Corral Canyon-Calzada and Peralta-Paliza Trails

This has to be fast because grandson is coming over soon.  Also, I'm doing two loads of laundry and am very hungry for supper!

The Tuesday group went up Corral Canyon to Junction Meadow and followed the Calzada Trail to the so-called T-Intersection on FR280.  It's really an intersection of 3 different roads and 2 trails.  Maybe it was a T at one time...

At the intersection, we picked up the Peralta-Paliza Trail and followed it around the west side of Las Conchas Peak.  There were no takers for going up the peak!

Then we followed the road below Paliza Pass and the Valles Caldera rim.  I don't know the name or number but if you continue following it, you end up on NM4 near the Los Griegos XC ski trails/roads.  Our leader didn't have time to check out the hike ahead of time and she was badly confused.  She thought we were going toward FR281 which leads up to the electronic site on Peralta Ridge. 

Eventually we turned around when we found a road going uphill and back toward FR281.  I kept hoping they would go to Paliza Pass - most beautiful place in the world but no luck today on that either!  Obviously I'll have to hike to it myself before hunting season begins.  Has it already begun?

We got back to FR281 and took it downhill past the cattle guard to its intersection with FR280, Peralta Road.  We turned left to go back to Corral Canyon.  At that point, I was confused myself and asked some campers where FR280 went taking it to the right.  They said it goes all up and down the mountain.  I wonder if I've been on that before.  I have to check that out too before hunting season.  Wish I had someone to hike with.  I'd like to ask one of the Tuesday hikers but they are all so busy. 

We decided to take the Peralta Road back to Junction Meadow (Calzada and Corral Canyon trails cross here) instead of taking the Calzada Trail but when we reached the meadow, the leader was convinced the turnoff was still ahead.  We had a gentle insurrection and 4 of us went down into the meadow.  Eventually the leader and the sixth hiker came back down to the meadow after realizing we were right.  We waited for them. 

Then we decided to follow the continuation of the Calzada Trail back to the highway.  It travels up above the Corral Canyon Trail and below Peralta Road.  I finally understand how that trail works and now I realize that it's really more for XC skiers than hikers.  It takes you on such a long backtracking switchback that you nearly return in a loop to where you picked it up from the Corral Canyon Trail.  Then it changes direction to go back to NM4, staying just above Corral Canyon.

I drove myself to the trailhead which was good because I stepped in a very fresh cow pie and had to wash my shoes when I got back home. 

My GPS batteries conked out at 7.53 miles so who knows how long we walked.  There were 6 of us.  The day was utterly gorgeous with a hint of Fall in the air.  I drove back home very slowly because I didn't want to leave the wonderful Jemez Mountains too soon!  This is the time of year when I want to be hiking literally everywhere but there's only so much time! 

Gathered Trash

Went to SF today to get my car's remote transmitter's chip replaced and both keys re-coded.  Wanted to do it today instead of Thursday.  Got back home around 4 pm, changed into hiking togs, went to library and then to Route to pick up trash.  Gathered 3 plastic grocery bags full plus found, near where I parked, a partially filled, plastic gallon jug of motor oil.  I know I should take the motor oil for special recycling at the waste station but I just put everything in my trash barrel.  Part of the trash was from a short section I walked along Camp May Road to get back to my car.  A bicyclist going by thanked me which startled me because I was deep in thought. The amount of trash gathered on the Route surprised me because I didn't think there was that much but once you start looking...

I didn't get home until past 7 pm.  Ate a late supper and have to get up early tomorrow to go with the Tuesday group.

Blood Bath on the Route

Now, don't get excited.  It was only me slitting the throats of NM locusts.  I also sawed off some tree branches and refined the cairns.  I left the lopper in the trunk and only took the compact pruning saw because the weather looked like there'd be a thunderstorm so I had to carry my umbrella.  Clouds rolled in and out all afternoon while I worked for over 4 hours but other than some distant rumbles and a few raindrops on my windshield as I drove to the Route trailhead, the weather was beautifully sunny.

Next, I pick up trash.  There really isn't that much - just a few beer bottles and beer cans.  I'm debating - should I leave the half-finished pint of peppermint schnapps in case the owner comes back or toss it?

Have to start packing for RMNP trip.

Made a huge batch of soup-stew - garlic, onions, Napa cabbage, bean-rice mixture, buckwheat udon noodles, Thai chiles, ginger, boletus edulis mushrooms.  It looks gray but tastes delicious.

Yesterday we saw Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work at the CCA in Santa Fe.  I love her foul mouth and risqué jokes!  Afterward, I bought way too many plums and pluots at Sunflower Farmers Market.

Wednesday-Friday

Wednesday - Helped at PEEC evening walk up Valle Canyon for the Los Alamos county big trees project sponsored by PEEC.  Myself and another cohort of the woman who compiles all the big tree info led a group of 5 up to the Clothespin Tree - a big southwestern white pine.  I was the sweep.  I didn't have much to say other than that a tree expert says it's a southwestern white pine based on the photo, a cone and some bark.  I showed them that you could stick your hand inside the tree.  We didn't have copies of the booklet that tells how big this tree is but they didn't ask so that's OK.  Met a nice young couple who just moved to town.  One participant found a piece of worked obsidian right on the trail.  She threw it to the side so no one would abscond with it.  Seven other participants walked a lesser distance up canyon to look at a big tree.  Drove home from Valle Canyon trailhead at 7:39 pm.  Would be nice one day to take an evening walk up Valle Canyon but start earlier.  We hurried to much on the hike and didn't stop to enjoy.  It was enjoyable anyway because I'm not usually on the trail in the evening.  It was something different.  Two other women and I exchanged bear sighting stories on the way up!

