No, not Joe! The holidays drag on. I eagerly await the return of normal life. I wonder if anyone has studied how productive the country is between Christmas and New Year's Day? I'm sure not very because everyone is waiting to be productive again after the holidays are finally over!
The Nordic Ski Trails have officially opened. Perhaps the snow will all be melted or sublimated by the time I make it up there next week. Just in case, I'll bring YakTrax AND snowshoes! The word is that we are entering a long dry, warm spell. Makes me almost miss the excitement of all the winter storms but maybe I can contain myself. Only thing is that then we pay for it in the fire season.
Got tired of the sewage treatment plant road so walked on West Road Bypass today. It's opened to traffic now. Wind was really blasting me!
Used 18% discount card at Co-op today. Earned five by volunteering 5 hours yesterday for inventory. Aim to earn back my yearly membership fee!
Grandson here for sleepover. Spouse goes out for Chinese carryout soon. Yes, we'll be swinging from the chandeliers tonight! Anyway, grandson is a fine young man and we enjoy his company!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Still Biding
Had a chance to go on a snowshoe with a group today but decided not to. Several reasons: Cañada Bonita Trail not really officially open yet, ski area and parking lot very crowded during LANL's mandatory Christmas week shut-down, afraid of getting stuck in parking lot if forced to park in unpaved lots. I could probably think of more but three's enough!
Instead, this morning spouse, grandson and I headed to White Rock. Spouse and grandson walked from library to thrift shop and back while I walked on path along NM4 to Gate 11 and back. Then, home to lunch. Spouse took grandson to Adventures of Tin Tin whilst I dispatched two loads of laundry.
Tomorrow, spouse goes to investment club while I jog on a dirt road. Then we pick up grandson to take him out to eat.
Friday, I have a small, short volunteer job in the morning so I won't be able to go on the Friday walk but spouse will. Grandson has declined accompanying us. Spouse will eat out at one of the Indian casinos with the group.
On New Year's Eve, grandson sleeps over. He will definitely enliven our usual extremely low key (boring) New Year's Eve "celebration"!
Sunday we try to clean up this pig sty for spouse's New Year's Day Gator-OSU bowl party. The party is definitely not my idea but the house could use cleaning!
Next week when spouse goes back to work, it will seem strangely quiet here but I'm looking forward to it!
Beautifully warm today! Love it! Not sure, though, how much snow will be left next week for me to snowshoe on!
Instead, this morning spouse, grandson and I headed to White Rock. Spouse and grandson walked from library to thrift shop and back while I walked on path along NM4 to Gate 11 and back. Then, home to lunch. Spouse took grandson to Adventures of Tin Tin whilst I dispatched two loads of laundry.
Tomorrow, spouse goes to investment club while I jog on a dirt road. Then we pick up grandson to take him out to eat.
Friday, I have a small, short volunteer job in the morning so I won't be able to go on the Friday walk but spouse will. Grandson has declined accompanying us. Spouse will eat out at one of the Indian casinos with the group.
On New Year's Eve, grandson sleeps over. He will definitely enliven our usual extremely low key (boring) New Year's Eve "celebration"!
Sunday we try to clean up this pig sty for spouse's New Year's Day Gator-OSU bowl party. The party is definitely not my idea but the house could use cleaning!
Next week when spouse goes back to work, it will seem strangely quiet here but I'm looking forward to it!
Beautifully warm today! Love it! Not sure, though, how much snow will be left next week for me to snowshoe on!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Biding My Time
A lot of snow, a lot of family events and a lot of holidays have conspired to keep me off the trails and plying the asphalt and concrete. I haven't snowshoed since Pajarito Mountain. Mostly the past 3 weeks, it's snowed so much that with my snow unworthy car, I'm limited in where I can park - my car will get stuck if it runs over a snowball! Maybe next week I'll be able to find a well broken trail to snowshoe that also has a snow-free place for me to park the boat.
The Las Conchas Closure will be amended soon. The Southwest Nordic Ski Club's (SWNSC) blog says that a few trails that have been mitigated (cutting down burnt, hazard trees, etc.) will reopen. So far, the only ones scheduled to reopen are the Nordic Ski Trails (in part, called the Cañada Bonita Trail/Guaje Canyon Trail 282) at the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. The Cañada Bonita/Guaje Canyon Trail 282 will reopen as far as Guaje Canyon overlook. Pipeline Road will reopen from Quemazon Trail to the Guaje Canyon Trail 282 at the overlook into Valle de los Posos. The Nail Trail, off West Jemez Road, will reopen all the way to Camp May Road (the map on the SWNSC blog indicates that Forest Road 2998 is included). I'm happy about this!!
The Las Conchas Closure will be amended soon. The Southwest Nordic Ski Club's (SWNSC) blog says that a few trails that have been mitigated (cutting down burnt, hazard trees, etc.) will reopen. So far, the only ones scheduled to reopen are the Nordic Ski Trails (in part, called the Cañada Bonita Trail/Guaje Canyon Trail 282) at the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. The Cañada Bonita/Guaje Canyon Trail 282 will reopen as far as Guaje Canyon overlook. Pipeline Road will reopen from Quemazon Trail to the Guaje Canyon Trail 282 at the overlook into Valle de los Posos. The Nail Trail, off West Jemez Road, will reopen all the way to Camp May Road (the map on the SWNSC blog indicates that Forest Road 2998 is included). I'm happy about this!!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Small Snowshoe on Pajarito Mountain Jeep Road
Hiking group was having a joint snowshoe/cross country ski today at Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. When I drove past the the bottom of Camp May Road, no one was there to bum a ride up with. Camp May Road was OK up until I was almost at the ski area and then I met a snowplow coming down. I moved over to let the snowplow pass but then my car, hardly a snow-worthy vehicle, couldn't move forward. I put it in 1st gear and eventually it started uphill again. Next time I hitch a ride!
Only two snowshoers showed up and three cross country skiers. We snowshoers headed up Zero East Road while the skiers headed up the Logging Road. One of the snowshoers was really slow - only her second time snowshoeing. Due to babying my right foot with the bum posterior tibial tendon, this was my first time snowshoeing since the winter of 2009-2010. I felt bogged down with the very slow uphill progress so I said goodbye to the other two even though I'm no speedster. I made it as far as the 4-way intersection at the antennas and then the grooming ended. In deference to my right foot, I decided not to risk breaking trail to the back of the mountain and headed back down. On the way, I met up with the faster snowshoer. She was almost where I turned around and somehow she made it back down before me because I saw her car drive away as I approached the ski lodge. I think she took a short cut!
My right foot was OK. I kept adjusting the strap so it wasn't pinching my right medial arch too much. It was a quintessentially sunny-turquoise-blue-sky-New-Mexico-day! I was elated to have successfully snowshoed at least part way up the mountain. I was envious, though, of a woman snowshoer I met on the way down who was climbing straight up the mountain on the ski runs, breaking trail in the deep snow! I have to be happy, though, for what I can do. Until I get a bionic foot, breaking trail in deep snow is off my to-do list, much as I'd like to!
On the drive down, the snow was slushy and I stuck to the uphill side of the road since it was snow-free. One of the cross country skiers, a child-sized woman, advised me, when I told her about getting stuck on the way up, to stick to the middle of the road and don't move over! She's small but has big cojones!! Fortunately, I met no oncoming traffic!
Since I only managed 3 miles on the snowshoe today and 3 miles on the snowy Canyon Rim Trail this past Monday, I stopped at the closed West Road bypass for a 2 mile walk to balance my mileage account!
Only two snowshoers showed up and three cross country skiers. We snowshoers headed up Zero East Road while the skiers headed up the Logging Road. One of the snowshoers was really slow - only her second time snowshoeing. Due to babying my right foot with the bum posterior tibial tendon, this was my first time snowshoeing since the winter of 2009-2010. I felt bogged down with the very slow uphill progress so I said goodbye to the other two even though I'm no speedster. I made it as far as the 4-way intersection at the antennas and then the grooming ended. In deference to my right foot, I decided not to risk breaking trail to the back of the mountain and headed back down. On the way, I met up with the faster snowshoer. She was almost where I turned around and somehow she made it back down before me because I saw her car drive away as I approached the ski lodge. I think she took a short cut!
My right foot was OK. I kept adjusting the strap so it wasn't pinching my right medial arch too much. It was a quintessentially sunny-turquoise-blue-sky-New-Mexico-day! I was elated to have successfully snowshoed at least part way up the mountain. I was envious, though, of a woman snowshoer I met on the way down who was climbing straight up the mountain on the ski runs, breaking trail in the deep snow! I have to be happy, though, for what I can do. Until I get a bionic foot, breaking trail in deep snow is off my to-do list, much as I'd like to!
On the drive down, the snow was slushy and I stuck to the uphill side of the road since it was snow-free. One of the cross country skiers, a child-sized woman, advised me, when I told her about getting stuck on the way up, to stick to the middle of the road and don't move over! She's small but has big cojones!! Fortunately, I met no oncoming traffic!
Since I only managed 3 miles on the snowshoe today and 3 miles on the snowy Canyon Rim Trail this past Monday, I stopped at the closed West Road bypass for a 2 mile walk to balance my mileage account!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Quemazon Trail in the Golden Afternoon Light
Finally wrested myself from the Pueblo Canyon Rim-Canyon Rim trails loop and went up the Quemazon Trail as far as Pipeline Road.
The trail tread has been mostly restored since it was bulldozed as a fire break during Las Conchas fire. Regardless, the mish mash of fallen dead trees to either side of the trail is butt ugly - that is until the golden afternoon sun light shines upon all the devastation. Somehow, that makes it beautiful. Yet and still, I wish I had magic powers and could make all the ugly, hacked up timber disappear. One saving grace is that it's unlikely that mountain lions could bound out at me from all that mess; more likely, they would use the trail like civilized beings. So, convincing myself of that, I kept looking behind to make sure no predators were tracking me. Keeps me in the moment, I suppose!
On the way down, I pondered about why Los Alamos Canyon is such a deep, mostly straight canyon while Pueblo Canyon is dissected into multiple branches in its upper reaches. Los Alamos Canyon is south of the Quemazon Trail while several Pueblo Canyon branches are north. One Pueblo Canyon tributary wraps right up to where the Quemazon Trail intersects Pipeline Road. Pipeline Road then parallels that downhill for a while. All I can figure is that Los Alamos Canyon has a more direct path to follow from the high mountains while the Pueblo Canyon drainage seems to start lower and is broken up by ridges running this way and that.
Near the bottom, I startled at a long, moving shadow to my right. When I turned, I saw a woman I know. She was just completing the Quemazon Nature Trail loop. It was late afternoon and we talked briefly as we continued downhill. She was faster so we said goodbye and she headed off toward Western Area and I toward my car parked at the Quemazon trailhead.
The trail tread has been mostly restored since it was bulldozed as a fire break during Las Conchas fire. Regardless, the mish mash of fallen dead trees to either side of the trail is butt ugly - that is until the golden afternoon sun light shines upon all the devastation. Somehow, that makes it beautiful. Yet and still, I wish I had magic powers and could make all the ugly, hacked up timber disappear. One saving grace is that it's unlikely that mountain lions could bound out at me from all that mess; more likely, they would use the trail like civilized beings. So, convincing myself of that, I kept looking behind to make sure no predators were tracking me. Keeps me in the moment, I suppose!
On the way down, I pondered about why Los Alamos Canyon is such a deep, mostly straight canyon while Pueblo Canyon is dissected into multiple branches in its upper reaches. Los Alamos Canyon is south of the Quemazon Trail while several Pueblo Canyon branches are north. One Pueblo Canyon tributary wraps right up to where the Quemazon Trail intersects Pipeline Road. Pipeline Road then parallels that downhill for a while. All I can figure is that Los Alamos Canyon has a more direct path to follow from the high mountains while the Pueblo Canyon drainage seems to start lower and is broken up by ridges running this way and that.
Near the bottom, I startled at a long, moving shadow to my right. When I turned, I saw a woman I know. She was just completing the Quemazon Nature Trail loop. It was late afternoon and we talked briefly as we continued downhill. She was faster so we said goodbye and she headed off toward Western Area and I toward my car parked at the Quemazon trailhead.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Route Maintenance Extravaganza
Monday, picked up 4 grocery bags full of trash in the vicinity of the Route. By the time I got to FR2998, it was late afternoon so I decided to walk down Camp May Road because the shadows along the Route reminded me that mountain lions like to feed at dusk. The bags of trash were too heavy so I had cached them periodically in several places along the road. When I got to my car, I drove back to pick up the bags.
Tuesday, did some useless work to delineate the Route better. During the back burn to establish a fire line to fight the Las Conchas fire, some of the logs that mark the Route burned. It's also marked with rock cairns but they're hard to see at times. On one section, I really overdid it with lining both sides with logs. When I could, I confined the path to a bare dirt since it's probably not good to spread out too much in an area recovering from fire. After this work, I was tired and since walking on a paved road is far easier, I went out to Camp May Road at the Shotgun Shell dirt parking area and completed my walk.
Today, I undid a minor re-route that I'd done Tuesday because I realized that it wasn't at all obvious and where it was originally was further above a tiny drainage and drier. Also today, near the Ocean, I decided that logs on both sides were overkill and I lined only one side of the path. I wanted to stay more left where there was bare dirt and it seemed the way was obvious. In the process of doing this, I discovered a short, ready-made trail connection and it made sense to start using that.
Today, I collected 3 more grocery bags of trash, some which wasn't really along the Route but I could see it glinting so I picked it up. That's it, though, for my annual trash pickup! Today, I didn't quite go up to FR2998 but instead finished my walk on Camp May Road. Once again, I'm superstitious about walking by myself along the Route when it's feeding time for the animals. Speaking of animals, I saw a total of 4 deer today! Again, I had to drive up to retrieve the cached trash bags. They'll go out in my trash tomorrow. Gee, if any neighbor looks in our trash can, they're going to think "They sure drink a lot of beer!"
I may have seen the resident jogger again today. I parked where West Road is blocked off and saw a jogger just coming off the steep trail the bicyclists have built that shortcuts up to the Ocean. In the past, I went up and down that shortcut twice but it's steep so I'll stick to going up the old dirt road remnant just below Camp May Road, hopping the guardrail before the first steep hill on Camp May Road and crossing the paved road to go up to the Ocean.
I realize that any maintenance I do on the Route is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. There are so many fire-damaged trees along the Route which will surely topple one day. Today, at Guardrail Hill, below the second major climb Camp May Road makes, I happened to notice a towering burnt snag, the very bottom of it chiseled narrow by the back burn used to fight Las Conchas. It leans like the Tower of Pisa and I hope when it falls no one is there and it falls away from the Route.
Tuesday, did some useless work to delineate the Route better. During the back burn to establish a fire line to fight the Las Conchas fire, some of the logs that mark the Route burned. It's also marked with rock cairns but they're hard to see at times. On one section, I really overdid it with lining both sides with logs. When I could, I confined the path to a bare dirt since it's probably not good to spread out too much in an area recovering from fire. After this work, I was tired and since walking on a paved road is far easier, I went out to Camp May Road at the Shotgun Shell dirt parking area and completed my walk.
Today, I undid a minor re-route that I'd done Tuesday because I realized that it wasn't at all obvious and where it was originally was further above a tiny drainage and drier. Also today, near the Ocean, I decided that logs on both sides were overkill and I lined only one side of the path. I wanted to stay more left where there was bare dirt and it seemed the way was obvious. In the process of doing this, I discovered a short, ready-made trail connection and it made sense to start using that.
Today, I collected 3 more grocery bags of trash, some which wasn't really along the Route but I could see it glinting so I picked it up. That's it, though, for my annual trash pickup! Today, I didn't quite go up to FR2998 but instead finished my walk on Camp May Road. Once again, I'm superstitious about walking by myself along the Route when it's feeding time for the animals. Speaking of animals, I saw a total of 4 deer today! Again, I had to drive up to retrieve the cached trash bags. They'll go out in my trash tomorrow. Gee, if any neighbor looks in our trash can, they're going to think "They sure drink a lot of beer!"
I may have seen the resident jogger again today. I parked where West Road is blocked off and saw a jogger just coming off the steep trail the bicyclists have built that shortcuts up to the Ocean. In the past, I went up and down that shortcut twice but it's steep so I'll stick to going up the old dirt road remnant just below Camp May Road, hopping the guardrail before the first steep hill on Camp May Road and crossing the paved road to go up to the Ocean.
I realize that any maintenance I do on the Route is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. There are so many fire-damaged trees along the Route which will surely topple one day. Today, at Guardrail Hill, below the second major climb Camp May Road makes, I happened to notice a towering burnt snag, the very bottom of it chiseled narrow by the back burn used to fight Las Conchas. It leans like the Tower of Pisa and I hope when it falls no one is there and it falls away from the Route.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Red Dot to Blue Dot Tuesday and Broken Mesa Ruins Wednesday
The Red Dot to Blue Dot hike on Tuesday was with the women's group. I almost bailed the night before because we got a little snow in Los Alamos. I thought sure the trail would be snowy and icy but the hiking leader, who lives in White Rock, emailed everyone in the morning after she checked the trail that it was clear!
When we first started on the Red Dot, we heard cranes overhead. There were waves and waves of them flying in fluid V's and squawking. Some flew so low that I could for the first time see what truly large birds they are.
