petroglyphs

Llama hike: Rio Grande Gorge, NM

Published May 17, 2014

May’s been a heavy month of activity – literally every weekend’s booked.

May 3^rd Greenland 25k trail race
May 11^th Maine Coast Marathon
May 18^th Santa Fe Century
May 26^th Bolder Boulder 10k
June 1^st Minneapolis Marathon

Headed down to Santa Fe for my first Century (100 mile ride) – 4^th time on the bike. I go BIG – neighborhood ride, 12 miles, 52 miles, & now a Century. Finally getting serious with Ironman training. Just need to find more hours in my day.

6 hour drive to Santa Fe – long time in a car unless…you ride share (thanks Ash & Tom) AND stop for a llama hike in the Rio Grande Gorge (just north of Taos). Yep, I said llamas 🙂

Met up with our guide Stuart of Wild Earth Llama Adventures at a trailhead within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. Stuart introduced us to our llamas – K2, Diego & Rio. I already had laid claim to the white llama. Turns out that was K2 – appropriate (with my passion for high peaks) 🙂

Ash, Tom & I trekked down the mountain path with our llamas, switch-back spiraling to the river-filled gorge below. During our trek Stuart not only educated us on everything llama but also everything flora, fauna & fowl within the gorge.

He pointed out stratum layers of the canyon formed from volcano flows past. We picked fresh watercress & lemon herb, and spotted bark erosion from porcupine feedings.

Parked the llamas & kicked back riverside while Stuart set out a big spread for lunch. Life is good.

Took a short hike to view Native American petroglyphs carved hundreds of years ago (no horses – pre-European). Animals & shaman were centrally depicted (one Great Spirit). Absolutely amazing these drawings exist out in the open – having weathered man & elements for almost a thousand years. WOW!

Hiked UP out of the canyon, tipped our guide, then shot down to Santa Fe — dinner at Cowgirl BBQ.

Llama hiking & Santa Fe Saturday nights — highly recommended!

: gettin’ my llama on – LOVED it!

: switch-backing down the canyon

: K2

: Ash & Rio

: river forged rock

: Chillin’ like a Villain on a comfy rock

: watch where you sit – river spiders!

: lunch feast with wild watercress

: Diego rest stop

: check out those feet

: high desert hike

: cactus babies

: sand art — Native American migration

: mule deer & bighorn sheep

: petroglyph tutorial

: Corn Goddess

: you can lead a llama to water… — er, water fountain

: Santa Fe Saturday night

Posted in Pacific/Desert | Tagged hiking, petroglyphs, wildlife | 2 Comments

hike #18: Lake Pueblo State Park (Pueblo CO)

Published May 18, 2012

Strong persuasion/coercion during her UConn graduation was successful; Ashton is here!

Sand, sun & snow – every well-planned trip needs a theme, right?

Tomorrow’s theme ‘sand’ was a ‘road trip’ away from Boulder County so decided to break up our commute with a trip to dusty, wind-swept Pueblo 🙂 ROAD trips can be fun but a 5-hour drive the day after an almost 5-hour cross-country flight – maybe not so much. Decided to use Pueblo as a 2-day base for our South to North – sand to snow Colorado holiday.

Started the day with a drive through Denver (all major roads run thru Denver) and an early lunch break at Rosie’s Diner in Monument. Another hour later we arrived in Pueblo. Saw a ‘Colorado State Parks’ Facebook post a week or so ago detailing the state’s annual fish stocking efforts at Lake Pueblo – and needed a Day One excursion ‘filler’ so… Lake Pueblo State Park here we come.

Lake, desert, cactus – why not? Done; check 🙂

What us snowbirds didn’t count on in southern Colorado was the HEAT. Ro darted from bush to bush to escape the rays, dug a hole/circled thrice & hunkered down — TWICE, found shelter under a rock ledge – my dog was H-O-T hot. Gorgeous cactus flowers and striking geological rock formations highlighted our first hours. But the heat was dragging my party down, we needed WATER.

Not sure where this trail was leading us but I could see water far in the distance – so we dropped off [the trail] & followed a river gulch through sage and rock to its conclusion – Lake Pueblo, which was no mirage 🙂

A dip, some rest, a bean burrito, and the day looked 500% better. Followed the lake perimeter back to parking (no more trail for us).

GREAT Day One hike!

https://www.parks.state.co.us/parks/lakepueblo/Pages/LakePuebloStatePark.aspx