Thursday - Santa Fe trip ostensibly to replace the innards of my car's remote transmitter (keyless entry).  There's a service bulletin on it and since I have to sometimes press it 3 times to open the trunk or doors, decided to get it replaced.  One problem - their machine that re-codes the remote wasn't working so I have to go back next week when they have the new machine.  Shopped at Walmart and Natural Grocers.  Got home in time to walk on Route.  Need to trim some branches and NM locusts with lopper.

Friday - Husband walked almost 2 miles RT on new Canyon Rim Trail but found that was too much for his ankle.  He'll watch grandson next week while we are at RMNP and I'll hike with daughter.  He'll hike some but only what his ankle will tolerate.  He started physical therapy Thursday. After lunch, went to library with spouse.  Stopped by Romero Cabin but they were closing up so I'll go back in September.  Banged head in doorway as I entered but didn't get hurt.  Docent had just taken down bumper guard that softens the blow.  In recent renovation of cabin, floor had to be raised which makes doorway even lower.    Walked back home on Rogue Trail.  Daughter and grandson came over for spaghetti dinner.  Then they and husband went out for ice cream because tomorrow is daughter's birthday.

Cocoa Addict Flys HIgh

Cruising along the Canyon Rim Trail, listening to Eagles songs, I understand why people become addicts. My mind and body are flying fast. I love the whole world.  I clearly see how beautiful life and the world are.  As I become "airborne", small birds fly ahead, fleeing as I soar.  I hover to admire a glorious sunflower and tell it "You're beautiful!"

The cause of this is 2 T of cocoa in my green tea this morning (along with soy milk and 1 t each of turmeric and ginger - none of which I'm addicted to!).

I scribble notes as I jet along.  I refuse to stop to neatly write.

Sometimes life is not enough.  We get bogged down by anxieties concerning most everything.  Cocoa (and the Eagle's music!) help me, at least for a while, to rise above these worries.  I feel plain good. I've shed my aging body and all my worries.  I step back (fly high!) and appreciate how wonderful life really is.  It's like the first day of summer vacation when I was a kid or like suddenly noticing a rainbow arc across the sky.  I feel free.  This is what most of us want instead of how our lives get so mixed up sometimes.

4-T's Hike Alamo Boundary-Coyote Call Trails

I hiked with the 4-T hikers this morning.  There were 14 of us but we ended up with twelve because two only went part way. We parked on the Dome Road and walked the Alamo Boundary Trail over to the Coyote Call loop.  We took the lower part of the loop going out and the upper part going back.  The views of the Valles Grande's grasslands were splendid.  Even though Fall is not here yet, the day was cool so it felt fall-like. On the Alamo Boundary Trail, we saw lots of purple meadow gentian flowers (I call it star gentian.)  There was nice shade on the Coyote Call loop.

The group could easily call themselves the 5-T's because there are so many retired teachers in the all-woman group.  I hiked off and on with this group in the late 80's but their name was different then.  The old timers that I knew don't hike anymore so it's an all new group except for one hiker who's been with the group since the late 80's. 

On the drive to the trailhead, we saw 2 deer in the woods along the highway and saw 2 more running through the forest as we stood at the trailhead.  The leader had us all stand in a circle to introduce ourselves and tell how long we had hiked with the group and if we intended to complete the entire hike today.

I spotted a young shaggy mane mushroom in the parking lot.  Its condition was perfect but I didn't pick it since that's not allowed in Bandelier National Monument unless I plan to eat it on the spot. 

This group doesn't stop for lunch but instead has a tradition of enjoying an extended snack around 10-10:30 am.  I don't snack but felt comfortable sitting on the ground, listening to the conversations.

Afterward, when they dropped me off at the Back Gate, I drove over to Ponderosa Group Campground to use their outdoor privy.  Then, I took off my sodden shoes and socks.  Before changing into dry shoes and socks, I pulled out a wooden orange stick and used it to push back my cuticles since they were so nicely softened.  Of course, several vehicles pulled up while I was doing this but pedicures in the national monument are probably legal!  Not sure if showing huge, bare feet in public is though!

Rice, Eggplant, Mushroom Recipe

No one's going to follow this recipe because it makes a massive quantity of 7 quarts.  Consider it a concept.  I don't really follow recipes because what I makes depends on what's in the pantry.

1 quart brown rice
1 quart boletus edulis mushrooms broth (from freezer)
1 quart boletus edulis mushrooms with parsley, onions, garlic and olive oil (from freezer)
1 jar sweet red peppers, undrained
1 jar 24 ounce Bionature strained tomatoes
1 can 28 ounce Bionature diced tomatoes
1 eggplant diced
1 cup bean juice from Westbrae 25 ounce can black beans (I ate the black beans the day before)
1 cup dry vermouth
1/2 cup jalapeño slices (from freezer)
2 T olive oil
dried Italian seasoning, tarragon, thyme, parsley, ground fennel - all to taste
salt if you use it

Brown the rice in the 2 T olive oil in a huge cast iron pot.  Food process the jalapeños and sweet red peppers to a puree and add to rice.  Add the mushroom broth and mushrooms to the rice.  Throw in the tomatoes, bean juice, eggplant, vermouth and water.  Bring to a boil, turn down heat, add seasoning and cover, simmering until rice is soft. I forget how long I cooked it but it took over an hour.  I had to add more water.  The rice started to scorch and I turned down the heat. Fortunately the scorch flavor didn't permeate the dish.

I froze 4 of the 7 quarts this made.  I'm the only one eating it.  Each night I reheat some and add beans or tempeh or fish and cooked vegetables like spinach.  For salt, I add some miso.

