Powerline Mesa Trail-Broken Mesa Trail

Pleasant hike with 3 women of the Monday hiking group on Broken Mesa Trail, starting from the Powerline Mesa Trail.  We didn't go up on top of  Broken Mesa to see the small house ruin and kiva-like ruin  nor did we go out on the unnamed mesa at the saddle for an overlook of the Rio Grande.  They had gone on this hike before and had a hot lunch date back in La Senda.  I was invited too but had to go home to see a talk at the senior center on kidney health.  

The weather was good - no snow or ice on the trail.  Snow had been predicted last night but didn't materialize.  They had their car parked at where the Broken Mesa Trail starts on NM4.  My car was parked at the Powerline Mesa Trail so I walked the connector trail back.  They would have taken me back but, "when in doubt, take a hike".  It was very quiet after they departed - lonely.

Daughter ran the Powerpoint slide show at the doctor's talk.  Was fun to see her there and she did a good job!  Talk was interesting.  Take care of your kidneys because dialysis is an imperfect, stop gap measure that at best only buys time until a kidney becomes available. 

FR289 aka Dome Road

Had the urge to take a walk in the Jemez today.  Thought that the Dome Road, starting from its intersection with NM4 and going out to Graduation Flats, might be just the ticket for a flat, easy walk to soothe my recalcitrant right foot - WRONG!  It was a nice enough walk - not much wind, warm, sunny and dry BUT...  I picked Thanksgiving Day weekend when everyone and his brother get the urge to drive in on that road to gather their Christmas trees.  (What a lovely tradition - go murder a tree and then decorate the corpse for your living room.  Oh, well, curmudgeon, there's plenty of trees up there and if it brings joy to someone, then so be it...  I hope, at least, that people will try to somehow recycle the trees after Christmas.  Here in Los Alamos County they can be taken to the Eco Station to be chipped and composted.) 

I counted close to 50 vehicles passing me on that road.  Some slowed down as they passed and that helped to keep the dust down.  Others sped by in a cloud of dust but waved a friendly greeting as they bore down on me. 

In addition to breathing in lots of dust, I'm sure that I caught a welcome whiff of freshly cut pine as the trees trundled by!  Most of the trees were  normal size but two were quite large and had to be hauled out on long, flat bed trailers. 

The road is in fairly good shape although the wash-board-y parts are no more fun to walk than they are to drive.  The road is not as kind to my sore foot as FR181 aka American Springs Road.

On one of my pit stops in the woods, I saw a coyote trotting along the  Bandelier XC ski trail.  It stopped and looked at me and wouldn't move away  until I spoke.  It wasn't dangerously close but I didn't think it would be prudent to pee while it was hanging around!

I have to email Bandelier about the "Area Closed" signs I saw.  They say that the public can't use or travel the area of Bandelier National Monument that's behind the signs.  It happens to be the area of land between two parcels of private property in the national park.  Makes me mad because it's giving the private property owners defacto exclusive possession of land that belongs to all of us!!

Hat-Flipping Winds

Windy today on FR181.  Tiny snowflakes were flying around. Time to pull out the winter hiking togs.  The wind cut right through my summer weight pants.  Four shirts and a windbreaker kept my torso warm but the selection of gloves/mittens in the windbreaker's pockets was unimpressive.  I think it's safe to retire the fingerless glove liners for now!

Tripped again (but didn't fall) on cut down NM locusts at edge of road. Threw more of them well clear of the road.

My damnable posterior tibial tendon dysfunction has slowly come back.  My days of walking off-trail may be over.  May as well forget about ever getting to Loco Triangle/Bonita Point.  I can't find supportive hiking boots and without support, my right foot turns inward on uneven ground due to the weakened tendon.  Walking on the Route is probably out of the question too since it's rough and uneven.  I'll be grateful to be able to continue walking on trails and dirt roads

I checked out some cardio DVDs from the library today.  I'm half wondering if they would be less stressful for my right foot.

