance of rain for today remained at 70% all day.  Humidity was at 68%.  The haze was pronounced.  Visibility was at ten miles, so even San Jose Peak in Mexico was diffused.

It was already approaching 73F as we neared the peak.  We could feel the humidity on our bodies. There was very little breeze, too.  Nonetheless,the joy of looking for flowers (we didn't have to look; they were everywhere!) made today's hike enjoyable.  While we didn't break any speed records, I can't recall the last time I had so much fun photographing flowers and landscapes.

One concern I have is the lack of water.  The little waterfall in the aspen grove had NO water!  Even the moss is turning brown here.  I had a liter of water for the dogs, but was surprised there was none on the trail despite last night's rain.  The ground was damp in the shady parts.

Butterflies, birds, and collared lizards entertained us.  My phone is too slow to capture birds, but I did come across a few lizards.

Winds were calm on the peak.  Onionweed is now in bloom, clustered around the peak where a month ago the penstemon where.  There were no ladybugs on the peak, though.  They tend to gather here in the third week in July and stick to a tight schedule.

We didn't stay on the peak long, just long enough to take photos and drink some water.  The dogs sought shade under the bushes and watched us.  Clouds were starting to billow and I did not want to get caught in a storm.

The hike took us 3:55 hours.  It didn't seem that long!  We had hiked as long as we did yesterday on the Perimeter trail loop.

I thoroughly enjoyed today's hike, the company, the weather, and the scenery.  Both dogs were very well behaved.

I came home to brag to Kevin about the fun I had hiking.  He didn't seem all that impressed.

And then, somehow, I fell asleep.  It had rained hard late in the afternoon.  I awoke at 6:30pm thinking it was Monday at 6:30am.  Why was Kevin asleep in bed?  Then I realized it was Sunday evening, not Monday morning.

I want to do the same kind of hike today next month hiking up Mount Wrightson.  If we get enough rain, that mountain top will be covered in all kinds of flowers.

The Gila

It was a dark, quiet night that morphed into a quiet morning.  My little campsite was isolated from any human noise.  I'm thankful that I moved away from that crowded site last night.

The hotsprings location is marked by a rock cairn.  Tall reeds surround the spot.  Muddy water swirls in the area.  Sadie stepped into the warm water and quickly got out of the water.  While the hotsprings registers 109F (according to the Visitor's center), the edge of the springs is warm.  It simply didn't look inviting.  I continued the hike, determined to hike two miles and turn around.

I didn't get very far.  The rhyolite cliffs came into view. The trail went up an embankment and skirted under the cliffs, and then just stopped.  There was no sign that there was a landslide here.  Was I to ford the river at this point?  I just preferred to turn around and hike elsewhere, somewhere with more shade.

The next trail was the Gila River trail just north of the Cliff Dwellings.  A young brunette uniformed park volunteer couldn't give me much information about this trail, which starts out traversing through a thick canopy of trees.  "I hiked that earlier this summer with my group and we ended up hiking in a big circle" she said.  "the signs aren't marked very well!"

Now that was encouraging.  I waited in the truck for a few young hikers to get past me before starting with the dogs.  A young man jogged back to the parking lot, looked around, and then jogged back to wherever he came from.  I followed the trail that soon crossed the river twice, but then left the river and crossed an exposed meadow.  This was the river trail? I stayed to the left, hoping the trail would meet up with the river in the next canyon. Perhaps on a cooler or overcast day I'd have explored it some more, but I was not enjoying this and neither were the dogs.  I now had had enough and again turned around.  I was done hiking for the day.

Shortly after coming back to the trail intersection, I met up with a father and what I assume were his three sons, including the teen that I saw jogging to the trailhead earlier.  They were lost and the teen was trying to find out where the trails led.  They were looking for the TJ Corral trail.  The trailhead is a mile south from the Cliff Dwellings, but the other end of the trail was off the trail we were on.  The trail was not numbered on the park map they had (what good is that?) We chatted a bit before the dad decided to resume their hike up the side trail.

Clouds were now getting darker.  I did not want to get stuck in a flash flood in this area.  I stopped at a campsite to quickly wash my hair, and then got on the return drive back to Silver City.  It started rumbling as I drove off.  I was barely on a high point when it began to rain.

