No Downed Trees on Route from Windstorm

I'm amazed - yesterday when I checked the Route, absolutely no trees had toppled over from last week's ferocious winds, clocking in the 40's at the Los Alamos Airport!  Also, the young aspen trees that I've been watching over the years were finally in full color.  The magnificence of their color far surpasses their size!  I got close to one tree, pointed my camera upwards and now have on my Desktop a cheerful photo brimming with golden aspen leaves against the blue sky!

The closer-in view from Camp May Road of Loco Triangle gave me no more information than the view I can see from Pajarito Mountain.  I'll just have to one day find someone crazy enough to go there with me.

Pajarito Mountain Enchanting in Late Afternoon Light

By the skin of my teeth, I got a hike in today up Pajarito Mountain.  I didn't start until sometime past 3:30 pm and got back to my car at 5 pm.  There's real enchantment walking that time of day - not a whole lot of people and the side-lighting of the setting sun gives pretty effects.  I took Zero Road East to the back of the mountain.  Saw several trees had been felled by last week's windstorm, including a giant that toppled near (but missed!) the two towers at the 4 way intersection.  Here and there are the teeniest patches of snow.

On my way up, ran into a WI hiker on his way down.  Said he had 3 strokes in the past year and lost eyesight in his right eye.  He looked good but said because of the strokes, he was hesitant about going to the top of Pajarito but the trip up, his first since his health problems, felt easy to him so he was pleased.

The golden aspen leaves have all flown away up high.  It was sunny at the back (south) of the mountain but mostly shady on the way down the front (north).  I didn't bring my backpack or a jacket so I tucked in my shirtsleeves, pants legs and shirt to preserve body warmth.

On the drive down Camp May Road, I saw a place where I can get close-up views from the side of the road of Bonita Point, aka Loco Triangle.  Maybe this will quench my desire to learn more about that place or further inflame it?

Lower down, there are still some golden aspens along the Route.

Now Let's See - What Was I Saying...

Went to Salida, Colorado last week but only for 3 days.  Spouse suggested cutting trip short by a day because of cold weather.  On Wednesday, our only full day there, we parked at the Frantz Lake State Wildlife Area and walked to Sand Lake and back, passing the Mount Shavano State Fish Hatchery along the way. 

When we started, I insisted on first walking to the left, away from the direction we wanted to go, to see where the path led.  Took a lot of "convincing" to get spouse to go along as he was sure we were only going to walk far out into a meadow (but what a meadow with glorious views of snow-capped 14ers in the Sawatch Range, one probably being Mt. Shavano!)  Shortly, the trail turned back around on itself and traveled along the other side of the lake in the "right" direction; only then did he finally feel reassured that we were on track.  My philosophy is to explore but that makes him nervous!

We had lunch on a (cold) bench at Sand Lake with beautiful views of the southern Sawatch Mountains. Geese were wheeling overhead - an umbrella would have come in handy but fortunately they ejected no slime-bombs.  The lake was full of geese and ducks - quite picturesque.  Spouse regrets that I didn't take a photo and he's right about that one.  Sand Lake serves as a settling pond for waste from the fish hatchery but the state maintains it as high quality habitat for wildlife.  It's a pretty lake.  It pours into the Arkansas River after all the waste has settled out.

Afterward, I talked spouse into trying again to find Spiral Drive.  He was reluctant because he remembers last time we tried to find it, we came to a closed, private property road.  After some more "convincing" on my part, we finally found it and started driving up it.  It's a well-graded road, no worse than the Dome Road, the portion from NM4 to Graduation Flats, in the Jemez Mountains.  It was the teeniest bit washboard-y but not excessively so.  Spouse wasn't comfortable continuing up so he parked while I walked up some more.  His last words were "Don't take too long!"

As I walked up, the views opened up of the Sawatch Mountains and the Arkansas Hills.  I could see Tenderfoot, or "S" Mountain, in the distance and figured there was no way I'd be able to walk to the top of it.  As I continued up Spiral Drive, though, Tenderfoot looked more within my reach so I didn't stop walking until I got to the gazebo on top of the mountain. 

There are fantastic views from the top of the city of Salida, the northern Sangres and the southern Sawatch mountains.  Tenderfoot is a dormant cindercone.  The townsfolk of Salida decided in 1922 to build Spiral Drive which truly does spiral up to just below Tenderfoot.  The last few yards to the top are navigated via stairs. 

