Past Trips

While we wait for snow, I'd like to try a trip that is completely exploratory. I've found no mention of the area in any hiking guide. The area in question is the badland country east of State highway 68 that is visible on the drive from Espanola to Velarde, the little settlement just before one enters the Rio Grande gorge. This country shows up on contour maps as heavily corrugated and complex.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Start Time:6:00 pm

End Time:8:00 pm

As in our past Moab outings, we will establish a base in a large, comfortable house in Moab, and from there mountain bike, hike, and scramble in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks and the wild country immediately around Moab like Behind the Rocks. Some of our most rugged adventures took us no more than two miles from home, yet  we were deep in the wilderness. A report of  the 2010 trip can be found here.

Cerro Pedernal is the square peak that Georgia O' Keefe used in her pictures. The view is amazing with the Jemez in one direction, Abiquiu Lake and the high desert in another. This hike has a short rock scrambling right near the top. If you skip the last scramble it's still a good hike   - just not the same view.

Meet at Sullivan Field at 9 am. we'll carpool the hour and 1/2 to Pedernal trailhead. If we have high clearance vehicles the hike can be shortened by 1-2 miles.

Join us for a hike up the Sandia Mountains via the La Luz trail.  We will hike up and take the Tram down.   11 miles, 4,000 ft elevation gain.  We will leave Los Alamos at 6:30 am on Saturday November 3rd.  Begin hiking about 8:30 am.  The trail goes south from the Tram for about 2 miles, then turns up on the main La Luz trail for 7 miles to the summit of the Sandias.  Then another 2 miles along the Crest to the Tram.  The cost of the Tram is $12 one way.  The hike will take about 5 hours, and so we will be back to LA about 5-6 pm.

World champion big mountain steep skier Dean Cummings will be at Pajarito Mountain Lodge, October 28 from 4-6pm.  Dean will be sharing his Steep Life Protocols for smart travel in avalanche-prone backcountry terrain. Afterward, Dean will be available for poster signings in an informal meet and greet atmosphere (snacks provided). Learn the methodology and protocols that have been developed by Dean in his 20 years of guiding in Valdez, AK and be inspired by epic first descents.  

While the lovely autumn is still upon us, I'd like to do some more exploring in the Abiquiu / Ghost Ranch area. Our objective will be the red rock country of Ghost Ranch, concentrating on the southeasternmost corner of the cliffs and mesas, away from Ghost Ranch headquarters. We will check in at headquarters, then park at the rest area along highway 84 and head into the cliffs for a few hours of free-form exploring. I'll carry a rope to assist any low-angle scrambling that might arise, but we will not be doing any high angle technical stuff.

bla blabl a

Llama trip to Scorpion Gulch, Escalante, Utah, October 6-14, 2012



We've done many adventures in the canyon country, and they are by and large wonderful.

It's time to plan the next one. Our objective is Scorpion Gulch in the Grand Staircase/

Escalante National Monument. It is reached from the Early Week Bench trailhead, off

the Hole in the Rock Road, south of Harris Wash and north of Coyote Gulch. I'm looking

forward to exploring a piece of the Escalante that we've never seen before, despite

Objective Oriented.