Socorro's The Box, Very Large Array and back to Silver City

Triple digit heat was forecasted for south central NM.  That meant I had to get up before sunrise and walk around The Box Recreation Area, a popular rock-climbing area nine miles west of Socorro on US60.  There were already several women getting ready for a trail run, and a few rock climbers camping in their trucks off the road.  I stayed close to the highway and walked the dry wash just long enough to see the sun rise.  I didn't drive eight miles on a dirt road to the official trailhead; there were too many unmarked roads that looked to be going nowhere.  The geology here is quite interesting and I can see why rock climbers like this place.  The rocky cliffs flank either side of the wash. Rhyolite is prone to caves that are enticing, but I didn't explore any of them. Managed by the BLM, this place isn't as crowded as other federal lands are.

My next destination was the Very Large Array 60 miles west of Socorro on US60. This is part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, of which there are several this size around the world.  I've always wanted to see that place.  Ice on Mercury was discovered here, massive Black Holes, and several other ground-breaking astronomical discoveries came from this place.  I'm in awe of the scientists who do work here.  But when people say it's in the middle of nowhere, they aren't joking.  I had to pull over at least once to rest; highway hypnosis was hitting me.  Traffic was light.

The complex is in the San Agustin Plain, a 7000' high sagebrush plain covered former ocean floor close to no civilization.  The white structures are visible ten miles away. It was 9:30am when I got there and only two people were ahead of me.  Dogs are allowed on the self-guided walking trail, but Sadie was already hurting from the heat.  I didn't stay long, but I must say seeing those 90'-tall radars up close is rather impressive.  I should have stayed in the visitor's center longer and read all the informational plaques while the dogs rested in the truck in the shade.  I would have gotten more out of this visit, and the dogs wouldn't have had to walk on warm pavement.

I'm just curious where the 100 employees of the Very Large Array live.  The towns near this place are rundown and amenities are few.

Once I left the VLA, the drive on US60 became hotter and more tiresome. I turned south on NM12 and was at least nearing the Gila Mountains, but previous visits to the towns here revealed a hostility toward government, wildlife conservation, President Obama, and I still found residue of that here by the billboards along the way.  This area contrasts sharply with the area around Taos.  Reserve and Old Horse Springs were especially anti-government.

I stopped in Reserve for another break from driving.  It was now in the upper 90s.  The San Francisco River was dry and I couldn't take the dogs down for a water break, soI had to make do with the water in the truck.  At least the home owners didn't demand that I leave.

Reserve is a town popular with hunters, who stop in to eat at Ella's or who frequent the bar or store in town.  It's not a bad town, but not a town I feel comfortable in.  At least the anti-wolf posters have been removed from posts and trees in the area, making the town appear less hostile to more environmental/conservational-minded people like me.

This part of New Mexico still looked very drought-stricken.  The grasses were dry, creek beds empty. The heat and dryness make hiking very uncomfortable.  The San Francisco hotsprings, located on a 2.5-mile hike off US180, are springs that have been on my bucket list. I would have tried the trail today, but it was simply too hot for the dogs and me. I didn't see the landscape green up until I was south of NM78 and 30 miles from Silver City.

What a relief to finally be back in civilization!  That 210-mile drive from Socorro to Silver City was exhausting!  I will never do that drive again in the summer.  I ate a mediocre bean and cheese burrito via a small drive-through Mexican place, then stopped in at the Toad Creek Brewery where Veronica recognized me.  She really makes this place light up with her constant positivity and I like that about any place I visit.  I stayed long enough to try the Pendejo Porter and the Pilsner, played around on my smartphone, and just before leaving a local turned to me and asked "So, what you think about our place?" to which I replied in a long narrative how much I enjoy coming to Silver City and hiking the Gila.  I really should come more often.

I have only one more thing to do before I make that final stretch home:  hike the Jordan Hot Springs.  I haven't done that since 2013.  It's time I see how the trail has been cleared from debris after floodings late that fall wiped it out.

The drive to the Jordan Hot Springs on NM15 takes 90 minutes, along a narrow, winding, unmarked two-lane road.  Getting behind an RV can slow you down.  The road stops at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.  The hot springs trail is just a mile before the cliff houses at the TJ Corral.  I made it to the river just after sunset, but long enough to let the dogs out and finally get a cool walk by some water.  Even at dusk the Gila is an inspiring place.  I camped out at the Lower Scorpion campsite and was the only one there.