Saturday-Monday Synopsis

Saturday, I walked on the Route.  I picked up some puffballs and a large, insect-eaten boletus edulis.  It was drying out and when I cut off the stem, there were lots of holes from insect invasion so I put it in our garden (garden is a euphemism for place to toss weeds and such).

The puffballs weren't worth the work of peeling their warty skin.  I fried them in olive oil but there wasn't enough and even though they hadn't spored yet, their taste wasn't the freshest.  Maybe that's because they sat for a while before I washed, peeled and cooked them.  I didn't get sick at least.

I heard paintballers shooting each other in the woods and saw their marble shaped blue paintballs.  A broken in half one made me believe it was a fallen robin's egg.

Sunday we went out to eat at Jinja House Bar and Bistro.  I got the tofu and spinach salad - very good.  Then we went to see The Kids Are All Right.  I enjoyed the movie very much but check the reviews first to determine if its your cup of tea.  The gist of it is that families are families no matter how unconventional they appear.  Afterward, I bought lots of fruit at Sunflower Farmers Market.  My four miles consisted of walking downtown in the evening and listening to Prairie Home Companion.

Today, I walked the newly opened section of the Canyon Rim Trail and connected, by crossing NM502, to the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail along the south boundary of the airport. To do this, I had to walk a short distance along the noisy highway and along the sidewalk in the Pajarito Cliffs county yards with large buses passing by.  I followed the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail to the Mesa Trail and followed that back home, past East Park.  The sign at the Canyon Rim trailhead says this loop is 4 miles roundtrip.  I got back home just in time for a brief thunderstorm which prevented me from weeding the tall amaranth out of, ahem, our backyard showcase.

The power went off briefly this afternoon.

Gathered Wild Boletes

I got invited to go mushroom foraging.  We met up at the Dome Road at 8:15 am. This was with the same friend that brought over a bag of cream of the crop Boletus Edulis mushrooms last weekend.  He drove the loop on the Dome Road and Paso del Norte Road.  We collected a few but the majority were collected on Peralta Road.  This outing was meant to be an overview to teach me to spot Boletus Edulis.  We got done just past 11 am.

Since I cornered the market in young boletes last weekend, I gave the cream of the crop boletes bambinos (the beautiful young ones) to my daughter.  She seemed excited about them.  I asked her to let me know how she fixes them and how she likes them.  I forwarded her recipes from my Italian friend.  His family has been collecting boletes in New Mexico for a long time.

I stewed the others but only used water.  I wanted to taste the mushrooms because last time I drowned them in onions and garlic.  I had some with canned black beans tonight and will freeze the rest to add to recipes.  They were yummy!  I still chickened out on eating the very yellow sponges on the huge boletes but did include the lighter-colored sponges in the stew.  I cooked the stems first to make sure they were softened.   Any trimmings went back to the soil in my backyard.

I'm thawing out last week's mushrooms and broth to make my rice dish this weekend.

I will try to walk the Peralta Road area next week to hunt for more bambinos. 

Doing a quick Google search, I found that the mycella (part that nourishes the mushroom) is in the soil.  if you pull the whole mushroom out and leave a hole in the duff, the mycella dries out.  Another friend cuts the mushroom off the stem and leaves the stem bottom in the duff to keep it moist.  If the mushroom is pulled out, stem and all, re-covering the hole in the duff keep it from drying out or even placing the stem trimmings back in the hole and then covering them would work - lots of options.   I read it's advisable to put the mushrooms you don't want back in their hole, stem  side down, to help them drop their spores.

Afterward, I walked 4 miles on FR181.  I picked one of the mushrooms I wondered about a few weeks ago.  It was a boletes but it turned bluish when I pressed on it and it had an orange-brown cap and very stiff, scaly stem.  I threw it back in the bushes!  I've learned in a short time how to recognize edible boletes!    Avoid ones that turn blue when you cut or press them and/or have red or orange tubes (the spongy underside).

The main mushrooms that I'll collect will be Boletus Edulis and Puffballs. 

Exploring Unofficial Cerro Grande Route

Today I decided to explore the bottom mile of the unofficial Cerro Grande Route aka the Coker Trail.  I started around 10 am.  The route starts as a definite path through the grass but then the situation disintegrates.  The path disappears and then reappears with no logic to it.  I know basically how to get where I want to go but anyone who's never been there wouldn't know - unless they have read about the hike in Hiking Adventures in Northern New Mexico.

First, I walked to the elk exclosure/monitoring station on the right and not very far from the highway.  I followed along the west side of it hoping it would funnel me into a definite trail.  It sort of does but then the track gets indefinite again.  The problem is that there are paths trampled here and there but none distinct enough to be THE one to follow.

I blundered around following this path and that, saw cairns here and there and compounded confusion by making a few of my own. 

The way I like to go is to first head uphill toward the "air" to the east with great, close-in views of the Water Canyon drainage below but going up this way leads to an obstacle course of downed trees.  There are several ways to tackle these - either go wide around or go right through.  It doesn't seem right to not detour over to enjoy the view.

Today, I tried to pass the mish mosh of trees on their east side but it became too steep.  Then I started to clear a small area to go west but it's too big a network of giant pick up sticks.  I'd need a chain saw and Bandelier National Monument would frown on that.

I saw an area that seemed passable.  As I picked my way through, I saw a path that went north right up the middle of the mess but I didn't follow it because I wanted to get over to the old logging road to the west.

Eventually I got to the old logging road that goes directly to the first golden grass meadow on the way to Cerro Grande.  At the meadow, I tightened my shoelaces for the trip down.

