Exeunt

  • NNML day 25, July 12, Sunday
  • Start S8 mile 70.1, near junction of Skyline and Winsor
  • End S8 mile 75.4, trailhead near Aspen Basin, and then ride home
  • Miles walked: 5.3

Winsor passes by a meadow, a popular camping spot.

Winsor has tons of hikers, as a convenient entry into the Pecos Wilderness from Santa Fe. Exposed roots are sometimes one side-effect of a heavily traveled trail.

Stepping stones across Rio Nambe are still in place, from an NMVFO project several years ago.

After passing dozens of hikers, I get to the wilderness boundary, and start the descent towards the Santa Fe ski area.

I stop at a picnic table by the Winsor trailhead, and work on equipment until my ride arrives. I fondly remember this table, the site of a crosscut saw class a few years ago.

I have less than one day of hiking to get to Santa Fe plaza and complete this route. The Blue Bus stops at Aspen Basin, so it will be easy to get back here. I will return, eventually, later this year.

Finished audiobook Ministry of Disturbance, by H Beam Piper.

Skyline

  • NNML day 24, July 11, Saturday
  • Start S8 mile 46.7, creek near Truchas Lake
  • End S8 mile 70.1, near junction of Skyline and Winsor
  • Miles walked: 23.4

The route continues on Skyline to Truchas Lake and Truchas Peaks.

Soon we get to Trailriders Wall, a high ridge with good views on both sides.

Bighorn sheep are resting just down from the ridge, not bothered by my presence. In this photo you can just see the horns.

Soon I get to Pecos Baldy Lake.

The Jaroso Fire 2013 burn scar is mostly clear of blowdowns.

Our route diverts from Skyline to Jacks Creek/Dockweiler/Cave Creek Trail, at a considerable loss of elevation which will need to be regained. My databook says we are leaving Skyline because of heavy damage from the 2013 fire along Rito Perro. That was over 10 years ago, and surely crews have worked on Skyline since then. I will need to investigate, on a later trip.

I am gratified to see that the stepping stones I helped place across Cave Creek years ago on an NMVFO project are still in place.

Cave Creek Trail is now thick with summer growth, especially ferns.

I wrap my injured hand with a bandana, and dip in cold water at each stream crossing, making an effective cold pack to reduce swelling.

Sometimes I find wild raspberries and strawberries, packed with flavor in a tiny package.

The route rejoins Skyline. Stewart Lake and a nearby pond provide a welcome break for a snack.

Spirit Lake is dark with tanins.

Near another intersection with Skyline and Winsor, near Puerto Nambe, I get cell signal, and brief my support staff, Cairn and Dotter, about my injury. They are both medical professionals, and let me know that my hike is over– I need to get to a doctor ASAP to prevent permanent loss of function in my hand. Today my entire hand is swelling, and my ring cannot be removed, and is getting uncomfortable.

Tomorrow Cairn will pick me up.

Finished audiobook Project Mastodon, by Clifford Simak. (Time travel on a shoestring– what could go wrong?)

Divide

  • NNML day 23, July 10, Friday
  • Start S8 mile 25.6, meadow along Agua Piedra Trail #19A
  • End S8 mile 46.7 creek near Truchas Lake
  • Miles walked: 21.1

I climb Agua Piedra Trail along a firebreak or old road, with open space along the forest edge.

The route joins the Divide Trail, and follows along the edge of a firebreak or blowdown event, with a huge number of uprooted trees.

Now I get above treeline, having climbed from 8.5k to 12.5k elevation, and prepare to hike 12 miles on exposed ridges in good weather, on faint or disappearing tread following cairns. The tread is often scattered rock at odd angles, difficult footing, hard to hike at a reasonable speed.

Views are magnificent along the Santa Barbara Divide, on the border between the Carson National Forest and the Santa Fe National Forest.

After a few miles, rocks seem gathered into channels. Is this glacial action, topsoil gradually accumulating over a rocky base, or something else?

More images.

Late in the afternoon I trip on the scattered rocks I have been coping with all day, and fall hard— harder than I ever remember on a long hike, and hit my knee, hand, and chest, and I need to take a few moments to calm down and recover.

Is my finger supposed to bend like this?

My little finger of my dominant hand is dislocated, my first dislocation ever. I try a few times to pull and reset it, and eventually feel a little “pop”, and it looks a bit straighter, but still not normal. It starts swelling. I may need medical attention, but am several days from a trailhead, or even cell phone service.

Well, hike on, then.

Here is the rocky area I was dealing with just before the fall.

Views continue to be sublime.

I look down on an elk herd.

My route joins the Skyline Trail #251.

Finally I get to trees and a water source, a small creek just before Truchas Lake, and set up camp for a well-deserved rest.

Finished audiobook Men Without Women, by Ernest Hemingway.