Albuquerque: Traveline Falls

The campsite was quiet and I slept well, but when I got up to shower at 6am, still felt very tired. Another camper was up washing clothes next to the shower/bathrooms and we exchanged proverbial greetings, but otherwise there were no humans yet awake.  I liked this campsite and will use it again when in the area.

I had a hard time getting going, though.  I rested for another hour in a shaded parking area which I think was part of the base exchange, then stopped for breakfast at the McDonald's, a rather nice one for the chain.  It was 9am before I finally got going again, in direction of the falls in the mountains, a 1.6-mile o/w trail.  and 14 miles east. It would be my last hike before resuming the drive south.  Thea trailhead is just outside an upscale neighborhood.

The information on Alltrails was wrong.  It was not a 1.6-mile hike.  The "falls" were at .5 miles and were dry, so I just continued hiking up to the Faulty loop trail, a pleasant 5.2-mile loop along a low ridge.  It began as a trail among pinon pine and juniper (love the scent!) to Ponderosa, spruce and juniper higher up.  There are views toward the south from parts of the exposed trail, but nothing too awe-inspiring. The trail was wide and smooth enough, but confusing at several trail intersections. All the drainages were dry, though, and the dogs were warm.  I had to stop a few times to give them shade breaks.  I met other loop hikers on this popular loop, all resting in the shade.  Without shade, this would have been a very hot hike.

When we got back down to just above the falls were a small trickle of water flowed, the dogs flopped down in the cool stream and soaked their bellies.  I let them rest for 20 minutes.  Sadie looked especially tired, a warning sign for me to cut back on hiking in the heat with her.

I was now on my return drive south, along Route 66 back into Albuquerque.  Part of the route was closed off for a summer blues festival. It was getting warm today.  I tried a different brewpub, Bosque's which is a block away from Kelly's off Route 66.  This place is as popular as Kelly's!  It's got a large dining area and mounted TVs. I would have taken the dogs out on the patio, but there was a three-month-old grey Great Dane pup enjoying her shade with her owner and I didn't want to ruin it for her.  Sadie has been especially aggressive this time around other dogs and I don't want to risk it anymore.  I stayed long enough to try a watermellon wheat and a regular hefeweizen before resuming my drive south toward Socorro.  With two brewpubs along Route 66 and seeing the activity along this stretch of highway, I can say that this is the hip and happening place in town.

My next destination is now Socorro, only 70 miles south on I-25

Albuquerque and the heat

I hated leaving Santa Fe.  There is still so much to see and do in the area.  But with my truck, lingering around any longer and having a dental appointment next week, I need to start thinking of heading home. The tall mountains are now behind me.  I have hot desert terrain to look forward to.  This is how my trip began July 3rd: driving through the Southwestern desert, sweating in an old truck with no AC.  It's anyone's dream road trip.

Taking a hotel room was a wise decision.  Both dogs slept soundly through the night.  Sadie especially slept as soon as we got into the two-bed room.  I hated waking her for her morning pee this morning, but pee she did and so did Zeke, with enough urine to saturate the patch of grass by the stairwell.  She still acts out of it.  It's going to be a rest day, with any hiking done late in the evening.  The Petroglyph National Monument is to the west of town.  Going there is tempting, as I missed all the other petroglyphs on previous hikes.

Temperatures in Albuquerque are expected to reach 90F today.

The hotel was near the Petroglyphs.  I stopped at the Riconado trail (2.2 m) on the south side, but soon as I stepped outside the truck, the heat radiating off the soft sand hit me.  I kept the dogs in the truck with the windows open half-way, then powerwalked the trail on my own.  The petroglyphs are etched in black lava rock and the trail goes around the rocks.  The petroglyphs are hard to see, but the park has important ones noted by signs that make one look up to find them.  I needed more time than the 38 minutes I had, so this would be a better trip in the winter without the heat pounding down.  The ranger at the visitor's center was very helpful and cordial with my questions.

Starting the hikes today much later than normal messed with my sense of time.  It was 3pm when I decided to go on a short water hike and picked the Piedras Lisa-Waterfall trail in the Sandia wilderness.  That was another 22 miles northwest, retracing part of the drive I did last night.

