Today’s weather forecast is for a 60% chance of rain. Will the weather forecaster’s prediction be
right a second time? Last time we hiked we
got both rain and snow. We are going anyhow;
it’s warmer so if anything it will be only rain.
We’re going to the Pecos Wilderness just east of Santa
Fe. Our goal is to hike along the Pecos
River possibly to the Box then take a look at the Rio Mora.
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| Fishing at Monastery Lake |
We have been through here numerous times, this time we
decided to stop at Monastery Lake just outside of the town of Pecos. The lake is fairly small, 100 x 300 yards but
is stocked by the local fish hatchery so people are already in place and fishing
by 9. Byron quizzed one of the locals
finding out that earlier this week a few 20 – 29” trout were pulled out of the
lake. Fishing is slow so far today; it
didn’t look like any of the handful of people had caught anything. There’s a cool north breeze blowing down the
canyon causing ripples all along the lake.
I’m glad I brought my heavier clothing since we will be hiking in the
same canyon several miles upstream.
There’s not much snow until we get farther into the
Wilderness, even then it is only in the shadows of the north facing canyon
walls. We see less than a dozen vehicles
along our 15 mile drive from Monastery Lake to our planned trailhead.
I’m watching the sky
as we are travelling, lots of high clouds with occasional low clouds coming and
going with more on the horizon. The
chances of rain could go either way based on what I am seeing.
We stopped on the road studying the parking area next to our
hiking trail. It looks iffy at best, we
can easily get down to the mostly frozen but muddy parking area but we want to
get out later, when it is not so frozen.
We decided to park farther away on a gravel and mainly dry parking area. Sometimes you just don’t want to test your 4
wheel drive.
There is more snow, maybe 50/50 snow to brown terrain;
frozen in some places, squishy in others.
Byron dons his fishing waders; he is in full fishing mode today, didn’t
even bring a camera. I put on my rain
pants allowing me to kneel or sit for those low shots without the wet soaking
through my clothing.
The water in the Pecos is clear and running. There are a few spots where there is ice on
the surface but that is gone by the time we return. There are a few spots of green grass but
generally this looks like the start of the mud season. I do not see any spring flowers or weeds
poking up out of the last spots of snow.
This time Byron is the first one up the river. I stopped when I found open water covered
with thin sheets of ice of random lines forming geometric patterns.
Winter is receding, the snow and ice is dwindling from the
warm temperatures we have been enjoying the past several days. The remaining snow has a ragged appearance;
it is not the white powdery snow that falls during a storm. Its top is a crusty ice that has formed from
the many freeze/thaw cycles it has endured.
By focusing my attention at the edge of the ice I can see it slowly returning
to the river as it melts. Along the
river, the bottom of the snow is a thick layer of ice. Some spots are thick enough to walk on,
others??? I am wary, I push down on the
ice with my tripod just beyond where I am standing trying to determine if I can
go out just one more step to get that great shot. I can easily see the bottom of the river so I
know it is not deep but I also know it is cold and once in the river it can be
hard to get back out. I’ve seen too many
news clips of people going through ice and not being able to extract
themselves.
Spring has not started yet; as of our hike it does not make
its official appearance for another week.
Byron has fished here many times.
He wants me to return with him later this spring catching the flowers in
full bloom. From the beauty of just
seeing the river itself I want to witness the spring color.
By the time I catch up with Byron he is in full stealth
fishing mode. He is at one of his
favorite spots on this river, having caught many trout on previous
occasions. At this point he has not caught
anything but it is not for a lack of trying.
He is crouched low on the ice planning where to place the fly so the
trout cannot resist this tiny bit of food.
I want to stay downstream so I do not scare the fish before he gets to
them. Normally this is not a problem but
the valley is narrow so I have to stay close to the river potentially seen by
the trout. After several casts he gives
up, we get together discussing our day so far and immediate plans to have lunch
or continue on.
We decide to go on; I find another spot to get close to the
river so I can do some long exposures smoothing out the rapids to a silky
flow. Byron slowly advances upstream staying
in the river rather than hiking alongside.
Low puffy clouds are starting to fill the sky but we still
have sun poking through the openings. Now
I plan my shots timing when the bright sun is muted by the clouds reducing the
contrast between the shadows of the forest and intense light reflected from the
snow.
About the time I decide I better start moving upriver to catch up with Byron he appears. He went down
in the river. He is only damp on one
side having caught himself before going in completely. He’s okay; he’s cold but doesn’t want to return
to the car yet. “Let’s go up river just
a bit, have some lunch while I dry out and warm up”. The wind is not blowing in this part of the
canyon; having something to eat along with the sun Byron warms up and feels
ready to go on. All the time we are
eating I wander along the river’s edge looking for a few more shots.
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| Rio Mora |
While he is not happy to have gone into the river he is
happy to have caught a trout; only one, but that is better than none. We hike back to the car having gone up river only
a little better than a half mile. As we hike
past the parking area that we first viewed from the road we notice the morning frozen
ground is now soft underfoot. We made
the right choice on our parking location.
We made one last stop at the campground along the Rio
Mora. The snow is deeper here; there are
only occasional spots where one can see the river. It is at the bottom of a north facing canyon
wall so the sun shining on this part of the river is intermittent at best. Normally we do not visit this part of the
river. During the summer this campground
is packed, so it is not conducive to our idea of getting out into the
wilderness. I shoot the river from
several different vantage points. At the
last spot I cannot see the river anymore; it is totally covered by ice and snow
for the next several hundred feet before bending out of sight. As we made our way to the car for the trip
home we noticed a tent set up in the winter solitude.
I plan to be back for the spring flower show.
By the way, we didn't get rained on today.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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