I decided to follow the old logging road down.  It's no piece of cake either as I had to step over plenty of logs fallen across the road.  The road led right by a second,large elk exclosure.  I just kept following the road, bearing somewhat to the east,  ignoring a broad turn off to the right/south, and eventually got to the far north corner of the first elk exclosure.  I left some rocks and pieces of wood here and there to mark my route.  It needs a lot more marking. The road is not even clearly a road in places but I got where I needed to go. 

Conclusion is that we did the best that we could on Monday.  Until you get to the first golden grass meadow, there is not one definite path to follow but instead, there are many options to get to that first golden grass meadow which leads up to Cerro Grande.

When I got back to the first elk exclosure, I decided to go in a straight line east from it.  I ended up at the Bandelier boundary fence. 

On the way back to the elk exclosure, I saw a doe walking away from me, all the while keeping an eye on me. I thought it strange that she didn't just bolt away but kept  walking perpendicular to my line of travel while looking sideways at me.  

I was surprised at my boldness in walking into the untracked woods to the fence line.  It was a sunny day and a thunderstorm wasn't imminent.  I get spooked by cloudy days and rumbling thunder.

Almost back at the car, I saw an old logging road on my left. I've walked it before from another old road to the east but would like to walk it again one day. 

Hike of the Season

I hiked with the LL group.  There were 25 of us.  The hike description may make you breathless so hang on!  We left some vehicles at the Pine St. play lot and drove over to North Mesa picnic area to start the hike.

We headed on a sidewalk downhill  to  the Roundabout and then went briefly uphill to cross San Ildefonso.  We started walking on the Walnut Canyon Rim Trail at the northern edge of the golf course.  We took that over to the North Pueblo Bench Trail, crossed the tall Pueblo Canyon Bridge, took a jaunt on the South Pueblo Bench Trail to the Acid Canyon Trail to the Ranch School Trail (but stayed atop the canyon bench)  to what I call the Rogue Trail (a vertigo-inducing trail per a hiker) to Graduation Canyon (where we had lunch) then up canyon to our cars and the play lot where we had the usual end-of-hike soda pop fiesta at the picnic benches.  It was a good hike of a little over 5 miles.

One of our hiking leaders opted to do only part of the hike.  She and a married couple left the group at Orange Street.  She met us back at the play lot but the couple skipped the get together.

I found out who built the Rogue Trail.  I won't put his name here but he's a retired LANL scientist who worked with the Los Alamos Accelerator Code Group and truly did, as I had heard, go over to CERN to work.  Yesterday, our open space czar told me that the first trail this man built (wish I had asked where) wasn't built good but said this one improved after the man attended a  trail-building workshop.

The Rogue Trail is high on the south bench of Pueblo Canyon.  Most places have an uncomfortably steep looking drop off to the canyon bottom.  We met a doe on the trail today.  The lead hiker held his hand up to halt everyone.  The deer stood poised at the edge of the canyon looking cautiously at us.  Eventually, she turned around and walked in the direction we were going and disappeared.  A hiker in the back groused that she didn't care about seeing the deer and  didn't see the point of stopping. But, if we hadn't, there was a chance that the deer may have panicked and tried to head down into the canyon and hurt herself. 

The hiker who complained was getting hungry for lunch.  At the lunch spot, with beautiful views down canyon of mesas east of Los Alamos, it turned out she had forgotten her lunch.  Sorry to admit but I pretended not to hear and kept walking toward a scenic lunch spot  at the canyon edge.  Fortunately, others with extra food (I didn't have extra) came to her rescue! 

Graduation Canyon spills over a steep cliff into Pueblo Canyon.  The recent heavy rains must have created a spectacular waterfall because after lunch, as we walked up canyon, we saw flattened grasses  indicating that the drainage far overflowed its banks.

Coker Trail Up Cerro Grande

The Monday group made the mistake of letting me lead them up the Coker Trail to the top of Cerro Grande.  This is an unofficial route up Cerro Grande.  The parking for it is 1.7 miles east of the official route's parking lot.

There were 6 of us and we started around 9 am.  The weather was cool which was perfect for going up 1,050' in 2.4 miles to the top of Cerro Grande.  There was no rain or thunderstorm - yay!!

My first instinct was to go toward the first elk exclosure and find the trail up but one hiker remembered going to the left so we went that way instead.  The NPS had burned piles in that area which made the walking nasty.  I could see there wasn't really a trail so we worked our way east where the ridge drops off, enjoyed the view and then headed north up the ridge.

Then, at the mess of downed trees, we were too far to the right when we should have approached it from the left.  Everyone was very forbearing about the muddling which they can afford to be because they are very fit.  Eventually we got out of the downed trees and on the wide road that heads up to the first meadow.  The rest went smoothly after the initial snafus because they basically could lead themselves after we hit the first golden grass meadow.

I should explain that this alternate route up Cerro Grande (in Hiking Adventures of Northern New Mexico) can be confusing as tracks go off here and there. How apparent the route is depends on how many people have been on it recently,  trampling a path through the grass.  I would have checked it out this weekend to orient myself but my foot and hip/buttock were still sore then.

They all had a snack at Coker Point which overlooks practically all of northern New Mexico.

These women are very fit!  After the snack on top of Cerro Grande, they practically ran down the mountain.  I guess they've been up Cerro Grande enough that they didn't feel like gawking at the views.  I pointed out where we saw the bear on Memorial Day. 

I got good exercise keeping up with them! The trail surface has gotten enough moisture that we didn't slip and slide on "marbles" on the steep descent.  From the top, on the official route, it's 1.9 miles and you descend 1,063'.  My quads were getting really tight as we descended into the Frijoles Canyon drainage.  My right foot and right hip/buttock were fine.