I did my usual unimpressive, slow hobble down the Red Dot but who cares since I made it without falling. The group wasn't in a huge hurry as they are not speedsters either. We stopped often to admire the petroglyphs etched into the black basalt and the lingering fall colors.
At Pajarito Springs, they all stopped for a snack. I prefer to stop for a full lunch but this group does snacks instead. I wasn't sure how long I'd have so I waited until they resumed hiking and then ate 2 Raw Revolution bars while we walked on fairly level ground. Managed to clean my teeth while walking also!
We found the crowned lady petroglyph (if you reach the rock with "Toast" and "Chook" (sic), you've passed the turnoff) but, really, "she" looks more like an anatomically correct man!
They stopped for another snack at a viewpoint above the Rio Grande and I ate my mix of roasted, salted edamame and peanuts and raw sunflower seeds. I figured I needed the energy for the climb out of White Rock Canyon.
In the canyon, we were blessed with sunny weather, no snow and ice. Hiking up the Blue Dot, we were blessed with overcast skies so we didn't overheat - we are, after all, postmenopausal women and we overheat easily! I like to get elevated heart rate when walking uphill but since I was behind someone that was doing a good pace, I didn't worry about going faster and stopped often to look back at the Rio Grande.
Today's hike started at one of the gates along NM4 outside of Pajarito Acres. The directions said Gate 8a and .8 mile from Monte Rey Drive S. but I drove right past because I didn't see the cars parked behind the dirt and gravel piles that the state highway transportation department has there. Also, my stubborn mind was sure the directions were mistaken since the true Broken Mesa trailhead starts further south on NM4. I was able make it back in time for the start of the hike.
We followed the Potrillo-Water Canyon connector trail, which parallels NM4, to the north-most entrance to lower Water Canyon, the one that goes past the orange, swiss cheese cliffs. We walked down Water Canyon, past a man holding an overexcited dog that was eager to greet all 16 hikers, to the Broken Mesa Trail crossover. We followed that uphill to the Saddle between Broken Mesa and Beer Mesa (explanation forthcoming). Up we went on the north side of Broken Mesa to view the Indian ruins. No one seemed much interested in them. One woman commented that she finds Indian ruins underwhelming. I would have been happy to eat lunch there but Indian ruins are best appreciated in the company of those who appreciate the spirit of the place. So, down we went to the saddle again and then up Beer Mesa, so named for the day a female hiker drank a bottle of beer at lunch!
Lunch was a hurried affair. The brave alphas sat at the very edge of the mesa. I chose to sit on a basalt rock with a small field of basalt between me and the edge. Still, I had splendid views of Water Canyon. With so little time to linger over lunch, I had to clean my teeth (I like clean teeth!) while we hiked back to the saddle again.
There we proceeded back down to Water Canyon and then went up to the Water Canyon-Potrillo Canyon saddle. Down we went into Potrillo Canyon then up the mesa between the two canyons. Dead trees have been extensively chipped here like along the Powerline Trail, perhaps to create a firebreak.
I thought that we'd go out to the end of the mesa and then back down to the Potrillo Canyon-Water Canyon connector trail to get back to our cars but our leader took a right at the powerline and we walked over to the canyon with the big electric substation. They all went down a cliffy, snowy area but I walked just a little past that and went down on more of a trail, marked by a tattered, white plastic flag hanging from a tree branch. Magically, we were exactly back at our cars!
I thanked the leader, telling him that now I had many ideas for hikes to take this winter. I usually always go on the standard trails in that area - Potrillo, Water and Powerline - but there's a lot of powerline
right-of-ways and trails not in any guidebook that allow many other options.
The leader kept a very fast pace but he'd always stop and wait for the slower ones to catch up. My GPS said we did 6.44 miles. We got back to the cars around 2 pm. Weather was sunny and gorgeous! Cranes were in short supply. We heard them several times but couldn't see them overhead.
When we first started on the Red Dot, we heard cranes overhead. There were waves and waves of them flying in fluid V's and squawking. Some flew so low that I could for the first time see what truly large birds they are.
I did my usual unimpressive, slow hobble down the Red Dot but who cares since I made it without falling. The group wasn't in a huge hurry as they are not speedsters either. We stopped often to admire the petroglyphs etched into the black basalt and the lingering fall colors.
At Pajarito Springs, they all stopped for a snack. I prefer to stop for a full lunch but this group does snacks instead. I wasn't sure how long I'd have so I waited until they resumed hiking and then ate 2 Raw Revolution bars while we walked on fairly level ground. Managed to clean my teeth while walking also!
We found the crowned lady petroglyph (if you reach the rock with "Toast" and "Chook" (sic), you've passed the turnoff) but, really, "she" looks more like an anatomically correct man!
They stopped for another snack at a viewpoint above the Rio Grande and I ate my mix of roasted, salted edamame and peanuts and raw sunflower seeds. I figured I needed the energy for the climb out of White Rock Canyon.
In the canyon, we were blessed with sunny weather, no snow and ice. Hiking up the Blue Dot, we were blessed with overcast skies so we didn't overheat - we are, after all, postmenopausal women and we overheat easily! I like to get elevated heart rate when walking uphill but since I was behind someone that was doing a good pace, I didn't worry about going faster and stopped often to look back at the Rio Grande.
Today's hike started at one of the gates along NM4 outside of Pajarito Acres. The directions said Gate 8a and .8 mile from Monte Rey Drive S. but I drove right past because I didn't see the cars parked behind the dirt and gravel piles that the state highway transportation department has there. Also, my stubborn mind was sure the directions were mistaken since the true Broken Mesa trailhead starts further south on NM4. I was able make it back in time for the start of the hike.
We followed the Potrillo-Water Canyon connector trail, which parallels NM4, to the north-most entrance to lower Water Canyon, the one that goes past the orange, swiss cheese cliffs. We walked down Water Canyon, past a man holding an overexcited dog that was eager to greet all 16 hikers, to the Broken Mesa Trail crossover. We followed that uphill to the Saddle between Broken Mesa and Beer Mesa (explanation forthcoming). Up we went on the north side of Broken Mesa to view the Indian ruins. No one seemed much interested in them. One woman commented that she finds Indian ruins underwhelming. I would have been happy to eat lunch there but Indian ruins are best appreciated in the company of those who appreciate the spirit of the place. So, down we went to the saddle again and then up Beer Mesa, so named for the day a female hiker drank a bottle of beer at lunch!
Lunch was a hurried affair. The brave alphas sat at the very edge of the mesa. I chose to sit on a basalt rock with a small field of basalt between me and the edge. Still, I had splendid views of Water Canyon. With so little time to linger over lunch, I had to clean my teeth (I like clean teeth!) while we hiked back to the saddle again.
There we proceeded back down to Water Canyon and then went up to the Water Canyon-Potrillo Canyon saddle. Down we went into Potrillo Canyon then up the mesa between the two canyons. Dead trees have been extensively chipped here like along the Powerline Trail, perhaps to create a firebreak.
I thought that we'd go out to the end of the mesa and then back down to the Potrillo Canyon-Water Canyon connector trail to get back to our cars but our leader took a right at the powerline and we walked over to the canyon with the big electric substation. They all went down a cliffy, snowy area but I walked just a little past that and went down on more of a trail, marked by a tattered, white plastic flag hanging from a tree branch. Magically, we were exactly back at our cars!
I thanked the leader, telling him that now I had many ideas for hikes to take this winter. I usually always go on the standard trails in that area - Potrillo, Water and Powerline - but there's a lot of powerline
right-of-ways and trails not in any guidebook that allow many other options.
The leader kept a very fast pace but he'd always stop and wait for the slower ones to catch up. My GPS said we did 6.44 miles. We got back to the cars around 2 pm. Weather was sunny and gorgeous! Cranes were in short supply. We heard them several times but couldn't see them overhead.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Restorative Work Day on the Route
OK, so I didn't take baby steps in going back into the woods - I just went in whole hog today on the Route. Astonishingly, I saw a jogger! It really is a "real" trail when someone other than me uses it!
I shored up and rebuilt lots of stone cairns. I moved some small trees that had fallen across the Route. My gloves got blackened in the process!
Several massive trees have laid themselves prostrate across the path. I can't do anything about those. I'm sure they'll be lots more falling in the coming years. Pray for a chainsaw person to take a liking to the Route! One of the downed trees, completely charcoal, can be simply stepped over. The other route-block is two massive trees that fell away from each other but left a space between to travel through. Unfortunately, this involves stepping at the base of the one tree's root ball, not the most stable footing.
Then, there are several instances where I had, before Las Conchas wildfire this June, did a reroute because of a fallen tree but now those trees have burnt up and are no longer obstacles. Today I put one area back to its original path which was more direct.
The area above Guardrail Hill where there was a slash and trash event which resulted in lots of unattractively chopped up trees is looking good because lots of the slash and trash burned. Unfortunately, so did a lot of the conifers.
Snowflakes flew around off and on but held off falling more heavily until I got back to my car. The skies were wild today - a mix of snowflakes and sunshine and overcast. Next on my to do list, pick up trash and pack it out.
Oddly enough, despite the admonitions of "Big Brother" forest service, not a single burnt tree or burnt out stump hole attacked me during my day in the forest! When will "Big Brother" forest service allow us to legally walk again in the Las Conchas burn area?
I shored up and rebuilt lots of stone cairns. I moved some small trees that had fallen across the Route. My gloves got blackened in the process!
Several massive trees have laid themselves prostrate across the path. I can't do anything about those. I'm sure they'll be lots more falling in the coming years. Pray for a chainsaw person to take a liking to the Route! One of the downed trees, completely charcoal, can be simply stepped over. The other route-block is two massive trees that fell away from each other but left a space between to travel through. Unfortunately, this involves stepping at the base of the one tree's root ball, not the most stable footing.
Then, there are several instances where I had, before Las Conchas wildfire this June, did a reroute because of a fallen tree but now those trees have burnt up and are no longer obstacles. Today I put one area back to its original path which was more direct.
The area above Guardrail Hill where there was a slash and trash event which resulted in lots of unattractively chopped up trees is looking good because lots of the slash and trash burned. Unfortunately, so did a lot of the conifers.
Snowflakes flew around off and on but held off falling more heavily until I got back to my car. The skies were wild today - a mix of snowflakes and sunshine and overcast. Next on my to do list, pick up trash and pack it out.
Oddly enough, despite the admonitions of "Big Brother" forest service, not a single burnt tree or burnt out stump hole attacked me during my day in the forest! When will "Big Brother" forest service allow us to legally walk again in the Las Conchas burn area?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Restorative Hike on Cerro Grande Peak
Took myself to Cerro Grande yesterday. Trail's been closed since last June's Las Conchas fire but was reopened Monday. It's been rerouted. Everyone complained (not me) about the old route because it was straight up. (Bandelier National Monument purposely calls the way up Cerro Grande a route and not a trail but I call it both.)
The reroute doesn't start until just above where it used to drop into Frijoles Canyon. Now, instead of going downhill into Frijoles and then having to immediately drag oneself uphill to the high pass meadow, hikers can contour left onto the unnamed slope south of Cerro Grande, through a mature forest of conifers and aspens.
I could see lots of work had been done to clear a trail over to the high pass meadow - lots of cut up trees. The forest here sustained patchy burn damage. There are some amazingly massive trees alongside the trail and it even passes between two of them. I must have just missed the peak aspen display since the brilliant leaves were now on the forest floor, instead of dangling from the trees. I have to say, even though I appreciated walking through this thick forest, it looks like it could use a prescribed burn before a catastrophic one occurs - too many trees.
At the high pass, near the meadow where we saw a bear cavorting this year among the dandelions, I could see the Bandelier rangers obliterated the old trail into Frijoles Canyon with branches and logs. From here, yellow diamonds briefly follow the old straight-up-the-mountain route before veering off sharply right (east). Now begins a series of 6 or so long traverses that take you through a partially burnt forest and the large meadow up to the false summit. The meadow traverses take you near where the 2000 Cerro Grande fire originated in the big bowl where Frijoles Canyon starts.
The burnt forest has a thick layer of slippery pine needles underfoot - not pleasant. In the meadow, I could look downhill and see yellow diamonds out of order, on the traverse below the one I was on. I'm afraid that hikers will shortcut straight downhill to the markers they can most easily see because sometimes the yellow diamonds play hide and seek. In one case, two arrow diamonds were placed at an angle so as not to be visible from the immediate marker below.
It will be interesting to see how the "ground truth" of hikers' feet trample the route out. When that happens, it will also be easier to walk on because walking in a tussock grass meadow or over slippery pine needles is not easy. Depending on how this route develops the longer, eastern route may seem more attractive because traversing back and forth is not my favorite way to go up a mountain if I can clearly see the top (or in this case, the false summit). I did, however, religiously follow the yellow diamonds but I can't control what other hikers do.
On top of Cerro Grande, which is now ringed by a severely burnt black conifer forest, I could hear the wind sounding like a freight train approaching the unprotected peak. Maybe the wind is why I saw no other hikers (although it didn't seem at all windy in the forest). Even though an interesting assortment of clouds were forming in the sky, it remained sunny albeit cool.
At first I sat on a rock to eat lunch but I didn't feel comfortable with my back to the blackened woods so I ate standing up, eying the woods in case something terrible came tearing out. There's something eerie about a completely scorched forest - even the dirt is burnt black. Yet and still, Cerro Grande is still beautiful and I plan to go back one day. And yes, although I hate to say this, the fire really opened up tremendous views from Cerro Grande into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It's perfectly obvious now just how achingly close the Preserve is to Cerro Grande and to Los Alamos and despite the Las Conchas fire damage to its cerros and valles, it too remains beautiful.
The reroute doesn't start until just above where it used to drop into Frijoles Canyon. Now, instead of going downhill into Frijoles and then having to immediately drag oneself uphill to the high pass meadow, hikers can contour left onto the unnamed slope south of Cerro Grande, through a mature forest of conifers and aspens.
I could see lots of work had been done to clear a trail over to the high pass meadow - lots of cut up trees. The forest here sustained patchy burn damage. There are some amazingly massive trees alongside the trail and it even passes between two of them. I must have just missed the peak aspen display since the brilliant leaves were now on the forest floor, instead of dangling from the trees. I have to say, even though I appreciated walking through this thick forest, it looks like it could use a prescribed burn before a catastrophic one occurs - too many trees.
At the high pass, near the meadow where we saw a bear cavorting this year among the dandelions, I could see the Bandelier rangers obliterated the old trail into Frijoles Canyon with branches and logs. From here, yellow diamonds briefly follow the old straight-up-the-mountain route before veering off sharply right (east). Now begins a series of 6 or so long traverses that take you through a partially burnt forest and the large meadow up to the false summit. The meadow traverses take you near where the 2000 Cerro Grande fire originated in the big bowl where Frijoles Canyon starts.
The burnt forest has a thick layer of slippery pine needles underfoot - not pleasant. In the meadow, I could look downhill and see yellow diamonds out of order, on the traverse below the one I was on. I'm afraid that hikers will shortcut straight downhill to the markers they can most easily see because sometimes the yellow diamonds play hide and seek. In one case, two arrow diamonds were placed at an angle so as not to be visible from the immediate marker below.
It will be interesting to see how the "ground truth" of hikers' feet trample the route out. When that happens, it will also be easier to walk on because walking in a tussock grass meadow or over slippery pine needles is not easy. Depending on how this route develops the longer, eastern route may seem more attractive because traversing back and forth is not my favorite way to go up a mountain if I can clearly see the top (or in this case, the false summit). I did, however, religiously follow the yellow diamonds but I can't control what other hikers do.
On top of Cerro Grande, which is now ringed by a severely burnt black conifer forest, I could hear the wind sounding like a freight train approaching the unprotected peak. Maybe the wind is why I saw no other hikers (although it didn't seem at all windy in the forest). Even though an interesting assortment of clouds were forming in the sky, it remained sunny albeit cool.
At first I sat on a rock to eat lunch but I didn't feel comfortable with my back to the blackened woods so I ate standing up, eying the woods in case something terrible came tearing out. There's something eerie about a completely scorched forest - even the dirt is burnt black. Yet and still, Cerro Grande is still beautiful and I plan to go back one day. And yes, although I hate to say this, the fire really opened up tremendous views from Cerro Grande into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It's perfectly obvious now just how achingly close the Preserve is to Cerro Grande and to Los Alamos and despite the Las Conchas fire damage to its cerros and valles, it too remains beautiful.
Coyotes Abound
Started on Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail from Los Alamos Airport. Saw ahead of me two coyotes loping on trail. They disappeared into the bushes on the hillside which made me nervous about ambush so I picked up a stick just in case. I didn't need to use it, though, because after that, I only briefly saw one of them ahead of me on the trail and then they were completely gone. They seemed aware of me but fortunately not interested.
Then, driving out of town, we saw a coyote race across NM502 near the Best Western, heading for DP Canyon.
Then, driving out of town, we saw a coyote race across NM502 near the Best Western, heading for DP Canyon.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Into the Woods
Actually, the title is that of a Stephen Sondheim musical that I saw yesterday with my grandson at the Duane Smith auditorium. We both enjoyed it and laughed a lot.
