Greetings from the southwest!
We've got a pretty good trail network here in town, and I've found some connections which aren't mapped and let me spend a little more of my commute on trail instead of sidewalk. Last night I worked rather late, crossed the road to the trail, and found two mule deer staring me right in the face. I decided to stay on the sidewalk until well away from them! (Sorry, no pictures...camera's still on the moving truck.)
Late this afternoon I drove up to Pajarito Mountain to get the "climb high" part of the acclimatization equation. The clouds were thickening a bit but the worst seemed well to the north (and stayed that way, even with a bit of thunder) as I started up the hiking path on the Aspen ski run. Pretty much what you expect from hiking up a black diamond: steep! My steady pace got a bit too quick and I had to stop halfway up to catch my breath. I startled several birds, not small despite the mountain name, more grouse-sized. No idea what they were. Once I got started again I ran into a few marmots.
There weren't any views of the townsite, but from the top of the lift I had a nice look west. This point is about 100' below the summit, so I took the ski roads just below the ridge to the top of the Mother lift. A hiking path skirts the summit area; I followed it as long as it gained elevation then wandered around the general high point. Then I continued on the path to the barbed wire fence marking the boundary between private land (where the public is welcome) and public land (where it isn't). The trail follows the fence to a nice overlook into Valles Grande and a bench build out of old skis.
I retraced my steps to the top of Mother Lift and went down the Mother slopes back to my car. Although less steep than Aspen, they were still real knee-bangers, and the footing was bad with no established footway. 90 minutes car-to-car, about 1200' vertical and probably just under 2 miles. Another 15 minutes and I was back to my apartment. I suspect this will be a regular one for me. Should be a great sunset hike on clear days.
Let me know if you want more southwest trip reports. I won't post everytime I go into one of the canyons, of course...
We've got a pretty good trail network here in town, and I've found some connections which aren't mapped and let me spend a little more of my commute on trail instead of sidewalk. Last night I worked rather late, crossed the road to the trail, and found two mule deer staring me right in the face. I decided to stay on the sidewalk until well away from them! (Sorry, no pictures...camera's still on the moving truck.)
Late this afternoon I drove up to Pajarito Mountain to get the "climb high" part of the acclimatization equation. The clouds were thickening a bit but the worst seemed well to the north (and stayed that way, even with a bit of thunder) as I started up the hiking path on the Aspen ski run. Pretty much what you expect from hiking up a black diamond: steep! My steady pace got a bit too quick and I had to stop halfway up to catch my breath. I startled several birds, not small despite the mountain name, more grouse-sized. No idea what they were. Once I got started again I ran into a few marmots.
There weren't any views of the townsite, but from the top of the lift I had a nice look west. This point is about 100' below the summit, so I took the ski roads just below the ridge to the top of the Mother lift. A hiking path skirts the summit area; I followed it as long as it gained elevation then wandered around the general high point. Then I continued on the path to the barbed wire fence marking the boundary between private land (where the public is welcome) and public land (where it isn't). The trail follows the fence to a nice overlook into Valles Grande and a bench build out of old skis.
I retraced my steps to the top of Mother Lift and went down the Mother slopes back to my car. Although less steep than Aspen, they were still real knee-bangers, and the footing was bad with no established footway. 90 minutes car-to-car, about 1200' vertical and probably just under 2 miles. Another 15 minutes and I was back to my apartment. I suspect this will be a regular one for me. Should be a great sunset hike on clear days.
Let me know if you want more southwest trip reports. I won't post everytime I go into one of the canyons, of course...