Almost back at the car, we met a slight woman walking up.  Everyone else said hello but went on by. I stopped and told her she looked like a runner.  She assured me that it was more of a power walk for her.  She asked if we had seen any bears and I told her we hadn't.  Then she told me about her recent encounter with a mother bear and cub.  She admitted that she had been looking down at her feet and wasn't scanning off in the distance and when she looked up, bam - there were the large mama bear and cub.  The mama bear huffed and the cub instantly treed.  The woman said she had to pass very near the bear but kept her head down and talked softly and reassuringly.  She was wearing a bear bell today but said she had forgotten it the day of the encounter although she had been singing to warn off bears as she went downhill. 

When I told the woman's story to the others back at the trailhead, they  thought this was not a smart woman but I thought she was very brave. 

They had planned to walk the 1.7 miles back to their vehicle at the Coker Trail but I talked them into letting me drive them back.  Four sat in the back seat and two of us sat up front.  We opened all the windows and turned on the a/c.  It was tight but they appreciated the ride.  They were all so sweet at the end, hugging and thanking me.  I thanked them for their forbearance! 

I stayed at the trailhead and had my lunch, shook out the car rugs and changed out of my wet shoes and socks.  It was a good day. 

We had a another seemingly never-ending rain storm this afternoon - some thunder but not too bad.  It's 78 degrees in the house now - nice!

Sunday Synopsis

Friend dropped off boletus edulis mushrooms in morning.  He had collected them with another friend who also lives in Albuquerque.  I'm invited on their next mushroom foray.  The unprecedented monsoonal rains we're having will ensure that the bumper crop continues. 

The mushrooms he gave me were in wonderful condition.  I saw very little evidence that bugs had fed on them.  He explains in his mushroom reports that this means the mushrooms grew very fast before the bugs could feast on them.

To prepare them, I softened onions and garlic in water, gently simmering them with the lid on.  Then I added the trimmed mushrooms and simmered them some more, adding 1 T canola oil and some parsley flakes at the end.  They taste delicious.  I made broth out of the boletus sponge and mushroom trimmings.  I froze most of the mushrooms and the broth.  Next week, I will add them to brown rice. 

I prepared the mushrooms during a power outage.  We were having an amazingly profuse rain storm and the power went off at 6 pm and didn't go on again until 7:30 pm or so.  Daughter who lives in North Community didn't have power until midnight.  White Rock didn't have an outage.  When I walked around 9 pm last night, it looked like North Mesa still didn't have power. 

I walked late because we went to Santa Fe.  I returned some items to REI and looked for new hiking shoes but didn't find any.  I attended "worship services" at the Sunflower Farmer's Market produce department.   Yummy!!

87 Degrees in House

It's hot.  Spouse says it's not but he's wrong! 

I walked on the Route.  I felt a lack of energy even though it's not that hard.  The padding on the right insole seemed to help my toe pain.  Either that or wearing a different pair of shoes helped.  Buttock pain even improved slightly. 

I saw one of the uptown Friday hikers at the library bookstore.  She thanked me for leading the hike and said she enjoyed being out doors.  It made me realize that even though I excoriate this hiking group for not espousing my hiking style, they enjoy the outdoors but in their own way.  It would help if I were less judgmental, intense and serious all the time!  I felt pretty black about the whole incident yesterday but I was very tired from getting up at 6 am.  I feel better today. 

Lots of red amanitas popping out on the Route.  I saw some evidence that the rescue dog people have been on the Route - polka dot flagging on a tree and a red rag on the ground. 

I Was It

I subbed for the BESC hiking leader who was out of town.  She had mentioned that someone had called to inquire for an elderly man who wanted to come on  the hikes.  The elderly man turned out to be  an intellectually disabled man who was maybe in his 40's - not elderly at all. Not knowing any more details  ahead of time made for some awkward moments when I, at first, thought the man that brought him to the senior center intended to drop him off for me to watch which was a big responsibility but it turned out that man was his caretaker. Once I understood this, no problema! It all worked out as they are both excellent hikers.  The caretaker explained that the man's father wants his son  to get some exercise; they will hike with the group again next week.  They are more than welcome on the Friday hikes.

I drove myself up to the trailhead.  We all parked on FR181 and walked across NM4 to the Apache Springs trailhead.  We were a group of 6, including me. At the start, I must have made one woman nervous that I planned to  take them on a death march because when I told them the trail went all the way to Bandelier headquarters, this woman, relatively young and in good shape, piped up that they usually only walk an hour.  Although she later admitted that they actually walk two hours, I, wanting to be fully compliant, told the group to let me know when to turn around but inwardly felt frustrated by how this group always sets a time limit.  They did go as far as the overlook above Apache Springs.  We turned around because no one expressed desire to go on. My GPS said we did 2.4 miles round trip.

Right before the overlook, the intellectually disabled man's caretaker called out to me.  We were going down a slight hill.  We all stopped and turned around and then saw the 84 year old woman, her arm in a cast (she fell and broke it while riding her bicycle!), slowly making her way down hill.  I felt so embarrassed to have left her trailing behind, however briefly, and was grateful that someone alerted me. Overall, she did very well on the hike.

Now, I better appreciate how hard the hiking leader's job is and how smoothly she does it!  That still doesn't make me appreciate this group with their urge to get back early.  The group and I are not a good fit. 

I got them back at 10 am.  After they all drove away, I finished my daily 4 miles by walking a little past where Water Canyon crosses FR181.  I was having pain in the ball of my right foot and right buttock on the way back.  I'm not happy about this!!  I don't like anything that threatens my ability to walk everyday!!