But, the title also refers to my desire to take little baby steps back into the woods, our local Santa Fe National Forest lands, which are still under lockdown. I won't go into canyons where monsoon rain loosened boulders may roll down to crush me but I do intend to explore some lesser burnt areas here and there. Cripes! I can recognize a burnt out stump hole when I see one and not jump into it! As for falling trees, that problem will be with us for years and I'm willing to take my chances. On last Tuesday's hike, I told someone that I viscerally miss walking on American Springs Road/FR181 and she told me she feels the same way about not being able to walk up Water Canyon to that same road. I appreciated so much that she shared that with me!
I walked the first two miles of Camp May Road today. My pet aspens along the Route have reached their peak and are blazing yellow! That makes me happy. I saw probably the same herd of deer at the same place again today, just a little past a mile up Camp May Road from West Jemez. They browse at the very edge of Los Alamos Canyon.
I now understand how the aspens and gambel oak that were browned by the fire line burnout along Camp May Road will regenerate. The aspens already have small seedlings around their skinny trunks and the gambel oaks too. They will regenerate from the ground up. I'm looking forward to all the new growth next year!
Overheard at the Los Alamos Heart Council's Health Fair Saturday: A man said that the downed logs that prevented travel down Pajarito Canyon from Pajarito Mountain burned up in the Las Conchas Fire and it looks possible to once again walk down canyon from the back of the mountain. I'll have to tell the friskier Wednesday group this and maybe they'll check it out.
But, the title also refers to my desire to take little baby steps back into the woods, our local Santa Fe National Forest lands, which are still under lockdown. I won't go into canyons where monsoon rain loosened boulders may roll down to crush me but I do intend to explore some lesser burnt areas here and there. Cripes! I can recognize a burnt out stump hole when I see one and not jump into it! As for falling trees, that problem will be with us for years and I'm willing to take my chances. On last Tuesday's hike, I told someone that I viscerally miss walking on American Springs Road/FR181 and she told me she feels the same way about not being able to walk up Water Canyon to that same road. I appreciated so much that she shared that with me!
I walked the first two miles of Camp May Road today. My pet aspens along the Route have reached their peak and are blazing yellow! That makes me happy. I saw probably the same herd of deer at the same place again today, just a little past a mile up Camp May Road from West Jemez. They browse at the very edge of Los Alamos Canyon.
I now understand how the aspens and gambel oak that were browned by the fire line burnout along Camp May Road will regenerate. The aspens already have small seedlings around their skinny trunks and the gambel oaks too. They will regenerate from the ground up. I'm looking forward to all the new growth next year!
Overheard at the Los Alamos Heart Council's Health Fair Saturday: A man said that the downed logs that prevented travel down Pajarito Canyon from Pajarito Mountain burned up in the Las Conchas Fire and it looks possible to once again walk down canyon from the back of the mountain. I'll have to tell the friskier Wednesday group this and maybe they'll check it out.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Rain, Sunshine and Fall Colors Along the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail
Was to go on Mitchell Trail hike with the vigorous Wednesday group but when I started driving to the trailhead and saw rain on my windshield and dark, dark clouds to the northwest, where I was headed, I turned tail and drove to White Rock since I could see clearer skies that way.
Going down the Main Hill Road, I saw the aftermath of an accident with broken glass still on the road. It's only a two lane road built flush against the tuff cliff and has no shoulder. The accident occurred at the Anderson Overlook blind curve. Very scary road and the drivers are even scarier!
When I started jogging on the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, I was chagrined to hear raindrops falling on my hat so I unfurled my golf umbrella. It rained steadily but not too long. The green of the lichen that's everywhere on the basalt rocks along the trail really stands out when wet and closely matches the color of the sagebrush.
When the rain stopped, the sun came out making the basalt along the canyon edge and in the canyon below gleam. Far below, I could see that the poplars along the banks of the Rio Grande have turned to gold. Just a little rain and this landscape is made magical! White, furry winterfat adorned the canyon rim along with clusters of lavendar pink verbena. I thought verbena was only a springtime flower but maybe not!
Where the trail makes a right turn above Pajarito Canyon to continue toward Sherwood Blvd., I turned around but instead of continuing on the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, I followed the short trail on the bench that runs just below the rim trail. This bench is a fascinating place that brings you closer to the basaltic wonderland of White Rock Canyon. Midway, there is even a tiny oasis where I'm sure there must be a spring. I've never seen the spring but the evidence is in the profuse tree growth, including willows, that only occurs in a narrow strip right there and continues to the canyon rim above. The bench trail dead ends in a jumble of basalt. Above are towering basalt cliffs with a talus slope of basalt boulders, large and small. Underfoot there is unyielding basalt. Below the bench, there are more basalt benches and veritable mountains of basalt. There's a spare beauty in the hard steadfastness of the dark basalt.
I backtracked up to the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail and followed it back to my car. Never saw another soul the whole time I was on the trail!
Going down the Main Hill Road, I saw the aftermath of an accident with broken glass still on the road. It's only a two lane road built flush against the tuff cliff and has no shoulder. The accident occurred at the Anderson Overlook blind curve. Very scary road and the drivers are even scarier!
When I started jogging on the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, I was chagrined to hear raindrops falling on my hat so I unfurled my golf umbrella. It rained steadily but not too long. The green of the lichen that's everywhere on the basalt rocks along the trail really stands out when wet and closely matches the color of the sagebrush.
When the rain stopped, the sun came out making the basalt along the canyon edge and in the canyon below gleam. Far below, I could see that the poplars along the banks of the Rio Grande have turned to gold. Just a little rain and this landscape is made magical! White, furry winterfat adorned the canyon rim along with clusters of lavendar pink verbena. I thought verbena was only a springtime flower but maybe not!
Where the trail makes a right turn above Pajarito Canyon to continue toward Sherwood Blvd., I turned around but instead of continuing on the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, I followed the short trail on the bench that runs just below the rim trail. This bench is a fascinating place that brings you closer to the basaltic wonderland of White Rock Canyon. Midway, there is even a tiny oasis where I'm sure there must be a spring. I've never seen the spring but the evidence is in the profuse tree growth, including willows, that only occurs in a narrow strip right there and continues to the canyon rim above. The bench trail dead ends in a jumble of basalt. Above are towering basalt cliffs with a talus slope of basalt boulders, large and small. Underfoot there is unyielding basalt. Below the bench, there are more basalt benches and veritable mountains of basalt. There's a spare beauty in the hard steadfastness of the dark basalt.
I backtracked up to the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail and followed it back to my car. Never saw another soul the whole time I was on the trail!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Camp May Road Walk Yesterday - Burnt Mesa Eagle Traps Today
Yesterday I walked the first two miles of Camp May Road, starting from West Jemez Road. Irritated by the stout metal posts, thick wire strand and metal gate that DOE has installed so they can close off Camp May Road in the future. At least I think it's the DOE because they own the land where Camp May Road intersects the West Road bypass. True, it's just a short section but people walk, run and bike up that road daily and there is no shoulder, no room to escape a vehicle, and now there's even less room unless I'm to vault over the thick wire strand to escape a careening car! (They've also installed the metal posts and wire strand further along the West Road Bypass to keep people from driving into the woods that the DOE owns as a buffer zone. Phooey on them!)
Enough complaining. I checked out my pet aspens along the Route - the ones accessed from Shotgun Shell parking lot. They have not completely turned yellow and are not as brilliant as in years past. Maybe they were overheated by the burnout that established a fire line during the Las Conchas fire.
On the way back downhill, I needed to use a side road for a "necessary" visit but I saw an animal browsing. With my eyesight, I couldn't quite figure out what it was and certainly didn't want to surprise a mountain lion or coyote so I waited until the animal raised its head from its yummy meal and then I knew - bingo, deer! I told it "I won't hurt you, darling!" and headed up the road to find a tree but then I was astonished to realize that there were 7 deer, one of which was a buck. We stood there staring at each other until some of the deer decided they'd better cross Camp May Road to "escape" from me.
Today, the women's group walked off trail on Burnt Mesa (even though off trail travel is not yet officially condoned) to visit the eagle traps. Glad we did it. Weather was perfect. While the group had a snack stop at the final two eagle traps, I walked downhill, away from Frijoles Canyon, to take a gander at the unnamed canyon between us and the official Burnt Mesa Trail. It would be nice to go out to the eagle traps and loop back to the official trail by crossing this canyon. It could be done but not with the group of 14 we had today. While I was at the canyon edge, I noticed a stake that archeologists use to mark ruins. Next to it were two rocks, planted on the hillside, facing each other, with their inner edges looking unnaturally straight, creating a small, shallow trench, maybe 4 feet long by 18 inches wide and filled in with dirt so it was less than a foot deep. I took the others down to see it and kidded that this "eagle trap" was to teach the toddlers how to snatch the eagle's tail feathers!
Enough complaining. I checked out my pet aspens along the Route - the ones accessed from Shotgun Shell parking lot. They have not completely turned yellow and are not as brilliant as in years past. Maybe they were overheated by the burnout that established a fire line during the Las Conchas fire.
On the way back downhill, I needed to use a side road for a "necessary" visit but I saw an animal browsing. With my eyesight, I couldn't quite figure out what it was and certainly didn't want to surprise a mountain lion or coyote so I waited until the animal raised its head from its yummy meal and then I knew - bingo, deer! I told it "I won't hurt you, darling!" and headed up the road to find a tree but then I was astonished to realize that there were 7 deer, one of which was a buck. We stood there staring at each other until some of the deer decided they'd better cross Camp May Road to "escape" from me.
Today, the women's group walked off trail on Burnt Mesa (even though off trail travel is not yet officially condoned) to visit the eagle traps. Glad we did it. Weather was perfect. While the group had a snack stop at the final two eagle traps, I walked downhill, away from Frijoles Canyon, to take a gander at the unnamed canyon between us and the official Burnt Mesa Trail. It would be nice to go out to the eagle traps and loop back to the official trail by crossing this canyon. It could be done but not with the group of 14 we had today. While I was at the canyon edge, I noticed a stake that archeologists use to mark ruins. Next to it were two rocks, planted on the hillside, facing each other, with their inner edges looking unnaturally straight, creating a small, shallow trench, maybe 4 feet long by 18 inches wide and filled in with dirt so it was less than a foot deep. I took the others down to see it and kidded that this "eagle trap" was to teach the toddlers how to snatch the eagle's tail feathers!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Two Walks in the Las Conchas Burn
Last week I'd called the Valles Caldera National Preserve to ask if the free Coyote Call Trail was open yet because there was a rumor that it was but the staff confirmed that it remains closed due to Las Conchas fire damage - lots of downed trees. They did tell me, though, that the free Valle Grande Trail would be opening on a limited basis - October 20 and 21 and October 27 and 28 this month. The odd schedule is probably due to the elk hunts going on now in the Preserve.
I tried 3 times before I left home to call the Preserve's Valle Grande Staging Area to double check if the trail was truly open but they're not answering their phones today. They're on their fall recreation schedule where the Preserve is only open to the general public on Friday-Sunday.
Parking was interesting at the Valle Grande trailhead because the state highway transportation department is using the parking lot for their big, orange vehicles while they're resurfacing NM4. I asked if it was all right to park there and they said it would be fine.
At the trailhead, the sign is still up that says "Area Closed". I plan to call tomorrow to double check about the sign and if they plan to open it at all in November. It makes sense, though, that the sign is still up since the trail's only open on such a limited basis.
The wood posts of the people gate where you enter the trail are black charcoal and the barbed wire is on the ground. The first part is in a severely burnt area but it gets better as you walk downhill. They've obviously cleared the trail because you see huge, cut up burnt trees lying at the trail side. They've made water bars of logs, shored up with dirt and stones, diagonally across the road.
At the Valle Grande meadow, I could see aspens popping gold on Redondo, South Mountain and Scooter Peak. I was disappointed to not see or hear any elk. Maybe they're still in hiding from the hunt earlier this week.
After the Valle Grande hike, a mere 2 miles round trip, downhill and then uphill on the way back, I drove to the Cerro Grande trailhead. The Cerro Grande Trail is still closed but Bandelier will reopen it soon. Bandelier's Blue Ski Trail, the short trail of the two Upper Frijoles trails, is open and just across NM4.
First, it was lunch time so I sat in the car and ate a sunflower seed, roasted edamame and salted redskin peanut mix, applesauce and a banana LaraBar. Then, off I headed on the Blue Ski Trail, another easy 2 miles .
I love the first part of the trail that goes through a burned area yet the forest floor is already covered by young, green aspen shoots. It looks like a garden. There's another part, the trail back, that looks more desolate, maybe because it's on such a slope that the summer's phenomenal monsoon just ran off and nothing much has grown back yet.
When I was almost back to the meadow, I thought I saw, almost out of the corner of my eye, the outline of perked up deer ears in the forest shade. I quickly walked backwards a few steps and sure enough, two deer were watching me but they high tailed it out of there when they knew I'd seen them.
Beautiful time to drive into the Jemez Mountains because the aspen are peaking gold right now!
I tried 3 times before I left home to call the Preserve's Valle Grande Staging Area to double check if the trail was truly open but they're not answering their phones today. They're on their fall recreation schedule where the Preserve is only open to the general public on Friday-Sunday.
Parking was interesting at the Valle Grande trailhead because the state highway transportation department is using the parking lot for their big, orange vehicles while they're resurfacing NM4. I asked if it was all right to park there and they said it would be fine.
At the trailhead, the sign is still up that says "Area Closed". I plan to call tomorrow to double check about the sign and if they plan to open it at all in November. It makes sense, though, that the sign is still up since the trail's only open on such a limited basis.
The wood posts of the people gate where you enter the trail are black charcoal and the barbed wire is on the ground. The first part is in a severely burnt area but it gets better as you walk downhill. They've obviously cleared the trail because you see huge, cut up burnt trees lying at the trail side. They've made water bars of logs, shored up with dirt and stones, diagonally across the road.
At the Valle Grande meadow, I could see aspens popping gold on Redondo, South Mountain and Scooter Peak. I was disappointed to not see or hear any elk. Maybe they're still in hiding from the hunt earlier this week.
After the Valle Grande hike, a mere 2 miles round trip, downhill and then uphill on the way back, I drove to the Cerro Grande trailhead. The Cerro Grande Trail is still closed but Bandelier will reopen it soon. Bandelier's Blue Ski Trail, the short trail of the two Upper Frijoles trails, is open and just across NM4.
First, it was lunch time so I sat in the car and ate a sunflower seed, roasted edamame and salted redskin peanut mix, applesauce and a banana LaraBar. Then, off I headed on the Blue Ski Trail, another easy 2 miles .
I love the first part of the trail that goes through a burned area yet the forest floor is already covered by young, green aspen shoots. It looks like a garden. There's another part, the trail back, that looks more desolate, maybe because it's on such a slope that the summer's phenomenal monsoon just ran off and nothing much has grown back yet.
When I was almost back to the meadow, I thought I saw, almost out of the corner of my eye, the outline of perked up deer ears in the forest shade. I quickly walked backwards a few steps and sure enough, two deer were watching me but they high tailed it out of there when they knew I'd seen them.
Beautiful time to drive into the Jemez Mountains because the aspen are peaking gold right now!
Reveling in NM Autumn on Pajarito Mountain
I've gone to Pajarito Mountain thrice this week. Once on Sunday with spouse. He made it to the 4 way intersection at the antenna farm which is good since usually he only makes it to just past the Townsight Lift, at the intersection where a minor side road goes over to Evershine.
The fall colors were much improved since last week. I want to see as much glorious gold aspen as I can so I went again on Monday and again on Wednesday,
On Wednesday, I went up the western side, sticking to the Logging Road. I call it the Logging Road from the ski lodge to Bruce's Blvd., near the Terrain Park and the Mother Lift, but the Pajarito Mountain bike map shows it as Road O from the lodge until it intersects Road 1, a minor side road, and then it becomes the Logging Road. It makes more sense to call it one name from bottom to top since it's one continuous road.
The Logging Road takes you through a badly burnt part of Pajarito Mountain. There were big red signs with white lettering that said "Please Stay Out" but I continued up the road anyway and was soon out of the vertical charcoal. I'm quite sure that last week those signs said "Please Use Caution" which was contradictory since the signs had a hiker, a bicyclist and a horse rider in a crossed out circle. Bet someone made the signs wrong and the ski area now has the correct signs up.
At the top, didn't bother going to the back of the mountain but instead took Bruce's Blvd. over to past the Lone Spruce Lift (the ski area is working hard to get that lift operational after it was damaged by the Las Conchas fire) and then walked on Zero Road East down to my car . Zero Road East appears on the bike map as Lower East Road and Upper East Road but the signs at the ski area say Zero Road East.
I plan to one day walk the eastern side of the mountain, starting up the Oxbow Road and swinging around on Evershine Ridge. I want to walk Pajarito a lot before the snows (hopefully) come.
The fall colors were much improved since last week. I want to see as much glorious gold aspen as I can so I went again on Monday and again on Wednesday,
On Wednesday, I went up the western side, sticking to the Logging Road. I call it the Logging Road from the ski lodge to Bruce's Blvd., near the Terrain Park and the Mother Lift, but the Pajarito Mountain bike map shows it as Road O from the lodge until it intersects Road 1, a minor side road, and then it becomes the Logging Road. It makes more sense to call it one name from bottom to top since it's one continuous road.