I estimate that the distance I walked to the top was less than two miles and only a few hundred feet in elevation gain.  Tenderfoot is 550 feet above Salida which is right around 7,000' in elevation.  I didn't walk all that elevation difference because I started from higher up.  The whole round trip took me about an hour.  I've wanted to walk up Tenderfoot ever since I first saw it!

I have to comment about the views of the snow-capped northern Sangre de Cristos on the way to Salida, starting from the Great Sand Dunes.  When covered with snow, those mountains look like the Himalayas to me!  They are impressive!  The Rainbow Trail, I read in the travel literature, travels in the Sangres from Poncha Springs to the Great Sand Dunes.  Now, that would be a hike!!

Had we stayed another day, like we had planned, I would have hiked portions of the Arkansas Hills Trail System.  The Arkansas Hills, it seems, are southern foothills to the Mosquito Range.  Volunteers are busily building a whole system of trails into the foothills.

I Know Where It Fell - On the Route

The arrow, that is.  I found an arrow on the ground right along where I walk.  Camp May Road is on one side and a steep canyon on the other.  Maybe it was shot from the other side of the canyon or the other side of the road.  Glad it wasn't shot at me!  I stuck it in a cairn but forgot to look for it on the way back down.

I'm thinking maybe next year I can use my manual weed whacker to murder the NM locusts!  At least it would get some use since neither spouse nor I care to tackle the weeds in our gopher-haven backyard!  I could pretend I'm golfing (never, ever have or will), whack the NM locusts and yell "Fore!" 

Weather was invigorating during my walk.  It spit some but not much.  The wind was moving a front through but a pleasant wind - not too cold.  Clouds were awesomely breathtaking - what an assortment, all layered in crisscrosses across the sky.  Patches of blue were framed like windows.  Sun came and went but mostly came and when it did, the yellow aspens lit up.  Still waiting for some special aspens to turn yellow along the Route.

Someone hung a grocery bag of trash on a tree.  I should have carried it down but didn't feel like it today.  I will one day.

Yesterday was Oktoberfest at the home of a White Rock hiker.  Fun get-together!  I made dessert from a recipe I found on the Internet - Easy Apple Kuchen - but ruined it with too much brown sugar which the recipe didn't even call for!  Today, we saw 5 of the hikers enjoying the Health Fair/Arts and Crafts Fair so I know that at least 5 survived eating my sickeningly sweet dessert!!

At the Health Fair, I took a spirometry test.  The nurse practitioner who gave me my (normal) results said we need to train for old age.  I agree.  The trend is downward - we can't get around that - but we need to do all we can to assure that our quality of life remains high as we journey through life.

Sun Had Disappeared Behind Clouds by Early Afternoon

This afternoon, it had looked dark to the west; but so far, it's evening now, the rains haven't visited us like last night.

One of the librarians told me she was on top of Pajarito Mountain yesterday with her Corgi dog when the storm broke.  Getting down, amidst hail, thunder and lightning was an adventure.

I went to our dentist in Albuquerque Tuesday.  Dentist took x-rays and said there wasn't any cavity or abscess.  Digital dental x-rays are neat - very fast, less radiation and can see x-rays immediately!  Dentist adjusted night splint so maybe that will help.  I really can only chew on my left side and started having some pain on my right side which the dentist theorizes is from clamping down on that side at night. 

On way back home, we ate at Buffalo Thunder's Painted Parrot Buffet. Almost from the first bite, my stomach felt bloated and rumbly.  Maybe it's a bad idea to steal broccoli from the Asian stir fries, maybe the guacamole, green chile and salsa sundae is a bad idea? Next time we eat there, it's salad and fruit for me. 

On Wednesday, I drove spouse up to Pajarito Mountain Ski Area to enjoy the aspen colors.  He walked as far as Cañada Bonita meadow and then went back to eat at the café.  I continued on to Pipeline Road.  Met a puppy on the trail.  So adorable!  Looked like a black Labrador.  I stopped and puppy - name's Molasses - nuzzled between my ankles so I bowed out my legs to let puppy step through!!  Owner said everyone loves Molasses!

Walked downtown today.  Forgot my umbrella at Metzger's and didn't realize I'd forgotten it until I got to Ashley Pond to feed the ducks and looked at the clouds over the mountains.  Ducks didn't seem very hungry.  Ravens were feeding on cracked corn at edge of pond.

I'm tired.  Woke at 7 am for big tree trip in Valles Caldera National Preserve but it was canceled due to all the rain.

My lower right back was aching on downtown walk today.  Still is. Discouraging.

