Uncategorized – Page 54 – Living Wonderously

We welcomed back our New Mexico blue skies today by taking an exploratory hike at Golden Open Space. After ruining Mother’s Day with a wicked windstorm, a mass of cold air to the north of us hung around for 2 days, bringing overcast skies with it. 2 days without my New Mexico sunshine makes me want to crawl under a warm blanket and not come out till the sun does. This was the day the weatherman assured us we could wave goodbye to the cold front. What more appropriate name to celebrate being outdoors again than “Golden Open Space”.

This wasn’t the first time we have hiked here. The first time was in the fall, and then we went there again as an end-of-the-year hike. One of the things we enjoy about the area is that, although there is an established trail, there are arroyos and canyons off the beaten path that you can explore easily without getting lost. Each time we have walked in some new areas, as well as on familiar parts. And since this was our first time to go there in the spring we enjoyed sighting some spring flowers along the way.

Fendler's bladderpod up close. — Fendler’s bladderpod up close.

Fendler's bladderpod along the trail. — Fendler’s bladderpod along the trail.

Indian paintbrush. How can anything grow in such a rocky place?

GPS Track on Every Trail

I finally got my cactus fix today. It turns out that the Embudito Trail is one of the trails that goes through the desert environment preferred by the beautiful Claret Cup cacti that I had remembered seeing when we visited Albuquerque in March of 2012. Oddly enough, I remember on the hike 2 years ago we were wearing shorts in March, but, today, when it’s already May, jackets and long pants were necessary.

As the Embudito Trail winds its way higher up into the mountains the Claret Cup cacti are left behind to be replaced with a forest environment. Some of the wildflowers we saw along this section of the trail we have learned to identify. Others we have yet to learn.