The Logging Road takes you through a badly burnt part of Pajarito Mountain. There were big red signs with white lettering that said "Please Stay Out" but I continued up the road anyway and was soon out of the vertical charcoal. I'm quite sure that last week those signs said "Please Use Caution" which was contradictory since the signs had a hiker, a bicyclist and a horse rider in a crossed out circle. Bet someone made the signs wrong and the ski area now has the correct signs up.
At the top, didn't bother going to the back of the mountain but instead took Bruce's Blvd. over to past the Lone Spruce Lift (the ski area is working hard to get that lift operational after it was damaged by the Las Conchas fire) and then walked on Zero Road East down to my car . Zero Road East appears on the bike map as Lower East Road and Upper East Road but the signs at the ski area say Zero Road East.
I plan to one day walk the eastern side of the mountain, starting up the Oxbow Road and swinging around on Evershine Ridge. I want to walk Pajarito a lot before the snows (hopefully) come.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Very Last Bench of Kwage Mesa
Today I jogged to the end of Kwage Mesa. Once on a group hike, I'd seen another hiker go down to the next bench at the end of the mesa. Today, I finally got down to that next level. Then I made it down two more levels to the very last rock bench level of Kwage Mesa. When I say "walked down", much of the time I was using my arms and butt to down climb. The south side of Kwage Mesa is very steep with cliffs plunging into Pueblo Canyon. The north side rises above Bayo Canyon but isn't sheer cliffs.
A friend wants to see if there is a way off the end of Kwage Mesa. This winter, she and I found a rough way up the side of Kwage Mesa from Bayo Canyon but more to the west. I'll have to tell her that it looks possible to go up the side of Kwage Mesa closer to its eastern end from Bayo Canyon and then climb the 3 bench levels to the top. I'd rather go up then down. It looked like a somewhat clear path went west. I followed it until it was blocked by a fallen tree. I could have gone further but that was enough exploring for one day. On the north side of the bottom bench, I saw human shoe prints so someone else has been there.
A friend wants to see if there is a way off the end of Kwage Mesa. This winter, she and I found a rough way up the side of Kwage Mesa from Bayo Canyon but more to the west. I'll have to tell her that it looks possible to go up the side of Kwage Mesa closer to its eastern end from Bayo Canyon and then climb the 3 bench levels to the top. I'd rather go up then down. It looked like a somewhat clear path went west. I followed it until it was blocked by a fallen tree. I could have gone further but that was enough exploring for one day. On the north side of the bottom bench, I saw human shoe prints so someone else has been there.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Pajarito Mountain Two Days in a Row
Yesterday, Tuesday, I walked from the ski lodge up Zero East Road to the 4-way intersection at the antenna farm just west of Townsight Lift. I wanted to check out a trail I'd followed on Ullr Fest from the 4-way intersection over to Evershine Ridge. That trail skirts above Pajarito Canyon (or at least in view of it) and runs above Evershine Ridge, going past yet more antennas, the easternmost ones on the mountain.
I didn't have time the day of Ullr Fest to follow the trail completely. I had to turn around because I was the designated driver who had to drive everyone down Camp May Road.
On Tuesday, since the trail could have been muddy with last week's snow fall on the ski hill and since I'd already walked part of it from the 4-way intersection, I turned left and walked past Townsight Lift, whose quad chairs were all stacked in a row while the lift awaits repair after the Las Conchas fire, and over to where I'd stopped last time. I quickly discovered that the trail didn't go much further. It deadended at Evershine Ridge. I didn't bother checking to see if it somehow continues further down.
The aspens in Pajarito Canyon have turned yellow. Would be nice to check out the aspen activity there but that's in the Las Conchas burn area closure. The aspens that didn't burn on Pajarito Mountain aren't putting on much of a show this year.
Today, Wednesday, I walked up Cerra Bonita, the mountain just north of Pajarito Mountain, on a rocky dirt road through a meadow that had burnt aspens on one side and burnt conifers on the other. I've wanted to do this since summer when I looked at the road with binoculars from the top of Rim Run and, because the Las Conchas fire had burned a lot of trees, could see over the top of Cerra Bonita all the way north to Pipeline Road. I thought maybe if I walked up Cerra Bonita that I could look down into Cañada Bonita meadow and beyond but I discovered today that Cerra Bonita just isn't as high enough to see into Cañada Bonita meadow. The road ended at the edge of a burnt conifer forest that looked too dangerous for me to walk into further.
I started down Cerra Bonita to where I could see a fairly open way to walk through the burnt aspen forest to another meadow. I was hoping to contour above Camp May Park and not lose much altitude. This plan wasn't as scary as the prospect of walking through burnt conifers. When the conifers burn, their roots open up deep, ankle busting holes! The forest floor in the burnt aspen forest has already filled with aspen seedlings, some a yard high with leaves as big as the palm of my hand.
When I got to the open meadow, I was unhappy to discover the blasted barbed wire fence of the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary. There was even a nasty barbed trip wire at a right angle to the fence. I could have trespassed and walked uphill in that inviting high mountain meadow - the fence is broken down in so many places - but instead I walked outside the fence, carefully watching that I didn't trip on the barbed wire laying on the ground. I saw elk track in the black dirt. I wondered how they deal with the barbed wire. I vehemently cursed the Preserve out loud as I walked along. Why in the world are we not allowed to walk on the rim of the Valles Caldera when we, the people, already own this piece of property? The Valles Caldera Trust is basically entrusted with keeping us out which is extremely irksome!
When I got to the road that goes uphill to the Camp May saddle, I followed it up to the damnable Valles Caldera National Preserve fence and cursed them some more, loudly, casting aspersions on the legitimacy of their parentage! Since Las Conchas fire, the views from Pajarito Mountain into the Valles Caldera have really opened up. I could see all the way to Redondo Peak. I could see the burnt volcanic domes of Cerro del Medio and Cerros del Abrigo in the Valle Grande.
I continued to the top of Rim Run. A sherpa would have been handy to carry my backpack up that steep slope! The ski area is building a log fence along the ski hill boundary. They have plenty of logs courtesy of the Las Conchas fire! At the top of Rim Run, it was already 3 pm. All I'd had for lunch was some grapes. I would have liked to sit and eat a snack, whilst enjoying the views but it was late so I put on my windbreaker and a fleece vest and continued toward the Mother lift. I estimated I'd arrive back at my car at 4:30 pm.
On Tuesday, I saw no other hikers on Pajarito Mountain and on Wednesday, I saw no hikers until I got near the Mother Lift. Then, I saw a lone male hiker heading for the back of the mountain and a couple with a tiny, yippy terrier heading to the top of Rim Run.
I could have walked down steep Rim Run to the Logging Road but I wanted to get my miles up to 4 for the day so I went past the Mother Lift and then walked downhill to the Terrain Park to pick up the Logging Road. But when I got below the Terrain Park, I instead took a minor road that went across the ski runs and backtracked to the east before going all the way back west to I Don't Care Run. I really don't know the western side of the mountain very well and thought this road was a short cut to the Logging Road - HA! At this point, I was practically to the bottom of Rim Run where I knew I could pick up the Logging Road but I, in my brilliance, didn't want to walk any further and thought that I Don't Care looked easy to go down - NOT! This particular run has fooled me before. It starts out easy but then then makes a sharp right where it becomes steep and rocky - ARRGH! I had no choice but to carefully pick my way down. It was either that or roll down! Once I got on the Logging Road, I stayed on it and arrived at my car at 4:33 pm.
Even though the aspens on Pajarito Mountain aren't glorious this year, I did see some enormous red and yellow aspen leaves that had fallen. I looked up but couldn't figure out where they'd come from. Last week's snowfall still hasn't melted yet on the shadowed side of the ski slopes.
I didn't have time the day of Ullr Fest to follow the trail completely. I had to turn around because I was the designated driver who had to drive everyone down Camp May Road.
On Tuesday, since the trail could have been muddy with last week's snow fall on the ski hill and since I'd already walked part of it from the 4-way intersection, I turned left and walked past Townsight Lift, whose quad chairs were all stacked in a row while the lift awaits repair after the Las Conchas fire, and over to where I'd stopped last time. I quickly discovered that the trail didn't go much further. It deadended at Evershine Ridge. I didn't bother checking to see if it somehow continues further down.
The aspens in Pajarito Canyon have turned yellow. Would be nice to check out the aspen activity there but that's in the Las Conchas burn area closure. The aspens that didn't burn on Pajarito Mountain aren't putting on much of a show this year.
Today, Wednesday, I walked up Cerra Bonita, the mountain just north of Pajarito Mountain, on a rocky dirt road through a meadow that had burnt aspens on one side and burnt conifers on the other. I've wanted to do this since summer when I looked at the road with binoculars from the top of Rim Run and, because the Las Conchas fire had burned a lot of trees, could see over the top of Cerra Bonita all the way north to Pipeline Road. I thought maybe if I walked up Cerra Bonita that I could look down into Cañada Bonita meadow and beyond but I discovered today that Cerra Bonita just isn't as high enough to see into Cañada Bonita meadow. The road ended at the edge of a burnt conifer forest that looked too dangerous for me to walk into further.
I started down Cerra Bonita to where I could see a fairly open way to walk through the burnt aspen forest to another meadow. I was hoping to contour above Camp May Park and not lose much altitude. This plan wasn't as scary as the prospect of walking through burnt conifers. When the conifers burn, their roots open up deep, ankle busting holes! The forest floor in the burnt aspen forest has already filled with aspen seedlings, some a yard high with leaves as big as the palm of my hand.
When I got to the open meadow, I was unhappy to discover the blasted barbed wire fence of the Valles Caldera National Preserve boundary. There was even a nasty barbed trip wire at a right angle to the fence. I could have trespassed and walked uphill in that inviting high mountain meadow - the fence is broken down in so many places - but instead I walked outside the fence, carefully watching that I didn't trip on the barbed wire laying on the ground. I saw elk track in the black dirt. I wondered how they deal with the barbed wire. I vehemently cursed the Preserve out loud as I walked along. Why in the world are we not allowed to walk on the rim of the Valles Caldera when we, the people, already own this piece of property? The Valles Caldera Trust is basically entrusted with keeping us out which is extremely irksome!
When I got to the road that goes uphill to the Camp May saddle, I followed it up to the damnable Valles Caldera National Preserve fence and cursed them some more, loudly, casting aspersions on the legitimacy of their parentage! Since Las Conchas fire, the views from Pajarito Mountain into the Valles Caldera have really opened up. I could see all the way to Redondo Peak. I could see the burnt volcanic domes of Cerro del Medio and Cerros del Abrigo in the Valle Grande.
I continued to the top of Rim Run. A sherpa would have been handy to carry my backpack up that steep slope! The ski area is building a log fence along the ski hill boundary. They have plenty of logs courtesy of the Las Conchas fire! At the top of Rim Run, it was already 3 pm. All I'd had for lunch was some grapes. I would have liked to sit and eat a snack, whilst enjoying the views but it was late so I put on my windbreaker and a fleece vest and continued toward the Mother lift. I estimated I'd arrive back at my car at 4:30 pm.
On Tuesday, I saw no other hikers on Pajarito Mountain and on Wednesday, I saw no hikers until I got near the Mother Lift. Then, I saw a lone male hiker heading for the back of the mountain and a couple with a tiny, yippy terrier heading to the top of Rim Run.
I could have walked down steep Rim Run to the Logging Road but I wanted to get my miles up to 4 for the day so I went past the Mother Lift and then walked downhill to the Terrain Park to pick up the Logging Road. But when I got below the Terrain Park, I instead took a minor road that went across the ski runs and backtracked to the east before going all the way back west to I Don't Care Run. I really don't know the western side of the mountain very well and thought this road was a short cut to the Logging Road - HA! At this point, I was practically to the bottom of Rim Run where I knew I could pick up the Logging Road but I, in my brilliance, didn't want to walk any further and thought that I Don't Care looked easy to go down - NOT! This particular run has fooled me before. It starts out easy but then then makes a sharp right where it becomes steep and rocky - ARRGH! I had no choice but to carefully pick my way down. It was either that or roll down! Once I got on the Logging Road, I stayed on it and arrived at my car at 4:33 pm.
Even though the aspens on Pajarito Mountain aren't glorious this year, I did see some enormous red and yellow aspen leaves that had fallen. I looked up but couldn't figure out where they'd come from. Last week's snowfall still hasn't melted yet on the shadowed side of the ski slopes.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Pajarito Mountain - A Beautiful Fall Day!
On Monday, September 19, I walked up to the backside of Pajarito Mountain on the Zero Road East from the Pajarito Mountain Ski Lodge. It was one of those heartbreakingly beautiful fall days.
Ski area was working to get Lone Spruce chair lift cables up and put lift in working order. The cables fell to the ground during this summer's Las Conchas fire. After our very long monsoon, with regular afternoon and/or evening rains, it was wonderfully relaxing to enjoy a sunny day with turquoise blue skies. There were some layered clouds and even though the clouds had dark bottoms, there was no vertical growth.
Saw pancake mushrooms 8" in diameter, couple of puffballs, golden eye, a few harebells, couple of lonely wallflowers along road bank, mullein stalks on ski slopes, pale pink wild germanium, Indian paintbrush, stubby remains of fireweed, thistles gone to seed, camas gone to seed with purplish stems, red clover, yarrow, dandelions, erigeron, asters, both yellow and purple. The sunny brilliance of the colors was amazing! The evergreens at the back of the mountain were a darker green color than I had ever seen them. I looked hard at the meadow of grass and evergreens, trying to conjure up a bear. Although the aspen leaves had not yet begun to change colors, a few had yellowed and fell and looked so pretty. I don't know why but it's a blessing to look upon a golden aspen leaf!
All my thought were not sweetness and light: Not too long ago, the death camas were blooming strongly on the mountain (the fireweed too) but now, they are all closing down, getting ready for winter.
I need to carry my windbreaker next time. At the top, to warm up and dry my sweaty shirt, I tucked my pant legs into my socks, put a red handkerchief around my neck and buttoned up my outer shirt.
Ski area was working to get Lone Spruce chair lift cables up and put lift in working order. The cables fell to the ground during this summer's Las Conchas fire. After our very long monsoon, with regular afternoon and/or evening rains, it was wonderfully relaxing to enjoy a sunny day with turquoise blue skies. There were some layered clouds and even though the clouds had dark bottoms, there was no vertical growth.
Saw pancake mushrooms 8" in diameter, couple of puffballs, golden eye, a few harebells, couple of lonely wallflowers along road bank, mullein stalks on ski slopes, pale pink wild germanium, Indian paintbrush, stubby remains of fireweed, thistles gone to seed, camas gone to seed with purplish stems, red clover, yarrow, dandelions, erigeron, asters, both yellow and purple. The sunny brilliance of the colors was amazing! The evergreens at the back of the mountain were a darker green color than I had ever seen them. I looked hard at the meadow of grass and evergreens, trying to conjure up a bear. Although the aspen leaves had not yet begun to change colors, a few had yellowed and fell and looked so pretty. I don't know why but it's a blessing to look upon a golden aspen leaf!
All my thought were not sweetness and light: Not too long ago, the death camas were blooming strongly on the mountain (the fireweed too) but now, they are all closing down, getting ready for winter.
I need to carry my windbreaker next time. At the top, to warm up and dry my sweaty shirt, I tucked my pant legs into my socks, put a red handkerchief around my neck and buttoned up my outer shirt.
Monday, September 26, 2011
School Canyon Trail - Never Knew!
Today I met a friend at the Pueblo Complex parking lot for an explore of the School Canyon Trail. From the south end of the parking lot, in front of the Los Alamos Schools Credit Union, we crossed the broken down fence and carefully went down a rocky section to a trail that runs along the north bench of Pueblo Canyon from where Diamond Drive crosses Pueblo Canyon on a highway embankment fill called the Pueblo Canyon fill.
The trail follows a bench around School Canyon, a north-south tributary of Pueblo Canyon. All the canyons are looking especially lush and green after our very productive monsoon season. The trail travels below the Pueblo Complex, the lower and upper ball fields, the new Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church and the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos. School Canyon continues north, crossing under Diamond Drive, to its origination point near Burnt or LA Mountain, but the trail crosses from the west side of the canyon over to its east side, below the Baptist church, on a narrow, dirt trail along the base of the Conoco Hill fill on Diamond (with the loss of the Conoco station, maybe we should call it Shell Hill?) and then continues around to the east beneath the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood, the St. Dimitri of Rostov Orthodox Church and the Little Forest Play School.
There are plenty of neighborhood access points both formal and informal but the official School Canyon trailhead is located at the 37th Street playlot, off Villa Street. From the playlot, the trail continues briefly along the edge of School Canyon to a place where there is a cairn and stone steps that take you down to another bench level. Only problem was that we didn't see a cairn so we climbed down to the next bench at the first easy place.
Walking along at the lower level, we noticed a group of pretty aspens on the hillside above and next to them, we could clearly see steps going back up to the bench we had just come down. We wanted to be thorough about this explore, so up the steps we went to study the situation! We backtracked a bit to try to figure out how we had missed this. There was supposed to be a cairn and we now saw a few little ones at the top of the steps but nothing that would call our attention to the area so we decided to build a better cairn. We tucked it up against a boulder, hoping that it would be noticeable but inconspicuous enough that the Cairn Police wouldn't destroy it. Some hikers hate cairns!