I have new snowshoes in the closet but I suspect that snowshoeing would just be asking for more foot problems.  Anyway, it's supposed to be doubtful that we'll even get much snow this year due to the La Niña, which brings warmer, drier weather to the Southwest. 

I'm doing strengthening and stretching exercises for my right foot every day but the truth is that it won't get better until I entirely rest the foot for a while and I hate that!  We have a wonderful swimming pool but I dread the thought of being forced to use it again to rest my foot.  I'm just not a water person!!  If it comes to that, I'd rather join the gym and use their stationary recumbent bicycle.  Phooey, phooey, phooey!!!

South Perimeter Trail with WRSC Group

There were 9 of us and it was an enjoyable hike but they all had stuff they wanted to get back to, which included Thanksgiving dinner at the townsite senior center.  Three of the regulars skipped the hike entirely because of the Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm a pesco-vegan so I didn't partake of the dinner.  Anyway, all that I would have eaten was the green beans.

After they all turned around, I continued alone on the South Perimeter Trail to its intersection with FR2997 and took  the right fork to a dead end that overlooks Valle Canyon. I could see the Perimeter Trail below. 

Just for something different, I was tempted to take the cleared fire line back to the Perimeter Trail but instead I explored the left fork of FR2997.  I saw two big party sites where people couldn't be bothered to haul out what they brought in.  I've picked up trash in the national forest before and it's discouraging because almost as soon as you clean it, it's trashed again.  I didn't have any trash bags so all I did was tsk, tsk, tsk.

Near the despoiled area, I found a stout stick.  It still has most of the bark and I need to saw off the split bottom and trim the top but it is quite sturdy.  I know because I whacked it hard several times on a rock and a tree but I couldn't break it.  Carrying this stout stick, I will be a menace to any bear or mountain lion that tries to accost me! 

Makes me wonder, though, when I didn't even hear the bicyclist behind me today until he called out that he would pass on my left, if I'd even be aware of a predatory animal trying to sneak up on me.  The bicyclist was very considerate but even so, I involuntarily startled and gasped.  I was surely relieved he wasn't a mountain lion! 

I look around and behind often when I'm hiking by myself.  Just yesterday, on the sewer treatment plant road, I spied two deer watching me from the woods.  It looked like they were planning to stand there unnoticed but when I stopped to peer at them, they skedaddled!

OMG Muffins

OMG muffins as in oh-my-god, what was I thinking.  They are kind of custard-y because I didn't put enough flour in them even though the batter appeared too moist.  Oh, well...I'll eat them anyway and enjoy them because they taste good by my standards but not likely by anyone else's!  My husband says that I make the house smell good but he won't eat the muffins because he says I don't make them sweet enough.  This is true - they are not sweet enough for his taste buds! I tell him to put some jam on them for sweetness.  I put either applesauce, all-fruit spread or honey.  A little bit of nut butter makes for a rich taste and increases the nutrient value.

Here's everything that went into the muffins (but this doesn't constitute a recipe):

1 3/4 quart old fashioned oatmeal (processed into a coarse meal), 1-25 ounce jar Eden unsweetened applesauce, fresh zest of 3 oranges, 1 T vanilla extract, powdered cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon (didn't measure these three), 1 T powdered ginger, almond milk made from 1 3/4 cups medjool dates and 2 cups raw almonds and water, 1 1/2 bags frozen, partially thawed cranberries, 1 quart frozen, mostly thawed pumpkin.

Since the cranberries were partially frozen, they probably contributed extra liquid to the batter (when it already had an excess!)  Also, the juice from the cranberries caused the edges of some of the muffins to stick and char.  That's OK because even the charred ones taste good to me!

FR181 from Water Tanks on West Jemez Road

Today I walked up FR181 from West Jemez Road (NM501).  Oddly, even though we got a dusting of snow in town, there was none on FR181.  There was, though, plenty of wind which swirled dust all around and flipped up the brim of my hat. 

