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.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, June 6, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Random, Odd Thoughts After Spending Yesterday in Albuquerque
How fast it (my life) all went by. I'm now a senior citizen but just yesterday, I was a carefree young girl. On the outside, I look old but inside, I still just wanna have fun!
Two things I hate (inspired by all day in Albuquerque):
Perfunctory "how are you" greetings that require equally perfunctory "fine and you". Why do people have to pretend they care about people they don't even know. A simple, friendly hi or hello would be fine by me!
Toilet paper rolls that I can't find the end of even after reaching underneath the holder and rotating the roll around and around and around.
Eating my lunch at Whole Foods while watching the hordes buying their food:
We all think we're so unique but, collectively, we're not. Gimme that Whole Foods religion! Maybe they all were celebrating because they didn't get raptured!
Taking surreptitious glimpses of woman at next booth, hunched over her food, cheeks bulging, eyes downward, savoring her lunch. Food is the 2nd greatest pleasure known to man but not to woman. In reading Bonk, written by Mary Roach, it was titillating to learn that in lab experiments, the female, not the male, rat can be distracted during copulation by cheese crumbs!
Two things I hate (inspired by all day in Albuquerque):
Perfunctory "how are you" greetings that require equally perfunctory "fine and you". Why do people have to pretend they care about people they don't even know. A simple, friendly hi or hello would be fine by me!
Toilet paper rolls that I can't find the end of even after reaching underneath the holder and rotating the roll around and around and around.
Eating my lunch at Whole Foods while watching the hordes buying their food:
We all think we're so unique but, collectively, we're not. Gimme that Whole Foods religion! Maybe they all were celebrating because they didn't get raptured!
Taking surreptitious glimpses of woman at next booth, hunched over her food, cheeks bulging, eyes downward, savoring her lunch. Food is the 2nd greatest pleasure known to man but not to woman. In reading Bonk, written by Mary Roach, it was titillating to learn that in lab experiments, the female, not the male, rat can be distracted during copulation by cheese crumbs!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
On the Third Day, She Hikes Alone
Hiked with all-female hiking groups last two days:
Monday was the Frey Trail from Juniper Campground in Bandelier National Monument. In the canyon, we went to Alcove House, by way of the Long House, and some of us climbed the ladders including me. I was surprised to feel the down-climb in my quads and still do today. It didn't seem terribly hard when I was doing it although I was so tense on the down-climb - shouldn't have carried my pack up!
We had started hiking down from Juniper Campground closer to 10:30 am but didn't get back to our cars until 2:54 pm. Took so long because: one hiker disappeared but didn't inform the leader so all of us waited on a bench and had lunch until she reappeared. Then, after Alcove House, two hikers who hadn't carried lunch because they planned to buy theirs at the snack bar were now starving. At the snack bar, we ran into German tourists who were on a bus tour of New Mexico. Then, instead of walking back to bottom of the Frey Trail along the Rito de los Frijoles, we walked back on the Ruins Trail which is already becoming congested with tourists. All day, we ran into crowds of school kids on field trips and it was neat to see them enjoying the outdoors.
Today, the Tuesday women's group hiked upper Water Canyon to Forest Road 181/American Springs Road. We followed that road down to the South Perimeter Trail, off NM 501, and then back to our vehicles. Wildflowers are starting to bloom and we had fun trying to remember their names! I forget a lot of them from year to year. The young aspens are finally leafing out and covering the hillsides with the innocent green of springtime. The morning started cloudy but by the end of our hike, around noon, sunshine predominated with lots of interesting clouds. We all appreciated the cooler weather and the almost-moist conditions in Water Canyon.
Grandson visited this afternoon. I should have been suspicious when he said "Grandma, I'm going to play outside." The kid is not an outdoor kid. Turned out he had heisted my magnifying glass to practice fire-starting. He says he stomped on the sticks as soon as he saw smoke. I admonished him not to do this in the severe drought we're having. It would be so easy to accidentally start a fire.
Monday was the Frey Trail from Juniper Campground in Bandelier National Monument. In the canyon, we went to Alcove House, by way of the Long House, and some of us climbed the ladders including me. I was surprised to feel the down-climb in my quads and still do today. It didn't seem terribly hard when I was doing it although I was so tense on the down-climb - shouldn't have carried my pack up!
We had started hiking down from Juniper Campground closer to 10:30 am but didn't get back to our cars until 2:54 pm. Took so long because: one hiker disappeared but didn't inform the leader so all of us waited on a bench and had lunch until she reappeared. Then, after Alcove House, two hikers who hadn't carried lunch because they planned to buy theirs at the snack bar were now starving. At the snack bar, we ran into German tourists who were on a bus tour of New Mexico. Then, instead of walking back to bottom of the Frey Trail along the Rito de los Frijoles, we walked back on the Ruins Trail which is already becoming congested with tourists. All day, we ran into crowds of school kids on field trips and it was neat to see them enjoying the outdoors.
Today, the Tuesday women's group hiked upper Water Canyon to Forest Road 181/American Springs Road. We followed that road down to the South Perimeter Trail, off NM 501, and then back to our vehicles. Wildflowers are starting to bloom and we had fun trying to remember their names! I forget a lot of them from year to year. The young aspens are finally leafing out and covering the hillsides with the innocent green of springtime. The morning started cloudy but by the end of our hike, around noon, sunshine predominated with lots of interesting clouds. We all appreciated the cooler weather and the almost-moist conditions in Water Canyon.
