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...
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