July 5, 2009,
Hopewell Lake Mountain Bike Ride
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Chris Nelson,
cmnpotter@hotmail.com
(B-I/M-S)
Chris Nelson of the Tuff Riders will lead a mountain bike
ride to the
Hopewell Lake area on Sunday 7/5/09. It's beautiful high mountain
meadows north of the lake and intersects the Continental Divide Trail. The
ride is about 15 miles long. It's mostly along an old dirt road with some
single track. Technical skills are at an advance beginner to intermediate
level. Meet at Sullivan Field 7:45 a.m. Sunday. It's a two hour ride
to the trail head; we will carpool, then consider dinner in Espanola if desired.
Be prepared to stay out all day to late afternoon. Bring lunch, snacks,
water, helmet, and be prepared for rain.
July 26,
2009, Los Griegos Peak Hike and Potluck
Trip Menu | Search
Leader:
Jan Studebaker,
jstudebaker@gmail.com, 575-829-3521.
Map: click
here.
(B/M)
Join Jan on a great hike up Los Griegos in the Jemez
Mountains. Los Griegos is close to Sierra de Los Pinos and Jan's home;
we will have a potluck and possibly a hot tub
after the hike at Jan's place. We will meet at 9:00 AM on
Sunday,
July 26th, at the trailhead located on NM4 in a
pull-out/parking area on the south side of the road at about Mile Marker
35. It is about a 9 mile
round trip hike, with about 1800' of vertical. Bring water, rain jacket,
sweater, and a snack
for the hike, as well as something to share for the potluck. Jan
will provide green chile chicken stew with potatoes; we could use
drinks, deserts, bread, and appetizers. A change of clothes and
shoes, plus a bathing suit may be in order as well.
Please email me if you wish to join the fun.
Los Alamos participants can
arrange carpools by meeting at the
Wellness Center's west parking lot at 8:25 AM on Sunday; Kathleen
Gruetzmacher
will coordinate.
August 14-16, 2009, Fourmile Lakes Backpack near Pagosa Springs, CO
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: David Hand,
davehand66@gmail.com,
Map: click
here.
(B/M-S)
Join David Hand for a three day two night backpack trip
to the Fourmile Lakes near Pagosa Springs, Colorado on August 14 -16.
A popular fishing destination with a 5 mile hike in, starting at the
9,200' trailhead and ending at the lake at 11.200'. Listed as a
moderate difficulty but with backpacks and 2000' elevation gain may
prove to be more strenuous. The trail passes several thunderous
waterfalls and offers dramatic scenery along the way, traversing below
volcanic cliffs. After 4 miles we will climb 400' more to Fourmile
Lake and camp in the meadow before the lake (camping is prohibited
within 100 yds of the lake). Saturday we will probably split into
two groups: those who choose to fish the upper and lower Fourmile Lakes,
and those who choose to join Melanee Hand to hike up Pagosa Peak and the
rim above the lakes. We will meet Friday at 7am in Sullivan Field
parking lot to carpool and caravan up. Contact David if you are
interested in joining us. Meals, gear, and carpooling will be
planned and arranged later.
August
23-29, 2009, Glacier National Park Backpack
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Ellen
Kress, ellenrk03@hotmail.com,
(406) 539-7130
Slideshow:
click
here. Map: click
here.
(I/S)
Join Ellen Kress for a 6 day, 5 night backpacking trip in
the backpacker's paradise of Glacier National Park, Montana. This is a
50 mile loop in the northern part of the park that includes several
passes, part of the Continental Divide Trail, multiple lakes, incredible
scenery, and possible wildlife. The first two days are about 10 miles
per day, the third day is a rest day, and the last three days are about
10 miles per day. We will meet the evening of August 23rd at the St.
Mary campground, or you can arrange to meet me earlier in Bozeman and
carpool to Glacier. On August 24th we will take the shuttle bus to
the trailhead near Many Glacier and start hiking. On August 29th
we will emerge at the same trailhead and take the shuttle bus back to
the campground. Staying at the Many Glacier campground that
evening is optional. A $30 per person deposit will hold your spot
on the trip and pay the backcountry camping fee.