Grandson visited this afternoon. I should have been suspicious when he said "Grandma, I'm going to play outside." The kid is not an outdoor kid. Turned out he had heisted my magnifying glass to practice fire-starting. He says he stomped on the sticks as soon as he saw smoke. I admonished him not to do this in the severe drought we're having. It would be so easy to accidentally start a fire.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Apache Springs Trail to Edge of Frijoles Canyon
Spouse and I hiked this 5 mile roundtrip hike this morning. We enjoyed lunch at the edge of Frijoles Canyon. Spouse considered this a hard walk but it may be that he didn't eat enough for breakfast. I was happy for the company.
At the beginning of the hike, we spotted 4 deer in a meadow. Of course, like all the deer around here, they stood and watched us from the shadows of some young ponderosa pines. Elk, when we see them, have more common sense and quickly flee.
Later, I noticed the aspens cast shadows across the trail and true to their names, quaking aspens, the leaves' shadows shivered in the wind. We didn't shiver, though, because it was a lovely, warm day. Not much in the way of clouds although we saw some interesting ones with their bottoms shredded into veils.
At the beginning of the hike, we spotted 4 deer in a meadow. Of course, like all the deer around here, they stood and watched us from the shadows of some young ponderosa pines. Elk, when we see them, have more common sense and quickly flee.
Later, I noticed the aspens cast shadows across the trail and true to their names, quaking aspens, the leaves' shadows shivered in the wind. We didn't shiver, though, because it was a lovely, warm day. Not much in the way of clouds although we saw some interesting ones with their bottoms shredded into veils.
Letter Written to Representative Ben Lujan
Dear Representative Ben Lujan,
I urge you to endorse Senate Bill 564, introduced by Senator Bingaman and supported by Senator Udall, which would transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. I would like you to please introduce a similar bill in the House.
The Valles Caldera Trust chairman, Raymond Loretto, recently testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that a majority of the Trust are in support of this bill. I am in support of of management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by the National Park Service and I urge you to help make it happen. The Preserve is a national treasure that New Mexico is lucky to have in our state and it deserves to be better managed. I trust in the National Park Service to do this. I'm completely 100% against the status quo continuing at the Preserve. I think that the Caldera will be better protected by the National Park Service than if the forest service takes over management in 2015. Why haven't you spoke out in support of S. 564 yet and why haven't you introduced similar legislation in the House?
Thank you,
I urge you to endorse Senate Bill 564, introduced by Senator Bingaman and supported by Senator Udall, which would transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. I would like you to please introduce a similar bill in the House.
The Valles Caldera Trust chairman, Raymond Loretto, recently testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that a majority of the Trust are in support of this bill. I am in support of of management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by the National Park Service and I urge you to help make it happen. The Preserve is a national treasure that New Mexico is lucky to have in our state and it deserves to be better managed. I trust in the National Park Service to do this. I'm completely 100% against the status quo continuing at the Preserve. I think that the Caldera will be better protected by the National Park Service than if the forest service takes over management in 2015. Why haven't you spoke out in support of S. 564 yet and why haven't you introduced similar legislation in the House?
Thank you,
Friday, May 13, 2011
Does This Constitute a Life?
WRSC hiking group - good company but not good exercise. They are too slow to deem their walks good exercise so I just consider it a rest day. They wanted to hurry back to the potluck for May birthday so only hiked about two miles total - up Frijoles Canyon to Alcove House and back.
We saw a huge tree that was felled by our recent heavy winds. The fellow with us who volunteers at Bandelier said the park service will give the wood to San Ildefonso. Until one of those giant ponderosas are down for the count, you can't begin to conceive of the massive amount of wood it contains. The roots were massive too but unbalanced, thicker on one side than the other. The flaw of the ponderosas is a shallow root system.
We saw some hikers going off-trail to visit some of the cavates that are off limits except on tours with a ranger. We hollered over that they weren't supposed to be there.
I really wanted to attempt the ladders at Alcove House but spouse was eager to get back to the gift shop to buy a Zia symbol T-shirt and then to buy a burrito at the snack bar. He had an appointment at UNM-LA regarding the class he will teach and afterward we had to run to Santa Fe - he to pick up a prescription and I to get my biennial mammogram.
Our warm, sunny weather predominates, courtesy of our drought.
We saw a huge tree that was felled by our recent heavy winds. The fellow with us who volunteers at Bandelier said the park service will give the wood to San Ildefonso. Until one of those giant ponderosas are down for the count, you can't begin to conceive of the massive amount of wood it contains. The roots were massive too but unbalanced, thicker on one side than the other. The flaw of the ponderosas is a shallow root system.
We saw some hikers going off-trail to visit some of the cavates that are off limits except on tours with a ranger. We hollered over that they weren't supposed to be there.
I really wanted to attempt the ladders at Alcove House but spouse was eager to get back to the gift shop to buy a Zia symbol T-shirt and then to buy a burrito at the snack bar. He had an appointment at UNM-LA regarding the class he will teach and afterward we had to run to Santa Fe - he to pick up a prescription and I to get my biennial mammogram.
Our warm, sunny weather predominates, courtesy of our drought.
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