Still Plotting How to Get to Bonita Point

Wished so much that spouse would have shared seeing on Saturday the aspen extravaganza along Camp May Road and on Pajarito Mountain.  The golden leaves of the young aspens start about 2 miles up Camp May Road in the burnt area near FR2998 and continue all the way up to the top of the ski hill. 

Ski Area is so much pleasanter when lifts aren't running and when the mountain isn't invaded by testosterone-crazed bicyclists! The bicyclists that actually bike to the top are much saner!

Studied Bonita Point (Loco Triangle) from the jeep road on Pajarito Mountain.  I can see now that it would have worked to go down along the end of the conifers to edge of Cañada Bonita Canyon and over along canyon edge to get around the tangle of aspens and out to Bonita Point.

The view from on high also made me think that perhaps I had the right idea about going further east on the projection from Paul's Portal overlook. It almost looks like the projection gradually steps down to a shallower portion of the Cañada Bonita Canyon. Instead, we walked away from the overlook and went through a bunch of aspens and then we were where the bottom of Cañada Bonita Canyon looked dauntingly far below.  Perhaps I need to revisit Paul's Portal one day.

I could also see from on high that on the way back to Cañada Bonita meadow that day, we should have avoided the aspens that cascade down from the very top of the steep ridge that was above us. If we had instead stayed close to the  edge of Cañada Bonita Canyon, even though it would have been more difficult walking due to the cant of the hillside, we would have avoided having to wrest ourselves out of the jigsaw-puzzle aspen grove!

In fact, hugging the canyon edge to go out to Bonita Point may be the best ticket of all.  After all, it's not like this canyon edge is along a cliff.  I'm guessing this would actually be easier (and safer!) than going from Paul's Portal and trying to descend into and out of the canyon!

I wasn't the only one alone on the mountain today.  Saw two other lone hikers and a lone bicyclist.  Even so, I morosely thought to myself "What does being alone matter?  In the end, when I die, I die alone."

Sunday, spouse and I went to REI for the last day of their Fall sale.  I bought a pair of Brooks Adrenaline shoes and he bought REI Sahara Cargo pants.  Then we ate at Flying Star.  This time, instead of the tofu Buddha bowl, I had the Acapulco Salad with avocados, orange sections, jicama, salad mix, red onions, grilled shrimp, salsa - good!  We finished off the day by returning moldy tasting Flame raisins to Vitamin Cottage and buying a few items.  For my exercise, I walked downtown in the evening.

Today, the Monday group did the postponed Sawyer's Mesa hike, finishing at Ponderosa Campground for a 9 mile jaunt!  It was good to do it in October and  enjoy the Fall colors and cool weather.  The Gambel oaks with leaves of red, yellow and orange reminded me of making Autumn leaves in grade school out of construction paper!  The leaves of the barberry shrub were such a brilliant red.  We could see lots of golden aspen across Frijoles and Alamo Canyons. 

After the hike, I took one of the hikers back up on the Dome Road to the Sawyer Mesa Road so she could pick up her car.  The Dome Road is in great shape right now!  Saw some wood gatherers by the side of NM4 right before the Cerro Grande parking area.  Bandelier National Monument recently gave free permits so people could collect the wood stacked in teepees near the road - good deal!

Rogue Trail With White Rock Seniors

What's going on?  Not much!  Spouse and I met the WRSC hikers - only 3 showed up - at the Walkup Pool, ostensibly to walk down into Pueblo Canyon. We were joined by a hiker from the uptown senior center hiking group.

When we got to where the Ranch School Trail goes steeply down into Pueblo Canyon, it turns out they really didn't want to go down that trail but had already passed the turnoff for the trail they had anticipated taking; instead, we walked along the south rim of Pueblo Canyon, the one I call the Rogue Trail.  We turned around where the trail narrows to a singletrack.  The grand total was a little over 3 miles.  It was a beautiful day full of sunshine and we all enjoyed the walk and company.

This afternoon, spouse and I are sloth-ing it at home.  He tells me that this is how it will be when he fully retires.  I'd better not say what I "laughingly" told him!

We hardly ever see grandson anymore.  I thought our daughter had him this week so we invited them for supper tonight to visit.  Her ex-husband has him two weeks and then she has him two but I miscalculated which weeks were hers.  Tonight, it turns out, is daughter's date night with girlfriends.  We could reliably see grandson 2 nights a week when she attended jujitsu classes at the Y but now she is very busy with schoolwork so she's stopped going.