Not long after going down to this lower bench, School Canyon intersects Pueblo Canyon, which runs west-east, but the trail is still called School Canyon Trail and continues until ends officially at Homestead Crossing Trail. But my friend and I, in our eagerness to go downhill to the Homestead Bridge, bypassed this intersection. The Homestead Bridge is a pedestrian bridge built on the site of a former homestead era bridge that once spanned upper Pueblo Canyon to connect Los Alamos Mesa, to the south, with the mesas north of Pueblo Canyon.
There is a photo donated by Peggy Pond Church in the Los Alamos Historical Museum Archives that shows a car driving across the former Homestead Bridge. This site in upper Pueblo Canyon was chosen for the original homestead era bridge crossing because it's fairly easy to cross since the canyon is narrower and less steep here compared with the soaring cliffs further east! Pueblo Canyon is a steep-walled, formidable obstacle to travel even though we don't give this much thought nowadays as we quickly drive over it on Diamond Drive!
At the Homestead Bridge, I parted company with my friend. She needed to be home at noon. I continued up the Homestead Crossing Trail, only .7 of a mile long, which follows the route of a road that went uphill from the Homestead Bridge. The trail tops out at 33rd Street, ending near Aspen Elementary School. I'm sure liberties were taken with the homestead era road the trail supposedly follows. Parts of it are entirely too close to the canyon edge and too narrow for a car or wagon to have safely driven upon! Most likely when the houses in the Aspen School neighborhood were built by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950's, parts of the road were usurped for private property.
At the top of the Homestead Crossing Trail, I sat on a rock and pondered which way I'd
walk back to my car. While musing, I enjoyed my lunch of dry roasted wasabi edamame mixed with salted peanuts and a little bag of dark chocolate covered almonds. I know it was bad to eat every last one but at least I had shared it with my friend - and they were delicious! As I savored the chocolate taste, I could hear exuberant shouts of the students at recess! I enjoyed their high-spirited noise but I if I lived beside the school, I'd quickly tire of it!
Done with lunch, I decided to retrace my steps. After passing the Conoco Hill fill, I met an oncoming bicyclist, the only person I saw on the trail beside my friend! I stepped off the trail to let him pass and he kiddingly apologized about running me off the trail! I laughed!
I was very curious about the Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot because the church is built practically on top of Diamond Drive and looks like its parking lot is under-sized. When I got below the church, I walked uphill to the parking lot and counted the spaces. There are only 21 unless you count two extra narrow spots, then 23 and this includes 2 handicapped spaces. I really wonder if the church has an agreement with the First Baptist Church, their next door neighbor, to use their huge parking lot. Otherwise, parking must be at a premium for the church's congregation or it's a tiny congregation.
After the parking lot "study", I continued to my car via the Pueblo Complex ball fields and called it an enjoyable hike! I was grateful that my friend introduced me to the School Canyon Trail! I had no idea that beautiful, deep School Canyon and was tucked away beside Pueblo Canyon and had a trail running along its rim! I thought I knew the Los Alamos County Open Space trails in that area but I was wrong!
The trail follows a bench around School Canyon, a north-south tributary of Pueblo Canyon. All the canyons are looking especially lush and green after our very productive monsoon season. The trail travels below the Pueblo Complex, the lower and upper ball fields, the new Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church and the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos. School Canyon continues north, crossing under Diamond Drive, to its origination point near Burnt or LA Mountain, but the trail crosses from the west side of the canyon over to its east side, below the Baptist church, on a narrow, dirt trail along the base of the Conoco Hill fill on Diamond (with the loss of the Conoco station, maybe we should call it Shell Hill?) and then continues around to the east beneath the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood, the St. Dimitri of Rostov Orthodox Church and the Little Forest Play School.
There are plenty of neighborhood access points both formal and informal but the official School Canyon trailhead is located at the 37th Street playlot, off Villa Street. From the playlot, the trail continues briefly along the edge of School Canyon to a place where there is a cairn and stone steps that take you down to another bench level. Only problem was that we didn't see a cairn so we climbed down to the next bench at the first easy place.
Walking along at the lower level, we noticed a group of pretty aspens on the hillside above and next to them, we could clearly see steps going back up to the bench we had just come down. We wanted to be thorough about this explore, so up the steps we went to study the situation! We backtracked a bit to try to figure out how we had missed this. There was supposed to be a cairn and we now saw a few little ones at the top of the steps but nothing that would call our attention to the area so we decided to build a better cairn. We tucked it up against a boulder, hoping that it would be noticeable but inconspicuous enough that the Cairn Police wouldn't destroy it. Some hikers hate cairns!
Not long after going down to this lower bench, School Canyon intersects Pueblo Canyon, which runs west-east, but the trail is still called School Canyon Trail and continues until ends officially at Homestead Crossing Trail. But my friend and I, in our eagerness to go downhill to the Homestead Bridge, bypassed this intersection. The Homestead Bridge is a pedestrian bridge built on the site of a former homestead era bridge that once spanned upper Pueblo Canyon to connect Los Alamos Mesa, to the south, with the mesas north of Pueblo Canyon.
There is a photo donated by Peggy Pond Church in the Los Alamos Historical Museum Archives that shows a car driving across the former Homestead Bridge. This site in upper Pueblo Canyon was chosen for the original homestead era bridge crossing because it's fairly easy to cross since the canyon is narrower and less steep here compared with the soaring cliffs further east! Pueblo Canyon is a steep-walled, formidable obstacle to travel even though we don't give this much thought nowadays as we quickly drive over it on Diamond Drive!
At the Homestead Bridge, I parted company with my friend. She needed to be home at noon. I continued up the Homestead Crossing Trail, only .7 of a mile long, which follows the route of a road that went uphill from the Homestead Bridge. The trail tops out at 33rd Street, ending near Aspen Elementary School. I'm sure liberties were taken with the homestead era road the trail supposedly follows. Parts of it are entirely too close to the canyon edge and too narrow for a car or wagon to have safely driven upon! Most likely when the houses in the Aspen School neighborhood were built by the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950's, parts of the road were usurped for private property.
At the top of the Homestead Crossing Trail, I sat on a rock and pondered which way I'd
walk back to my car. While musing, I enjoyed my lunch of dry roasted wasabi edamame mixed with salted peanuts and a little bag of dark chocolate covered almonds. I know it was bad to eat every last one but at least I had shared it with my friend - and they were delicious! As I savored the chocolate taste, I could hear exuberant shouts of the students at recess! I enjoyed their high-spirited noise but I if I lived beside the school, I'd quickly tire of it!
Done with lunch, I decided to retrace my steps. After passing the Conoco Hill fill, I met an oncoming bicyclist, the only person I saw on the trail beside my friend! I stepped off the trail to let him pass and he kiddingly apologized about running me off the trail! I laughed!
I was very curious about the Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church parking lot because the church is built practically on top of Diamond Drive and looks like its parking lot is under-sized. When I got below the church, I walked uphill to the parking lot and counted the spaces. There are only 21 unless you count two extra narrow spots, then 23 and this includes 2 handicapped spaces. I really wonder if the church has an agreement with the First Baptist Church, their next door neighbor, to use their huge parking lot. Otherwise, parking must be at a premium for the church's congregation or it's a tiny congregation.
After the parking lot "study", I continued to my car via the Pueblo Complex ball fields and called it an enjoyable hike! I was grateful that my friend introduced me to the School Canyon Trail! I had no idea that beautiful, deep School Canyon and was tucked away beside Pueblo Canyon and had a trail running along its rim! I thought I knew the Los Alamos County Open Space trails in that area but I was wrong!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Computer Died
Actually, it died earlier this month and we replaced it soon thereafter so that's not why I haven't blogged but it's a good enough excuse.
Last week, I went part way up Pajarito Mountain's Zero Road East. I usually go to the Logging Road on the south side of the mountain and turn around but that day I turned around at the 4 way intersection near the tall, skinny antennas because dark thunderclouds were overhead with more to the north. When the thunder sounded once too often, I turned tail.
Determined to get my 4 miles, I drove lower down Camp May Road and - horrors - walked on FR2998 which is still closed due to the damnable Las Conchas fire. I only went as far as the intersection with the Nail Trail. There were still dark clouds to the west but I decided that even if there was a cloudburst, I wouldn't drown but would only be inconvenienced. It's obvious, though, that a lot of rain has washed across and down this forest road. FR2998 was never in wonderful condition even before the Las Conchas fire but now there is a rocky, washed out section that will be an invitation for vehicles to find a way around it and make their own road. In the surrounding land, what didn't burn in Cerro Grande was toasted by Las Conchas, perhaps in a back burn to keep the fire out of Los Alamos Canyon. Some of the young aspens along the FR2998 may yet live but the forest along the Nail Trail, which was mostly spared by the Cerro Grande fire, now is fringed by tall ponderosas so badly burnt that they won't recover. That section scared me more than walking on the washed out forest road. Without a companion, I really didn't want to go further. The burnt forest has a scary loneliness to it.
Today, I went up and down the new Zipline Trail. It's my 2nd trip down and 3rd trip up. I hope that next summer the trail builders can make some of the upper section less steep. There are 19 switchbacks total on the almost 1/2 mile Zipline Trail that runs as a connector between the Tent Rocks Trail and the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail. One section is so steep that I resorted to the seat-of-the-pants maneuver. There is trash on the hillside that the trail traverses - a rusted out truck body, rusted drum barrels, a rusted garbage can. Maybe there was yet another dump, perhaps a more informal one, below the Los Alamos Airport's north boundary
The monsoon fizzled yet again today so it was hot. On the way down the Zipline I amused myself with with this thought: When I die and go to Hell, at least I'll be acclimated to the heat!
When I reached eastern end of the Tent Rocks Trail, I followed the Pueblo Canyon arroyo upstream and turned right into an interesting side arroyo that runs between Kwage Mesa and the southeastern-most residential neighborhoods on North Mesa. It's full of tent rocks and deep enough that although you can see the towering cliffs of North and Kwage mesas, the arroyo's actual walls rose above me on either side. I went as far as a dry waterfall which would have taken some effort to climb to explore further so I saved that for another day.
Last week, I went part way up Pajarito Mountain's Zero Road East. I usually go to the Logging Road on the south side of the mountain and turn around but that day I turned around at the 4 way intersection near the tall, skinny antennas because dark thunderclouds were overhead with more to the north. When the thunder sounded once too often, I turned tail.
Determined to get my 4 miles, I drove lower down Camp May Road and - horrors - walked on FR2998 which is still closed due to the damnable Las Conchas fire. I only went as far as the intersection with the Nail Trail. There were still dark clouds to the west but I decided that even if there was a cloudburst, I wouldn't drown but would only be inconvenienced. It's obvious, though, that a lot of rain has washed across and down this forest road. FR2998 was never in wonderful condition even before the Las Conchas fire but now there is a rocky, washed out section that will be an invitation for vehicles to find a way around it and make their own road. In the surrounding land, what didn't burn in Cerro Grande was toasted by Las Conchas, perhaps in a back burn to keep the fire out of Los Alamos Canyon. Some of the young aspens along the FR2998 may yet live but the forest along the Nail Trail, which was mostly spared by the Cerro Grande fire, now is fringed by tall ponderosas so badly burnt that they won't recover. That section scared me more than walking on the washed out forest road. Without a companion, I really didn't want to go further. The burnt forest has a scary loneliness to it.
Today, I went up and down the new Zipline Trail. It's my 2nd trip down and 3rd trip up. I hope that next summer the trail builders can make some of the upper section less steep. There are 19 switchbacks total on the almost 1/2 mile Zipline Trail that runs as a connector between the Tent Rocks Trail and the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail. One section is so steep that I resorted to the seat-of-the-pants maneuver. There is trash on the hillside that the trail traverses - a rusted out truck body, rusted drum barrels, a rusted garbage can. Maybe there was yet another dump, perhaps a more informal one, below the Los Alamos Airport's north boundary
The monsoon fizzled yet again today so it was hot. On the way down the Zipline I amused myself with with this thought: When I die and go to Hell, at least I'll be acclimated to the heat!
When I reached eastern end of the Tent Rocks Trail, I followed the Pueblo Canyon arroyo upstream and turned right into an interesting side arroyo that runs between Kwage Mesa and the southeastern-most residential neighborhoods on North Mesa. It's full of tent rocks and deep enough that although you can see the towering cliffs of North and Kwage mesas, the arroyo's actual walls rose above me on either side. I went as far as a dry waterfall which would have taken some effort to climb to explore further so I saved that for another day.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Zipline Trail
The Zipline Trail is a connector trail between the Tent Rocks Trail in Pueblo Canyon and the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail. The YMCA Youth Conservation Corps started it last summer and completed it this week. I think the recent LA Monitor article that heralded its completion said it's 2,500' long and has 450' elevation gain. It's a very nice trail but not one for the old and infirm which in today's heat, I almost qualified as! It has many vertigo-inducing changes of direction and even a VW sized boulder that hangs too far over the trail. I clung to the boulder to get around it but someone less chicken would have no problem.
To access Pueblo Canyon, I started down the Ranch School Trail in Acid Canyon from the Walkup Center. I enjoyed seeing all the greenery in Acid Canyon.
I didn't check my GPS to see how far down Pueblo Canyon I went to intersect the western end of the Tent Rocks Trail but there is a 3' tall brown plastic trail marker that says "Tent Rocks Trail". There are really no tent rocks right at the intersection although there are lots of them at a false trail intersection that I encountered about 10 minutes before. At the true Tent Rocks Trail intersection, you cross Pueblo Canyon's dry wash and start uphill right at a 3' tall rock cairn.
The Tent Rocks Trail has two large, fallen trees that you have to go around. The trail goes in and out of dry drainages and has 3 small, wooden bridges. The third bridge has two of its slats laying on the ground. Once again, I don't know how far I went on it before I intersected the Zipline Trail but it seemed that it was very close to the eastern terminus of the Tent Rocks Trail. (The Tent Rocks Trail gives hikers an option to get off the sewer access road in Pueblo Canyon but the trail only goes a mile or two of the long traverse down Pueblo Canyon to the state highway transportation yard.)
At the top of the Zipline Trail, I followed the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail along the north side of the airport to the Mesa Trail, down into Graduation Canyon and back to the Walkup Center. All the time I walked, thunderheads were steadily building both east and west over the Sangres and the Jemez mountains. I would have liked a lunch break but instead kept moving. I didn't eat lunch until I got to my car at 2 pm and then headed to the library to look at the county fair exhibits. It was raining when I left the library around 3 pm. My GPS said I did 6 miles. I'm glad I beat the storm but I felt tired enough from the heat that my body thought it was a longer hike even though my mind knew it was only 6 miles! Next challenge is to one day start from my house and go down and up the Zipline! I much prefer going up a steep hill than down!
To access Pueblo Canyon, I started down the Ranch School Trail in Acid Canyon from the Walkup Center. I enjoyed seeing all the greenery in Acid Canyon.
I didn't check my GPS to see how far down Pueblo Canyon I went to intersect the western end of the Tent Rocks Trail but there is a 3' tall brown plastic trail marker that says "Tent Rocks Trail". There are really no tent rocks right at the intersection although there are lots of them at a false trail intersection that I encountered about 10 minutes before. At the true Tent Rocks Trail intersection, you cross Pueblo Canyon's dry wash and start uphill right at a 3' tall rock cairn.
The Tent Rocks Trail has two large, fallen trees that you have to go around. The trail goes in and out of dry drainages and has 3 small, wooden bridges. The third bridge has two of its slats laying on the ground. Once again, I don't know how far I went on it before I intersected the Zipline Trail but it seemed that it was very close to the eastern terminus of the Tent Rocks Trail. (The Tent Rocks Trail gives hikers an option to get off the sewer access road in Pueblo Canyon but the trail only goes a mile or two of the long traverse down Pueblo Canyon to the state highway transportation yard.)
At the top of the Zipline Trail, I followed the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail along the north side of the airport to the Mesa Trail, down into Graduation Canyon and back to the Walkup Center. All the time I walked, thunderheads were steadily building both east and west over the Sangres and the Jemez mountains. I would have liked a lunch break but instead kept moving. I didn't eat lunch until I got to my car at 2 pm and then headed to the library to look at the county fair exhibits. It was raining when I left the library around 3 pm. My GPS said I did 6 miles. I'm glad I beat the storm but I felt tired enough from the heat that my body thought it was a longer hike even though my mind knew it was only 6 miles! Next challenge is to one day start from my house and go down and up the Zipline! I much prefer going up a steep hill than down!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Solace
WI group walked up Pajarito Mountain today. In their inimitable fashion, we started out as a larger group but dispersed into smaller groups. One woman who recently hurt her ribs walked up Zero Road East from the ski area lodge and then went down the Logging Road on the badly burned west side of the ski hill, two others wanted to stick more to the bike trails, several didn't go very far: one had vertigo, another had a torn meniscus, several simply didn't want a long hike.
Only 7 of us and a dog made it to the top of the mountain. We walked to just short of I Don't Care ski run when the group decided to have lunch at the top of an unburnt ski run. I walked further to take a photo of the Las Conchas fire damage in the Valles Caldera National Preserve from the top of I Don't Care. The forest on either side of the ski run is charcoalized. With the trees burnt, it's poignantly evident how close the grasslands of the caldera are to the ski area. The grass in the caldera has already greened up from the monsoon. Some of the volcanic domes in the eastern caldera have burn damage. The Jemez Mountain Trail Runs Facebook page has scads of photos of the Las Conchas fire damage because it severely affected their 50 mile route. They'll have to re-route that run next year.