At about the two mile turnaround point, a Subaru passed me, having driven in from NM4.  As she passed by, I overheard her comment to her passenger, through her open window, "Dig this!" Perhaps she was referring to my somewhat unconventional sun protection.  I'm sorry to admit that I kept hoping she would try to go all the way down FR181 to West Jemez Road which would have been totally inappropriate for her vehicle but would have made my walk considerably entertaining.  FR181 starts out easy enough from its intersection with NM4 but as it continues past Water Canyon and winds down to West Jemez Road, it gets a lot rougher.  She must have turned off onto FR2997, a short, dead-end spur road because I never saw her again.  She was a good driver to get a Subaru in as far as she did on that road.

FR181 Beautiful in Any Season

Yesterday wasn't a hunting day so I walked my 4 miles on FR181/American Springs Road.  Such a beautiful, lonely road!  I didn't see a soul other than the two vehicles that drove in just as I neared the end of my walk but then almost immediately turned around and drove back out.

The wind consorted with the tree tops, creating a song of lonely longing.  The day was sunny and cool but by layering 3 long-sleeved shirts, I was comfortable.  I only needed my windbreaker when I was almost back at the car. Where the road dips down into Water Canyon, I saw thin traces of snow in the shade.

Deer and elk tracks speckled the dirt.  The tracks look like Valentine hearts, albeit broken by a cloven line that rifts through the center.  Tiny birds hopped two by two in dry grass stalks alongside the road.  Wild rose bushes, with russet leaves, were festooned with red rose hips that looked like tiny Christmas ornaments.

Someone had, here and there, cut down young, skinny aspens from alongside the road.  They had let them fall so the upper branches stuck out like  trip-wires along the edge of the road.  I didn't notice this hazard until one caught onto my wool sock and wouldn't let me go until I went pitching forward, landing on my left hip and knee.  My sock was torn and my knee was scraped but I picked myself up and kept walking.  After that happened, though, I tossed the trees back from the road wherever I could.

Falls Trail With WRSC Group

Haven't been on the Falls Trail for a long time - very pretty.  The group only went as far as the lower waterfall.  I would have liked going further but it was a beautiful day to hike anyway. 

The grapevine tells me that sandhill cranes are on the move south now but we didn't see/hear any on the hike today.

One of the hikers had more info on the newly flagged snowshoe trail between the Quemazon Road and Cañada Bonita Canyon.  Turns out the route had been cleared previously by a surveyor.  The trail crew only had to clear out the fallen brush and debris.  That explains why I didn't see any freshly cut trees along the snowshoe trail.

Wednesday, hiked with husband on Canyon Rim Trail.  Thursday was a dentist appointment in Albuquerque.

Glad daughter is back safely from business trip in Las Vegas!

Tuesday Group Goes to Rim of Alamo Canyon

Although the weather was supposed to be cold and windy today, it was beautiful and perfect hiking weather.  At the Alamo Canyon Rim, we went a short distance to the east and were awed by a passel of spiral petroglyphs on the perfect canvas of orange volcanic tuff.  We walked over to the top of the "staircase" down into Alamo Canyon and were glad we didn't have to go down it.  We saw a solitary tarantula on the way back.

Some things I forgot to write about yesterday: 

I could smell smoke - a sweet smell like someone nearby smoking a pipe filled with vanilla flavored tobacco.  There was haze hanging on the upper reaches of Pajarito Mountain so it's possible the ski club was doing some burning. 

Someone has newly marked with orange flagging an extension of the snowshoe trail, off the lower road, alongside the rim of Cañada Bonita Canyon.

The biggest problem with my understanding the Nordic ski trails is that they don't seem to entirely jive with the posted forest service map of the trail system. 

