I Was It

I subbed for the BESC hiking leader who was out of town.  She had mentioned that someone had called to inquire for an elderly man who wanted to come on  the hikes.  The elderly man turned out to be  an intellectually disabled man who was maybe in his 40's - not elderly at all. Not knowing any more details  ahead of time made for some awkward moments when I, at first, thought the man that brought him to the senior center intended to drop him off for me to watch which was a big responsibility but it turned out that man was his caretaker. Once I understood this, no problema! It all worked out as they are both excellent hikers.  The caretaker explained that the man's father wants his son  to get some exercise; they will hike with the group again next week.  They are more than welcome on the Friday hikes.

I drove myself up to the trailhead.  We all parked on FR181 and walked across NM4 to the Apache Springs trailhead.  We were a group of 6, including me. At the start, I must have made one woman nervous that I planned to  take them on a death march because when I told them the trail went all the way to Bandelier headquarters, this woman, relatively young and in good shape, piped up that they usually only walk an hour.  Although she later admitted that they actually walk two hours, I, wanting to be fully compliant, told the group to let me know when to turn around but inwardly felt frustrated by how this group always sets a time limit.  They did go as far as the overlook above Apache Springs.  We turned around because no one expressed desire to go on. My GPS said we did 2.4 miles round trip.

Right before the overlook, the intellectually disabled man's caretaker called out to me.  We were going down a slight hill.  We all stopped and turned around and then saw the 84 year old woman, her arm in a cast (she fell and broke it while riding her bicycle!), slowly making her way down hill.  I felt so embarrassed to have left her trailing behind, however briefly, and was grateful that someone alerted me. Overall, she did very well on the hike.

Now, I better appreciate how hard the hiking leader's job is and how smoothly she does it!  That still doesn't make me appreciate this group with their urge to get back early.  The group and I are not a good fit. 

I got them back at 10 am.  After they all drove away, I finished my daily 4 miles by walking a little past where Water Canyon crosses FR181.  I was having pain in the ball of my right foot and right buttock on the way back.  I'm not happy about this!!  I don't like anything that threatens my ability to walk everyday!!

The podiatrist today said I have second toe tendinitis.  He added some padding to my insole to take weight off the tendon.  I'll try it out on a tame walk tomorrow but I suspect the extra padding is just going to cause pain in another part of my foot.  I'm going to carry an extra, unpadded insole just in case!

Why do my feet have to be so delicate??  My second toe is longer than the first and takes a beating when I walk.  I have osteoporosis as well.  There must be a type of shoe I can wear that would protect my feet.  I told spouse if I ever have to stop walking the woods, I'd like to move to the ocean.

Daughter and grandson bought over Papa Murphy pizza tonight.  I made a salad.  Spouse bought Haågen Dazs ice cream - Rocky Road and Dulce de Leche.  My supper was salad with butter beans, peanut butter sandwich (with Bubbies horseradish, tomatoes and onions), nectarine, grapes and spicy pumpkin seeds.

Afterward, daughter and husband took grandson to MPL to see Lego models at the county fair exhibits. Grandson may enter a model next year.

I Didn't Die

I guess those 4 mushrooms I found in the forest really were puffballs because I haven't died yet.  I can't say they were any more delicious than the mushrooms I buy in the store but they were good.  I sautéed them in olive oil and added them to my eggplant stew with brown rice. 

Tonight I finally finished the eggplant stew and brown rice that I made last week and froze half of.  What in the world will I eat tomorrow?  Nothing is prepared.  Daughter is bringing over pizza for her, grandson and spouse.  I'll make salad and something simple for my supper.

Doctor visit went well.  I got an x-ray of my sore toe and will see the podiatrist tomorrow to ask him what's wrong.  Maybe Morton's neuroma?  Phooey on all this!

I walked on the Canyon Rim Trail and the Mesa Trail for my almost 4 miles (3.75).  The county is putting benches, trash cans and doggy doo containers along the asphalted path.  The grand opening is August 21 but people are walking it now.  I saw two other walkers and a coyote.

Anatomy of an Automated Phone Answering System

All this was repeated twice each minute during 6 minute call:

We appreciate your patience as we experience a heavy call volume.  We should be with you momentarily.

This call may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance.

If you like, you can book on the Internet at ChoiceHotels.com.

Arrghh!! Arrghh!!  Arrghh!!

Do the companies that use these automated phone answering systems think the caller is so stupid that they will hang up if not prompted every 10 seconds, 6 times a minute???  Just shut up and let me listen to the music or find my own entertainment during my wait.

Mushroom Foraging

Spouse came home early again because of his sprained ankle.  He keeps asking when I'll be done on the computer.  This is but a small taste of retirement and I don't like it!  I need my own space!!