September 4-7, 2009, Cruces Basin Wilderness (Labor Day) Backpack
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Jan Studebaker,
jstudebaker@gmail.com
Map with points of interest:
click
here (play
with the options). Google
Earth: click
here.
Cruces Basin Wilderness
description click
here.
(I/M)
I've been planning to do a backpack trip to Cruces Basin
Wilderness for several years, but the right time never seamed to arrive.
In the meantime I have talked to friends about the area, but few had even heard
of it, and no one had done more than a day hike or a
look into the basin from the dirt access road at 10,000' that
overlooks it. It's finally time to explore this beautiful and unique area
on the New Mexico/Colorado boarder near San Antonio Mountain. Expect to
see spectacular Fall colors and hear the bugles of elk.
The Cruces Basin is a NM Wilderness area that has no maintained
trails or signage, it's difficult to navigate unless you stay in the canyons
which generally have crystal clear creeks to lead the way (with wild brook
trout), and it is 25 miles on a dirt road from the highway (US 285).
Since this is an exploratory trip, I will not predetermine our
day hikes from camp, but I will offer a few suggestions for approval of the
group. On the first day I expect to drive to the trailhead, backpack in
2-3 miles (~500' vertical), and setup camp near the confluence of three primary
streams that eventually flow into the
Rio de Los Pinos in the bottom of Toltec Gorge. Perhaps one day hike
will take us to Rio de Los Pinos through Lower Beaver Canyon. Another full
day of exploring could take us up one of the streams near camp; Cruces Creek is
known to be very beautiful, where we could probably top out on Toltec Mesa for a
view. The final and fourth day would be used to backpack out and drive
home.
We will be sleeping at around 9000' in September, so a tent and
three season sleeping bag are in order. We will also need a change of
shoes and socks as we will almost certainly have to do some stream crossings.
This is generally considered the best time of year to visit the Cruces Basin.
September 12, 2009, Sandia Peak La Luz to Tramway Loop
Hike
Trip Menu | Search
Leader:
Melanee (Shurter) Hand, m_maree@msn.com,
505-490-1960
(B-I/M-S)
Join Melanee Hand for a challenging day hike up the La
Luz Trail, then ride the famous Sandia Tramway back down from Sandia
Crest. Scheduled in September to take advantage of cooler
temperatures and some fall color, this trip is located in the Sandia
Mountains east of Albuquerque. The terrain changes from desert
with granite rock boulders to aspen and conifer forest at the top.
There are several dinner options available that will be arranged between
the participants on this trip. You may re-convene with your car pool, or
end the trip here for a longer stay in Albuquerque on your own.
The combination of the La Luz Trail and
the Sandia Peak Tramway is a strenuous 10.3 mile hike with an elevation
gain of 3900 feet. The La Luz trail climbs from 3,700 ft starting
elevation from the base of the mountain to a final elevation of 10,300
at Sandia Peak. We will begin the hike at the Tramway parking lot,
and take the Sandia Tram back to our cars in about 15 minutes for a cost
of $17.50 per adult when we reach the top of Sandia Crest. The tram runs
from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. after Labor Day. Nominal parking fees are
required to park near the tramway base. No pets or bikes will be
allowed on this trip because of the restrictions for the tram.
Bring plenty of water and other
hydration, sunscreen, food including some that's a little salty, some
clothing layers for possible temperature and weather fluctuations, good
hiking shoes, and hiking poles. We will leave promptly at 7:30
a.m. at the "Y" intersection parking lot so we can beat some of the heat
on the lower part of the trail. Contact Melanee to sign up and
coordinate car pools. Advance notice required - you will need to
have an up-to-date LAM waiver to attend this trip.
