TWA Crash Site

Domingo Baca Route to the TWA Crash Site
Distance Hiked: 8 mi
Elevation: 6,450-8,810 ft
Elevation Gain: 2,360 ft
Distance This Season: 67.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 16,316 ft

Last Sunday we got up bright and early with the New Mexico marathon runners and hit the trails to find the TWA Crash Site in the Sandias. Richard was our fearless leader and used his might navigation skills to lead us though the lush rainforesty "trail".
It was misty all morning and pretty foggy in some parts but we didn't get too wet or cold throughout the climb. We had lots of obstacles along the way but made it up safely in one piece to the site.
The TWA plane crashed on Feb. 19, 1955, killing all 16 people aboard. The wreckage extends over about 300ish yards in the trees and bushes. You can view lots of photos in my slideshow I made here. It was a very unique experience and a beautiful morning hike. Thanks to Richard for organizing, leading, and feeding the group.



Today I'm off to Colorado for my event hike on Saturday. I will be getting up at the crack of dawn and conquering Mount Ida so wish me luck and pray for nice weather! Thanks to everyone for supporting me all summer and also for donating to LLS! You rock! See ya at the top!

Maria

Mid-Week Embudo Trail Hike

Embudo Trail to Three Gun Spring Trail
Distance Hiked: 8 mi
Elevation: 6,200-7,900 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,700 ft
Distance This Season: 59.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 13,956 ft

Susan (from the hiking team) and I decided to get together Thursday morning for a midweek hike in the foothills. The plan was to take the Embudo Trail from Indian School up to the Three Gun Spring Trail and hike up to the South Peak. There were very few people on this more scenic route up the mountain and the weather was pretty cool for the beginning of the hike.
We made it up to the junction with Three Gun Springs and enjoyed a scenic view of the Sandias and Manzanos while we had a picnic lunch. We had to cut the hike short when my magical blister bandaids stopped working and my heels started screaming. It was a good workout with pretty views and hardly any traffic on the trail. We'll have to attempt it again sometime soon!

Week 12 - Pino Trail #140 to the South Peak

Pino Trail #140
Distance Hiked: 10 mi
Elevation: 6,460-9,230 ft
Elevation Gain: 2,770 ft
Distance This Season: 51.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 12,256 ft


We got to sleep in a little bit this week as our hike was a lot closer to home. We were hiking in the Sandias once again since we've had such a good "monsoon" season and the mountain opened back up again last month. Our hike started from the Elena Gallegos Parking lot and climbed all the way to the South Peak where half the team hiked along the Cienega Trail and the other half enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at the top.






The trail was exposed and fairly flat for the first mile or so and then became nice and shady with lots of lush green vegetation. The climb was a workout but not too difficult with the hardest part beginning closer to the top with the many switchbacks up the mountain.





I felt my heels rubbing against my boots early on as we steadily climbed but like a fool, I ignored it. And now I have finally received my first blisters of the hiking season- bah! I guess that's what I get for being a dumdum. Luckily Target sells magical blister bandages that will hopefully help me heal my heels before the next big hike.

Next week is our second to last hike before our event hike in Rocky Mountain NP and I feel ready and happy. With only a few more weeks to go the fundraising total is just shy of $3000! Thanks again to everyone who donated to the cause. And for those that haven't- it's not too late!

Week 11 - Fundraiser Madness!

Special Thanks to all who made it out to the Golfernoggin's Event on August 6th. The team raised around $400 for LLS while getting our golf on!

Golfernoggins just opened up here in Albuquerque a few months ago so be sure to stop by sometime for some challenging rounds of mini golf! There are lots of fun different holes including a hockey rink of doom, the grand canyon, ancient egypt, a basketball court, the classic windmill, and more!

I managed to hold my temper all night and refrain from throwing my club at things which is pretty good for me. I almost won the prize for worst score and I was having a good night!






Charlotte achieved the impossible and picked up a nice prize for getting a hole in one at the basketball court. Lots of fun was had by all! Thanks again to the folks at Golfernoggins and my funloving guests who came to support LLS!



The team also had a great fundraising day on Saturday at our Car Wash hosted by Hurricane's. We brought in over $300 for LLS while getting some cars nice and squeaky clean. Thanks to those who stopped by and the Hurricane's bunch for having us. Mmm, burritos!

Week 9 : Rio En Medio #163

Rio En Medio #163
Distance Hiked: 7+ mi
Elevation: 7,200-8,200 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,000 ft
Distance 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

Week 7 : Chamisa Trail

Chamisa Trail 183 and Winsor Trail 254
Distance Hiked: 7 mi
Elevation: 7,800+
Elevation Gain: 1,500 ft
Distance This Season: 34.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 8,486 ft

This week's hike we took it pretty easy since half of us went up Wheeler last week and the other half climbed Santa Fe Baldy. The weather couldn't have been more perfect Sunday morning as we got to the Santa Fe ski area. It was nice and cool with lots of cloud cover and no thunderstorms! Whoo!
The trail was pretty steep on the get-go but after a few ups and downs it leveled off and was nice and mellow. We connected from the Chamisa trail to hike another mile or so on the Winsor trail which went through a beautiful meadow and across a stream which I believe was the Tesuque? No water aerobics or splashing this time around, awww...


The way back seemed like we had a much steeper climb. I believe Rick counted 175 steps on the last incline. Whoo, it got my heart going. Overall it was a very nice workout. The trail had lots of mountain bikers later on in the hike as well as lots of friendly dogs. If you're looking for a nice hike with pretty wildflowers, this one is a good pick.



Fundraising went very well the past few weeks. We're over the $2000 mark as of today and the donations are still growing. Next week my ad is going up for my web design/graphic design/photography/video editing trades for donations so if anyone wants to be one of my five people who receives my services in exchange for tax deductible donations to LLS, let me know! I have three spots left! Looking forward to my hikes this week! All the paperwork for the event went in today so I'm officially on my way to Rocky Mountain National Park!

Week 6 : Wheeler Peak- Highest Point in NM!!!

Wheeler Peak via Williams Lake Trail
Distance Hiked: 6.48 mi
Elevation: 9,700 ft - 13,161 ft
Elevation Gain: 3,461 ft
Distance 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.