The Sandias are craggy mountains so unlike the Carson National Forest.  Studded with pinon pines and juniper, the fragrance is strong here.  The trailhead is outside a fee area and I was the only car in the lot.  Both dogs were anxious to get hiking finally, even Sadie, but both dogs were slow and that's fine as I went at their pace and stopped four times in 2.5miles for them to get shade breaks.  There was no water anywhere but the shade was nice the higher we got.  Dark clouds loomed overhead but no rain ever fell.

The Sandias are pretty mountains.  The trail is wide and the surface made of decomposed granite.  The first half-mile goes around an upscale neighborhood in a box canyon, many homes which have large solar panels on the roofs.  Luckily the trail gets away from civilization and tops off at the rocky ridge, where we stopped, took a break, and then went back down.

We manged 4.9 miles in two hours.  That was enough for today.  I went back into the western part of Albuquerque where we were earlier in the morning and stopped in at the Lava Rock Brewing Company just south of the first trail I was at.  The parking lot was packed even at 6pm.

More later

Deception Peak (12298') via the Aspen Vista Trail (13.6 miles)

(These are notes.  I'll add more when I'm back home)

There is something energizing about sleeping at 9600'.   For the second night in a row, I slept good.  So did the dogs. The parking area to the campgrounds was more crowded this time.  Perhaps they were also car camping.

We started the hike at 6:30am.  There weren't as many people this morning, and perhaps because of the 50% "chance of rain" in the forecast few people other than  diehard mountainbikers were in the parking lot.  Skies were clear.  It did feel cooler than yesterday.  I never took off my yellow sweater.  My goal was to make it to the top of Tesuque Peak, location of four radio towers, a 12-mile out-and-back hike on an active forest road used by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to maintain the towers but closed to the public.

A herd of cattle lingering in front of the trailhead slowed me down.  I watched how two cows squeezed their way through the pedestrian opening.  There was one lone cow even farther up the trail.

Only two people started ahead of me, both trail runners.  One sported a green jersey with "Lietuva"  (Lithuania) on it.  He was coming down the mountain as I was getting started, and then two women who were perhaps just minutes behind me joined me at the top.  Sadie found a shady spot by a generator room and I let her rest.  Perhaps I was taxing her too much on this hike?

It took me just 2:02 hours to make it to the overlook where I turned around with Katzi yesterday.   It got steeper here for a bit, shaded again by more spruce and firs, before I got to the first electric wires at the 5.4-mile mark.  Again the views to the north opened up.  The second trail runner, looking much more exhausted than the first one, was now coming around.

The views got even better at the top of Tesuque. Santa Fe lake is visible to the north of the radio towers.  The view of the next hill, Deception Peak, is even more scenic than Tesuque Peak, as the wilderness opened up to high peaks and pine-tree studded ridgelines. 

Deception peak drew me in, and a little stroll through the pines to get to that peak ended up being another peak bag in the Santa Fe Wilderness. The only trees were a few stunted pines along the rocky edge toward the small lake below, where I rested the dogs.  Shortly after taking a break here, though, the day's mountain hikers started showing up, and soon it became a congested line of humans going and coming, including people easily 20 years my senior who had no trouble with this peak.  They reached the peak, enjoyed the view, and quickly started on their return hike.

One lone hiker had climbed to the top of Lake Peak, a craggy climb that he said is much harder than it looks.  I made Deception Peak my end destination, knowing that it was seven miles one way and easily almost twice as long by the time we finished.   This lone hiker pointed out other peaks in the area: Trucheses in the distance, and other ridgeline peaks.  Trucheses does look like Wheeler, with a bald alpine top and conifers below.

Dark clouds were now forming overhead.  Maybe that is why the hikers didn't linger long on the peak.  I did the same, but now I could tell that both dogs were tired.  The sky rumbled a bit but it never rained, thankfully, which allowed me to take my time going down with the dogs.  I can now see why people like walking up this road: the views are nice, the grade isn't too hard, and there's plenty of shade depending on what time of day one starts.

I was glad to be back at the truck.  So where the dogs.  It wasn't as crowded as yesterday.  I sat in the truck drinking some warm green tea and watching others.  My feet were up on the dashboard.  I, too, was tired but this was a good tired.

