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Redondo Peak Loop Hike
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…
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Lake Peak Loop Hike
Ann prods me to go hiking to get me in a better state of mind this week. I still manage to start in a frustrated mood, having forgotten batteries for my GPS receiver, but that soon fades with the rhythm of a good hill climb up Raven’s Ridge. By the time I reach Desolation Peak…
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Tres Piedras Climbing
I can’t think of anything I’d rather do for my birthday weekend than explore a new climbing area! Tres Piedras (Three Rocks) is a tiny town in northern New Mexico, distinguished by three rock formations visible from afar. The largest is partially in Carson National Forest, and has some nice climbing on highly featured granite.…
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White Rock Overlook Climbing
We feel like climbing cracks today. There is some high cloud cover, which Ann thinks may keep it cool enough to climb at The Overlook in White Rock, another scenic area on the Rio Grande. Our routes: Headwall Crack Left 5.8 A nice handcrack, supplemented by lots of good face holds. That’s a theme here.…
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Las Conchas Climbing
After a nice night along forest road 280, Ann and I make our way to the Las Conchas trailhead for some climbing. This is a lush, forested area along the East Fork Jemez River, whose headwaters flow from the caldera of a long-since-blown volcano. We cling to the remaining volcanic walls here, while hikers, fishers,…
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Diablo Canyon
We make an evening outing to this climbing area on the Rio Grande outside of Santa Fe. You have to drive through a suburb to reach it, and a I make a big, confused loop through it, somehow ending up driving back the way we came without realizing it. Finally we figure out we have…
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El Rito Camping and Sport Climbing
After four days in Santa Fe, we put our new lifestyle to the test by taking our home up into the hills for a long weekend of climbing. We leave Thursday evening when Ann gets off work. The drive in with the camper turns out to be pretty stressful due to many low tree branches.…
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Sugarite Canyon Climbing
The first order of business this weekend is to get our home moved to Santa Fe, but we figure we can mix in a little climbing too. I meet Ann on the night of my last day of work at Cedar Rail RV Park & Campground, where the owners have fed Ann dinner while she…
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Mount Shavano Hike
Ann meets Dad and I along the road to the Mount Shavano trailhead for a belated Father’s day summit attempt. It’s a long haul, over four miles and 4,500 feet of elevation gain, but we have good weather and we make it. We’re happy that we gain the eastern ridge early to avoid a few…
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Ironsides Climbing
Sean pulls himself out of bed at an unspeakable hour to make a 7:30 (make that 7:45) am meeting with Doug and myself. Liz is attending a wedding in New Hampshire, but has left us men a giant carrot cake packed with goodies that helps to fortify lonesome souls for a day of climbing. Clare…