Taos, NM: hiking the South Boundary Trail #164

I slept good overnight.  The RV lot was quiet.  No one made a noise.  I didn't get up until almost 8am and didn't feel like going on a hike right away.  The sky was clear and highs were predicted in the 80s.

Car campers around me got up and left one by one.  I was comfortable sitting in the back of the SUV and reading, while Sadie sprawled out in the back.  I didn't leave the lot until 10:30am to head toward the South Boundary Trail #164 four miles east on US64.  The parking lot was already getting full and hikers were coming back to their cars as I was leaving.  This trail travels southward while yesterday's Devisadero trail traveled northward.  Both offer valley views.

This trail is part of a network of trails in the Carson National Forest.  I only planned on hiking four miles out.  The trail was listed as shaded, but I was hurting and so were the dogs.  The heat got to us fast! I stopped several times in the first two hours to give the dogs water and some shade time.  This trail was uphill all the way, starting at just below 7000' and topping off for me at 9220' just past the four-mile mark.

This is a busy trail, as it connects with #166 that meanders around lower hills.  Juniper and pinon pine dot the lower level, but aspen, Ponderosa Pine, Blue Spruce appear above  8500'.  The wide trail turns into a single track and levels out some.  This would make for a great backpacking trail and I would have gone farther if not for the incoming storm.  While the storm's front cooled us off considerably, the distant rumbling worried me.  Would I make it back to the truck before a heavy downpour?

I opted not to chance it.  Just past the 4-mile marker, I turned around and descended.  I didn't stop.  I just kept on going and the dogs were right behind me.  It started drizzling with two miles to go and we got damp, but we didn't get the downpour we had yesterday.  When I got back to the parking lot, the other cars were gone.  My truck stood there on its own.

It was just past 4pm.  I needed a shower.  I hadn't had one since leaving Lake Meredith two days ago.

I stopped in at the Taos Youth and Family Center and Pool in town, off SR585 and Paseo del Canon East.  It closes at 5:30pm during the week.  This is an impressive little two-building complex!  One building is the indoor pool with eight lanes, a slide and a hot pool.  The other building is more for family activities. For $2 I was able to shower and rinse the salt off my clothes.  What a nice surprise this was for me.  Normally I pay $5 or $7 just to shower.

The town was still covered in rain clouds.  I went to the Taos Mesa Brewing company for pizza and beer, my one big meal of the day.  The dogs were exhausted all day and napped the entire time.

I like the Taos area.  It's camper and RV friendly, although the historic downtown area is a clusterfuck for drivers.  I may stay one more day and hike other local trails before heading north for 22 miles to the Taos Ski Valley.  Trails there are at a higher elevation.  Williams Lake is just above 10,000' and its trail is the one hikers use to bag Wheeler Peak, NM's tallest peak.  I am still considering it, but weather for the next five days calls for more rain.  I'm also expecting that area to be more of a resort with resort prices.