WI hike today up Pajarito Mountain via Aspenola bike trail on east side and down Aspen for Trouble bike trail on west side.  Actually, I gave up following Aspen for Trouble where it intersected Battle Stations and May Day.  I have to study the map and follow it uphill one day.

It was a birthday hike which I skip but I did stop in the Lodge to ask advice on  mushrooms.  On the way down, I collected a boletus and some puffballs.  The boletus turned out to be an aspen boletus.  The hiker whose advice I asked said he got a gurgly stomach from eating one.  Its sponge was orange. I cut it open and it's bluish inside which confirms that it's an aspen boletus.  I dumped it in the backyard.

The puffballs were a good learning experience.  The ones that feel hollow-y or collapsed inside are very moist when you cut them in half and are forming brown spores from the top down.  Threw those in the backyard too.  That left a mere 4 small puffballs that are edible.  Hope I don't die.  I don't see evidence of gills and they are snowy white - gulp...

Finishing up 4 small loads of laundry - oh, joy!  Cleaned myself up because I have a doctor visit tomorrow - a follow-up on my recent partial bowel obstruction - oh, joy!

Valle Canyon Again

The Tuesday group hiked up Valle Canyon today, starting at 7:45 am.  There were 12 of us.  I don't like getting up at 5:45 am but the early start works to get us off the trail before the rain.  Of course, when I try to read this evening, it'll be snooze time, big time!

I measured the branch spread of a Douglas fir today for the PEEC big trees project.  I used the "Go To" feature on my cheapo Garmin GPS to find the tree, high on a hillside. 

I'm sure our "big trees" are bantam weight contenders compared to the giants of the Pacific Northwest!  A woman who's lived there told me today that their trees get quite enormous.

I told the group that I'd see them on the way down but after measuring the tree, I scooted up to the VCNP fenceline where they were still enjoying their rest/snack break before the trip down.

Spouse tried to work today but came home after 1/2 day because his ankle was swelling.  X-ray says no fractures.  He was supposed to wear his stirrup ankle splint today but instead, only wore an ordinary elastic ankle brace.  He will not be hiking for a while and our Rocky Mountain National Park trip is coming up soon and it is predicated around hiking.  Daughter and I will have him watch grandson while WE hike - not unlike our last trip when I was off my feet due to posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and he took short hikes while I sat in the car.

Raspberries - Ra, Ra, Ra!

I walked up Valle Canyon with 3 other women.  There were lots of big, red raspberries on the upper part of the trail.  I had to measure a tree's branch spread on the way back so, after turning around at the VCNP fenceline, I told them to go ahead, not wait for me.

I ate my way down Valle Canyon.  Now I know how wild animals feel while they are eating.  As I plucked the raspberries and stuffed handfuls in my mouth, I'd look all around to make sure no bear was sneaking up on me.

I measured the Clothespin tree's spread but I'd only consider it a very rough estimate as it was really hard to see where the opposite branch was because another tree's branches obstructed it.  It's either a southwestern white pine or a limber pine.  It was named by a master hiker because of its split on the bottom 12 feet or so of the tree which resembles an old-fashioned, one-piece, wooden clothespins.

I got 38' 8".  I used my backpack to weight down one end of the measuring tape.  My reward was to eat lots of fat raspberries growing beneath the tree.  The trampled grass around the tree was evidence that another mammal has also enjoyed the raspberries!

Walking back by myself was a touch creepy in the narrow parts of the canyon.  I kept saying "Bear, where are you?  I am here!"

I looked for the two shaggy mane mushrooms that we had spotted on the way up but didn't see them coming back.  

On the drive to the trailhead, I saw two well-fed coyotes cross the West Road Bypass;  they were heading toward LANL.







creepy
wild onion coyote

Bye, Bye Big Trees!

First: Yesterday evening on my Mesa Trail hike, it was a little windy.  I saw a tall sunflower and turned the flower head toward me to see if it was full of pollen.  Nestled close together at the base of the petals were 3 small bees, with their butts upturned.  Were they sleeping?  Sheltering from the wind?  I dunno. 

I will retire from the big tree project.  My friend who leads that has lucked upon a woman who is very efficient and much more enthusiastic about the project than I ever was.  She's new to this area, coming from the midwest, and eager to learn about the area.

I saw the woman in action today when I went with my friend to measure big trees and take their portraits.  She arrived with a measuring tape that was probably 200'.  She used it on a project measuring vegetation transects.  It made the measuring today so much easier than using a measly 100' tape.  She does the work with good cheer.  In the past, I mildly kvetched about disliking the inexactness of methods used to measure the height, girth and spread of the trees. 

My friend will be in very capable hands and I'm happy for her.  The woman will also benefit as my friend will take her to neat places like the petroglyphs in White Rock Canyon (where she took me also).  I, of course, am invited on these trips but the pace is so slow that I may decide to start later and try to find them.  Also, I'm trying to step up my efforts to walk with trestle-hopper's Monday and Tuesday hiking groups.  They're a bit speedier.

