Week 5 : North Mystery Trail

North Mystery Trail
Distance Hiked: 9.47 mi
Elevation: 7,600+
Elevation Gain: 1,665 ft
Distance This Season: 20.97 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 3,525 ft


Today's hike was our last in the Sandias. As of today, the Forest Service has closed everything in the east mountains due to fire danger so it was great to get to hike close to home one last time. The hike started out nice and cool. It was actually cold enough for jackets in the brisk mountain air this morning, which is GREAT! I'm no fan of heat stroke. In fact, the hikes are getting earlier and earlier. No bueno!



The North Mystery Trail is a great shady trail with lots of ups and downs (some of them pretty steep in my opinion!). There was hardly any traffic on the trail as it is not marked on most maps and has not officially been recognized by the forest service. There were lots of scenic overlooks as well as many different types of plants. Some of them were especially weird...

Overall it was a very challenging hike with lots of huffing and puffing. I broke in my awesome new pair of boots, which are great and hardly rub my feet at all, and I also was convinced to try using someone's hiking poles for the first time, which wasn't as weird as I thought. Not too sure about them still. Didn't notice a significant difference on this trail. We'll see...

Well, it's Week 5 and things are moving along well! The hikes are getting harder and the donations have been growing. The official total this morning including the mailed in donations not posted to the site yet is over $1200! Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far and if you haven't seen my LLS page already you can find it here: http://pages.hikefordiscovery.org/nm/rockymt08/mfriesen

We have lots of fun events coming up including a car wash, mini golf tournament, and a wine, cheese and BBQ night. There are a lot of things to look forward to!!! ...except for the 5AM meeting time coming up soon. Yikes. Gotta beat the heat!

Week 4 : Faulty Trail #195

Faulty Trail #195
Distance Hiked: 7.0 mi
Elevation: 6,600+
Elevation Gain: 1,360 ft
Distance This Season: 11.85 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 1,860 ft

Today I hit the trails again with the team after recovering from some medical problems last week. I wasn't sure that I was feeling up to the challenge this morning and started out slow bringing up the rear. However, I was surprised at how well I was doing and how great it felt to be on the trails again and throughout the hike got back up to speed.

The trial was very nice with lots of shade and greenery and a nice cool breeze. We had an early enough start that the temperatures were never unbearable. We had a tree sniffing poll to decide whether the ponderosa smelled like vanilla or butterscotch. I'm not too sure but I think butterscotch might have won that one!

The trail started out very steep and had a few tough climbs. It was pretty rocky but no one took a tumble thankfully! We climbed up Lower Faulty and joined Faulty Loop which took us past the fork for the South Crest Trail, which would be a great one to try out sometime (maybe when it's not so hot! yikes!!!)

On the way back down the loop we passed some beautiful overlooks. It was a tough hike and I was a little shaky coming down. I know someday I'm bound to have better balance, but the past 26 years hasn't been so successful! Ha!

It was a great hike and a great motivator for the rest of our season. We are way ahead of schedule and have a very ambitious group so it will be great to see how we challenge ourselves.

This week, my hiking mentor, Rick, and I are going to scout out the local grocers to set up an information table sometime in the next few weeks to get the word out to the public about blood cancers and the financial need of the thousands of patients battling them this year. Also, updates coming soon about fundraiser BBQ and wine tasting. Can't wait for the next hike!

If you haven't visited my LLS webpage yet, check it out. You can see how the fundraising is going and learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Week 2 : Tesuque Creek # 254

Tesuque Creek
Distance hiked: 4.85 mi
Elevation: 7,100-7,600
Elevation Gain: 500 ft

Yesterday I officially kicked off my training with my first hike with LLS. Tesuque Creek/Winsor Trail No. 254 is in the Santa Fe area in the beautiful adobe community of Tesuque. The first leg of the trip takes you past several rustic homes before you get into the wilderness.

I should have paid more attention to our hike leader's warning that we were gonna get wet feet, but after crossing the creek several times, I began to find my squishy sneakers quite refreshing! AND, I am proud to report, I did not get any blisters from said sneakers.

The hike was fairly easy. I did huff and puff the first few minutes since it was my first real hike since last year, but my worries of being left in the dust were silly.

Everyone on the hike was very friendly and welcoming. We had fun attempting to cross the makeshift bridges. I think after the first few, I abandoned all hope for fear of falling in and ruining yet another digital camera. We finished up one of the last crossings with some fantastic synchronized swimming!

So all in all, week one was a great success. I'm looking forward to the next one! If you haven't already, check out my LLS webpage. It has more information about what I'm doing as well as an opportunity to join me in supporting cancer research.

Hike on!

Maria
http://pages.hikefordiscovery.org/nm/rockymt08/mfriesen