Trying to Understand the Nordic Ski Trails

Today, having nothing better to do, I tried to understand the setup of the Southwest Nordic Ski Club trails off the Cañada Bonita Trail.  I'm pretty sure that I walked every one of them.  My GPS said the final tally was 5.5 miles.

The ski trails are confusing because from the most direct route to Cañada Bonita meadow, the upper trail, the letter assigned to the trail segment changes, even though it's the same trail, when it's accessed from the old Quemazon Road, e.g., E from the upper route becomes P when accessed from the lower road.  The letters are on blue diamonds tacked onto trees.

Basically, all the ski trails going downhill from the most direct route to the meadow intersect the Quemazon Road (aka Guaje Canyon Trail 282, aka Cañada Bonita Trail).  The ski trails going uphill from the most direct route to the meadow are loops that seem designed to give the skier as much downhill as possible in limited space.  For example, ski trail L, which starts from Cañada Bonita meadow has 6 switchbacks.  Each switchback has its own number on a blue diamond tacked to a tree.

Some of the ski trails have names in addition to letters of the alphabet - TJ's Dogleg, Dave's Dogleg, and one named after a Tom but I can't remember the name - maybe something like Tom's Mad Downhill or Mad Tom's Downhill...

Well, now that I've done this, I don't have to ever do it again.  The trails are exasperating for hikers in their meanderings but things of wonder for Nordic skiers as they whip through the forest! 

Saw outside the senior center the woman who volunteered on rebuilding the Knapp Trail.  She says they went 1 1/3 mile and other volunteers went ahead with chainsaws.  The original Knapp Trail from Quemazon Canyon up to the Quemazon Trail was only .8 mile (no wonder it was so steep) so I'm not sure what to make of the 1 1/3 miles.  Maybe they will make it longer but gentler? Maybe I didn't understand exactly where the 1 1/3 miles began.  The forest service drove them to the Los Alamos Reservoir - the 1 1/3 miles could have started from there? There was probably plenty of deadfall in Los Alamos Canyon to deal with before they even approached the bottom of the Knapp Trail.  She seemed in a hurry so I didn't press her for details.

Almost forgot - most peculiar - near the start of the Cañada Bonita trailhead, right after the locked gate, on the left side, there is an portable automatic traffic counter attached to a tree.  I never saw that before.  At first I thought it was a camera but it says portable automatic traffic counter on the back (or something like that).

WRSC Hikers Went to Plaza Blanca Friday

Husband seems to think the group was overextending themselves by climbing on all the slippery rocks. Maybe now they should be called the WRSC Friskies?  The hike wasn't very long - probably less than 2 miles.  It was a long drive for a short hike but since I did 7 miles on Thursday, I didn't complain.  Plaza Blanca still  had some trees in full yellow color since it's lower in altitude.  Yellow leaves against white rock turrets makes for pretty photos!  We all ate lunch at the Abiquiu Inn.  I had blue corn tortilla trout tacos - delish!

Walked Zero Road East to the back of Pajarito Mountain this afternoon.  I looked across Los Alamos Canyon for any trace of the Knapp Trail.  One of the WRSC Hikers knows someone who volunteered for the trail workshop and says the forest service drove the volunteers in on the Reservoir Road so they must have roughed in the trail starting from the bottom of LA Canyon.

Next time, it would be nice to go to the top of the Aspen Lift for 1,240' elevation gain and 2.6 miles one way.  As Nike says, just do it!!

Three Trails for the Price of One

Today, the "big tree project" crew was supposed to go to the VCNP to hug trees, including "peel" trees which I'm told are trees that American Indians peeled and ate the bark of in times of hardship.

Four of us showed up and rode up into the Jemez Mountains to the Preserve entrance but the gate was locked.  We headed back toward Los Alamos until we could get a cell phone signal and then called the telephone number listed on the gate.  The Preserve receptionist told us that they have now started their autumn schedule and will only be open Friday through Sunday.  We were disappointed.

