(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.
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