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!