From I Don't Care, I looked with binoculars at the road from Camp May up Cerra Bonita, the mountain just north of Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. I'd like to walk that road because although the conifers are toasted orange, there doesn't appear to be a lot of charcoalized trees waiting to fall right down onto the road. Beyond Cerra Bonita, to the north, I was surprised to see a lovely green meadow with a road running through it - maybe Pipeline Road. Caballo's meadow looks almost a neon green in contrast to its charcoalized forests.
Since I knew from past experience that after lunch, the group planned to barrel straight down a precipitous ski run to the cars, I walked back to the south side of Pajarito where I found a grassy area on the Valles Caldera side of the fence and enjoyed lunch of a protein bar and wasabi edamame. Screw the Preserve and their damnable fences that keep people out!
After a peaceful lunch, I walked cross country to Zero Road East, past the snow-making pond which is an impediment to cross country travel. Earlier, we could see that even with all our rains, the pond doesn't look any more filled up than before the monsoon. The walking was easier because some tussock grass clumps burned. I saw a downed spruce, still green at the top, but toppled because it's root had burned, neatly snapping the tree off. I saw a charcoal skeleton of a huge, old spruce and I felt sorry for it.
People say that years ago, and there are photos to prove it, the south back side of Pajarito Mountain was more completely a meadow. Over time, the meadow became invaded by conifers. We're gradually losing our montane meadows in the Jemez Mountains. If Las Conchas helps to bring back the meadow, that's a good result but it wasn't worth it to destroy so much land and people's homes on Cochiti Mesa just to bring back the meadow. I wish that small fires would occur more often as they have beneficial effects whereas catastrophic fires like Las Conchas do little good.
I could see either smokers or dust columns in the Dome Wilderness area. It's hard to see what damage there is in Pajarito Canyon but the west side of the canyon wall looks burnt here and there. I couldn't tell if there is any damage in Water Canyon. It looked no worse than from the Cerro Grande fire damage it sustained in 2000 but it was hard to tell for sure.
I've walked up Pajarito Mountain the past 3 days. The ski hill workers are repairing the Lone Spruce ski lift which was damaged by the fire. On Monday, I saw a bulldozer smoothing down the very bottom of the fire break that was made from the top to the bottom. Today a hiker pointed out that the fire break has been reseeded - recovery begins. It will be a race for the ski area to open this season, assuming we get any snow!
The morning started out overcast and cooler and some thunderclouds had formed by the time I got back to my car at 1:54 pm. My GPS said 5.97 miles. I saw purple harebell, yellow cinquefoil and a scarlet bugler penstemon and very oddly, a ponderosa on the back side of Pajarito Mountain. Seems too high for a ponderosa to be growing but I saw it with my own eyes. I was surprised to see elk hoof prints on Zero Road East.
Even though the landscape around and on Pajarito Mountain has been radically changed by the Las Conchas fire, I'm finding solace in walking up the mountain. Although much has been damaged by the fire, I'm grateful that I can still walk up Pajarito and see that much beauty still remains.
Only 7 of us and a dog made it to the top of the mountain. We walked to just short of I Don't Care ski run when the group decided to have lunch at the top of an unburnt ski run. I walked further to take a photo of the Las Conchas fire damage in the Valles Caldera National Preserve from the top of I Don't Care. The forest on either side of the ski run is charcoalized. With the trees burnt, it's poignantly evident how close the grasslands of the caldera are to the ski area. The grass in the caldera has already greened up from the monsoon. Some of the volcanic domes in the eastern caldera have burn damage. The Jemez Mountain Trail Runs Facebook page has scads of photos of the Las Conchas fire damage because it severely affected their 50 mile route. They'll have to re-route that run next year.
From I Don't Care, I looked with binoculars at the road from Camp May up Cerra Bonita, the mountain just north of Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. I'd like to walk that road because although the conifers are toasted orange, there doesn't appear to be a lot of charcoalized trees waiting to fall right down onto the road. Beyond Cerra Bonita, to the north, I was surprised to see a lovely green meadow with a road running through it - maybe Pipeline Road. Caballo's meadow looks almost a neon green in contrast to its charcoalized forests.
Since I knew from past experience that after lunch, the group planned to barrel straight down a precipitous ski run to the cars, I walked back to the south side of Pajarito where I found a grassy area on the Valles Caldera side of the fence and enjoyed lunch of a protein bar and wasabi edamame. Screw the Preserve and their damnable fences that keep people out!
After a peaceful lunch, I walked cross country to Zero Road East, past the snow-making pond which is an impediment to cross country travel. Earlier, we could see that even with all our rains, the pond doesn't look any more filled up than before the monsoon. The walking was easier because some tussock grass clumps burned. I saw a downed spruce, still green at the top, but toppled because it's root had burned, neatly snapping the tree off. I saw a charcoal skeleton of a huge, old spruce and I felt sorry for it.
People say that years ago, and there are photos to prove it, the south back side of Pajarito Mountain was more completely a meadow. Over time, the meadow became invaded by conifers. We're gradually losing our montane meadows in the Jemez Mountains. If Las Conchas helps to bring back the meadow, that's a good result but it wasn't worth it to destroy so much land and people's homes on Cochiti Mesa just to bring back the meadow. I wish that small fires would occur more often as they have beneficial effects whereas catastrophic fires like Las Conchas do little good.
I could see either smokers or dust columns in the Dome Wilderness area. It's hard to see what damage there is in Pajarito Canyon but the west side of the canyon wall looks burnt here and there. I couldn't tell if there is any damage in Water Canyon. It looked no worse than from the Cerro Grande fire damage it sustained in 2000 but it was hard to tell for sure.
I've walked up Pajarito Mountain the past 3 days. The ski hill workers are repairing the Lone Spruce ski lift which was damaged by the fire. On Monday, I saw a bulldozer smoothing down the very bottom of the fire break that was made from the top to the bottom. Today a hiker pointed out that the fire break has been reseeded - recovery begins. It will be a race for the ski area to open this season, assuming we get any snow!
The morning started out overcast and cooler and some thunderclouds had formed by the time I got back to my car at 1:54 pm. My GPS said 5.97 miles. I saw purple harebell, yellow cinquefoil and a scarlet bugler penstemon and very oddly, a ponderosa on the back side of Pajarito Mountain. Seems too high for a ponderosa to be growing but I saw it with my own eyes. I was surprised to see elk hoof prints on Zero Road East.
Even though the landscape around and on Pajarito Mountain has been radically changed by the Las Conchas fire, I'm finding solace in walking up the mountain. Although much has been damaged by the fire, I'm grateful that I can still walk up Pajarito and see that much beauty still remains.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Saw Flowers on Ski Hill
Forgot to mention: Death camas is blooming all over the ski runs. All it took was some moisture. Also saw the light lavender wild geranium, erigeron which must be getting on in age as it's losing its color and tending toward whiteness, maybe whitlow grass, Indian paintbrush, yarrow, lots of fireweed.
The moisture made the distance viewing misty so I couldn't see the Water Canyon area to assess the Las Conchas fire damage. I could see the first part of the Cañada Bonita/Nordic/Snowshoe trails well enough to see they are quite burnt. Cerra Bonita, the mountain directly north of Pajarito, has some burn damage - more toasted than charcoalized, if I'm remembering correctly. Need to go up on a clear day with a pair of binoculars.
The moisture made the distance viewing misty so I couldn't see the Water Canyon area to assess the Las Conchas fire damage. I could see the first part of the Cañada Bonita/Nordic/Snowshoe trails well enough to see they are quite burnt. Cerra Bonita, the mountain directly north of Pajarito, has some burn damage - more toasted than charcoalized, if I'm remembering correctly. Need to go up on a clear day with a pair of binoculars.
Pajarito Mountain - Finally
Finally had time to drive to the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area and walk up Pajarito Mountain. It was cloudy and thunder sounded a warning now and then but I made it to the back of the mountain. I walked up the Zero Road East jeep road to the logging road on the south side of Pajarito Mountain, below the lone antenna perched on the easternmost of Pajarito's double peaks.
After enduring the Las Conchas fire, the ski hill looks surprisingly normal from the area of the ski lodge - still pretty in green and moist from the generous rains we've gotten this week! On the jeep road, I walked past numerous patchy burns.
From the south back-side of Pajarito I could see a portion of the northern ridge of Cerro Grande has been severely blackened. It looks like the part of Cerro Grande owned by Valles Caldera National Preserve. I couldn't see into Valle Canyon but could clearly see that the fire had danced across Valle Canyon because the Knife-edge ridge between Valle and Pajarito canyons has definite blackening.
How many more times can firefighters save the the ski hill, the lab and the town before forest managers take serious steps to thin the forests and to step up their prescribed burns? Our forests are beautiful but they are too thick with trees. Drought makes them prone to insect infestation and wildfire. The forests of the Jemez Mountains will continue to be victims of global climate change and severe drought conditions like that which existed when the Las Conchas wildfire started the end of June. It's very good that the ski hill, lab and town were saved but what can be done to protect our forests from stand-destroying wildfires and make them more resilient to the vagaries of climate change and wildfires?
After enduring the Las Conchas fire, the ski hill looks surprisingly normal from the area of the ski lodge - still pretty in green and moist from the generous rains we've gotten this week! On the jeep road, I walked past numerous patchy burns.
From the south back-side of Pajarito I could see a portion of the northern ridge of Cerro Grande has been severely blackened. It looks like the part of Cerro Grande owned by Valles Caldera National Preserve. I couldn't see into Valle Canyon but could clearly see that the fire had danced across Valle Canyon because the Knife-edge ridge between Valle and Pajarito canyons has definite blackening.
How many more times can firefighters save the the ski hill, the lab and the town before forest managers take serious steps to thin the forests and to step up their prescribed burns? Our forests are beautiful but they are too thick with trees. Drought makes them prone to insect infestation and wildfire. The forests of the Jemez Mountains will continue to be victims of global climate change and severe drought conditions like that which existed when the Las Conchas wildfire started the end of June. It's very good that the ski hill, lab and town were saved but what can be done to protect our forests from stand-destroying wildfires and make them more resilient to the vagaries of climate change and wildfires?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Bulldozer On Quemazon Trail During Las Conchas Fire
Four of the WI hikers walked up the Quemazon Trail to Pipeline Road today. We started at the ungodly (for me) hour of 8 am but I was so eager to go on a group hike after a long layoff that I got with the program! I think the forest is still closed but there were no signs or barriers so up we went. During the Las Conchas fire, a bulldozer went up the Quemazon Trail to Pipeline Road, I suppose to put out hot spots because we saw a few, minor burnt areas.
The bulldozer widened the trail, churned up the dust and tuff and tore out some aspens and ponderosas that had grown since the Cerro Grande fire. Volunteers already had a work party Monday to close off a side road the bulldozer made. The trail has new water bars to keep it from becoming a water course but the trail will definitely need more TLC.
The turn off to the trail to Cave of the Winds was obliterated by thick ponderosa logs tossed across the entrance. We didn't see the trail on the way up but on the way down, one hiker spotted it. We hastily rebuilt the cairns that mark where to turn off because the bulldozer tore them out.
We could see clear views of the damage on the eastern side of Pajarito Ski Area - there's an area of toasted trees in the area of Evershine ski run. We couldn't see a complete view of Rim Run and Camp May but could see a blackened area, probably above Camp May. The new snowshoe trail along Cañada Bonita Canyon is blackened. Los Alamos Canyon, Cañada Bonita Canyon and Quemazon Canyon each had some blackened trees in their upper reaches.
Saw some purple gayfeather along the Quemazon Trail.
The bulldozer widened the trail, churned up the dust and tuff and tore out some aspens and ponderosas that had grown since the Cerro Grande fire. Volunteers already had a work party Monday to close off a side road the bulldozer made. The trail has new water bars to keep it from becoming a water course but the trail will definitely need more TLC.
The turn off to the trail to Cave of the Winds was obliterated by thick ponderosa logs tossed across the entrance. We didn't see the trail on the way up but on the way down, one hiker spotted it. We hastily rebuilt the cairns that mark where to turn off because the bulldozer tore them out.
We could see clear views of the damage on the eastern side of Pajarito Ski Area - there's an area of toasted trees in the area of Evershine ski run. We couldn't see a complete view of Rim Run and Camp May but could see a blackened area, probably above Camp May. The new snowshoe trail along Cañada Bonita Canyon is blackened. Los Alamos Canyon, Cañada Bonita Canyon and Quemazon Canyon each had some blackened trees in their upper reaches.
Saw some purple gayfeather along the Quemazon Trail.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Camp May Road Now Open
I don't know when Camp May Road opened but it was open today when I walked the first two miles up it. A LANL guard said you could go drive up to the ski hill. It's logical to open it now because how else will volunteers be able to rehabilitate the ski hill. I'm glad it's open!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Nasty Thunderstorm But Good Rain
I was driving away from the senior center parking lot this afternoon when I spotted a handsome young man and took him home with me (after checking with his Dad first!) - our grandson! It was a happy coincidence for me that I was there as he was walking to his Dad's office from the AC. He was carrying a bag of popped microwave popcorn to share with his Dad - sweet!
At our house, I brought out the licorice vines and Tootsie Roll Pops that his aunt had bought for him and he enjoyed those along with some milk and a cantaloupe wedge.
First thing he asked when he walked in was where was the Grand Canyon jigsaw puzzle he had bought me! I assured him I still had it (I do) but had put it away in the closet. It's a 500 piece puzzle that he and his aunt started during his visit but I have no desire to complete it! I offered to pay him for it and then donate it to the senior center where people like to do jigsaw puzzles but he refused.
He said his Dad brought him an X Box 360, whatever that is! He was regaling me by naming all the different Pokemons. There are quite a few and some of them can make eggs or some such. I can't say that I really understand that yet!
I hiked the Hike of Death (so named by my sister during a hot hike on it), the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail this afternoon. I went from the Blue Dot trailhead to Sherwood and back whilst beset by rain (unfurled my bumbershoot) and thunder and lightning for the first two miles. I screamed out loud during some of the thunder. It was dumb of me to walk in that but I kept thinking I was going to walk from underneath it but it must have been going my way.
The mud got really thick on my shoes. I saw a coyote and shook my bumbershoot at it so it would keep moving - it did. The Rio looked beautiful in the rain!
At our house, I brought out the licorice vines and Tootsie Roll Pops that his aunt had bought for him and he enjoyed those along with some milk and a cantaloupe wedge.
First thing he asked when he walked in was where was the Grand Canyon jigsaw puzzle he had bought me! I assured him I still had it (I do) but had put it away in the closet. It's a 500 piece puzzle that he and his aunt started during his visit but I have no desire to complete it! I offered to pay him for it and then donate it to the senior center where people like to do jigsaw puzzles but he refused.
He said his Dad brought him an X Box 360, whatever that is! He was regaling me by naming all the different Pokemons. There are quite a few and some of them can make eggs or some such. I can't say that I really understand that yet!
I hiked the Hike of Death (so named by my sister during a hot hike on it), the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail this afternoon. I went from the Blue Dot trailhead to Sherwood and back whilst beset by rain (unfurled my bumbershoot) and thunder and lightning for the first two miles. I screamed out loud during some of the thunder. It was dumb of me to walk in that but I kept thinking I was going to walk from underneath it but it must have been going my way.
The mud got really thick on my shoes. I saw a coyote and shook my bumbershoot at it so it would keep moving - it did. The Rio looked beautiful in the rain!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Becoming a Regular Scofflaw
Today, I walked yet again up the first two miles of Camp May Road. Once again, I saw a single doe just east of FR2998. Could be the same one. I thought I heard her give a bark when she saw me but saw no other deer. On the way down the major curve below the Ocean, I saw a bigger doe who wasted no time in bounding away!
From Camp May Road, Quemazon Trail and Pipeline Road appear unburnt. I'll be glad when the forest trails reopen but so far this fickle monsoon only teases with a few drops of rain.
Looking into Los Alamos Canyon, I'm not seeing the burnt areas. Perhaps the 2,100 acres of the LA Canyon watershed that burnt in the Las Conchas fire are much further up and probably encompass the burned areas on Pajarito Mountain and the Cañada Bonita area.
Pajarito Mountain will be organizing work parties to get the mountain ready to reopen. The reseeding and establishing water bars looked most interesting to me.
From Camp May Road, Quemazon Trail and Pipeline Road appear unburnt. I'll be glad when the forest trails reopen but so far this fickle monsoon only teases with a few drops of rain.
Looking into Los Alamos Canyon, I'm not seeing the burnt areas. Perhaps the 2,100 acres of the LA Canyon watershed that burnt in the Las Conchas fire are much further up and probably encompass the burned areas on Pajarito Mountain and the Cañada Bonita area.
Pajarito Mountain will be organizing work parties to get the mountain ready to reopen. The reseeding and establishing water bars looked most interesting to me.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Took a Chance
Took a chance today and walked 2 miles up Camp May Road starting from West Jemez Road. Camp May Road is still closed to vehicles due to the Las Conchas fire but I decided to risk getting yelled at by the police and walk up to the first chain turnout and back down. It was so pleasant and relaxing to have the road to myself that I wish there were no motor vehicles on Camp May Road all the time! I did see a green forest service truck going up and it passed me again on its way down but the occupants ignored me and thankfully, no policeman was waiting at the bottom so I was happy!
