Founder’s Favorite
Today I delve a little more deeply into the Santa Fe to Taos Trail. Since Pam Neely, the trail founder, has neatly laid out various itineraries in her guidebook, I have chosen her 12 to 14-mile itinerary. She actually has two of these that vary slightly in both mileage and elevation gain and loss. But one of these two is listed as the “Founder’s Favorite” and that is the one I have focused on.
As Pam lays it out, this is a 10-day trip. It would have 29,000 feet of elevation gain, and about the same in elevation loss. It would cover 129 miles of trail. So the combined up and down is 58,000 ft in that 129 miles. Simple math gives us an average of about 450 feet of elevation gain or loss per mile! That is an 8.5% grade. (The maximum allowed grade on a federal highway is 7%. You know, that road you’re going down, afraid your brakes will catch on fire any minute!) So 8.5% is steep, and that’s the average.
But, as my friend Jenn (trail name: Spiderwoman) once told me, “Not all miles are the same.” Some of this path will be level, and some of it will be a 12% grade or higher. The most elevation gain for a single day on this itinerary is 4,700 on day two. The most elevation loss is 5,300 on day six.
Assuming even modest rainfall and snow cover this year, there should be decent water opportunities almost every day. There is apparently a 10-mile stretch without any water towards the end. But having done stretches on the PCT of over 35 miles without any water, 10 should not be too hard.
I would plan one resupply in the middle, meaning carrying 5 days of food for each half of the trip. The SF2T Thru-Hike Trail Locker is conveniently located about halfway for exactly that purpose. As a member, I have access to that perk for the next year. So why not take advantage of it?
The window of opportunity for hiking the SF2T is late May to late October. Although either extreme might be pushing it. I’m thinking July into September would be the best time for me. I will have to consult Cappuccino to see exactly when she would like to do it.
So, this is going to be a pretty vertical trail as I’ve mentioned before. But I think with enough training, it’s doable even for an old guy like me.
Until next week safe travels and Happy Trails…
It is so obvious you are having so much fun planning this trip. Thanks for taking us along! Pam Neely, the trail founder, is truly a Trail Angel giving you LDH different trails to choose from. Is LDH an acronym you use for long distance hiker? Your planning makes me thinking of my joy in drafting my blogs to get them right. This trail is no child’s play, my friend. But you, of anyone I know, are up for the training and the challenge. Rock on!
You definitely have the planning-fun part right. And, yes, it is similar to crafting anything that you care about. Finding joy in planning a blog post or a thru-hike makes such endeavors that much more worthwhile.
Also, you’re right, Pam is an extraordinary Trail Angel. When I signed up with the SF2T Thru-hike organization, she emailed me inviting questions, and if I was on the trail, to contact her if I needed help, or urgent supplies, etc., and she would try and get them to me or pick me up if I could get to a road. Definitely an offer that is Above And Beyond!
As to LDH, I haven’t heard that acronym used. The term with more cachet is “thru-hiker.” Although I often use long-distance hiker when I am not hiking a trail end to end. Sometime I should probably do a blog on thru-hiker slang.