The cows from this morning had moved over to the other side of the road, but there were other dogs for Zeke and Sadie to bark at. (Both have become aggressive barkers on this road trip; I hope this isn't a permanent change.)

There are so many wonderful trails on this road, all offering something for all levels of fitness.  Santa Feans don't even have to drive far or pay much to enjoy this wilderness, and they seem to keep it clean with the bag in-take out rules in effect.  I would definitely enjoy a return to this area.  But now I must start focusing on the drive south.

I stopped in at the Santa Fe taphouse in town.  I parked the dogs in the shade and stepped inside what looked like a former house, with small rooms, wooden floors, and a window area with couches and coffee tables.  I sat at the bar and tried the wheat beer and pilsner, both which were very good.  This is a place where locals hang out.  While there is ample parking in the rear, getting to this place near the plaza is not easy.

I like Santa Fe. I like its many adobe architecture, especially in the historic section.  I enjoyed the plaza and the many displays of Native American art and sculptures, but didn't enjoy paying $2 an hour to park (one nickel only gives you one minute!).  I noticed many transients sitting around harassing tourists and passers-by, and later on what must have been several drug addicts hanging around a McDonald's on Cerillos Avenue, the major SW artery into town.

I didn't mean to hang out at the McDonald's for so long.  I like using the chain for its reliable wifi access, and I had a lot of updating to do.  I ordered a drink, four chicken sandwiches (two to go) and just started typing away, not realizing that I had spent several hours there refilling my large plastic cup.  It was turning dusk before I left, leaving Santa Fe behind for Albuquerque.  I made a hotel reservation with the Motel6 off Iliff Avenue, in the town's western section south of the Petroglyphs National Monument. I needed a good soaking and needed to wash some clothes. It was the first time on this part of the road trip that I violated my rule of no night time driving.  This time, just getting there and out of the heat was more important.

The section on I-25 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque is a busy one, much like the Phoenix-Tuscon section on I-10.  The two cities are connected by a Railrider, though, a fast double-decker train that parallels the interstate.  This is something that the Phoenix-Tuscon area is still working on.

The drive was uneventful until with 40 miles to go, my truck had another gasoline fart.  I heard the explosion and the immediate smell of gasoline coming from the front.  No gauges showed any error, though, and I continued driving, but from then on until I parked for the night by the motel, I was tense, digging my fingernails into my steering wheel.

There are several Motel6s in the I-40/I-25 interchange and I went to the wrong one.  This is not a good thing when one has to pee.  I finally arrived at 11:30pm, with a city cop standing behind the clerk.  That same cop roamed the hotel premises while I was up and getting stuff out of the truck.  I hope his presence kept any hoodlums quiet, as there were no other incidents during my stay. The room itself was rather nice, too.  I had a double bed room but both dogs slept on the floor.

Aspen Vista trail to viewpoint

The Tesuque campsite was quiet when I took off for the trailhead two miles up the road. Only four cars were in the parking lot when I left the Little Tesuque campsite. I was one of the first ones in the parking lot for the Aspen Vista trail, just before sunrise.  I was cold, and used the cold to stall my take-off time up the old forest road to the radio towers six miles up the road.  How far would I make it?

Soon the lot filled up with cars and people standing outside their vehicles to chat.  Where was everyone heading?  I chatted with three older men who recommended I try the Aspen trail for the views, and that is what I did.  The Aspen Vista trail is a gated forest service road that meanders uphill to the radio towers above the ski lift.  I would go long enough to get a good workout in.

I kept a steady pace.  I had the dogs offleash here since no one else was around.  Soon I noticed a blonde woman in a large strawhat gaining up to me.  Were the dogs preventing her from passing me?  I yelled at her not to worry, that the dogs were friendly, but I could not understand what her response was. At the 2.5-mile mark I rested on a boulder and reigned the dogs in to let her pass. A squirrel behind me up a pine tree was busy knocking pine cones to the ground and chattering; I was disturbing its peace.

But the woman didn't want to pass.  She was fine being behind me.  It turns out she was out to test herself, wanting to go as far as she could in one hour, and then turned around.  She hadn't hiked in a while and was unsure of her abilities.

