Big Step

After months, and probably even years, of saying we needed to get a vehicle that could handle the rough roads that we often traverse to our hiking destinations, we finally took the big step. We bought a Toyota RAV4. Our Toyota Corolla has been a rough and ready set of wheels, faithfully taking us to some places that we probably shouldn’t have forced it to go through. But now the Corolla can take a break and let big brother RAV4 do the heavy lifting.

We had two days this week that we could devote to putting the RAV to work. On Monday we took the long dirt road that goes down into the Valles Caldera to reach hiking trails in the northeast corner of the monument. Today we ventured into the rutted terrain of the Rio Puerco Valley to get to the Cabezon Wilderness Study Area.

Besides giving us a chance to enjoy the luxuries of driving an all-terrain vehicle, these two destinations once again illustrate the amazing diversity of New Mexico hikes. The hike at Valles Caldera was 4 miles up through lush meadows surrounded by views of the forested caldera slopes. It took us only 3-1/2 hours to do a total of 8.2 miles with a 1000 feet of elevation gain.

By contrast, our hike today was a lollipop loop of only 2.6 miles but it took us 3 hours to complete. I had forgotten just how difficult it is to get around the base of Cabezon Peak. Most people who venture out there have the intention of getting to the top of the peak, but that is an Aaron M. kind of goal, not one we have ever aimed for. We loop around the peak, which presents its own challenges.

Once you hike past the slot in the rock face that is used to reach the top, the trail is seldom used and in places is quite difficult to follow. There’s no danger of getting lost, since you can always see where you are, but it requires some guess work to decide which way is less difficult. Sometimes there are cairns but other times you lose sight of the cairns and aren’t sure if you’re on an animal trail or just a place where runoff has created a gouged out track. If you aren’t careful you suddenly find yourself facing an impossibly steep slope or a tangle of cactii and prickly bushes. My knees were screaming for relief when we finally managed to get down the last steep section of the trail. It’s all worth it, though, because nothing beats the endless vistas of uninhabited land that stretch in every direction.

Monday Hike in Valles Caldera

Thursday Hike at Cabezon