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!!