"Why not try to make it to the overlook?" I asked.  "It's only another 1.5 miles away!"  She agreed and we became hiking partners for the duration of the hike.  She is Katzi, originally from the Austin area but now in Santa Fe, hiking on her day off from the bed and breakfast she works at.

By now the three older men from the parking lot were also catching up with us.  While I stayed with Katzi and answered her questions about solo-hiking (Wasn't I afraid, what do I use for protection?), the three men were never far away at this point.  The dogs were comfortable and went offleash again.

The Aspen Vista at the 3.4 through 3.9-mile mark makes a nice destination.  The Rio Grande valley stretches out along the northwestern horizon.   Large boulders off the road make sitting here inviting.  The road continues with a sharp turn uphill and disappears into the higher pines.  I opted to make this my destination for the day, sat down on the ground and chatted with Katzi and the men.

"The views from the top are spectacular!" said one man.  Continuing my hike to that hilltop was tempting, but in the end I opted to join Katzi for the return walk. to make her feel confident.  She had made it this far with little effort.

"See how easy it was?  Don't underestimate yourself!" I reassured her.  Getting out into the wilderness for me is often about challenging myself. 

People were now catching up to us by this point, including other dogwalkers.  I erred and left the dogs offleash.  Zeke saw another dog and ran up to that dog, barking in its face and totally pissing off (rightfully) the owner.  I had Sadie on leash but wasn't expecting Zeke to be the aggressor.  "I'm sorry, he's normally very friendly!" I told the man.  "Yeah, that's what they all say" he answered back.  Point well taken.  So both dogs went back on leash as Katzi and I chatted some more.  I took them offleash when the crowds passed.

It was past 10am and the trail was humming with traffic.  What was once a shaded early-morning hike was now a sunny road, with families of all ages and abilities starting the trail.

I stopped to take pictures of flowers and a pair of butterflies mating in flight.  The butterfly doing the flying was weighed down with its mate and had to take frequent stops on the ground.   

Katzi was now ahead and not slowing down for me.  Were the dogs annoying her now?  Sadie, as usual, ran ahead of me that last quarter mile, ignoring my calls and just trotting back to the truck.  A young couple with child and dog saw her come toward them.  Sadie attacked the dog and bit its ear.  I didn't see that part, but took the man's word for it.  Sadie has been rather cranky on this road trip, but actually attacking another dog is not something she has done before.  Bark and nip, yes, but not attack.  I was willing to give them my name and address, but the woman assured me that wasn't necessary as it wasn't a serious bite.  Still, the news upset me.

Katzi and I hugged and thanked each other for the company.  "You pushed me forward!" Katzi told me.   I will continue to push people (and myself) to achieve their physical limits.  It's something I've done all my life.

The parking lot was now full.  The dogs and I were tired.  Katzi drove off, then I did, too, but soon lost her in traffic once we got back into Santa Fe.  She had told me there was a recycling station just down the road, but even that proved too puzzling.  I have so many tin cans from all the canned dog food to drop off.

It was after 1pm.  I was hungry and thirsting for a craftbeer.  The Santa Fe Brewing company off Water Street in the historic section doesn't open until 3pm and I didn't want to wait around for that.  The place doesn't serve food anyway. I needed to eat.

So back on TripAdvisor I went to look up highly-rated restaurants.  I chose the Blue Corn Brewery on Cerillos Avenue, which is a main southwest-northeast artery through town, away from parking meters and tourist crowds, but with long traffic lights at every intersection.  The place wasn't very busy when I pulled up and parked on the shady side of the building.  The dogs were content and napping and I went inside.  I was inside long enough for a cheese enchilada meal and two beers. This is a big, spacious restaurant with three large rooms and an outdoor patio, but dogs are not allowed anywhere.

Full of food and rehydrated, I wanted to check out the old town plaza.  I enjoy Spanish plazas, they invite one to sit down on a bench and people watch.  There was a music festival going on and parking was hard to find.  I didn't want to take the dogs out because of the crowd and had to find a shaded area for them.  Parking is $2/hour and five cents gets you a minute (!!!) parking time.  Throwing in all my coins that I had handy only gave me enough time to 5:50pm, and the meters go free after 6pm.

