A lot of people showed up. Someone counted 26. I started out talking with a woman I hike with but then I decided to go for the elevated heart rate and went up Evershine Ridge at a steady pace, saying hi here and there.
I wasn't the fastest. Someone's ex-hubby visiting from California was faster but he eventually stopped to see which way the rest of the group was going. A hiker had earlier told me the plan was to go up so I continued but then stopped to talk with an older hiker who was behind me. She recently fell off her bike and the pedal jammed the back of her hamstring. She was doing OK on the way up (obviously, because she was the nearest one behind me and no one was ahead of us!) I walked with her up the bicycle trail to the back of the mountain where all the retention pond construction for the snow-making project is occurring.
We waited at the Jules Sunier memorial picnic deck and soon her husband and a hiker who had her hip replaced in January joined us. They were ready for lunch but I wasn't hungry yet so I followed a short, steep trail above the picnic deck to the Yeamans Memorial Bench on the south side of Pajarito Mountain.
To my delight and surprise, I found that someone has cut the top 3 strands of barbed wire on a corner section of the Valles Caldera National Preserve fence near the bench. I carefully moved the barbed wire strands aside and put a big rock on the two bottom strands, stepped over, took some photos and then went back down to encourage the group to come up for the views. They seemed bent on eating at the picnic tables so I went back up again and sat on a rock on the VCNP side and enjoyed the views.
I decided not to go back down to rejoin them but just continued on over to Rim Run. At the Mother Lift, I saw a group of 3 hikers who asked if the peak was ahead. I delightedly told them about the views and the cut VCNP fence.
I went down Rim Run and around Columbine Corner and down Milt's Meadow which led to a bike trail and eventually down to Gene's Choice which goes back to the ski lodge.
As I was beginning my lunch on the move, eating LaraBars as I walked, I was hailed by a group of 4 of the WI hikers and I joined them for the walk back to the Townsite Lift. One hiker's dog was very excited by my LaraBars but calmed down right away after making a play for one. He's a good dog!
Near Spruce Lift, we took a bicycle trail and a jeep road over to the Townsite Lift and were joined by other WI hikers coming down. The hiker with the injured hamstring said at lunch that she would go down I Don't Care ski run with her husband. I hope she did well. She was worried how her leg would behave on the downhill.
When I left, not everyone was down the mountain yet. People were waiting for them but I took off. I have to admit that it's more fun hiking with one or a couple of people than such a large group. They are all nice people but their abilities differ greatly. One woman is now using oxygen.