Solace

WI group walked up Pajarito Mountain today.  In their inimitable fashion, we started out as a larger group but dispersed into smaller groups.  One woman who recently hurt her ribs walked up Zero  Road East from the ski area lodge and then went down the Logging Road on the badly burned west side of the ski hill, two others wanted to stick more to the bike trails, several didn't go very far: one had vertigo, another had a torn meniscus, several simply didn't want a long hike.

Only 7 of us and a dog made it to the top of the mountain.  We walked to just short of I Don't Care ski run when the group decided to have lunch at the top of an unburnt ski run.  I walked further to take a photo of the Las Conchas fire damage in the Valles Caldera National Preserve from the top of I Don't Care.  The forest on either side of the ski run is charcoalized.  With the trees burnt, it's poignantly evident how close the grasslands of the caldera are to the ski area.  The grass in the caldera has already greened up from the monsoon.   Some of the volcanic domes  in the eastern caldera have burn damage.  The Jemez Mountain Trail Runs Facebook page has scads of photos of the Las Conchas fire damage because it severely affected their 50 mile route.   They'll have to re-route that run next year.

From I Don't Care, I looked with binoculars at the road from Camp May up Cerra Bonita, the mountain just north of Pajarito Mountain Ski Area.  I'd like to walk that road because although the conifers are toasted orange, there doesn't appear to be a lot of charcoalized trees waiting to fall right down onto the road.  Beyond Cerra Bonita, to the north, I was surprised to see a lovely green meadow with a road running through it - maybe Pipeline Road.  Caballo's meadow looks almost a neon green in contrast to its charcoalized forests.

Since I knew from past experience that after lunch, the group planned to barrel straight down  a precipitous ski run to the cars, I walked back to the south side of Pajarito where  I found a grassy area on the Valles Caldera side of the fence and enjoyed lunch of a protein bar and wasabi edamame.  Screw the Preserve and their damnable fences that keep people out!

After a peaceful lunch, I walked cross country to Zero Road East, past the snow-making pond which is an impediment to cross country travel.  Earlier, we could see that even with all our rains, the pond doesn't look any more filled up than before the monsoon.  The walking was easier because some tussock grass clumps burned.  I saw a downed spruce, still green at the top, but toppled because it's root had burned, neatly snapping the tree off.  I saw a charcoal skeleton of a huge, old spruce and I felt sorry for it.

People say that years ago, and there are photos to prove it, the south back side of Pajarito Mountain was more completely a meadow.  Over time, the meadow became invaded by conifers.  We're gradually losing our montane meadows in the Jemez Mountains. If Las Conchas helps to bring back the meadow, that's a good result but it wasn't worth it to destroy so much land and people's homes on Cochiti Mesa just to bring back the meadow.  I wish that small fires would occur more often as they have beneficial effects whereas catastrophic fires like Las Conchas do little good.

I could see either smokers or dust columns in the Dome Wilderness area.  It's hard to see what damage there is in Pajarito Canyon but the west side of the canyon wall looks burnt here and there.  I couldn't tell if there is any damage in Water Canyon.  It looked no worse than from the Cerro Grande fire damage it sustained in 2000 but it was hard to tell for sure.

I've walked up Pajarito Mountain the past 3 days.  The ski hill workers are repairing the Lone Spruce ski lift which was damaged by the fire.  On Monday, I saw a bulldozer smoothing down the very bottom of the fire break that was made from the top to the bottom.  Today a hiker pointed out that the fire break has been reseeded - recovery begins.  It will be a race for the ski area to open this season, assuming we get any snow!

The morning started out overcast and cooler and some thunderclouds had formed by the time I got back to my car at 1:54 pm.  My GPS said 5.97 miles.  I saw purple harebell, yellow cinquefoil and a scarlet bugler penstemon and very oddly, a ponderosa on the back side of Pajarito Mountain.  Seems too high for a ponderosa to be growing but I saw it with my own eyes.  I was surprised to see elk hoof prints on Zero Road East.

Even though the landscape around and on Pajarito Mountain has been radically changed by the Las Conchas fire, I'm finding solace in walking up the mountain.  Although much has been damaged by the fire, I'm grateful that I can still walk up Pajarito and see that much beauty still remains.

Saw Flowers on Ski Hill

Forgot to mention:  Death camas is blooming all over the ski runs.  All it took was some moisture.  Also saw the light lavender wild geranium, erigeron which must be getting on in age as it's losing its color and tending toward whiteness, maybe whitlow grass, Indian paintbrush, yarrow, lots of fireweed.

The moisture made the distance viewing misty so I couldn't see the Water Canyon area to assess the Las Conchas fire damage.  I could see the first part of the Cañada Bonita/Nordic/Snowshoe trails well enough to see they are quite burnt.   Cerra Bonita, the mountain directly north of Pajarito, has some burn damage  - more toasted than charcoalized, if I'm remembering correctly.  Need to go up on a clear day with a pair of binoculars.

