After a huge start, things are not looking great for the New Mexico ski season. There is a classic solution to this problem - head north! I would like to propose a long weekend trip, staying in Pagosa Springs, and spending our days in winter sports - skiing at Wolf Creek, or cross-country skiing and snowshoeing wherever there is snow to be found. Wolf Creek currently has a 40" base, which is good enough for me. Although the January 6 storm was a disappointment, there is still hope - a Pagosa contact said on Jan 7 "We were there last Sat and there was still 2-4” powder in the trees.
It looks like Pajarito ski area got a thin layer of new snow this week. From the town I can see the band of the slope covered in snow as I usually snowshoe up this way from near Townsite.
Please join me in snowshoeing to the blue bench Saturday morning. We will attempt to snowshoe the ski runs that are closed as not to interfere with the normal skiers.
Let's take advantage of the continued warm weather with a hike in the arroyo country west of highway 84 as it runs between Espanola to Abiquiu. The destination would be the natural arch called Window Rock. We'll leave Los Alamos at 8:30 AM. Let me (Bill Priedhorsky) know if you are interested. This would be an all-day outing, so bring a lunch, water, and clothes suitable for whatever weather arises. We will carpool as much as possible.
Note the second date change: I have additional travel coming up the third week of November and can't be gone that much. So I was able to change the backcountry site to the night of Dec. 23, and the car camp site to the night of Dec. 20. The two nights in between don't require a reservation.
This year we will start out with a planning session for the field exercise at Mesa Public Library on Thursday Dec. 12th at 17:30. The field session (snow permitting) will occur the following weekend on Sunday the 15th. In the field we will exercise our transceiver, probing and strategic shoveling skills.
UPDATE; Still some snow to play in! Bring your skis, transceiver, and a dish to share. We will have a grill and some brats buns and drinks, and some BC games. Park in Pajarito lot and ski up via camp may road and uphill past the Motherload lift (or walk up camp may road) We will put out signs.
We have many times travelled to Bluff, Utah for a taste of the canyon country. Bluff is less than six hours from Los Alamos and, situated along the San Juan River, at a low altitude best suited for trips late or early in the season. Even at the beginning of December the average daily high is around 50 F. There are numerous places to hike and explore from Bluff, including the ruins and big views of Comb Ridge, the canyons accessible from Cedar Mesa, the canyon rim just north of Bluff itself, and farther afield to places like White Canyon.
This will be a day after Thanksgiving hike in the Ghost Ranch area, exploring the mesas and slick rock in our little northern New Mexico corner of the Colorado Plateau. The weather looks promising - clear and chilly. We will leave Los Alamos at 8:30 AM, and drive to the highway rest stop just before the entrance to Ghost Ranch. We will then hike up the nearby valley, into the mouth of Talus Canyon, then up onto the mesatop to explore the slickrock edges that overlook the views to the west, including the view to Pedernal.
This Sunday, November 24, is the Annual Los Alamos Crop Hunger Walk and Turkey Trot. This event raises funds to support local, national, and international efforts to relieve hunger and to support disaster relief. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of Jeanne Butler, a long time volunteer for the Hunger Walk and L.A. Cares.
Meet at the Los Alamos Middle School Cafeteria at 1:30 to sign up and make a monetary donation, and grab a t-shirt while they last. The run/walk starts at 2 pm - there is a 1.7 mile course and a 2.6 mile course down the mesa and thru the stables.