October
8-13, 2009, Lower Sand Creek, Llama drop camp
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Bill Priedhorsky,
bill@priedhorsky.net
(B-I/M)
We'll make a camp near the confluence of Sand Creek and the
Escalante River, which is a wild rugged place offering the steep river canyon, a
clear spring in lower Sand Creek with miles upstream to explore, and a maze of
slickrock on the flats north of the river. Because we have a week-long trip
planned for early November, this trip will be short enough to require just two
days of vacation ("A" schedule), since Oct. 12 is a Federal holiday. A short
hike - 3 miles - will take us to our camp, and unlike other options like Harris
Wash, the trailhead can be reached just 30 minutes from Boulder. Like many of
our explorations, this trip falls within the Grand Staircase- Escalante National
Monument.
We've passed through this country
a few times, for example on the hike back to civilization on our Willow
Patch trip of fall 2004, but have not spent significant time there for
many years. My son Reid passed through in spring 2005, during a buggy
wet spring; click
here; a cool autumn trip will be much more pleasant than Reid's
passage through record floods.
This trip will be a llama drop camp:
llamas will carry our gear into a base camp, and come to haul out our
gear when we are done. This typically gives us about 70 pounds of
cargo per person, allowing for the comforts of chairs, tables, Coleman
stoves, and a wine cellar. We'll engage the services of Red Rock
'n Llamas for the hauling. The price for the llamas is typically in the
low $200 range per person. We'll explore out from the base camp
every day in day hikes. Bevin, our llama lady, says she knows some
fine campsites in the Escalante-Sand Creek vicinity.
So as not to consume all of your
vacation, this trip will be somewhat rushed. However, folks who
don't worry about vacation days might want to organize a more leisurely
drive out. Here's my proposed agenda:
-
3 PM Wednesday, October 7: Leave Los
Alamos, drive to Bluff, Utah, staying in the Recapture lodge
overnight, with dinner in Farmington.
-
Thursday, October 8: After a short
night. leave Bluff in time to catch the 10 AM Hall's Creek ferry,
which gets us to the trailhead about 12:30PM for a 3-mile hike down
the Bowington Road to our campsite.
-
We will then spend five nights in
camp, giving us four full days for day hiking. On our last
evening, the packers will hike in to join us so we can leave camp
early on the morning of Tuesday, October 13. We'll then drive
directly back to Los Alamos, arriving sometime that evening -not
promising an early arrival, I'm afraid.
Folks who can afford a more relaxed
schedule might want to leave for Bluff on the morning of October 7.
As usual, we will carpool to minimize driving costs.
We'd love to have you - please e-mail
your interest, and send your deposit ($100 per person), in person or
mailed to me at 380 Rim Road, Los Alamos 87544. Maximum trip size
if we go with llamas will be about 10 participants.
November 7-15, 2009,
Moab Bike/Hike 2
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Bill Priedhorsky,
bill@priedhorsky.net
Photos from last years trip: click
here.
(B-I/M)
To start planning our second canyon adventure for this fall, we
would like to follow up on a very successful trip last November. We
established a base in a large, comfortable house in Moab, and from there
mountain biked, hiked, and scrambled in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
and the wild country immediately around Moab. Some of our most rugged
adventures took us no more than two miles from our base, yet we were deep in the
wilderness. The photos above of the fall 2008 outing were contributed by
Dennis Brandt, Ross Lemons, and Momo Vuyisich.
One of the wildest outings was our traverse of the Fiery
Furnace, which is an intricate maze of fins and slot canyons. The
complexity of this terrain is obvious in aerial photos such as these:
aerial
1 and
aerial 2.
The activity level will be moderately
strenuous and includes optional semi- technical activities, up to
low-angle rope work, but there will be less strenuous and non-technical
options also.
Participants thought that the last trip
was so outstanding that five us contributed to hold the north half of
the house from Saturday, Nov. 7 through Sunday, Nov. 15. This is a
"B" week (trade your Friday?) with a holiday on Wednesday the 11th.
The 5 charter members fill up the four bedrooms and one quasi-bedroom,
but we are nowhere near full. Additional room is available (cheap)
on couches and floors. We packed in nine without significant
discomfort last time, and costs ranged from $40 to $15 per person per
night, based on the quality of sleeping arrangement. If we have
enough participants, we can expand into the south half of the house.
