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.
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