Went up FR181 from twin water tanks on West Jemez Road. In the past, I've thought I was going 4 miles RT by turning around at the big meadow where the road splits but then comes together again. This meadow is well past the turnoff to the Perimeter Trail. But in reading Craig Martin's Los Alamos Trails more carefully, I realized that I was probably only doing a 3 mile RT hike.
Today I didn't turn around until the first road to the left past the meadow. This is the road that Craig says is 2.1 miles in from West Jemez Road and goes in .6 mile out to Red-Tailed Hawk Point, a fantastically scenic overlook into Water Canyon as long as you have the patience and stamina to wade through giant pick-up sticks from the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000.
Craig doesn't mention it but a few tenths of a mile further southwest along FR181 (American Springs Road) is another road to the left that will also take you to Red-Tailed Hawk Point. There is no avoiding the eventual mish mosh of downed wood along the way, though. This other road runs along a ridge that separates two of the three branches of upper Water Canyon and you will have beautiful views along the way.
To read more about Red-Tailed Hawk Point, see Dorothy Hoard's Los Alamos Outdoors. Craig's hiking book is indispensable to learn the nuts and bolts of the hiking trails in and around Los Alamos County but Dorothy's book still provides an almost poetic interpretation of what you'll see along the way.
It was warm and dry today - too much so. The purple asters and yellow sunflowers are putting on a cheerful show but the aspens are still holding back their display.
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