Today we didn't really do anything. We puttered around the campsite most of the day. That eventually wore us out, so we took a nap. By mid-afternoon we decided we needed to go somewhere, so we drove about 6 miles up to the end of the highway to the Aspen/Santa Fe Ski basin. Along the way were some excellent views to the south and west including the city of Santa Fe and the Sandia Crest near Albuquerque. We scouted some hiking trails that start at the ski area parking lot that go into the Pecos Wilderness. On the way back down tour campsite we stopped and took a short hike (perhaps 1 mile each way) up Big Tesuque Creek. This slope is filled with "sun-loving" aspens. Aspens are the first tree to return after a major fire, and this grove benefited from a major fire in the 1800s. Eventually the conifers will grow through and shade out the aspens.
Wednesday June 20 Taos
Friends had told us we really needed to visit Taos, so today we drove about 70 miles north up the Rio Grande valley to Taos. The Rio Grande above Espanola and below the Rio Grande gorge offers some very fine Class II-III whitewater. We saw a number of rafts and duckies, a few kayaks, but no open canoes. We explored the BLM camping areas along the river in the Orillo Verde Recreation Area. Originally we had considered camping here instead of Black Canyon, but I'm glad we didn't. The campsites are dusty and hot, with little shade. Black Canyon is much nicer. We had what I will assume to be authentic mexican food at a cantina south of Taos at the village of Rancho de Taos. We ate outdoors in a shaded, walled courtyard. Later we strolled the Taos plaza and the shops for a while. We went to the Taos Pueblo, but it had closed for the day, so we weren't able to get in. Taos was actually a bit of a disappointment. It was crowded and commercialized. The shops we visited were essentially tourist traps. I know there are some excellent outdoors activities in the area. Unfortunately we didn't have time to enjoy them.
Thursday June 21 Nambe Lake, Pecos Wilderness
Today we took a very nice hike in the Pecos Wilderness to Nambe Lake. We started on the Winsor Trail at the Aspen/Santa Fe Ski Basin Parking area at EL 10,400'. The Winsor trail climbed gently about 500' and then dropped about 500' over about 1.6 miles. Then we took the Nambe Lake trail which climbed steeply about 1000' over 1.5 miles to Nambe Lake, EL 11,380'. There were respites from the steep climb at two very lush meadows along the trail. The lake was in a cirque at the base of high rock cliffs. It was very pretty and we had the lake to ourselves. Thunderstorms were threatening, so we ate lunch and began our descent. During the afternoon we had dodged several storms, but our luck ran out. We endured a brief storm that included heavy rain and BB sized hail. We we returned to the trail head, the ski slopes looked as though they had received fresh snow.
Friday June 22 Are You Still Here?
We had originally planned to leave Black Canyon CG this morning. Our site was reserved by other campers for the coming weekend. However, the other campers canceled their reservation, so we decided to stay until at least Sunday, maybe Monday. Really, we will leave then. No fooling. Actually, we have a lot of the Rockies yet to see and need to be moving on. When we leave here we had hoped to camp at the national park campground at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately that campground is booked solid through June and July. Ironically, the North Rim gets only about 10% of the visitors the South Rim gets, but the campground at the South Rim has plenty of vacancies. There are several forest service campgrounds near the North Rim that don't take reservations, so we hope we can get into one of those. If not, there are apparently opportunities for "dispersed camping" throughout Kaibab NF.
We have come back into Santa Fe today to take a walking tour of the historic district and to take care of some business. Roadmaster has shipped out a replacement tow vehicle brake unit, and it is scheduled to be delivered to the New Mexico Public Lands Information Center in Santa Fe between 2:00 and 3:00 pm today. We have our fingers crossed.
Tomorrow we hope to take a bike ride up a service road to Tesuque Peak ~EL 12,000'.
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