Back in town, I went with the crew leader to document some trees in the Western Area, off Ridgeway, and to get the UTM on another in Quemazon Community.

It was 1 pm when we got done.  Since it was so close to, I decided to walk up Pipeline Road.  At first, I planned to only walk my daily 4 but, instead, I walked up to the intersection of Pipeline with the Quemazon Trail and then toddled over on the Quemazon Trail to the viewpoint of Pajarito Mountain and Los Alamos Canyon.  I had my lunch there and studied Loco Triangle with binoculars and took its portrait.  I concluded it would be a poor idea to try to approach it from Paul's Portal Overlook.  The ridge going down from there is too steep.

Exciting hiking news!!  Close to where I ate lunch, I saw plastic flagging that marked a rough-in of the Knapp Trail which was destroyed in the 2000 fire.  Several weeks ago, I had seen advertised a trail workshop, sponsored by the forest service, to build a bench cut trail on the Knapp Trail.  I couldn't tell how far down into Los Alamos Canyon it went because I walked less than .1 mile on  it from the intersection with the Quemazon Trail, marked by an impressive rock cairn, as it was very rough.  I'm so glad that the Knapp Trail may be rebuilt one day!  Maybe it will be better than the original which was scarily steep with a scrabbly, ball-bearing tread.  I also would love it if the Pajarito Canyon Trail, burnt up in the 2000 fire, to the top of Pajarito Mountain was rebuilt some day.

Anyway, I continued downhill on the Quemazon Trail and over to the North Perimeter Trail. Unfortunately, there is no real trail connection between the two.  I had to very inelegantly (read "sliding on butt") cross the South Fork of Pueblo Canyon to get on the Perimeter Trail.

I made very good time on the Perimeter Trail because the sun was setting and I didn't want to meet any wild animals that wanted to make me their supper.  Got back to my car at 5:15 pm.  Probably did just over 7 miles in a little over 4 hours.  I was thrilled to have done this hike on such a beautiful autumn day - the young aspens in the burned area still have golden leaves and the weather was wonderful.

Met Rogue Trail Builder Today

Today, the WI group hiked the Canyon Rim Trail, crossed NM502 to hike the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail north of the airport to the Mesa Trail.  From the Mesa Trail, they went down into Graduation Canyon for lunch and then continued on the Rogue Trail, also along the north-facing shelf of Pueblo Canyon.  Their destination was North Mesa to celebrate yet another hiker's birthday while mine was only the public library.

Along the way, we met the man who built what I call the Rogue Trail.  He works by himself, doing 10-15' of trail a day, carrying his hand tools, which included a large bow saw, a McLeod and others I didn't recognize, on a strap across his shoulder.  His trail work keeps pushing the double-track portion of the trail closer to Graduation Canyon.  I'm happy that he's gradually doing away with the single-track portion because I feel safer walking a wide trail beside steep drop-offs like those into Pueblo Canyon!  If rocks are in the way of the trail widening, he uses them to shore up the canyon-side of the trail, moving them himself!

He says that he also built the East Fork Trail, now part of the Los Alamos County Trail Network (not the East Fork Trail in the Jemez Mountains).  He hopes that eventually the Rogue Trail will be incorporated into the county trail system and connect with the Mesa Trail via Graduation Canyon.  He does the trail work to get exercise.  Amazing man!!

No Downed Trees on Route from Windstorm

I'm amazed - yesterday when I checked the Route, absolutely no trees had toppled over from last week's ferocious winds, clocking in the 40's at the Los Alamos Airport!  Also, the young aspen trees that I've been watching over the years were finally in full color.  The magnificence of their color far surpasses their size!  I got close to one tree, pointed my camera upwards and now have on my Desktop a cheerful photo brimming with golden aspen leaves against the blue sky!

The closer-in view from Camp May Road of Loco Triangle gave me no more information than the view I can see from Pajarito Mountain.  I'll just have to one day find someone crazy enough to go there with me.