Right now, of the trails that are open in Los Alamos and White Rock, there are not many steep walks unless I dare go down the Blue Dot or Red Dot trails into White Rock Canyon in the summer heat. Actually, I wouldn't mind doing that but would prefer to have a hiking partner to notify authorities where my body's located!
I was happy to see a doe in the woods from the road. The Route on the south side of Camp May Road was part of the back burn used to create a fireline to keep the fire out of Los Alamos Canyon. Time will tell if the big conifers were damaged enough to fall across the Route. If they do, the Route is history because I won't be able to remove them. Too bad - having a trail for walkers to use as an alternative to walking up Camp May Road is a good idea since the road has no shoulder to walk on.
I could see that a lot of the young aspen's leaves were sizzled during the burnout but the trunks look unburnt. Last fall, those young aspens, which had sprung up after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire, gave such a brilliant display of gold. It was a joy to see and I told everyone that our aspen display along Camp May Road was going to rival that along Hyde Park Road in the Sangre de Cristos! I'll have to wait until next year to see how many of the young aspens survived.
On the way down, the sky looked terrifically dark and threatening to the southwest but no thunderstorm happened. Sure was a short monsoon!
Right now, of the trails that are open in Los Alamos and White Rock, there are not many steep walks unless I dare go down the Blue Dot or Red Dot trails into White Rock Canyon in the summer heat. Actually, I wouldn't mind doing that but would prefer to have a hiking partner to notify authorities where my body's located!
I was happy to see a doe in the woods from the road. The Route on the south side of Camp May Road was part of the back burn used to create a fireline to keep the fire out of Los Alamos Canyon. Time will tell if the big conifers were damaged enough to fall across the Route. If they do, the Route is history because I won't be able to remove them. Too bad - having a trail for walkers to use as an alternative to walking up Camp May Road is a good idea since the road has no shoulder to walk on.
I could see that a lot of the young aspen's leaves were sizzled during the burnout but the trunks look unburnt. Last fall, those young aspens, which had sprung up after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire, gave such a brilliant display of gold. It was a joy to see and I told everyone that our aspen display along Camp May Road was going to rival that along Hyde Park Road in the Sangre de Cristos! I'll have to wait until next year to see how many of the young aspens survived.
On the way down, the sky looked terrifically dark and threatening to the southwest but no thunderstorm happened. Sure was a short monsoon!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Making the Best
I've been making the best of the trails that are open after the Las Conchas Fire. It's been very hot except for the last few days (thank you, God!) and the trails that are open are hot, dusty and shadeless. But I figure it's good heat conditioning for the next time I run a marathon in Death Valley - NOT EVER!!
The monsoon has been happening more reliably in Los Alamos lately. Not so much at our house since we're further from the mountains but at least it's been cooler inside the past two evenings. I love the cloud cover! It's odd, though, that so far there hasn't been much lightning with the rain. But that's good because we don't need another wildfire!
I noticed on Kwage Mesa that the drought has stunted the New Mexico locusts which is welcome. That's the only good feature but can think of tremendously long list of bad! No wonder the ancient puebloan Indians moved to the Rio Grande when drought struck the Pajarito Plateau during their time! Living in the Pacific Northwest is sounding better to me all the time!
This is what's open: White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, Bayo Canyon, Pueblo Canyon, Kwage Mesa, Canyon Rim Trail, Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail, Quemazon Nature Trail, section of North Perimeter Trail from Mitchell trailhead to just north of Quemazon Community, the trails behind the Walkup Center, Tsankawi, Burnt Mesa and Tyuonyi Overlook (the latter 3 in Bandelier National Monument). It's good that these are open but I viscerally miss hiking Pajarito Mountain!
The monsoon has been happening more reliably in Los Alamos lately. Not so much at our house since we're further from the mountains but at least it's been cooler inside the past two evenings. I love the cloud cover! It's odd, though, that so far there hasn't been much lightning with the rain. But that's good because we don't need another wildfire!
I noticed on Kwage Mesa that the drought has stunted the New Mexico locusts which is welcome. That's the only good feature but can think of tremendously long list of bad! No wonder the ancient puebloan Indians moved to the Rio Grande when drought struck the Pajarito Plateau during their time! Living in the Pacific Northwest is sounding better to me all the time!
This is what's open: White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, Bayo Canyon, Pueblo Canyon, Kwage Mesa, Canyon Rim Trail, Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail, Quemazon Nature Trail, section of North Perimeter Trail from Mitchell trailhead to just north of Quemazon Community, the trails behind the Walkup Center, Tsankawi, Burnt Mesa and Tyuonyi Overlook (the latter 3 in Bandelier National Monument). It's good that these are open but I viscerally miss hiking Pajarito Mountain!
Stultified
Thoughts I had the whilst walking on Canyon Road one weekend night, listening to South by Southwest's Deep in the West, a magical waltz song, on their Deep in the West CD: Wouldn't it be lovely to have a man to waltz with under the full moon? I once was very interested in learning how to dance, both ballroom and folk dance. I enjoyed the music and movement immensely although I never became an expert. Somehow, that weekend night, it just seemed like a wonderful idea to waltz under the moonlight. As it was, just walking while listening to the beautiful music of South by Southwest intoxicated me and, yes, I shamelessly sang along! Then, to top off all my longing, as I approached home, I saw a man and dog slip across the Main Hill Road to walk the Canyon Rim Trail in the moonlight and I wished so much then that at least if I didn't have a man who would waltz with me in the moonlight that I'd have one who'd walk with me in the moonlight!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Frustrated by Evacuation
Sunday, June 26, 2011, sometime between noon-1 pm (I don't remember the exact time), walked to Los Alamos airport and on the way back, thought I saw a few straggly wisps of smoke rise up in the distance. Since I saw no distinct smoke plume, I convinced myself that it was only dust stirred up by the high winds. After briefly stopping at home, I continued walking to Mesa Public Library on the Pueblo Canyon Rim trail behind East Park. When I got up to the Walkup Center, just before 2 pm, I was astounded to see a well-developed, towering plume of smoke south of the ridge above Water Canyon.
One of the librarians found the newly developed wildfire quite ominous because it reminded her of the 2000 Cerro Grande fire. She was very worried about having to evacuate 2 dogs by herself because her husband was out of town attending to his dying father. In my naivete, I thought that another evacuation would be highly unlikely. On the walk back home, I kept looking to the southwest. The smoke filled the southern half of the sky with blue skies to the north. The sunlight had an orange cast to it. I was surprised by how quickly the fire was growing but I shouldn't have been since our mountains are tinderbox dry. In the evening, we could smell the smoke so we closed our windows even though it was very hot outside.
When it was dark, we could see flames to the the southwest. (Later we learned we were looking at the area of Sawyer Hill and Ponderosa Campground burning.) Other neighbors were also out watching the flames. On KRSN, we heard that a voluntary evacuation was ordered. We could see a lot of traffic, including horse trailers, driving down the Main Hill Road (NM502), leaving town. Husband kept insisting that we pack up and leave that night but I felt that since both our night vision is impaired, we should wait until the next day, especially since a mandatory evacuation order hadn't been issued yet. Our next door neighbors who are both in their 80's were helped by their son to evacuate to Espanola. We realized that inevitably we'd have to evacuate again, just like we did 11 years ago for the Cerro Grande fire so we started to pack. I stayed up until around 1 am and then went to bed but couldn't fall asleep until sometime after 3 pm.
The smoke wasn't any better the next day. It was now moving to the north and ash was falling. Our next door neighbors had returned to get some items they had forgotten. I asked if they needed any help carrying anything out but he reassured me that he didn't. Throughout the morning, I had packed more but didn't do the last minute packing (toiletries and some food from the refrigerator) until the mandatory evacuation order, which we heard on KRSN, was issued Monday, June 27, at 2 pm. (Residents were to be notified by reverse 911. From Albuquerque, we checked our phone messages to see if we received the reverse 911 phone call but we didn't. Must notify Phil Taylor, Emergency Management Coordinator, about this.)
We were to leave in stages, our neighborhood last, but since we were mostly packed and live at the most eastern edge of town, we left within a half hour, each driving our car. We stopped at a friend's house in Santa Fe to leave one of the cars and drove the other to a hotel in Albuquerque. It wasn't until that evening in the Fairfield Inn that we both realized we could have packed all our photos and slides in the trunk of the car to be parked in Santa Fe rather than leaving them at home to possibly burn up a lifetime of memories. I remember we packed all the memorabilia and my genealogy research when we evacuated for Cerro Grande. We were gone for 10 days and I got so anxious about all that being stored in the trunk of our car while we stayed in Albuquerque. I didn't really think anything would burn this time since it seemed they were evacuating us more because of the air quality and to keep us out of the way of the firefighters. Luckily, no houses burned in Los Alamos during the Las Conchas fire.
[I started this on July 1 while we were evacuated in Albuquerque but never finished it. I'm posting it unfinished. It's old news now. I haven't had any time recently to post anything. My sister's planned visit started on July 5, 2 days after we got back home on July 3, so I've been busy. She flew back home July 12 but since then, I've been busily catching up with my life.]
One of the librarians found the newly developed wildfire quite ominous because it reminded her of the 2000 Cerro Grande fire. She was very worried about having to evacuate 2 dogs by herself because her husband was out of town attending to his dying father. In my naivete, I thought that another evacuation would be highly unlikely. On the walk back home, I kept looking to the southwest. The smoke filled the southern half of the sky with blue skies to the north. The sunlight had an orange cast to it. I was surprised by how quickly the fire was growing but I shouldn't have been since our mountains are tinderbox dry. In the evening, we could smell the smoke so we closed our windows even though it was very hot outside.
When it was dark, we could see flames to the the southwest. (Later we learned we were looking at the area of Sawyer Hill and Ponderosa Campground burning.) Other neighbors were also out watching the flames. On KRSN, we heard that a voluntary evacuation was ordered. We could see a lot of traffic, including horse trailers, driving down the Main Hill Road (NM502), leaving town. Husband kept insisting that we pack up and leave that night but I felt that since both our night vision is impaired, we should wait until the next day, especially since a mandatory evacuation order hadn't been issued yet. Our next door neighbors who are both in their 80's were helped by their son to evacuate to Espanola. We realized that inevitably we'd have to evacuate again, just like we did 11 years ago for the Cerro Grande fire so we started to pack. I stayed up until around 1 am and then went to bed but couldn't fall asleep until sometime after 3 pm.
The smoke wasn't any better the next day. It was now moving to the north and ash was falling. Our next door neighbors had returned to get some items they had forgotten. I asked if they needed any help carrying anything out but he reassured me that he didn't. Throughout the morning, I had packed more but didn't do the last minute packing (toiletries and some food from the refrigerator) until the mandatory evacuation order, which we heard on KRSN, was issued Monday, June 27, at 2 pm. (Residents were to be notified by reverse 911. From Albuquerque, we checked our phone messages to see if we received the reverse 911 phone call but we didn't. Must notify Phil Taylor, Emergency Management Coordinator, about this.)
We were to leave in stages, our neighborhood last, but since we were mostly packed and live at the most eastern edge of town, we left within a half hour, each driving our car. We stopped at a friend's house in Santa Fe to leave one of the cars and drove the other to a hotel in Albuquerque. It wasn't until that evening in the Fairfield Inn that we both realized we could have packed all our photos and slides in the trunk of the car to be parked in Santa Fe rather than leaving them at home to possibly burn up a lifetime of memories. I remember we packed all the memorabilia and my genealogy research when we evacuated for Cerro Grande. We were gone for 10 days and I got so anxious about all that being stored in the trunk of our car while we stayed in Albuquerque. I didn't really think anything would burn this time since it seemed they were evacuating us more because of the air quality and to keep us out of the way of the firefighters. Luckily, no houses burned in Los Alamos during the Las Conchas fire.
[I started this on July 1 while we were evacuated in Albuquerque but never finished it. I'm posting it unfinished. It's old news now. I haven't had any time recently to post anything. My sister's planned visit started on July 5, 2 days after we got back home on July 3, so I've been busy. She flew back home July 12 but since then, I've been busily catching up with my life.]
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Del Norte to Medio Dia to Bland Canyons
Yesterday's WI hike was especially interesting because we went to an area in the Jemez Mountains I've long wanted to explore but couldn't because I didn't want to drive my sedan in on the gravel roads. Our driver drove her SUV about 12 miles total on gravel roads starting from NM4 and FR289 to FR36 to FR286 to FR268 to Del Norte Canyon. The .8 mile from the junction of FR286 and 268 (why'd they make it so confusing?) was the roughest part of the road.
Where we parked in Del Norte Canyon, it is wide, stunning and emerald green, even during our horrible drought. Most wouldn't think it stunning because it's not on the order of the Grand Canyon but it was so peaceful and inviting with its grassy meadow and the surrounding heavily treed ridges. Canyons like that make me swoon!
From Del Norte Canyon's meadow, we walked uphill on a very eroded trail (more like a shallow ditch) through the forest to a wide, dirt road. We walked the briefest distance in the talcum powder dust of that road and then turned left onto a grassy road through the woods. We turned right off that at a tree that has the remains of a 1" thick twisted metal cable attached to it. Then, along a contour line, we followed a very nondescript trail to a Santa Fe National Forest boundary sign nailed to a tree where we picked up a trail going downhill into Medio Dia Canyon. We had been walking on private land but there were no fences and no signs prohibiting our walking there.
At one point on our downhill trek, we encountered a large fallen log and the group split with a few of us following a trail on one side of the log and the majority following a trail on the other. It turns out that both trails go to Medio Dia Canyon but the one the majority took was the better one (and was the one we took on the way back). Even though the other fork started out looking like a very good trail, it deteriorated into a terribly steep, narrow, eroded ramp at the bottom. Guess who took that one in her road running shoes because she has no real hiking boots now!
This part of Medio Dia Canyon also entranced me with its wide, grassy expanse. At the start of the hike, there were 20 of us and 3 dogs. At Medio Dia Canyon, the group split into two with 5 of us continuing up Horn Mesa, into Bland Canyon and over to Bruce Place where we had lunch. Bruce Place is the site of a former homestead. Where we sat in the shade, we saw some kind of metal debris left from the homestead era. Before we left, I stood at the edge of the meadow where the homestead was and imagined the vitality of the people who had lived here.
When we got back to Medio Dia Canyon and checked on the other hikers who had gone up to the pond and the Smith cabin (another homestead site and where the group saw a mallard duck at lunch!), we found a note saying that they had all gone back. All told, we 5 had done nearly 5 miles and a little over 1,300' elevation gain.
But, back at our driver's car, we found all but one hiker had gone back. She is a tiny woman about the size and weight of a ten year old. Now we had one more person than we had car seats but, no problem! This diminutive powerhouse of a woman, who weighs 89 pounds, sat on her husband's lap for the drive back to our cars. Yes, they both were seat-belted together! It was so cute!! Ha - the day I sit on my husband's lap is the day he dies since I weigh a tad more than that woman and chances are I'd crush him!!
Where we parked in Del Norte Canyon, it is wide, stunning and emerald green, even during our horrible drought. Most wouldn't think it stunning because it's not on the order of the Grand Canyon but it was so peaceful and inviting with its grassy meadow and the surrounding heavily treed ridges. Canyons like that make me swoon!
From Del Norte Canyon's meadow, we walked uphill on a very eroded trail (more like a shallow ditch) through the forest to a wide, dirt road. We walked the briefest distance in the talcum powder dust of that road and then turned left onto a grassy road through the woods. We turned right off that at a tree that has the remains of a 1" thick twisted metal cable attached to it. Then, along a contour line, we followed a very nondescript trail to a Santa Fe National Forest boundary sign nailed to a tree where we picked up a trail going downhill into Medio Dia Canyon. We had been walking on private land but there were no fences and no signs prohibiting our walking there.
At one point on our downhill trek, we encountered a large fallen log and the group split with a few of us following a trail on one side of the log and the majority following a trail on the other. It turns out that both trails go to Medio Dia Canyon but the one the majority took was the better one (and was the one we took on the way back). Even though the other fork started out looking like a very good trail, it deteriorated into a terribly steep, narrow, eroded ramp at the bottom. Guess who took that one in her road running shoes because she has no real hiking boots now!
This part of Medio Dia Canyon also entranced me with its wide, grassy expanse. At the start of the hike, there were 20 of us and 3 dogs. At Medio Dia Canyon, the group split into two with 5 of us continuing up Horn Mesa, into Bland Canyon and over to Bruce Place where we had lunch. Bruce Place is the site of a former homestead. Where we sat in the shade, we saw some kind of metal debris left from the homestead era. Before we left, I stood at the edge of the meadow where the homestead was and imagined the vitality of the people who had lived here.
When we got back to Medio Dia Canyon and checked on the other hikers who had gone up to the pond and the Smith cabin (another homestead site and where the group saw a mallard duck at lunch!), we found a note saying that they had all gone back. All told, we 5 had done nearly 5 miles and a little over 1,300' elevation gain.