The Plaza is what draws a lot of art collectors, shoppers and fine diners to Santa Fe.  Buildings around here are restored to the old Spanish style of the 16th century.  Sadly, the plaza has outgrown its surroundings.  Built when horse and carriage were the transportation, the many cars and motorcycles now crowd out this pedestrian haven.  Homeless sit in street corners and argue with passers-by.  It's loud, it's crowded and everything is overpriced.  And yet, it's still worth visiting.

I walked around as long as the meter was running, but got back feeling more exhausted.  The heat was on.  And that's when I decided to drive back up the mountain, camp at the same campground as last night and enjoy one more day of mountain coolness.

Leaving Taos and moving south to Santa Fe

I was up before sunrise and drove south on NM68.  What a beautiful drive!  The road meanders around sandy hills on the east side of the Rio Grande.  The gorge is visible a few miles to the west,  but one must be careful as the road is curvy.  The river here has access points for rafters.

The land east of the road is Native American land belonging to the Nambe tribe.

I stopped in the small Native American town of Cimarra to hike the "High Road to Taos Trail," according to the Allrails app, but I believe the trail is not meant to be a public trail as there are no signs for the access point.  What I did find is an abandoned trail across from the town's Sanctuario, an historic chappel owned by a local family for over 100 years.  The trail is a narrow ridgeline hike on soft red sandy hills that are dotted with crosses.  I hit three crosses out of four.  The rains from last night had moistened the ground to dangerous soft conditions, yet I could see recent footprints along the ridges.  The hike felt more like a pilgrimage walk.  Watching where I placed my feet was imperative. 

The "hike" was just under three miles.  I toured the chapel while the dogs rested in the truck and then continued south toward Santa Fe.  It was either my lack of caffeine or the heat that tired me out.  I could barely stay awake.

More later... 

Wild Rivers Recreation Area

Rain was forecasted by 1pm.  That didn't give me much time.  I stopped at "Elevations" coffee shop for a triple cappuccino but again the coffee didn't impress me.

The drive north to Questa, NM is a scenic on on NM522.  It's part of the "Enchanted Circle" drive around the mountain range.  Questa is a Native American town 22 miles north of Taos, but the entrance to the BLM-managed lands of the Wild Rivers Recreation Area is another 20 miles on a two-lane road (State Road 378) skirting the Rio Grande gorge. The views from any angle make hiking down to the river tempting.

Big Horn sheep call this place home.  The first stop in this rec area is a simple parking lot offering views of Big Sheep.  I passed this pull-off vista point, but parked at the next parking area, the Chiflo trail head, with a short .4-mile switchback hike down to the river.  What an ideal spot for solitude!    The hike down was easy (not so easy going back up) and once we reached the cool river still shaded by the rhyolite cliffs from above, I took a faint game trail upstream as well as hopped on protruding lava rocks, before turning around and doing the same thing going downstream until we reached a water gauge.  The beige tank was visible from the Chiflo trail's end and I was curious: how deep was the water level?  The many rock barriers didn't look all that deep, and whitewater rafting certainly wouldn't be enjoyable with protruding boulders in the water.

I stayed on the faint game trail, hopping over charcoal-grey lava rocks before hitting the beige tank.  The gauge stated 13 feet and was low to the ground.  What is the normal water level here?  I climbed the mesh steel steps to the top of the tank's bridge while the dogs waited patiently below.  Mesh metal is not their favorite, and for their sake I only stayed long enough to take photos, then climbed back down to resume our return hike.

We were still in the shade, although the river was now in the sun.  This was the perfect morning hike!  The dogs stayed cooled and refreshed.

Just before the end of the trail, with the rim above us hiding full view, I heard the galloping of hooves.  Zeke took off.  All I saw were the tailend of what I assume are Bighorn Sheep, who darted off to avoid the nuisance dog.  I followed the sheep down the trail the sheep had taken, but they were already in their secret hiding spot.  We got back to the truck to resume our drive into the official recreation area.

A family from Kansas were at the pay station.  The cheerful woman, about my age, recommended I take the Little Arsenic Trail down to the river, then hike another 1.4-miles along a sagebrush-covered meadow to the confluence of the Red River/Rio Grande.  That was excellent advice.  The trailhead was still ten miles south along the road.

More later...

Taos: Enjoying some history

(Notes to myself)

Rain clouds came early over the mountains and I made sure I was in the valley by late morning before the first drops fell.

