El Malpais part 3

December 28, 2013

La Ventana Arch

We went farther south from the Sandstone Bluff to see what else there is to see.  It was a cold and windy day with temperatures around freezing at 9AM and a strong wind making it even colder.

El Malpais part 2

December 28, 2013

Sandstone Bluffs part 2

This was my return trip to the El Malpais, the first part was posted Jan 5.

El Malpais hike

November 29, 2013

Mt. Taylor in the background

This is how I spent my Black Friday.  No shopping, elbowing, running over other shoppers when the store doors open for me.  El Malpais National Conservation Area is about an hour west of Albuquerque and just east of Grants, NM within 20 miles of the exit from Interstate 40.

Fall-inter

October 17, 2013

Due to the federal government doing federal government things I got to have the day off from work.  I am not complaining about the day off, I’m complaining about the f government.  I’ve been working the whole time so I am better off than a lot of people.  That morning I kept going back and forth ‘To hike’ or ‘Not to hike’.  I was leaning ‘Not to hike’ but at the last minute decided to go....

Rio San Antonio (part 3 of 3) the golden hour

Sept 28, 2013

Usually we start out early in the morning, 700, making it to our destination around 830 and hike from there.  Since we scouted out a couple other locations and made a number of photographic stops on the way up so our hiking schedule moved to later in the day.  It actually made for better photography at the end of the day considering we were still on the road as the sun was starting to set…

Rio San Antonio (part 2 of 3) Flora

Sept 28, 2013

 

This time we took the time to stop and photograph the flora.  I always bring my macro lens with me but I am usually having such a good time photographing the big picture I forget to look at the details...

Rio San Antonio (part 1 of 3)

Sept 28, 2013

We went back to a river (stream) hike this time.  The Rio San Antonio (RSA) goes through the Valles Caldera and emerges into the Santa Fe National Forest at the west boundary of the Valles Caldera.  We drove up through the Santa Fe National Forest and found a spot where we could hike down to the river…

Hamilton Mesa

Sept. 14, 2013

Out of a list of several hikes we have on our to-do list we decided on the Hamilton Mesa in the southern part of the Pecos Wilderness.  This is a different type of hike from what Byron and I have been doing lately.  As you may remember he pretty much lives to fly-fish and we usually hike along a stream of some type where Byron fishes and I photograph.  We are both happy.  As you may surmise from the title we are not hiking at the bottom of a canyon, instead we are on the top of a mesa…

San Pedro Parks Wilderness

Sept 15, 2013

The second weekend in September I drove to the western end of the Jemez Mountains, just east of Cuba, NM.  I read several descriptions of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness area and decided I had to see it.  I was hoping to see the start of the fall colors…

 

 

 

 

 

Valles Caldera hike

Penstemons

Earlier this year I wrote about the Valles Caldera, VC, and how I was going to get back for more hiking.  In late May we had several forest fires go through the area one of which went through a portion of the VC.  The VC closed around Memorial Day weekend and I wasn’t certain when it would open again.  Around mid July I looked at their calendar and saw they had just opened up and they were hosting their ‘Wildflowers’ guided hike.  I wanted to make this hike hoping to see many wildflowers in the VC so I made my reservation….