The podiatrist today said I have second toe tendinitis.  He added some padding to my insole to take weight off the tendon.  I'll try it out on a tame walk tomorrow but I suspect the extra padding is just going to cause pain in another part of my foot.  I'm going to carry an extra, unpadded insole just in case!

Why do my feet have to be so delicate??  My second toe is longer than the first and takes a beating when I walk.  I have osteoporosis as well.  There must be a type of shoe I can wear that would protect my feet.  I told spouse if I ever have to stop walking the woods, I'd like to move to the ocean.

Daughter and grandson bought over Papa Murphy pizza tonight.  I made a salad.  Spouse bought Haågen Dazs ice cream - Rocky Road and Dulce de Leche.  My supper was salad with butter beans, peanut butter sandwich (with Bubbies horseradish, tomatoes and onions), nectarine, grapes and spicy pumpkin seeds.

Afterward, daughter and husband took grandson to MPL to see Lego models at the county fair exhibits. Grandson may enter a model next year.

I Didn't Die

I guess those 4 mushrooms I found in the forest really were puffballs because I haven't died yet.  I can't say they were any more delicious than the mushrooms I buy in the store but they were good.  I sautéed them in olive oil and added them to my eggplant stew with brown rice. 

Tonight I finally finished the eggplant stew and brown rice that I made last week and froze half of.  What in the world will I eat tomorrow?  Nothing is prepared.  Daughter is bringing over pizza for her, grandson and spouse.  I'll make salad and something simple for my supper.

Doctor visit went well.  I got an x-ray of my sore toe and will see the podiatrist tomorrow to ask him what's wrong.  Maybe Morton's neuroma?  Phooey on all this!

I walked on the Canyon Rim Trail and the Mesa Trail for my almost 4 miles (3.75).  The county is putting benches, trash cans and doggy doo containers along the asphalted path.  The grand opening is August 21 but people are walking it now.  I saw two other walkers and a coyote.

Anatomy of an Automated Phone Answering System

All this was repeated twice each minute during 6 minute call:

We appreciate your patience as we experience a heavy call volume.  We should be with you momentarily.

This call may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance.

If you like, you can book on the Internet at ChoiceHotels.com.

Arrghh!! Arrghh!!  Arrghh!!

Do the companies that use these automated phone answering systems think the caller is so stupid that they will hang up if not prompted every 10 seconds, 6 times a minute???  Just shut up and let me listen to the music or find my own entertainment during my wait.

Mushroom Foraging

Spouse came home early again because of his sprained ankle.  He keeps asking when I'll be done on the computer.  This is but a small taste of retirement and I don't like it!  I need my own space!!

WI hike today up Pajarito Mountain via Aspenola bike trail on east side and down Aspen for Trouble bike trail on west side.  Actually, I gave up following Aspen for Trouble where it intersected Battle Stations and May Day.  I have to study the map and follow it uphill one day.

It was a birthday hike which I skip but I did stop in the Lodge to ask advice on  mushrooms.  On the way down, I collected a boletus and some puffballs.  The boletus turned out to be an aspen boletus.  The hiker whose advice I asked said he got a gurgly stomach from eating one.  Its sponge was orange. I cut it open and it's bluish inside which confirms that it's an aspen boletus.  I dumped it in the backyard.

The puffballs were a good learning experience.  The ones that feel hollow-y or collapsed inside are very moist when you cut them in half and are forming brown spores from the top down.  Threw those in the backyard too.  That left a mere 4 small puffballs that are edible.  Hope I don't die.  I don't see evidence of gills and they are snowy white - gulp...

Finishing up 4 small loads of laundry - oh, joy!  Cleaned myself up because I have a doctor visit tomorrow - a follow-up on my recent partial bowel obstruction - oh, joy!

Valle Canyon Again

The Tuesday group hiked up Valle Canyon today, starting at 7:45 am.  There were 12 of us.  I don't like getting up at 5:45 am but the early start works to get us off the trail before the rain.  Of course, when I try to read this evening, it'll be snooze time, big time!

I measured the branch spread of a Douglas fir today for the PEEC big trees project.  I used the "Go To" feature on my cheapo Garmin GPS to find the tree, high on a hillside. 

I'm sure our "big trees" are bantam weight contenders compared to the giants of the Pacific Northwest!  A woman who's lived there told me today that their trees get quite enormous.

I told the group that I'd see them on the way down but after measuring the tree, I scooted up to the VCNP fenceline where they were still enjoying their rest/snack break before the trip down.

Spouse tried to work today but came home after 1/2 day because his ankle was swelling.  X-ray says no fractures.  He was supposed to wear his stirrup ankle splint today but instead, only wore an ordinary elastic ankle brace.  He will not be hiking for a while and our Rocky Mountain National Park trip is coming up soon and it is predicated around hiking.  Daughter and I will have him watch grandson while WE hike - not unlike our last trip when I was off my feet due to posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and he took short hikes while I sat in the car.

Raspberries - Ra, Ra, Ra!

I walked up Valle Canyon with 3 other women.  There were lots of big, red raspberries on the upper part of the trail.  I had to measure a tree's branch spread on the way back so, after turning around at the VCNP fenceline, I told them to go ahead, not wait for me.

I ate my way down Valle Canyon.  Now I know how wild animals feel while they are eating.  As I plucked the raspberries and stuffed handfuls in my mouth, I'd look all around to make sure no bear was sneaking up on me.

I measured the Clothespin tree's spread but I'd only consider it a very rough estimate as it was really hard to see where the opposite branch was because another tree's branches obstructed it.  It's either a southwestern white pine or a limber pine.  It was named by a master hiker because of its split on the bottom 12 feet or so of the tree which resembles an old-fashioned, one-piece, wooden clothespins.

