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!!

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.

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. 

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.

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!

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.