Hike Log

This weekend I'm testing out my new hiking mode of a restrained pace and making sure that I have plenty of water, food, and rest during the hike. I went with Wild Bill and we're doing one of our favorite hikes that takes us on a loop through three different trails with us leaving cars at our starting and ending point. Total miles are a bit over 9 with climb from lowest point to highest point of 2,000 feet.

The Start

Here we are at the beginning of the trail head. Our destination is the second peak back on the right but the first leg of the trail is actually going to go up the peak on the left.
First leg - 2 miles, 1,000 feet

Leg one is done.
Now we descend for a little into the valley in the foreground.
Then it's up the peak on the right.
Another 2 miles and another 2,000 feet (not counting regaining the climb from the descent into the valley)

I don't know if this picture shows it well but we ran into around three brooks.
That may not sound like much but around here running water is rare.
We've had a very wet winter and spring.

We've also had a lot of wind which is causing all kinds of tree falls.
This big ass tree was right over the path.
Fortunately Wild Bill, who doubles as Hercules for his night job, was able to push it out of the way.

This is the part of the trunk that was still in the ground.

Halfway

Now we're just about halfway, actually a little less, and these are three shots looking north, east and south respectively.
The next leg is 1.3 miles of undulating ground with mild drop in height.

A little way from our rest spot is the high point of the hike.
We're looking south.
It was a gorgeous day and we could see 60 miles easily.

We're going north to south and we're finally getting a view of Albuquerque again.

Art Shot
I liked this deadwood.

As we moved into a more desert like areas there were tons of wild flowers.

The Descent

We will be descending from the far left all the way down to the right.
This leg is 3.2 miles and we give back all of our height gain.

Another Art Shot
I'm influenced by Photo-Wife
I was trying to get the wild flowers in the foreground with the panorama of the city in the background.

About two thirds of the way down, this is the last serious descent.

Civilization and our car in sight. 15 minutes to go.

The new methods worked like a charm. I was no where near as tired as I've been the last couple of years and my next day recuperation was light years better. I'm excited. Bill and I have a trail that is a major challenge that we never done in our sights for next month.