I got 38' 8".  I used my backpack to weight down one end of the measuring tape.  My reward was to eat lots of fat raspberries growing beneath the tree.  The trampled grass around the tree was evidence that another mammal has also enjoyed the raspberries!

Walking back by myself was a touch creepy in the narrow parts of the canyon.  I kept saying "Bear, where are you?  I am here!"

I looked for the two shaggy mane mushrooms that we had spotted on the way up but didn't see them coming back.  

On the drive to the trailhead, I saw two well-fed coyotes cross the West Road Bypass;  they were heading toward LANL.







creepy
wild onion coyote

Bye, Bye Big Trees!

First: Yesterday evening on my Mesa Trail hike, it was a little windy.  I saw a tall sunflower and turned the flower head toward me to see if it was full of pollen.  Nestled close together at the base of the petals were 3 small bees, with their butts upturned.  Were they sleeping?  Sheltering from the wind?  I dunno. 

I will retire from the big tree project.  My friend who leads that has lucked upon a woman who is very efficient and much more enthusiastic about the project than I ever was.  She's new to this area, coming from the midwest, and eager to learn about the area.

I saw the woman in action today when I went with my friend to measure big trees and take their portraits.  She arrived with a measuring tape that was probably 200'.  She used it on a project measuring vegetation transects.  It made the measuring today so much easier than using a measly 100' tape.  She does the work with good cheer.  In the past, I mildly kvetched about disliking the inexactness of methods used to measure the height, girth and spread of the trees. 

My friend will be in very capable hands and I'm happy for her.  The woman will also benefit as my friend will take her to neat places like the petroglyphs in White Rock Canyon (where she took me also).  I, of course, am invited on these trips but the pace is so slow that I may decide to start later and try to find them.  Also, I'm trying to step up my efforts to walk with trestle-hopper's Monday and Tuesday hiking groups.  They're a bit speedier.

The slow pace makes my feet hurt - especially the ball of my right foot.  We only walked a little over 3 miles and took nearly 6 hours which meant I was standing around on sore feet for a long time.  I've been having this pain for several months.

I'll do some experiments over the next week with different insoles and shoes.  If all else fails, I'll be forced to contact the physical therapist in Albuquerque who made my orthotics less than 2 years ago - they couldn't be worn out already!

Spouse Sprained Ankle

We went to Santa Fe.  Bought DVD player and Star Wars comforter at Target.  DVD player is to hook up to new 22"-diagonal Sony flat screen TV for bedroom.  This was husband's idea.  I was deliriously happy with the Magnavox 14" old-style picture tube TV because it did what I needed it to do - record Dr. Oz, get KNME and play DVDs. 

Afterward, we went to Trader Joe's where I spent quality time in the produce department.  In the parking lot is where spouse tripped and sprained his ankle as he stepped off the sidewalk.  He's practicing RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation.

I called my friend of the big trees of LA county fame and set up a hot date to meet her tomorrow to go fondle big trees - actually, the fondling is peripheral to taking their photos, measuring the spread of their branches and looking for more specimens.

I wanted to go with her this weekend since the opportunity presented itself because husband can't hike with me tomorrow.  That way I can go with my train-trestle-hopping friend's two women's hiking groups on Monday and Tuesday.  My big tree friend was all ready with a chore for me to do on those two hikes anyway - measure the branch spread of two big trees in Valle Canyon.  I will be making myself useful at the same time as having fun.

We invited daughter and her family over for supper tonight - sashimi grade tuna steaks, sweet potatoes, sushi purchased at TJ's (white rice - yuck!), and a salad of romaine, cucumber, green onion, tomatoes and avocado and fruit for dessert. 

Oh, yesterday train-trestle-hopping friend spotted an area with monkshood flowering right alongside the Calzada Trail.  That girl has good eyes!!

Las Conchas Canyon

Hiked up Las Conchas Canyon, parking at MM37 on NM4, with a friend.  The barbed wire crossing was easier than I remembered, especially with someone to help hold down the top strand!

The stream was running in the canyon with lots of miniature "waterfalls" tumbling down canyon.  We saw cows grazing.  There were mushy places where my  feet got wet - my shoes don't have a Gore-Tex lining but that was OK.

This was my 4th time in Las Conchas Canyon but I really have no better idea of how to negotiate the upper part of the canyon that connects with the Calzada Trail.  It's not a well traveled canyon except maybe by cows in the summer and cross country skiers in the winter.  The lower part mostly has a definite trail but the upper canyon splits at several places giving too many choices of where to go although some are clogged by deadfall. 

We followed the "trail" as best we could and eventually ended up at a well-stamped-down real trail that shortly led us over to the Calzada Trail.   I made some brush cairns - perhaps I'll take another crack at Las Conchas Canyon one day, starting from the Calzada Trail.

We went back to Corral Canyon on the Calzada Trail and walked .7 mile back to my car.  Along the way, my friend pointed out a bear crossing the road.  It was fairly distant but seemed to look toward us before somehow getting over the barbed wire fence and running across the meadow to the sheltering forest - neat sighting!!

Epic Monsoonal Rains

Went with the dendroglyph project people into Short Canyon on the VCNP.  The area smells really sulphur-y and you can see the glint of tiny fumaroles bubbling in the dry creek bed.  It's a nice crew - there were 7 of us.  We only walked about 2 miles.  Four of us got back to the car by 1 pm. Our driver needed to get back home early because her dog was recovering from a chemo treatment.  Another driver and two of the crew stayed behind to finish recording two more dendroglyphs.  Wonder how they fared in the storm on the drive home?

