Starting the snow recreation season in earnest

 We got out a couple of times to really recreate in the snow this week, once to snow show out near Aspen Peak, and once to skin up the hill at the ski area to check out the early season skiing.  Yay winter!

DRZ exploring

 I (Chad) took a ride out on the Caja del Rio on the DRZ, hoping to beat raindrops (maybe snowflakes) that seemed imminent -- good views although a bit chilly!

Snow ho ho

 We went up beyond Valles Caldera onto Forest Road 144 to cut our Christmas tree this year, and managed to pick one of more reasonable size than last year.  It now remains to be seen what the cats think of it.

Snow Abiquiu

 After digging ourselves out of the snow at home, we headed out to Abiquiu for the weekend.  There was a little less snow there, but still enough to necessitate some modifications to the rather ambitious hiking plans...

Short walk out to see snow-covered ruins.

The sculpture garden at the hotel was somewhat buried.

Ghost Ranch was incredibly scenic in the snow (as it is always).

By Day 2, things were starting to melt out.  On a local's recommendation of where to go that might not be too muddy, we headed out to Plaza Blanca to check out the rocks and a small slot canyon.

By the third day, it looked like we could try heading into one of the canyons I had originally wanted to poke around in, so we explored the area around Red Wash.  It is quite remarkable how quickly the snow melts out and things dry up around here.

Someone upstream is missing a toy.

After exploring the drainage, we climbed up a hill to enjoy the view,

though I do need to admit that the last hill we climbed proved to be muddier than some might prefer.

All in all, a great weekend!  We need to explore this area more when the conditions are clear.

Here comes the snow

 We got an unusually large dump of snow to start out the season -- about a foot at the house.  Of course this happened the morning we were going to leave for a weekend away for our anniversary.  We admired the snow, which I introduced the cats to while Chad plowed our and a neighbor's driveway.

Caldera circumnavigation motorcycle ride

 Will and Captain Mike stopped in for a visit; while Mike had to push on in the direction of Alabama, Will and Chad took a ride around the Valles Caldera in the Jemez mountains. 

The route ended up being 170 miles long, and about 60/40 pavement:dirt.

We topped out at 11,000 feet, and hit a little bit of snow and ice along the road up there. One large tree was down across the road, but we were able to ride around it. Mostly, though, the road was in great condition.

Views were excellent, both into the caldera and out towards Abiquiu and Espanola. We picked a good day for the ride, as in dumped snow just a couple days later!

Last trip to the high country for the year?

 I squeezed what is likely the last non-snow-covered hike in the high country for the year while Chad was out riding his motorcycle with Will.  There was only a little bit of snow up at 11,000 feet, but the creeks are definitely starting to freeze, so it won't be long before the ground acquires its winter blanket.

Happy Halloween

 

Early Fall outings

 Early fall is a lovely time around Santa Fe -- things have cooled off a bit from the summer, one doesn't need to dodge monsoon storms, and the snow hasn't yet started in the high country.  Some of the outings we've squeeze in include

An overly hard ride on a suspect trail in the always-gorgeous Valles Caldera, with the added bonus of bugling elk in the distance.

An easy bike trail along the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge

And a hike in the high country to Cave Creek while the aspens were yellow

If you are trying to pick a time to come visit, consider early fall!  This year Chad's dad did just that.