Climbing school

I’m taking the Los Alamos Mountaineers climbing school, which is very well run. It’s a blast, despite the fact that it often makes me feel like an out-of-shape blob who is terrified of heights.

I’ve been wondering if climbing would be a fun family activity, with Erin and then the kiddos once they’re old enough (the YMCA has climbing classes for kids as young as 4). I look forward to exploring this more after things calm down a bit post-birth.

Here we are setting up for the 4th outdoor class session, at The Gallows in White Rock Canyon. It turns out most of these routes were first ascended by my friend Walt Wehner and his friends in the 90’s.

A colleague of mine spotted 13 different kinds of wildflowers in White Rock Canyon the weekend before. I think I got to 8 or 9.

Cerro Colorado hike

On March 31, my dad and I and some LAMC folks hiked up Cerro Colorado, near Ojo Caliente.

Above is the summit. The area had been remarkably hard hit by the piñon die-off a few years ago, as you can see above. However, a decent number of tiny to small piñons seemed to be doing just fine. My hope is that they’ll stage a comeback in a way that is more resistant to the beetle plague.

Sandia Mountains hike

A few weeks back I went on a hike in the Sandias with some folks from LAMC, as part of a “Class 3 Scrambling” course.

Near our high point, looking northwest? The Jemez are just peeking over on the right horizon, while Cabezon is visible on the left horizon.

The tramway people are pretty serious about people not climbing the towers.

Cave of the Winds revisited

A few days ago, I got a request from PEEC asking if they could use photos from my November post on Cave of the Winds. I said sure; they also wondered if I had photos of the cave entrance and inside the cave. I said no, but I’d be happy to go up and make some, which I did this morning. It was terrifically windy.

I watched this tree fall over. I considered turning around, but decided that since there weren’t too many trees, paying more attention to the few trees I was passing was enough to keep me reasonably safe. I didn’t see any more fresh falls.

Turn-off to Cave of the Winds.

Cave of the Winds entrance, looking east (downstream). The descent from the rim is quite steep and ends in a drop-off.

Cave entrance looking west (upstream).

Inside the cave. There is one main room and a few short side passages, and as far as I can tell, no bears (I checked).

East Fork Trail hike

Last weekend, Erin and I went on a hike down the East Fork Trail with Amanda, Isaac, and their optimistically-named dog Thor.

Rendija Canyon in yellow and blue

One of the interesting things one can do in black and white photography is change which colors are represented in the final image. For example, the following two images are two interpretations of the same capture:

This one is a yellow “filter”; that is, the brightness in yellow has more influence on the final result than brightness in other colors. This is a fairly common treatment.

Back in the days of film, one had to make filter choices ahead of time and use actual pieces of colored glass. Now it’s all done in software.

This is a blue “filter”. These days it’s more unusual, but many of the first films responded only to blue, leading to the washed out skies look of photographs made with those films.

White snow on black rocks

This photo was made on a White Rock Canyon hike back in December with Matt, Amanda, and Penelope. This boulder pit is directly off the Red Dot Trail.

Exploring Las Conchas burn area near Ponderosa Campground

Last Monday, Erin and I hiked from Ponderosa Campground to the rim of Frijoles Canyon, an area with significant damage from the Las Conchas fire.

This wash contained a large amount of rubble spread across a wide area.

A charred leaf which had drifted down onto the previous night’s snow.

This snag’s bark had been stripped off on the upstream side by flood water and debris flow.

Charred trees on the far side of Frijoles Canyon.

Ponderosa grove not far from the rim.

A large ponderosa killed by the fire.

Gonzales Canyon hike

On Friday, Erin and I walked down “Gonzalez Canyon” just north of Camino de Encantado on Barranca Mesa. We wanted to check out an apparent road bed that we had seen from across the canyon.

There are lots of “character trees” around Los Alamos, but this one really caught my eye. It is two independent trunks emerging from the ground, apparently merging, and then splitting again.

Trail on the north side of Gonzales Canyon.

Forts are awesome. I had a great time playing in forts in the woods when I was a kid. I’ve heard rumor that some folks want to prevent kids from building forts in the woods, to keep them pristine. That seems like a terrible idea to me — IMO a great way to build a love of the outdoors in children is to let them do childish things outside.