The slow pace makes my feet hurt - especially the ball of my right foot.  We only walked a little over 3 miles and took nearly 6 hours which meant I was standing around on sore feet for a long time.  I've been having this pain for several months.

I'll do some experiments over the next week with different insoles and shoes.  If all else fails, I'll be forced to contact the physical therapist in Albuquerque who made my orthotics less than 2 years ago - they couldn't be worn out already!

Spouse Sprained Ankle

We went to Santa Fe.  Bought DVD player and Star Wars comforter at Target.  DVD player is to hook up to new 22"-diagonal Sony flat screen TV for bedroom.  This was husband's idea.  I was deliriously happy with the Magnavox 14" old-style picture tube TV because it did what I needed it to do - record Dr. Oz, get KNME and play DVDs. 

Afterward, we went to Trader Joe's where I spent quality time in the produce department.  In the parking lot is where spouse tripped and sprained his ankle as he stepped off the sidewalk.  He's practicing RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation.

I called my friend of the big trees of LA county fame and set up a hot date to meet her tomorrow to go fondle big trees - actually, the fondling is peripheral to taking their photos, measuring the spread of their branches and looking for more specimens.

I wanted to go with her this weekend since the opportunity presented itself because husband can't hike with me tomorrow.  That way I can go with my train-trestle-hopping friend's two women's hiking groups on Monday and Tuesday.  My big tree friend was all ready with a chore for me to do on those two hikes anyway - measure the branch spread of two big trees in Valle Canyon.  I will be making myself useful at the same time as having fun.

We invited daughter and her family over for supper tonight - sashimi grade tuna steaks, sweet potatoes, sushi purchased at TJ's (white rice - yuck!), and a salad of romaine, cucumber, green onion, tomatoes and avocado and fruit for dessert. 

Oh, yesterday train-trestle-hopping friend spotted an area with monkshood flowering right alongside the Calzada Trail.  That girl has good eyes!!

Las Conchas Canyon

Hiked up Las Conchas Canyon, parking at MM37 on NM4, with a friend.  The barbed wire crossing was easier than I remembered, especially with someone to help hold down the top strand!

The stream was running in the canyon with lots of miniature "waterfalls" tumbling down canyon.  We saw cows grazing.  There were mushy places where my  feet got wet - my shoes don't have a Gore-Tex lining but that was OK.

This was my 4th time in Las Conchas Canyon but I really have no better idea of how to negotiate the upper part of the canyon that connects with the Calzada Trail.  It's not a well traveled canyon except maybe by cows in the summer and cross country skiers in the winter.  The lower part mostly has a definite trail but the upper canyon splits at several places giving too many choices of where to go although some are clogged by deadfall. 

We followed the "trail" as best we could and eventually ended up at a well-stamped-down real trail that shortly led us over to the Calzada Trail.   I made some brush cairns - perhaps I'll take another crack at Las Conchas Canyon one day, starting from the Calzada Trail.

We went back to Corral Canyon on the Calzada Trail and walked .7 mile back to my car.  Along the way, my friend pointed out a bear crossing the road.  It was fairly distant but seemed to look toward us before somehow getting over the barbed wire fence and running across the meadow to the sheltering forest - neat sighting!!

Epic Monsoonal Rains

Went with the dendroglyph project people into Short Canyon on the VCNP.  The area smells really sulphur-y and you can see the glint of tiny fumaroles bubbling in the dry creek bed.  It's a nice crew - there were 7 of us.  We only walked about 2 miles.  Four of us got back to the car by 1 pm. Our driver needed to get back home early because her dog was recovering from a chemo treatment.  Another driver and two of the crew stayed behind to finish recording two more dendroglyphs.  Wonder how they fared in the storm on the drive home?

I didn't find any dendroglyphs in my scouting but it's a pretty area.  When they get done with Short Canyon, then they'll begin documenting dendroglyphs in Valle Seco.  I may show up for trips here and there but if I go out on the big trees project, I won't have time for this too and all the groups I hike with.

Afterward, since my car was already parked at the bottom of Camp May Road, I did the Route up past Paintball Road but just to where the white RV trailer is parked (every summer) to get 2 more miles, thereby achieving my daily 4.  Was really good to see the Route again.

I got back to my car just in the nick of time as the storm broke.  The rain got really heavy driving back on Trinity.  I could see lightning flashed in my rear view mirror.  I could barely see the white lines on the road, it was raining so hard.  I splashed up lots of water from the side of the road - I couldn't help but drive through it.

Lots of thunder overnight.  Roof repair is holding.

Spouse goes half-time the week of September 20.  The husband of the dendroglyph project leader is 67 and still works full-time.