France won the World Cup against Croatia, 4:2.

I stopped in the village of Arroyo Seco, which NM150 cuts through. Speed limit is 15mph since the buildings are right off the road and the road curves around the the center of town.  It's an odd design.  I had a triple cappuccino at the Taos Cow, parked in the shade and drank my caffeine.  A sign on the patio said "NO PETS" yet an old dog napped on its bed on the patio.  At least the shade kept Sadie and Zeke cool, and I joined them while sipping my coffee.  This coffee shop is popular with bikers.

This is a popular place for a variety of people, not just bikers, but I wasn't impressed with my $5.75 coffee.

What to do today?  Sadie looked exhausted and I wasn't feeling all that chipper myself.  Since rain came over Taos by 11am, I just opted to use today as a history-walking tour of the town.  I went to the  Taos Pueblo just as the rain and wind picked up, walked around the adobe homes, but left within 30 minutes.  Being around this poverty is quite humbling.  I kept the dogs in the truck because there were too many stray dogs sauntering around.

I rewarded them with a walk around the Kit Carson Park.  It's only a half-mile walk around the trail.  The park offers a variety of activities, but there is also a lot of construction going on right now.  The dogs did well on leash.

The dog park is a neglected tennis court, but Sadie wasn't very nice to the other dog there so we left to tour the cemetery where the entire Kit Carson family is buried.  I tied the dogs to the iron-wrought fence around Carson's grave so that I could walk around freely around the small cemetery without Sadie pulling.  They watched me intently. I didn't stay long. I then put the dogs in the truck while I took a quick walk around the hyped-up Plaza and historic district.  Kit Carson's home is now a museum ($7 to enter) and the rest of the old homes are now a pleasant artsy walk-way of shops and galleries shaded by mature locust and elm trees. It's catered to tourists.

The rain stopped by 3:30pm.  I managed a 2.5-mile stroll around the artsy plaza.  This place is best visited on a Sunday afternoon, when parking in town is free.  Otherwise it's a clusterfuck to get around this area.  It's actually a pretty place if you're into shopping.


Just as I was ready to park for some beer, I noticed a man on the side of the main road holding an anti-Trump sign.  I just had to talk to him, and he was willing to talk to me.  He even gave me his business card.  He's Jeff Northrup, the "Most hated man in Taos," according to his business card, but then why did so many cars honk as they drove by?

I finished off this mellow day again at Eske's Brewpub, the first place I stopped in when I first drove into town.  The place was quiet at first, but then filled up with families in the outdoor biergarten where Desiree Cannon, a folk-country singer, started singing at 7pm for an hour.

I stayed until 8:45pm.  The place had emptied, but then a party of eight came in, all from Germany. 

Taos: Wheeler and Walker Peak

We did it!

When I first got up to let the dogs out to pee, Sadie refused to get out.  She looked exhausted.  Then at the trailhead parking above the ski resort, she just wanted to nap.  Was I going to cancel this hike?  I sat in the truck watching her, as the parking lot slowly filled up with day hikers wanting to bag the peak. I got a text message from Eric saying he arrived at his deployment site.

At 9am we finally were on our way.  It took just over six hours.  We hiked to Williams Lake first and then hit the peak.  Since Walker Peak is on the same ridgeline, I did that one as well.

Skies were overcast and clouds did darken.  It rained to the north and west and it only drizzled on us as we approached the cars again.  The peak was calm with little wind.

This is a busy trail, both to the peak and the lake.  The lake is low on water but there's enough there for animals.  Tenters were around the lake. Lots of dogs, too.  On the peak I met a medical school student from Florida, Akton, and shortly after that, a family of five from Lubbock arrived, the a couple from Albuquerque with their little shetland sheepdog. There were many more hikers still starting their hike to the lake in the afternoon.

The dogs and I were tired.  I just wanted to nap in the truck before driving back to the resort area.  They slept the rest of the day.  I grabbed a slice of pizza from the Pizza Shack and ended up camping there in the parking lot with several others.  The place was quiet by 10pm.

Tomorrow will be a down day with minimal hiking.  More rain is due Sunday and Monday.  Two more things I want to see is the Taos Pueblo and perhaps that trail near Questo that takes one down to the Rio Grande.  By Tuesday I'll be heading back south.