Ruminating About Yesterday's Hike

One day, I have to try again to get to Bonita Point, aka Loco Triangle.  There must be a better way to get there.  I know people who have hiked up Quemazon Canyon which is below the point.  Maybe if I walked up Los Alamos Canyon from the Reservoir, I'd see a way up.

I feel sure that the Bonita Point was beyond and below the aspen forest that turned us around.  I need to go to Pajarito Mountain and study the area again with my binoculars.  It would be good to go before the aspens drop their leaves so I can pinpoint where we turned around in relation to the point.

Yesterday, I wanted to follow the treeline further down toward Cañada Bonita Canyon to see if I could see the point to the east but my friend wanted to start back.  She was so nice to agree to go with me that I didn't press the issue.  There are not many women in their late 70's that could have gone on that explore like she did.  For that matter, not many people of any age would want to blunder about where we did!!  Fortunately, neither of us fell whilst cavorting amongst all the downed wood.


We both thought the scattering of old tree stumps we saw were odd in such an isolated area where few people venture.  The felled trees were left laying beside the stumps. In some cases, the tree trunks were cut into sections.

Two of the bear scats we saw were light colored with lots of seeds.  One was dark with little visible roughage.

I walked 2 roundtrips on the Canyon Rim Trail this afternoon.  Saw 2 bicyclists, 11 walkers and 2 dogs.  People walking the trail in the afternoon are less interested in greeting one another.  I listened to a tape of  Prairie Home Companion.  Purple vetch is still blooming.

Dropped off at PEEC a paper grocery sack stuffed full of plastic produce bags.  The high school kids plan to make something with the plastic bags.

I Should Be

I should be doing the laundry, I should be vacuuming the carpet, I should be replacing the carpet in the kitchen with linoleum, I should be ripping out the 20 year old wall to wall carpet and refinishing the wood floors underneath, I should be weeding the yard, I should be buying groceries, I should be scrubbing the toilet, I should be dusting the cobwebs in the kitchen, I should be raking the fallen leaves, I should be buying a more energy efficient refrigerator, I should be shopping for a new gas oven before our 20 year old one explodes, I should be calling the furnace man to give our gas furnace a clean bill of health, I should be going through all my possessions and getting rid of stuff I no longer need or use, I should be buying a new shed to replace the present one which functions as a Comfort Inn for mice, I should be replacing our wooden fence which is dying one slat at a time, I should be watering the water-devouring spruce in our front yard, I should be using cloth bags for my groceries instead of plastic, I should be using CFL light bulbs instead of incandescent, I should be shopping locally instead of at Walmart, I should be joining clubs and volunteering more around town, I should be spending less time on the computer ...

This list could go on and on but you get the idea.  You probably have a list twice as long of your own.  All the things I should be doing hang over my head on a daily basis.  Some of them I do because I have no choice - have to eat, have to occasionally clean, have to do laundry, but the others, I do gradually or when forced to by circumstances.  The majority of this list is related to the upkeep of the house and grounds (aka, gopher playground!)  Our 50 year old home needs a good remodeling but I'd rather sell the house at a bargain and let someone else remodel it.  Living in a house in the midst of a major remodel doesn't sound fun. My answer is to go on a hike unless necessity arises which mandates paying attention to this hovel, er...house.

Bonita Point or Loco Triangle

A friend willingly went with me today on the Bonita Point or Loco Triangle explore.  We didn't actually make it to the point but had fun trying.  We had to walk through forest impacted by dead log upon dead log, in pickup stick fashion.

It took a long time to even get near Bonita Point but we decided to turn around short of our destination  when we encountered a young aspen forest full of downed logs laying in wait like hungry crocodiles eager to snap our limbs off.  We tried hard to plow through the aspens - there was no easy way around - but we were greatly slowed by all the obstacles  hiding within.

By now, it was late afternoon so we turned around and picked our way again through all the downed wood and yet another interminable aspen thicket.  Trying to break free of that thicket made me sympathize with insects that get caught in a spider's web - we felt entangled every way that we turned!

We were so happy to get back to the bunch grass of Cañada Bonita meadow!  Whoever said that bunch grass is difficult to walk in has never tried to walk in an area clotted with  downed wood!

I'll probably never again be able to talk someone into accompanying me on that crazy hike.  My friend says she'll cross it off her list for now unless I discover a super-highway that leads to Bonita Point!

We saw 3 piles of fairly fresh bear scat.  We were glad we didn't see the bear(s)!!