As promised, Tom meets me at 7 and takes me to the lush Winsor Creek trailhead in the Pecos valley, where we begin our 4,200-foot climb up to the Santa Fe ridge. Storms move in as we near it, but never hit us directly. The ridge walking is superb, as are the wildflowers and views of storms in the surrounding valleys. We meet the backpackers Tom is guiding and hike with them up Redondo Peak for another 750 feet of climbing, then descend through forest to Johnson Lake, where Tom and I head back for the trailhead to complete our loop.