A nice hike in our own backyard: Pueblo Canyon and up into San Ildefonso slot canyon and cavern. We'll meet at the Los Alamos Coop at 8 a.m. and set out on the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail. Then we'll drop about 500 feet down to the bottom of Pueblo Canyon via the Zipline Trail. After that, we head up a small canyon, which narrows into a slot canyon, with some scrambles over and under big boulders, and ends in a spectacular eroded cavern, 40-50 feet high.
Join us for another hike around Plaza Blanca. This time we'll follow a trail one canyon over, walk through another slot canyon, climb a steep ridge for fabulous views, then descend into another canyon with an arch. We'll scramble up a basalt intrusion, and loop back to the trail. It's about 5 mi roundtrip, with much of it off-trail. There are a few steep hills to climb (about 300 ft up and down), and some spectacular geology to view.
Please join us in exploring a segment of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) north of Abiquiu. The hike will start at a parking area (and shrine!) 4.5 miles north of Echo Ampitheater, and climb ca. 1000 feet over 3.5 miles to the rim of the Mesa de los Viejos. After enjoying lunch, and what will hopefully be a sweeping view of Ghost Ranch and surrounding areas, we'll stroll back to cars. If time is appropriate and hikers are interested, we can go to dinner somewhere on the way back.
Hike length: approx. 7 miles Elevation change: approx. 1000 ft from trailhead
What, another ski trip? Why not - this has been an epic season, and it is not done yet. Purgatory, our destination, has a base of 100 inches (!) and will be operating well into April. Folks with most Pajarito passes have some free days at Purgatory; if you don't have such a pass, please talk to me about using my buddy passes for a discount on this trip. We will leave after work on Thursday, March 28, perhaps at 4 PM, and drive to Durango. Based on the number of participants we will arrange lodging, renting a condo or house if there are enough of us.
This is a second try at organizing a Wolf Creek weekend outing. While the skiing in New Mexico has been great this season, Wolf Creek remains the snow monster of the southern Rockies. Their base has reached a phenomenal 136 inches. I'm interested in organizing a group to rent a house in Pagosa and ski Friday, Saturday, and perhaps part of Sunday. We could drive to Purgatory one of those days if the interest is there. Lift tickets at Wolf Creek are reasonably priced by mainline Colorado standards ($72 for adults, $43 for age 65+).
The tour starts from the west end of the ski area parking lot, follows the nordic tracks past Canada Bonito, and descends into the Valle de los Posos on Pipeline Road. Then we travel West through the Valle de Los Posos and continue to the Jemez Hot Springs, then finally ski out to La Cueva.
This is a roughly 25-mile-long trip. It requires an intermediate level of cross-country ski touring experience, and includes a DIFFICULT or MODERATE (depending on snow cover) one-mile-long descent (with 4 or more downed trees) on a narrow jeep road.
While the skiing in New Mexico has been remarkably good this season, Wolf Creek remains the snow monster of the southern Rockies, with a 75-plus inch base. I'm interested in taking advantage of the February long weekend to organize a group to rent a house in Pagosa and ski Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We could drive to Purgatory one of those days if the interest is there. Lift tickets at Wolf Creek are reasonably priced by mainline Colorado standards ($72 for adults, $43 for age 65+).
Join me for a weekly Tuesday night run up the ski hill. Meet at 5:30 pm at the end of the Pajarito Ski Hill parking lot . Look for my black Elantra. We'll skin/hike up (usually Pussycat) for one run down (or more if folks are up for it!). Bring a headlamp! It's still going to be dark for several weeks, and in the dark we'll stick to groomed runs. If you don't have skins, you can carry your stuff but you will be moving a lot more slowly (bring a backpack to strap your skis/board to) and working a lot harder.
