SF2T- Day 1
I flew into Albuquerque yesterday afternoon, and Cappuccino picked me up at the airport. We did some errands and ended up having dinner with Cappuccino’s husband, Scott, and her son, Jake. Then we returned in for an early start this morning.
Up at 4:30 a.m. and over to Starbucks at 5 when they opened. Grabbed breakfast and then headed up to Santa Fe. We had arranged parking through the Santa Fe to Taos Trail organization and pulled into our parking spot about 6 a.m. From there it was almost a 2-mile walk down to the old Santa Fe Plaza where the trail begins. After a couple of pictures for Start of Trail, we left the plaza at 6:40 a.m. and started our journey.
We walked over to the Santa Fe River and started walking upstream for a couple of miles. Ultimately, we left the river as it went from flowing river to creek and eventually brook. Then we followed the dry tributary, Arroyo Polay, through the scrub desert hills east of the city. We joined the Dale Ball mountain bike trails, the so-called Dog Run trails, and spent the rest of the day ascending those.
Eventually, we left the desert scrub behind and even joined a stream that was flowing once again. During the late morning and early afternoon, the clouds had been building. We took a wrong turn and ended up on top of a ridge as it started to rain and the first rumbles of thunder were heard. We discovered our mistake and turned back off the ridge, much to our relief. We got back to the correct trail and it headed even lower as the rain came down and the thunder claps increased. The lightning stayed east of us on the other side of the ridge and eventually moved on as did the rain.
After walking nearly 17 miles today, we stopped in a ponderosa pine forest at 8000 feet and set up our hammocks about 3 p.m. Then it was dinner and retiring to our hammocks for the night.
17 miles! You two are rock stars. Getting lost? How did you realize you were on the wrong trail? We hike where there are blazes. When we haven’t seen one for the expected distance between, we pause and retreat. Love your pictures from the airplane. You a window seat guy? I always get us aisle seats across from each other. Pit stops and strolls up and down the aisle are easier with aisle seats. Glad to hear the lightning kept its distance.
Ah yes, “getting lost”. I like to think of it as “bonus miles”😀 When we got to the top of the ridge and heard the first clap of thunder, we were suddenly very interested in how long we would be exposed up on the ridge. I checked the map on my phone and realize we were on the wrong trail and had been for about half a mile. We were only too happy to retreat off the high spot down to the last trail junction. The storm picked up steam, but the fireworks (aka lightning) stayed east of us by some miles and we just got rain out of it. At the junction we found the somewhat hidden trail we should have taken and it led us down a little farther to a narrow oak and pine filled valley we followed for a couple miles. And, yes I like a window seat. A wing in the foreground always gives you perspective.
Bonus miles! I like that. We got lost-ish looking for the Grand Falls in West Forks, Maine after driving in 14 miles on a logging road yesterday. We think of such detours as “getting extra steps.”
“…driving in 14 miles on a logging road!!!!” That sounds harrowing!