Leader and Author:
Dennis Brandt
Participants: Kathleen Gruetzmacher,
Karen Grace, Dennis Brandt, and Jan
Studebaker
Dennis' Slideshow:
click
here.
Jan's Slideshow:
click
here. Map:
click
here.
On August 1st
Karen, Kathleen, Jan, and Dennis climbed Caballo Mountain on a
combined mountain biking/hiking trip. Early
August proved to be a wonderful time of the year for this outing.
Due to recent rains the high meadows had an exceptional number of
blooming flowers, and chanterelle mushrooms were growing on rocky
north-facing slopes.
Kathleen, Dennis, Karen, and Jan.
We started at
8:00 a.m., riding our bikes about 4 miles to a point above the Guaje
Canyon overlook (via the Canada Bonita trail), where the views were great. We left our bikes near
the overlook and traveled on foot to the bottom of Guaje Canyon
(down 900 ft.) and then to the top of Caballo Mt. (up 1800 ft.).
After having lunch under somewhat ominous skies; amid a profusion of
colorful wildflowers and beautiful vistas, we returned to the bikes
and rode back to Pajarito Mountain, getting back to our cars and
some well-earned cold beverages at about 5:00 p.m.
Pajarito Ski Area as seen from
Caballo Mountain.
The Sandia Mountains can be seen in the left background.
Trail conditions
were good all the way to the top of Caballo Mountain, thanks to
excellent Forest Service maintenance. However, there was some
erosion on the steeper trail sections, due to recent heavy
rainstorms. Riding to the Guaje overlook was fun and exciting with
our intermediate cycling skills - providing just the right number of
obstacles to keep our attention. There was evidence of bears
recently turning over some pretty big rocks along the trailside to
get to the insects underneath.
Caballo high meadow
flora.
The trip was
strenuous and satisfying – and we were quite grateful that we didn’t
have to contend with any rain that day. This is a beautiful trip
and I recommend it highly.