Pajarito Mountain - Finally

Finally had time to drive to the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area and walk up Pajarito Mountain.  It was cloudy and thunder sounded a warning now and then but I made it to the back of the mountain.  I walked up the Zero Road East jeep road to the logging road on the south side of Pajarito Mountain, below the lone antenna perched on the easternmost of Pajarito's double peaks.

After enduring the Las Conchas fire, the ski hill looks surprisingly normal from the area of the ski lodge - still pretty in green and moist from the generous rains we've gotten this week!  On the jeep road, I walked past numerous patchy burns.

From the south back-side of Pajarito I could see a portion of the northern ridge of Cerro Grande has been severely blackened.  It looks like the part of Cerro Grande owned by Valles Caldera National Preserve.  I couldn't see into Valle Canyon but could clearly see that the fire had danced across Valle Canyon because the Knife-edge ridge between Valle and Pajarito canyons has definite blackening. 

How many more times can firefighters save the the ski hill, the lab and the town before forest managers take serious steps to thin the forests and to step up their prescribed burns?  Our forests are beautiful but they are too thick with trees.  Drought makes them prone to insect infestation and wildfire.  The forests of the Jemez Mountains will continue to be victims of global climate change and severe drought conditions like that which existed when the Las Conchas wildfire started the end of June.    It's very good that the ski hill, lab and town were saved but what can be done to protect our forests from stand-destroying wildfires and make them more resilient to the vagaries of climate change and wildfires?

Bulldozer On Quemazon Trail During Las Conchas Fire

Four of the WI hikers walked up the Quemazon Trail to Pipeline Road today.  We started at the ungodly (for me) hour of 8 am but I was so eager to go on a group hike after a long layoff that I got with the program!  I think the forest is still closed but there were no signs or barriers so up we went.  During the Las Conchas fire, a bulldozer went up the Quemazon Trail to Pipeline Road, I suppose to put out hot spots because we saw a few, minor burnt areas.

The bulldozer widened the trail, churned up the dust and tuff and tore out some aspens and ponderosas that had grown since the Cerro Grande fire.  Volunteers already had a work party Monday to close off a side road the bulldozer made.   The trail has new water bars to keep it from becoming a water course but the trail will definitely need more TLC.

The turn off to the trail to Cave of the Winds was obliterated by thick ponderosa logs tossed across the entrance.  We didn't see the trail on the way up but on the way down, one hiker spotted it.  We hastily rebuilt the cairns that mark where to turn off because the bulldozer tore them out. 

We could see clear views of the damage on the eastern side of Pajarito Ski Area - there's an area of  toasted trees in the area of Evershine ski run.  We couldn't see a complete view of Rim Run and Camp May but could see a blackened area, probably above Camp May.  The new snowshoe trail along Cañada Bonita Canyon is blackened.  Los Alamos Canyon, Cañada Bonita Canyon and Quemazon Canyon each had some blackened trees in their upper reaches.

Saw some purple gayfeather along the Quemazon Trail.

Camp May Road Now Open

I don't know when Camp May Road opened but it was open today when I walked the first two miles up it.  A LANL guard said you could go drive up to the ski hill.  It's logical to open it now because how else will volunteers be able to rehabilitate the ski hill.  I'm glad it's open!

Nasty Thunderstorm But Good Rain

I was driving away from the senior center parking lot this afternoon when I spotted a handsome young man and took him home with me (after checking with his Dad first!) - our grandson!  It was a happy coincidence for me that I was there as he was walking to his Dad's office from the AC.  He was carrying a bag of popped microwave popcorn to share with his Dad - sweet! 

At our house, I brought out the licorice vines and Tootsie Roll Pops that his aunt had bought for him and he enjoyed those along with some milk and a cantaloupe wedge. 

First thing he asked when he walked in was where was the Grand Canyon jigsaw puzzle he had bought me!  I assured him I still had it (I do) but had put it away in the closet.  It's a 500 piece puzzle that he and his aunt started during his visit but I have no desire to complete it!  I offered to pay him for it and then donate it to the senior center where people like to do jigsaw puzzles but he refused.

He said his Dad brought him an X Box 360, whatever that is!  He was regaling me by naming all the different Pokemons.  There are quite a few and some of them can make eggs or some such.  I can't say that I really understand that yet!

I hiked the Hike of Death (so named by my sister during a hot hike on it), the White Rock Canyon Rim Trail this afternoon.   I went from the Blue Dot trailhead to Sherwood and back whilst beset by rain (unfurled my bumbershoot) and thunder and lightning for the first two miles.  I screamed out loud during some of the thunder.  It was dumb of me to walk in that but I kept thinking I was going to walk from underneath it but it must have been going my way.

The mud got really thick on my shoes.  I saw a coyote and shook my bumbershoot at it so it would keep moving - it did.  The Rio looked beautiful in the rain!

