First thing I notice are lots of birds flying about--fellow hikers identify the beautiful big one as a flicker--and tall golden grass in a broad, expansive, inviting meadow. Scooter Peak is on the right and a forest of mixed conifers and aspens is on the left.
Some of the aspens are in island-like groupings and I am looking forward to walking in this area in the fall. It’s really hard to describe the emotional affect that these groupings of aspens have on me--it's something about their lighter green color, their white bark with black markings, and their shaking leaves that makes them seem ethereal.
All throughout our hike we see tall stumps leftover from past logging. There are also shiny black bits of obsidian scattered underfoot.
Near the the beginning of the hike, on the right, is a large bermed stock pond, a leftover from when this land was used for grazing. Around the stock pond are metal supports which look like tennis nets but with the nets rolled up at the top. Per Dale Coker, Stephen Fettig uses this apparatus to net birds for an ongoing study. This is not the only stock pond--all in all, we end up passing about 3 or so stock ponds or seeps. Dale Coker affirms that frogs sing here in the springtime. Now I can hardly wait to return in spring!
In addition to the stock ponds, we see a flattened rusty barrel and a HUGE black tire that Sam Gardner will thankfully remove when he builds the parking lot.
My overall impression of the meadow is of welcoming peace and natural beauty. As we get closer to Scooter Pass, I listen to the silence. As I look on the scene before me, I instinctively breathe deeper and relax.
Some of the vegetation that I could identify throughout our hike was: yarrow, purple daisies, dandelions, chickweed, clover, mountain parsley, pinedrops, sneezeweed, fireweed, geranium, green gentian, ferns, harebells, mountain juniper, lichen, moss, thimbleberry, currant, and mullein.
Due to our recent outstanding monsoon, fungi of all wondrous shapes and colors abound! Canadian thistle, an invasive, appears here and there. Dried wild iris stalks, which seem to especially like to grow in the middle of the road, promise an iris-filled spring!
After the flat meadow, the road to Scooter Pass goes mildly uphill but it is not strenuous. There are some places where signage would be required to keep hikers who wanted to walk the loop on the designated trail because there is a welter of confusing side logging roads.
To the right of the road, there are glimpses of pocket meadows in the woods. The Alamo drainage itself looked dry but the depression it forms is clearly visible. Dale Coker says that to the left of the road are the cliffs of Rabbit Ridge. One tree to the left of the trail has a dendrometer band on its trunk to measure the tree growth--more evidence of ongoing studies in this area.
In places alongside the road are huge boulders which look the scale of toddler-climbable mountains. Often, a chipmunk is standing on sentry duty or a bird is perched on top. The vegetation growing on the boulders gives them the look of hanging gardens. We did not see any large animals but there was evidence of elk throughout--scat and scuffed up elk trails.
When we arrive at Scooter Pass, with a connection to the road up Scooter Peak on the right and a connection to the Coyote Call trail to the left, we backtrack and find an old logging road running along the bottom of Rabbit Ridge. As we follow this, we eventually come to a snaggle of fallen trees and brush but than Dale Coker is able to pick up the logging road on a slightly lower contour.
While searching for the continuation of the logging road, we find a metal stake with a metal tag that reads "NHNM BAND VEG MAP". Dale Coker says that this demarcates a boundary of a vegetation plot being studied by Brian Jacobs.
Evidence that this area has been logged abounds--there are scattered tall stumps, one even in the middle of the road. We follow the logging road to its dead-end and then pick up an excellent, steep elk trail up to Rabbit Ridge. Dale Coker will submit the GPS information on our entire route.
As we hike uphill, a look back gives occasional small glimpses through the trees of Pajarito Mountain in one direction and the Rio Grande Valley in another. The forest is variously deep and dark or dappled sunlight but, overall, we are hiking through an open forest, only occasionally having to step over fallen logs, and not feeling hog-tied by downfall.
The first meadow that we get to has views on one side of some of Bandelier’s best--Boundary Peak, Rabbit Hill, St. Peter’s Dome and Cerro Pichaco. In the distance are Tetilla Peak, Cochiti Lake, and the Sandias.
Dale Coker points out the still visible damage of the trail the Valles Caldera National Preserve had put through the meadow on Bandelier land, We follow the grassy hummocks leading up to Rabbit Ridge and the first felsenmeer viewpoint.
The view of the Valles Caldera from the felsenmeer is outstanding. You can see all the way to the north rim of the caldera.
We continue along the ridge, seeing one recently fallen aspen with a dendroglyph but the date is illegible and the dendroglyph looks recent.
Along the ridge we see ladybugs clustering on grass stalks and bushes. As they get ready to hibernate, they collect in shiny orange globules. It is a welcome sign that summer is winding down and autumn is on the way!! Dale Coker points out a small portion of Dome Road below.
We stop at another rock felsenmeer and this view of the caldera, above the Coyote Call trailhead, is even more expansive and awe inspiring. Definitely a place to slow down, sit on a rock, listen to the rustling wind, and meditate. Another fabulous get-away viewpoint courtesy of Rabbit Ridge!
We see an excellent elk trail that heads downhill to one of the logging roads below Rabbit Ridge and resolve to check it out one day.
We are at a pass between Rabbit Ridge and Rabbit Mountain and we close the loop by heading downhill through a meadow,to a logging road, seeing plenty of tall, gray stumps, and passing a warren of other logging roads. Dale Coker has hiked and skied this many times and knows perfectly the way back to the cars parked along Dome Road. Once again, some sort of signage would definitely be appreciated at crucial spots in this area. Although, in saying that, I want to go back one day and follow every one of the roads to see for myself where they all go!!
We pass a small drainage which feeds into Cochiti Canyon. On the way back to the Iron Gate, we pass an obsidian quarry which Bandelier hopes to be lucky enough to own one day when a boundary is redrawn. There are more numerous and larger chunks of obsidian spilling out of the road cut than I have ever seen before! Just past the quarry, we pass a Havoline oil container on the ground. Later, near Dome Road, we see 2 discarded plastic bottles. Dale Coker picks up a metal tag that is laying on the ground. Other than this, the area is thankfully litter free.
I enjoyed very much the opportunity to participate in this ground survey--thank you!
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