But, back at our driver's car, we found all but one hiker had gone back. She is a tiny woman about the size and weight of a ten year old. Now we had one more person than we had car seats but, no problem! This diminutive powerhouse of a woman, who weighs 89 pounds, sat on her husband's lap for the drive back to our cars. Yes, they both were seat-belted together! It was so cute!! Ha - the day I sit on my husband's lap is the day he dies since I weigh a tad more than that woman and chances are I'd crush him!!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Bear Was a Blur!
So you think you can outrun a bear? Please don't ever try it! Today while I walked on the Cañada Bonita Trail, I suddenly heard noises ahead of me and looked up just in time to see what I'm sure was a bear running across the trail. I write "what I'm sure" because it was going so fast that it was more a blur than a bear but it was lower than a deer and bigger in the butt and didn't bound like a deer. It tore across the trail and crashed through the forest, hastily going downhill to the lower trail. I missed a real opportunity because I didn't think to check for its tracks until on the way back; then, I didn't really know the exact spot to look and, besides, there were shadows across the trail. I'm sure, though, that it was a bear and I'm definitely happy that its only interest in me was getting out of Dodge as fast as possible!
The breezes in Cañada Bonita meadow were refreshing. Wild irises are blooming in the meadow. Lots of huge, yellow and black swallowtail butterflies were enjoying the irises.
The breezes in Cañada Bonita meadow were refreshing. Wild irises are blooming in the meadow. Lots of huge, yellow and black swallowtail butterflies were enjoying the irises.
Perimeter Trail-Rendija Trail
This weekend, whilst spouse slaved away on the course he's teaching, I walked the Perimeter Trail starting from the Mitchell trailhead and going over to Rendija Narrows where the Rendija Trail begins.
I felt like Superman on the way out since it's mostly downhill. I congratulated myself for being inured to the heat. But...on the way back...the 4 hills...ground me down...I felt ready to be interred.
I took photos of the powerful man's construction yard from the trail - unsightly - and also of the concrete barriers that he's thrown up alongside FR442 - what is that man up to? I took a long shot of the Ponderosa Estates mansions - over half a million each! They should have made that beautiful, wooded area into a county park.
I also took photos of Brad's grave, marked by rather a rustic cross with various memorabilia strewn at the base, at the east end of Guaje Pine Cemetery. I have no idea who Brad is.
It was windy and hot. The grass is still in its golden raiment of winter because we haven't had enough rain to make it green. I have to waste a lot of water on our spruce tree in our front yard (dumb idea to plant a spruce tree in the dry ponderosa forest biome) to stave off the impending invasion of tussock moths that want to eat the tree.
I felt like Superman on the way out since it's mostly downhill. I congratulated myself for being inured to the heat. But...on the way back...the 4 hills...ground me down...I felt ready to be interred.
I took photos of the powerful man's construction yard from the trail - unsightly - and also of the concrete barriers that he's thrown up alongside FR442 - what is that man up to? I took a long shot of the Ponderosa Estates mansions - over half a million each! They should have made that beautiful, wooded area into a county park.
I also took photos of Brad's grave, marked by rather a rustic cross with various memorabilia strewn at the base, at the east end of Guaje Pine Cemetery. I have no idea who Brad is.
It was windy and hot. The grass is still in its golden raiment of winter because we haven't had enough rain to make it green. I have to waste a lot of water on our spruce tree in our front yard (dumb idea to plant a spruce tree in the dry ponderosa forest biome) to stave off the impending invasion of tussock moths that want to eat the tree.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Unfollowed Trail of the Gangling Fawn
Walking up FR181, from the twin water tanks off West Jemez Road (NM501), to where the road finally tops out, I spotted a tall rock cairn on the left that marked an obvious trail. I didn't remember ever following that trail so I did. It follows the rim of upper Water Canyon and the views from into the 3 branches of upper Water Canyon are fabulous! I could look over to Red-Tailed Hawk Point which is above the meadow where Water Canyon splits in two - one branch going up to FR181 and the other going to the Water Canyon Gallery where there is a spring that the laboratory once used to supply water to S-Site.
Suddenly ahead of me on the trail was a gangly-legged fawn. It looked so fragile to be alone out there and I was moved by its vulnerability. I watched as it toddled off the trail over to some dead logs and grass clumps in a slight depression. It laid itself down and I saw it no more. I wanted to walk over to see it again because it was such a fascinating, tiny creature but that would have only frightened it once more and forced it to move further exposing it to predation.
The trail dead-ended at an old logging road that someone had marked with rock cairns on either side. I followed that road back to FR181 and continued walking for a while.
On the way back down, I met the Mountain Canine Corps search and rescue woman walking uphill with her big hound dog Clancy. I asked if he would be gentle if he saw the fawn and she assured me he would. They planned to walk up to the Perimeter Trail and then back down to the twin water tanks on a rough, steep trail. That woman loves to wander just as much as I do but she at least has a companion. Some of her hikes provide training for Clancy. She hides and its Clancy's job to find her. She most likely enlists the help of another person to pull this off.
Suddenly ahead of me on the trail was a gangly-legged fawn. It looked so fragile to be alone out there and I was moved by its vulnerability. I watched as it toddled off the trail over to some dead logs and grass clumps in a slight depression. It laid itself down and I saw it no more. I wanted to walk over to see it again because it was such a fascinating, tiny creature but that would have only frightened it once more and forced it to move further exposing it to predation.
The trail dead-ended at an old logging road that someone had marked with rock cairns on either side. I followed that road back to FR181 and continued walking for a while.
On the way back down, I met the Mountain Canine Corps search and rescue woman walking uphill with her big hound dog Clancy. I asked if he would be gentle if he saw the fawn and she assured me he would. They planned to walk up to the Perimeter Trail and then back down to the twin water tanks on a rough, steep trail. That woman loves to wander just as much as I do but she at least has a companion. Some of her hikes provide training for Clancy. She hides and its Clancy's job to find her. She most likely enlists the help of another person to pull this off.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Wild Rose and Choke Cherry Perfume the Air!
Went up Quemazon Trail to Pipeline for 6 miles RT. Afterward, I decided that I'm officially retiring the Brooks Adrenaline ASR 7 trail running shoes (I don't run but hike on rough trails) and sending the unworn one back for a refund. They've never felt as good as the the street running version of the Adrenalines GTS on which they are modeled. Now I'm forced to wear my street running shoes on rough trails which makes me more vulnerable to slips and slides due to the lack of beefy tread. What to do? Time to visit REI again to search yet again for real, mid or high hiking boots that would have good tread and would better support my posterior tibial tendon yet feel comfortable in the toe box (I need a wide toe box). I realize ahead of time that this is a lost cause but I'll try again anyway because I'm desperate. At least with REI's excellent return policy, I can easily return the rejects. Tonight I have to wrap up the Adrenaline ASR 7's to take to the post office tomorrow and pay big bucks to ship them back!
The Quemazon Trail is experiencing lots of regrowth after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire. This is a good but all the young trees and shrubs along the trail creep me out because I can't see if any 4-legged animals are lurking by the side of the trail. I picked up a stout stick whilst walking through the bushes today and kept looking backwards just in case.
Several sections of the trail were resplendently fragrant with the smell of pink wild rose and white choke cherry blossoms. I dubbed them Perfume Alley!
The Quemazon Trail is experiencing lots of regrowth after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire. This is a good but all the young trees and shrubs along the trail creep me out because I can't see if any 4-legged animals are lurking by the side of the trail. I picked up a stout stick whilst walking through the bushes today and kept looking backwards just in case.
Several sections of the trail were resplendently fragrant with the smell of pink wild rose and white choke cherry blossoms. I dubbed them Perfume Alley!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Summer Fleets and So Does Life
It occurred to me today that at the height of this winter's frigid temps, it seemed that summer would never come again; but, Memorial Day has come and passed and July 4th can't be far behind. Summer is actually a very compressed, fleeting season. It's the cold, dark winter that seems to last forever.
Summer is like my life. It all seems to have gone by in a flash and I sometimes wish I had enjoyed it more while it was happening.
Thursday, went to Albuquerque. Hanger will remake my ankle foot orthosis - took a new impression and sent it off to the lab. I was ready to give up on the brace because on Monday's 7.6 mile hike in Frijoles Canyon, it gave me a blister. The instep arch was just too high from the beginning and always left a red area on my arch. When I first tried the brace on, I couldn't even walk in it until they did some adjusting. The adjusting, though, seemed to cause my foot to pronate even more into the arch area and never relieved the pressure. The latest adjustment caused rubbing which caused the blister.
Summer is like my life. It all seems to have gone by in a flash and I sometimes wish I had enjoyed it more while it was happening.
Thursday, went to Albuquerque. Hanger will remake my ankle foot orthosis - took a new impression and sent it off to the lab. I was ready to give up on the brace because on Monday's 7.6 mile hike in Frijoles Canyon, it gave me a blister. The instep arch was just too high from the beginning and always left a red area on my arch. When I first tried the brace on, I couldn't even walk in it until they did some adjusting. The adjusting, though, seemed to cause my foot to pronate even more into the arch area and never relieved the pressure. The latest adjustment caused rubbing which caused the blister.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Random, Odd Thoughts After Spending Yesterday in Albuquerque
How fast it (my life) all went by. I'm now a senior citizen but just yesterday, I was a carefree young girl. On the outside, I look old but inside, I still just wanna have fun!
Two things I hate (inspired by all day in Albuquerque):
Perfunctory "how are you" greetings that require equally perfunctory "fine and you". Why do people have to pretend they care about people they don't even know. A simple, friendly hi or hello would be fine by me!
Toilet paper rolls that I can't find the end of even after reaching underneath the holder and rotating the roll around and around and around.
Eating my lunch at Whole Foods while watching the hordes buying their food:
We all think we're so unique but, collectively, we're not. Gimme that Whole Foods religion! Maybe they all were celebrating because they didn't get raptured!
Taking surreptitious glimpses of woman at next booth, hunched over her food, cheeks bulging, eyes downward, savoring her lunch. Food is the 2nd greatest pleasure known to man but not to woman. In reading Bonk, written by Mary Roach, it was titillating to learn that in lab experiments, the female, not the male, rat can be distracted during copulation by cheese crumbs!
Two things I hate (inspired by all day in Albuquerque):
Perfunctory "how are you" greetings that require equally perfunctory "fine and you". Why do people have to pretend they care about people they don't even know. A simple, friendly hi or hello would be fine by me!
Toilet paper rolls that I can't find the end of even after reaching underneath the holder and rotating the roll around and around and around.
Eating my lunch at Whole Foods while watching the hordes buying their food:
We all think we're so unique but, collectively, we're not. Gimme that Whole Foods religion! Maybe they all were celebrating because they didn't get raptured!
Taking surreptitious glimpses of woman at next booth, hunched over her food, cheeks bulging, eyes downward, savoring her lunch. Food is the 2nd greatest pleasure known to man but not to woman. In reading Bonk, written by Mary Roach, it was titillating to learn that in lab experiments, the female, not the male, rat can be distracted during copulation by cheese crumbs!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
On the Third Day, She Hikes Alone
Hiked with all-female hiking groups last two days:
Monday was the Frey Trail from Juniper Campground in Bandelier National Monument. In the canyon, we went to Alcove House, by way of the Long House, and some of us climbed the ladders including me. I was surprised to feel the down-climb in my quads and still do today. It didn't seem terribly hard when I was doing it although I was so tense on the down-climb - shouldn't have carried my pack up!
We had started hiking down from Juniper Campground closer to 10:30 am but didn't get back to our cars until 2:54 pm. Took so long because: one hiker disappeared but didn't inform the leader so all of us waited on a bench and had lunch until she reappeared. Then, after Alcove House, two hikers who hadn't carried lunch because they planned to buy theirs at the snack bar were now starving. At the snack bar, we ran into German tourists who were on a bus tour of New Mexico. Then, instead of walking back to bottom of the Frey Trail along the Rito de los Frijoles, we walked back on the Ruins Trail which is already becoming congested with tourists. All day, we ran into crowds of school kids on field trips and it was neat to see them enjoying the outdoors.
Today, the Tuesday women's group hiked upper Water Canyon to Forest Road 181/American Springs Road. We followed that road down to the South Perimeter Trail, off NM 501, and then back to our vehicles. Wildflowers are starting to bloom and we had fun trying to remember their names! I forget a lot of them from year to year. The young aspens are finally leafing out and covering the hillsides with the innocent green of springtime. The morning started cloudy but by the end of our hike, around noon, sunshine predominated with lots of interesting clouds. We all appreciated the cooler weather and the almost-moist conditions in Water Canyon.
Grandson visited this afternoon. I should have been suspicious when he said "Grandma, I'm going to play outside." The kid is not an outdoor kid. Turned out he had heisted my magnifying glass to practice fire-starting. He says he stomped on the sticks as soon as he saw smoke. I admonished him not to do this in the severe drought we're having. It would be so easy to accidentally start a fire.
Monday was the Frey Trail from Juniper Campground in Bandelier National Monument. In the canyon, we went to Alcove House, by way of the Long House, and some of us climbed the ladders including me. I was surprised to feel the down-climb in my quads and still do today. It didn't seem terribly hard when I was doing it although I was so tense on the down-climb - shouldn't have carried my pack up!
We had started hiking down from Juniper Campground closer to 10:30 am but didn't get back to our cars until 2:54 pm. Took so long because: one hiker disappeared but didn't inform the leader so all of us waited on a bench and had lunch until she reappeared. Then, after Alcove House, two hikers who hadn't carried lunch because they planned to buy theirs at the snack bar were now starving. At the snack bar, we ran into German tourists who were on a bus tour of New Mexico. Then, instead of walking back to bottom of the Frey Trail along the Rito de los Frijoles, we walked back on the Ruins Trail which is already becoming congested with tourists. All day, we ran into crowds of school kids on field trips and it was neat to see them enjoying the outdoors.
Today, the Tuesday women's group hiked upper Water Canyon to Forest Road 181/American Springs Road. We followed that road down to the South Perimeter Trail, off NM 501, and then back to our vehicles. Wildflowers are starting to bloom and we had fun trying to remember their names! I forget a lot of them from year to year. The young aspens are finally leafing out and covering the hillsides with the innocent green of springtime. The morning started cloudy but by the end of our hike, around noon, sunshine predominated with lots of interesting clouds. We all appreciated the cooler weather and the almost-moist conditions in Water Canyon.
Grandson visited this afternoon. I should have been suspicious when he said "Grandma, I'm going to play outside." The kid is not an outdoor kid. Turned out he had heisted my magnifying glass to practice fire-starting. He says he stomped on the sticks as soon as he saw smoke. I admonished him not to do this in the severe drought we're having. It would be so easy to accidentally start a fire.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Apache Springs Trail to Edge of Frijoles Canyon
Spouse and I hiked this 5 mile roundtrip hike this morning. We enjoyed lunch at the edge of Frijoles Canyon. Spouse considered this a hard walk but it may be that he didn't eat enough for breakfast. I was happy for the company.
At the beginning of the hike, we spotted 4 deer in a meadow. Of course, like all the deer around here, they stood and watched us from the shadows of some young ponderosa pines. Elk, when we see them, have more common sense and quickly flee.
Later, I noticed the aspens cast shadows across the trail and true to their names, quaking aspens, the leaves' shadows shivered in the wind. We didn't shiver, though, because it was a lovely, warm day. Not much in the way of clouds although we saw some interesting ones with their bottoms shredded into veils.
At the beginning of the hike, we spotted 4 deer in a meadow. Of course, like all the deer around here, they stood and watched us from the shadows of some young ponderosa pines. Elk, when we see them, have more common sense and quickly flee.
Later, I noticed the aspens cast shadows across the trail and true to their names, quaking aspens, the leaves' shadows shivered in the wind. We didn't shiver, though, because it was a lovely, warm day. Not much in the way of clouds although we saw some interesting ones with their bottoms shredded into veils.
Letter Written to Representative Ben Lujan
Dear Representative Ben Lujan,
I urge you to endorse Senate Bill 564, introduced by Senator Bingaman and supported by Senator Udall, which would transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. I would like you to please introduce a similar bill in the House.
The Valles Caldera Trust chairman, Raymond Loretto, recently testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that a majority of the Trust are in support of this bill. I am in support of of management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by the National Park Service and I urge you to help make it happen. The Preserve is a national treasure that New Mexico is lucky to have in our state and it deserves to be better managed. I trust in the National Park Service to do this. I'm completely 100% against the status quo continuing at the Preserve. I think that the Caldera will be better protected by the National Park Service than if the forest service takes over management in 2015. Why haven't you spoke out in support of S. 564 yet and why haven't you introduced similar legislation in the House?
Thank you,
I urge you to endorse Senate Bill 564, introduced by Senator Bingaman and supported by Senator Udall, which would transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. I would like you to please introduce a similar bill in the House.
The Valles Caldera Trust chairman, Raymond Loretto, recently testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that a majority of the Trust are in support of this bill. I am in support of of management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by the National Park Service and I urge you to help make it happen. The Preserve is a national treasure that New Mexico is lucky to have in our state and it deserves to be better managed. I trust in the National Park Service to do this. I'm completely 100% against the status quo continuing at the Preserve. I think that the Caldera will be better protected by the National Park Service than if the forest service takes over management in 2015. Why haven't you spoke out in support of S. 564 yet and why haven't you introduced similar legislation in the House?
Thank you,
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