Becoming a Regular Scofflaw

Today, I walked yet again up the first two miles of Camp May Road.  Once again, I saw a single doe just east of FR2998.  Could be the same one.  I thought I heard her give a bark when she saw me but saw no other deer. On the way down the major curve below the Ocean, I saw a bigger doe who wasted no time in bounding away!

From Camp May Road, Quemazon Trail and Pipeline Road appear unburnt.  I'll be glad when the forest trails reopen but so far this fickle monsoon only teases with a few drops of rain.

Looking into Los Alamos Canyon, I'm not seeing the burnt areas.  Perhaps the 2,100 acres of the LA Canyon watershed that burnt in the Las Conchas fire are much further up and probably encompass the burned areas on Pajarito Mountain and the Cañada Bonita area.

Pajarito Mountain will be organizing work parties to get the mountain ready to reopen. The reseeding and establishing water bars looked most interesting to me.

Took a Chance

Took a chance today and walked 2 miles up Camp May Road starting from West Jemez Road.  Camp May Road is still closed to vehicles due to the Las Conchas fire but I decided to risk getting yelled at by the police and walk up to the first chain turnout and back down.  It was so pleasant and relaxing to have the road to myself that I wish there were no motor vehicles on Camp May Road all the time!  I did see a green forest service truck going up and it passed me again on its way down but the occupants ignored me and thankfully, no policeman was waiting at the bottom so I was happy!

Right now, of the trails that are open in Los Alamos and White Rock, there are not many steep walks unless I dare go down the Blue Dot or Red Dot trails into White Rock Canyon in the summer heat.  Actually, I wouldn't mind doing that but would prefer to have a hiking partner to notify authorities where my body's located!

I was happy to see a doe in the woods from the road. The Route on the south side of Camp May Road was part of the back burn used to create a fireline to keep the fire out of Los Alamos Canyon.  Time will tell if the big conifers were damaged enough to fall across the Route.  If they do, the Route is history because I won't be able to remove them.  Too bad - having a trail for walkers to use as an alternative to walking up Camp May Road is a good idea since the road has no shoulder to walk on.

I could see that a lot of the young aspen's leaves were sizzled during the burnout but the trunks look unburnt.  Last fall, those young aspens, which had sprung up after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire,  gave such a brilliant display of gold.  It was a joy to see and I told everyone that our aspen display along Camp May Road was going to rival that along Hyde Park Road in the Sangre de Cristos!  I'll have to wait until next year to see how many of the young aspens survived.

On the way down, the sky looked terrifically dark and threatening to the southwest but no thunderstorm happened.  Sure was a short monsoon!

Making the Best

I've been making the best of the trails that are open after the Las Conchas Fire.   It's been very hot except for the last few days (thank you, God!) and the trails that are open are hot, dusty and shadeless.   But I figure it's good heat conditioning for the next time I run a marathon in Death Valley - NOT EVER!!

The monsoon has been happening more reliably in Los Alamos lately.  Not so much at our house since we're further from the mountains but at least it's been cooler inside the past two evenings.  I love the cloud cover!  It's odd, though, that so far there hasn't been much lightning with the rain. But that's good because we don't need another wildfire!

I noticed on Kwage Mesa that the drought has stunted the New Mexico locusts which is welcome.    That's the only good feature but can think of tremendously long list of bad!  No wonder the ancient puebloan Indians moved to the Rio Grande when drought struck the Pajarito Plateau during their time!  Living in the Pacific Northwest is sounding better to me all the time!

This is what's open:  White Rock Canyon Rim Trail, Bayo Canyon, Pueblo Canyon, Kwage Mesa, Canyon Rim Trail, Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail, Quemazon Nature Trail, section of North Perimeter Trail from Mitchell trailhead to just north of Quemazon Community, the trails behind the Walkup Center, Tsankawi, Burnt Mesa and Tyuonyi Overlook (the latter 3 in Bandelier National Monument).  It's good that these are open but I viscerally miss hiking Pajarito Mountain!

Stultified

Thoughts I had the whilst walking on Canyon Road one weekend night, listening to South by Southwest's Deep in the West, a magical waltz song, on their Deep in the West CD:  Wouldn't it be lovely to have a man to waltz with under the full moon?  I once was very interested in learning how to dance, both ballroom and folk dance.  I enjoyed the music and movement immensely although I never became an expert.  Somehow, that weekend night, it just seemed like a wonderful idea to waltz under the moonlight.  As it was, just walking while listening to the beautiful music of South by Southwest intoxicated me and, yes, I shamelessly sang along!  Then, to top off all my longing, as I approached home, I saw a man and dog slip across the Main Hill Road to walk the Canyon Rim Trail in the moonlight and I wished so much then that at least if I didn't have a man who would waltz with me in the moonlight that I'd have one who'd walk with me in the moonlight!