I didn't find any dendroglyphs in my scouting but it's a pretty area.  When they get done with Short Canyon, then they'll begin documenting dendroglyphs in Valle Seco.  I may show up for trips here and there but if I go out on the big trees project, I won't have time for this too and all the groups I hike with.

Afterward, since my car was already parked at the bottom of Camp May Road, I did the Route up past Paintball Road but just to where the white RV trailer is parked (every summer) to get 2 more miles, thereby achieving my daily 4.  Was really good to see the Route again.

I got back to my car just in the nick of time as the storm broke.  The rain got really heavy driving back on Trinity.  I could see lightning flashed in my rear view mirror.  I could barely see the white lines on the road, it was raining so hard.  I splashed up lots of water from the side of the road - I couldn't help but drive through it.

Lots of thunder overnight.  Roof repair is holding.

Spouse goes half-time the week of September 20.  The husband of the dendroglyph project leader is 67 and still works full-time.

Done Exploring Side Roads on Pajarito

My consensus is that I understand them well enough now - they basically run east-west, crossing the ski runs, sometimes traversing uphill, sometimes dead-ending but usually always intersecting one of the main jeep roads on the east or west sides of the mountain.  For now, I'll just enjoy my walks on Pajarito and all the variation that the side roads afford me.

Why Does It Look Like Rain But Doesn't Rain

Well, there WAS a little rain on Pajarito Mountain but only toward the end when I was going back to the Lodge anyway.  It was a cool, cloudy, almost fall-like day so that part was fine with me.  Lightning was not a factor and I always like that.

Morose thoughts while studying flowers on Pajarito Mountain:  The flowers know what I refuse to accept - life ends.  Already I can read the signs - seedheads forming on mariposa lilies in Cañada Bonita meadow, aster petals shredding and losing their color on Pajarito Mountain, death camas beginning to go to seed even while their white, candlestick-like blooms thickly populate the ski runs.  But flowers will enjoy a renaissance next Spring while my body goes slowly, steadily to the ultimate end - loss of sentience. 

Along these same lines, at the picnic deck near the Aspen Lift, I wondered to myself, in Zen koan-like fashion, if it's better to be lonely alone or to be lonely in crowd.  Then it struck me that when I'm feeling lonely and sorry for myself, I'm not fully opening my eyes and ears to the sights and sounds around me.  Distracting oneself in the NOW may help to banish moroseness!

I'm reading a book, Heroic Climbs.  It has two photos 19th century women mountain climbers, one wearing a face mask with holes for eyes and mouth and another a helmet-like drape with a slit for eyes, open at the bottom to allow air to enter. So, even though wearing a sun protection mask is thought to be extremely odd today, it has precedent in the past!

Pajarito Ski Hill to Pipeline Overlook

Hiked with Tuesday hiking group - all women.  We were 12.  Wildflowers still putting on good display in Cañada Bonita meadow but mariposa lilies, while still plentiful, are going to seed.  I was convinced that a seed head was a butterfly on top of one mariposa bloom.

The group started at 8:30 am and was back to the vehicles by noon.  I drove myself up to the Pajarito Ski Area to meet them.  They get the job done (exercising outdoors) and are a nice bunch of woman.  They all seem able-bodied.  I have their schedule and plan to join them from time to time.

Had to get up at 6:30 am and I'm tired now.  If you hear a loud thud, that's just my (numb)skull hitting the computer keyboard as I nod off.

Last night went to Buffalo Thunder's Painted Parrot buffet.  The occasion was that a work buddy spouse has known for a long time (was his boss once!) is commuting from the west coast every week to work here.  We left at 6 pm and waited an hour in a long line and didn't get home until almost 9 pm.  I'm suggesting next time we just dine locally as that's too long to devote to going out to eat.

I have something planned outdoors for every day this week. Sooner or later, another house crisis will occur and I'll have to stay indoors waiting for a contractor so my philosophy is get outdoors now!

No rain yet today.

Forsook Pajarito Mountain Today

Got a late start - after 11 am - because just as I was getting ready to drive away, the roofers showed up.  They applied some silicone caulk to the furnace vent.  I asked how long the silicone lasts - 2-4 years.  OK.  Good to know since that's what's keeping rain from running down our woodstove chimney because the roofers banged it up so much that that the collar no longer fits tight around the base.  They also dropped off the promised package of spare shingles just in case I need them in the future.

Afterward, I drove up to American Springs Road/FR181 to meet my hiking buddy of the Big Trees fame.  She and a PEEC volunteer were murdering invasive bull thistles.  Turns out that invasive musk thistles are easily dispatched by beheading them because their flowers are only on the top half of the stalk.  But bull thistles have flowers all along the stalk which requires chopping down the whole thing.  Invasive Canada thistles are even worse, sending out nasty runners everywhere that sprout baby thistles.

Thankfully, due to the roofers coming late, I missed all the fun of wrestling thistles to the ground! As I walked in on FR181, they were driving out with 4 trash bags of thistles in the trunk.  I got to meet the PEEC volunteer and she seems very nice.

On my walk, I saw a bicyclist coming up out of Water Canyon and continuing east on FR181 to loop back to West Jemez.  When I asked, he said it looks like the Youth Conservation Corps crew has worked on the upper quarter of the trail but the rest of it is getting a little thick with overgrowth.

I hadn't been up to FR181 for a long time.  When I started walking, I was sure that I'd get caught in a lightning storm but it never happened.  I enjoyed seeing old haunts.  I stopped often to gaze upon the beauty of the wildflowers, the billowing clouds and the green mountains.