July 2021
With a busy and stressful Spring ending with the high school graduation of our kids, our thoughts turned to mountains. Living in Iowa, we have long been drawn to the mountains of the Western states. We scouted vacation rental locations in Colorado, the closest mountains to us; but, because of our late planning, the choices were limited. Zooming the map out just a little popped in the Taos area with several good lodging choices where we expected fewer travelers as well. So, we booked a condo in Taos Ski Valley where we’d have a kitchen and be close to excellent hiking trailheads. The GPS took us halfway across Nebraska, then southwest through Kansas and to an overnight stay in the southeast corner of Colorado.
The next morning, my daughter took a look at the expected route and asked whether we had time to detour to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Since this would only add about an hour to the drive time and we needed to do something before our late afternoon check-in at the condo, the decision was easy. We did check the NPS website and twitter accounts to see if there were entry restrictions like we’d heard of at other National Parks; no worries, we were in line for less than ten minutes at the entrance. These dunes are absolutely huge! “We must climb them”.
Climbing the dunes is certainly a physical experience, both in exertion and also with the heat of the sand. We saw many people in socks and sandals; practicality overrides fashion, but we did not plan ahead and hit a few stretches of extreme discomfort. The size of the dunes is hard to describe; our daughter is at the top of a dune in the upper left photo.
After a few hours at Great Sand Dunes, we were back on the road for the final leg into New Mexico. We swung through Rio Grande del Norte National Monument for some scenic views of the Rio Grande gorge before heading into the mountains.
Our first full day in the area was filled with river rafting in the morning and exploring Taos in the afternoon. We chose the half-day Racecourse trip through Far Flung Adventures, which has some nice challenges and nothing more intense than some Class III rapids. We welcomed solo traveler Daniel into our raft and followed guide Corey’s instruction to make our way downriver. Other than the water itself, a highlight was a river otter cruising alongside in an area of quieter water. Photo credits: Southern Exposure Photos
After rafting was concluded, we had a lunch at the Guadalajara Grill, rated the best Mexican in Taos. Frankly, it was certainly good and it did fill us up; but, perhaps our expectations were too high based on previous New Mexico trips (The Chile Pod in Farmington is still tops in our book). After lunch, we visited San Francisco de Asís Mission Church, made famous by Georgia O’Keefe paintings and Ansel Adams photos. A National Historic Landmark.
The rest of the day included visits to the artsy shops in Taos Plaza, the Earthship Community, and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.
Now acclimated a little better to the elevation, the next day was a hiking day. The Wheeler Peak trailhead was less than a hundred yards from our condo, so we looked forward to a day with absolutely no driving! The trailhead sits at around 9,500′ and our goal for the day was ascending approximately 5.5 miles up to Gold Hill, then get back below tree line by the time the afternoon thunderstorms were expected to roll in. The summit of Gold Hill is just short of 12,700′ and we had to stop below the summit as flatlanders. Regardless, the meadows below the summit are amazing and provided a simply awesome lunch spot.
Funny story on the way up: nearly through one of the meadows and heading back into the forest, a light brown and very large creature came ambling out of the trees along the trail on which we were traveling. This is bear country; so, the appearance of a large, brown animal moving at a good pace gets the heart rate going even more than the physical exertion. Thankfully, it took only a fraction of a second to recognize the beast as an ordinary cow. (no photo as the encounter was over too quickly).
After enjoying the lunch and a good amount of bathing in the nearly 360 degree scenic view, we descended via the Long Canyon Tail to complete the loop. We’ve done a lot of hiking among all our travels and this hike ranks somewhere in the top ten. It is challenging, so we only saw five other people the entire hike. Frankly, it is hard to condense the views into a handful of photos; here are some highlights.
After the hard hiking day, we needed a day of rest. Perfect day for a scenic drive of “The Enchanted Circle”, a route that circumnavigates Wheeler Peak (highest point in New Mexico) through the surrounding mountains. Without breaks, the route is a little over two hours of driving; but, we stopped in Red River for a quick zip line experience and spent several hours at Eagles Nest State Park for lunch and quiet reading.
Who knew they have prairie dogs in New Mexico?
Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial
With a rest day under our belts, it was back on the trail the next morning. We chose the Gavilan Trail for this day; a roughly five mile round-trip, again ascending from a roadside trailhead to open meadows and big views. Elevation went from just under 9,000′ to around 11,200′, a gain of 2,250. Over a much shorter overall hike, this hike is actually a little steeper than the previous hike. This trail also passed through some open meadows as we ascended; and we again found a great lunch spot with great views and saw even fewer people on this trail than on the prior hike. With the shorter hike, we had the opportunity to go back into Taos for dinner and an amazing sunset back at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.
Lunch Time!!
Dinner at Orlando’s, New Mexican style. We liked the flavors here much better than the Guadalajara Grill earlier in the week. Then found some wildlife and enjoyed a High Desert Sunset at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge rest area.
Sadly, our final full day in Taos Ski Valley eventually had to arrive. For our final hike, we chose the most popular hike in the resort area: the Williams Lake Trail. At only four miles round-trip and less than 1,000 ft of elevation gain, our plan for the day was to find a lakeside spot to just sit, read, and and soak up the fresh mountain air.
The Bavarian would be a great spot for a post-hike beverage; but, we chose to keep heading back down the mountain.
The time finally came to get back into the car for the long drive home. Another check of the map had determined that a route through Colorado Springs would only add a half hour of driving time, so a side trip to Garden of the Gods was added to the itinerary. As we should have expected on a Saturday, Garden of the Gods was jam-packed with visitors. After hiking with almost nobody for several days, the chaos was too much to handle and we simply took a car tour around the formations before heading back on the highway.