Besides our five charter members, we have at least one more would-be
participant who is ready to share in a reservation of the south half.
The lodging is called the
Moab Retreat House.
The south half of the house is all that is described on the web page
listed above. Its floor plan is the same as the north half.
although it has more beds. Besides the daytime adventuring, we
will socialize in the evening with dinners together, either potluck or
hitting the town. We will carpool to Moab to minimize driving
expenses and not overstrain the parking.
Please let me know if you are interested
in this outing. It might be possible for some participants to take
part in a half-week trip, from the 7th to the 11th or the 11th to the
15th, trading out midway. Once I understand your interest, I'll
collect a deposit, in the range $50 to $100 per person, to hold our spot
with the landlady.
Note that Moab is about 3 1/2 hours from
Salt Lake, making this a reasonably accessible canyon outing for folks
who want to fly in. The drive from Los Alamos is about 6 1/2
hours.
March 11-14, 2010, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Bill Priedhorsky,
bill@priedhorsky.net
(B-I/M)
Instead of doing a Bluff trip once again next year, let's
try something different and explore the Canyons of the Ancients National
Monument, west of Cortez. I am seeking commitments to make a
deposit at the Kelly Place B&B, which is uniquely located along McElmo
Creek in the heart of this country. We will go a little later in
the year than our previous Bluff trips, in order for the weather to warm
up a bit, and to keep a good ski weekend open. We will therefore
visit the Canyons of the Ancients from Thursday, March 11 (leaving Los
Alamos after work) through Sunday the 14th ("A" weekend).
Jan, Dennis, and I hiked Sand Canyon
recently. This is one of the monument's premiere hikes, although
there are many other possibilities including wilderness study areas, and
even the Kelly Place backyard. We found the richest collection of
ruins that any of us had ever seen, with something in almost every
south-facing alcove, and a round watch tower overlooking the canyon rim.
Jan's photos can be found
here, and Dennis' are
here.
Our hike possibilities are many. We
can hike Sand Canyon and neighboring Rock Canyon either as a loop, or
one way shuttling from Sand Canyon Pueblo at the north end. We can
start hiking from Kelly Place and head north into the monument. We
can hike the wilderness canyons in the monument, including
Cross Canyon and Cahone Canyon. Or we can arrange a guided
tour into the
Ute
Tribal Park country. Bottom line: a very rich set of
opportunities in exciting new country, most of them non-technical and of
moderate difficulty.
Starting Thursday March 11, we will spend
3 nights at the
Kelly Place B&B. This is an "A" weekend, so no vacation is
needed for those on that schedule. Kelly Place advertises
themselves as a both a B&B and an archeological preserve. We have
not yet negotiated a group price; their non-group rates for a shared
room and breakfast are $50-75 per person per night. Once we
assemble our party, I will negotiate a group rate to include dinner.
Given that we don't particularly want to
camp out in early March, Kelly Place is a unique lodging opportunity.
The other motels in Cortez are large, chain motels aimed at the Mesa
Verde tourist crowd.
In order to pin down our plan, we need a
core of folks committed to the trip (6 to 10), so we can assemble a $300
deposit for the B&B. Please let me know if you are interested, and
willing to put down $50 as a charter member of this adventure. The
2010 spring season is booking up, we need to make a reservation
soon. There is no guarantee
that we will be able to add participants after the initial round, so
please join now if you are interested. I'll call the B&B around
April 10 to make an initial reservation.
November 6-25, 2010, African Safari
Trip Menu | Search
Leader: Dick Opsahl
opsahl@losalamos.com
(B-I/M-S)
Join Dick and Judy Opsahl for their fall 2010 Safari trip
to Botswana, Nambia & Zimbabwe. Nineteen day trip also includes
Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls. This trip is special in that the
trips between the nature parks are by light plane rather than slow bumpy
bus. The limit of 16 travelers and small lodges (just 8-10 rooms)
assures exclusivity. Trip price of $5300 includes airfare from USA (NYC
is cheapest) and most meals. Significant discount is possible with
early payment in full. Respond to Dick or Judy for details.
