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Rio En Medio #163
Distance Hiked: 7+ mi
Elevation: 7,200-8,200 ftElevation Gain: 1,000 ftDistance This Season: 41.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 9,486 ft
Although I don't particularly enjoy waking up at 4:45am on a hike day, I was pleasantly rewarded with a beautiful morning hike through a very dewy and green trail near the Tesuque area. I was actually very surprised at how much vegetation was on the trail, and even more surprised at how many river crossings we had to do. I'm guessing at least twice as many as the Tesuque Creek hike. I was very excited to find that my Gortex boots are extremely waterproof and opted out of some of the slippery log and wobbly rock bridges for a straight plunge through the river.
A few miles into the hike we came to a turnoff for a beautiful waterfall. It was the first of several tucked away in a little nook. It seemed like an ideal place to stop after hiking in the hot sun. Being that it was still early on, it wasn't hot or sunny yet so no water aerobics was necessary. This photo is my personal favorite because it looks like Jake is my conscience or something sitting there on my shoulder. Hahaha!
After leaving the waterfall the real climb began. The trail was relatively flat up until this point and then we got started on a little bit of bouldering up to the top of the waterfall area. The steep trail kept climbing up for a while and I started hanging further and further back in the group until finally I realized that not only was I feeling a little dizzy, I was also feeling slightly nauseous.
I learned the hard way that you shouldn't take heavy painkillers before hiking. I thought since we were staying at lower elevation on this hike that it wouldn't be much of an issue but I quickly learned the truth. I hung back for a few minutes and sat with Angela and enjoyed a power snack until I felt good again and then went forward to meet up with the rest of the gang for lunch break.
I felt a little embarrassed about falling back again after the Wheeler Peak incident but felt better about it after Kelly gave me my new nickname, "The Phoenix". Ha! It made be feel better because instead of feeling like a dumdum it made me feel like some mystical animal that magically reemerges from death. Haha! So I got a new nickname and learned an important lesson AND got to see lots of wonderful vegetation as well as test out my newish boots in the water. So all in all a good hike.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, fundraising is still going well! Last night I was able to stop by the last part of the Celebration Dinner for our Team Honorees and found out that this season the NM Team in Training and Hike for Discovery branch has already raised over $111,000 to fight blood cancers! So a special thanks to everyone who has already donated and if you haven't yet- it's not too late!
http://pages.hikefordiscovery.org/nm/rockymt08/mfriesen
You can view more photos from my hike here if you like. Stay tuned for important announcements about some fun events coming up!
Maria
Wheeler Peak via Williams Lake Trail
Distance Hiked: 6.48 mi
Elevation: 9,700 ft - 13,161 ftElevation Gain: 3,461 ftDistance This Season: 27.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 6,986 ft
Wheeler Peak is hands down the hardest hike I have ever attempted. It is the highest point in New Mexico, towering at a breath-taking 13,161 feet. There is a "mellow" route you can take from the other side of the Taos ski area that slowly climbs the 3,000ft over a nice 8 mile long trail... but that's not the one we took -SIGH- The Williams Lake Trail climbs the first 1,000 feet over 2.3 miles and then turns into a steep Class 2 trail, shooting straight up to Wheeler Peak over the distance of one mile!The morning started off pretty badly. The trailhead was at around 10,000 feet of elevation and I started out having major problems catching my breath. Having experienced serious altitude problems in the past, after about a mile of the "easy" trail, I told our group I would have to turn back.
Our hike leader, Glen, had allowed my boyfriend, Nate, to come along on the hike since I had anticipated this situation and didn't want the whole group to have to turn back. We watched the group go forward and took a break before heading back.
However, after several minutes, my breathing became much easier as I acclimated to the altitude. I felt sad about missing out on the hike and we decided to finish the hike to the lake. We were very glad we did when we saw how beautiful it was in the morning light. Feeling curious, we decided to look for the trail to the peak to see how intimidating it was.
It looked pretty steep, but we knew it was only a mile. If we just took it slow, how hard could it be?
I actually can't remember how many times I thought "It can't get any steeper than this" or "We must have been at least four miles by now". Long story short: it was superhard.
When we finally got to the peak, we found the rest of the hiking team with the most surprised/happy/confused looks on their faces. We celebrated and exchanged stories... and then we heard a rumble in the distance.
The storm clouds were moving in and we were pretty far away from the treeline. We scurried as quickly and safely as we could down the steep slippery mountain. It was extremely difficult trying to fight gravity with our weakened leg muscles but it kept us moving at a quick pace.
The highlight of coming down the mountain was a huge snowdrift off to the right of the trail. Eager to give our aching muscles a break, and not caring about wet pants we slid down several stories of snow on our bums.
We managed to finally make it down the mountain and back down the Williams Lake trail well before the rain came in. I'm proud to report that even though I fell many, many times coming down, I have no injuries and no blisters. Just really really really sore muscles.
I'm glad I got stubborn and eventually made it up that crazy mountain and I'm looking forward to our future hikes. After that one I'm pretty sure I can hike up anything this state has to offer. Slowly, yet surely...
If you haven't already, visit my LLS page at http://pages.hikefordiscovery.org/nm/rockymt08/mfriesen The donation total as of today is over $1300! Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to LLS! We're doing great! To see all the photos from the hike, View My Album.
Rio En Medio #163
Although I don't particularly enjoy waking up at 4:45am on a hike day, I was pleasantly rewarded with a beautiful morning hike through a very dewy and green trail near the Tesuque area. I was actually very surprised at how much vegetation was on the trail, and even more surprised at how many river crossings we had to do. I'm guessing at least twice as many as the Tesuque Creek hike. I was very excited to find that my Gortex boots are extremely waterproof and opted out of some of the slippery log and wobbly rock bridges for a straight plunge through the river.
I learned the hard way that you shouldn't take heavy painkillers before hiking. I thought since we were staying at lower elevation on this hike that it wouldn't be much of an issue but I quickly learned the truth. I hung back for a few minutes and sat with Angela and enjoyed a power snack until I felt good again and then went forward to meet up with the rest of the gang for lunch break.
