In the wake of a successful spring 2020 llama Canyon trip, our fall 2020 trip will try again for the Ladder Canyon area, which was too dry for camping in fall 2019. We have not yet visited Ladder Canyon, which lies beyond the First and Main area and above the Escalante River. First and Main was our fall 2006 and fall 2011 destination.
Join Zack for a quick trip up Cerro Grande to peep the tail end of the fall colors. Let's start at 9am on Saturday, Oct 10, at the Cerro Grande parking lot and hike in a socially-distanced way to the top. It's around 4 miles with a modest elevation gain of 1200 ft. Bring water, sunscreen, and a snack.
Inspired by Coco's presentation, we are going to explore the Sulphur and Alamo Canyon Loop from her book. "A delightful trail passing through varied terrain, from otherworldly sulfur fields to pretty creek-lined meadows to beautiful Valle Seco and Alamo Canyon, and offering great views of several valleys and peaks". --excerpt from the book.
This is an exploratory hike which means we may encounter route finding issues and downfalls. Bring GPS if you have experience using it.
Mileage will be 12-13 miles with ~1800 feet elevation gain.
I'd like to organize a group for the Via Ferrata at Taos Ski Valley. The Via is accessible only to guided groups, with a maximum of 4 participants. It should be a lovely and challenging adventure - see https://www.skitaos.com/via-ferrata. We have two participants so far, so with a 3rd, the cost for the all-day outing will be $217 per person, and will drop to $187 if there are 4 of us. We will start at Taos Ski Valley, about 2 hours from Los Alamos, at 8:45 AM. Contact Bill to join in.
It looks like Saturday should be a fine autumn day, with the current storm behind us, so let's try a local classic. Pedernal is a landmark visible throughout northern New Mexico, standing as a sentinel at the northern end of the Jemez Mountains. It was Georgia O'Keefe's mountain, painted by her time after time. Its summit is a classic destination; views from its 9,862-foot narrow top are spectacular. It is one of our Peak Challenge summits. Reaching Pedernal takes a two-hour drive from Los Alamos, and a hike of about 8 miles round trip, parking just off the main Forest Service road.
Lake Fork Peak is on the west side of the cirque that includes Wheeler Peak, and circles Williams Lake above Taos Ski Valley. At 12,881 feet, it is less than 300 feet below the elevation of New Mexico's high point. To explore this summit in the easiest way possible, we will take the summer lift in Taos Ski Valley (lift #4), and start our hike from there. From there, we will hike to Kachina Peak (a sturdy climb of 1000 feet in itself), and traverse along the ridge line to Lake Fork Peak. We will then retrace our steps and ride the lift back down to the base.
I’d like to propose a day outing from Santa Barbara Campground, following the West Fork of Santa Barbara River, to the Santa Barbara meadows with views of the Truchas Peaks beyond. This is a hike of 5 miles each way, with a climb of about 1000 feet. It is along a trail all of the way. It should take us about 90 minutes from Los Alamos to the trailhead. Let’s leave Los Alamos at 8:00 AM next Saturday morning, and return in the afternoon or evening.
published by Norbert Ensslin on Fri, 2020-06-26 13:57
Leader:
Norbert Ensslin
Telephone:
505-662-1408
Date:
Fri, 2020-08-07
Leader Email:
Norbert.ensslin@gmail.com
Difficulty:
Moderate
Technicality:
Intermediate
Are dogs allowed?:
Not allowed
This trip is a short backpack to climb Half Peak over the August 7-9 weekend. Half Peak is a high Thirteener located in the San Juan mountains near Lake City, and is one of the top 100 peaks in Colorado. Most of the route is on trails or grassy slopes. However, the flat summit plateau has cliffs on three sides, and is accessed by scrambling along a narrow Class 2 ridge, with some exposure, on the South side.
One of the classic river runs in North America is the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, running through the River of No Return wilderness. We had a wonderful trip down the Middle Fork in July 2016, hosted by Terry Morgan and Lorrie Bonds Lopez, and catered by Hughes River Expeditions of Stanley, Idaho. Between the rafting and kayaking, fly fishing for trout, the semi-desert scenery, and fabulous food, it was a trip to remember. It is time to organize our return trip.