We weren’t exactly sure what to make of the “road bed”. It seemed too steep to be a road, yet too wide and too enthusiastically cut from the hillside to be just for a pipeline. (I don’t know if there’s anything in this particular trench, but lower down there was a manhole cover with running water inside.)

Looking toward the Sangres from just south of Los Pueblos.

Keep in mind this is the middle of town, folks. I still can’t get over that.

My granny is awesome

Last weekend, I was in Seattle for a conference and had time to visit my granny, who is awesome.

Clockwise from top left: my aunt Zina, uncle Dave, cousin Darby, me, and Granny Lou.

The “beach house”, where I spent lots of happy time during my childhood. When Granny and Papa bought it, it was a tiny cottage, and Papa built it up into a cool house with all kinds of bizarre nooks and crannies.

Puget Sound has very big tides. I spent a lot of time playing in the mud in this inlet (in front of the beach house); a favorite activity was to start building a dam as soon as the tide passed the dam site on the way out, with the hopes of making it large enough to hold back the water when the tide came back in.

Also, after returning from a wedding, I apparently walked straight through the house and began playing in the mud, without taking off my tiny suit.

Hell’s Hole chicken adventure

One of the most fun things to do during my high school years was to order some pizza, wrap it in a towel, and take it down Hell’s Hole (a rubble heap / lava tube cave in White Rock Canyon) to eat. Ben, I, and several of his friends set out yesterday to do this.

One complication: The pizza joint in White Rock did not open until an hour after the designated meeting time. So, Ben got a rotisserie chicken instead, which he presents proudly in the photo above.  

Hell’s Hole is filled with remarkably sophisticated and classy graffiti. The colored tape is a technique I’m not familiar with.

One of our band emerging into the big room with a chicken.

Laying out the chicken and other lunch items. It was a pretty good lunch, but not quite as good as cave pizza.

Camino Encantado loop

 Yesterday, Erin and I walked a loop off Barranca Mesa and along Bayo Canyon, circumnavigating Camino Encantado. Much of this is along old roads, which is kind of cool. I checked a book on the topic out of the library and am looking forward to reading it.

In the homestead era, this road along a bench in Bayo Canyon was one of the principal routes up to the Pajarito Plateau. I suspect it looked much as it does now. There is a rather impressive drop a few feet to the right.

This is where one of the town’s sewer lines dives off the mesa.

Grand Canyon mini trip report

Just before New Year’s, Erin and I visited the Grand Canyon for a couple of days.

We arrived in the afternoon in time to walk along the rim for an hour or so. Above is a standard Grand Canyon sunset photo. The Bright Angel Trail and Indian Garden are visible in the gloom.

We stayed in Maswik Lodge, which is fine but not super awesome. It’s a bit pricey for what you get. However I might choose it again instead of one of the rim hotels because it’s more secluded and quiet.

The key problem with staying in the park but not camping is lack of food. None of the hotels or cabins have kitchens, and the restaurants are very mediocre. (An exception is the El Tovar, which is quite good if a bit fancy for my tastes.) I think the lack of actual free enterprise is a leading factor here; everything is operated by the Xanterra megacorp and its massive contract with the Park Service, so there’s little space for innovation or passion.

Anyway, in the morning we headed out to Desert View to see some views.

View from outside the Desert View Watchtower over one fork of Tanner Canyon, with Cedar Mountain on the far rim.

Erin and me at Desert View.

The Watchtower was rather crowded.

The Watchtower also appears to be falling down? At least, there are gauges like this one all over measuring the cracks.

View from either Lipan or Navajo Point, looking east towards the Watchtower, which is visible at upper right.

After a couple of viewpoints, we parked at Grandview Point, had some lunch, and headed down the trail.

Looking south from the upper part of the trail.

Much of Grandview Trail is supported by log structures like this one, built by miners.

Erin at the turn-around point, about an hour below the rim in the middle of the Coconino.

Erin, with Grapevine Canyon beyond, at one of the airier sections of the trail.

After we returned, Erin took a nap while I went to the rim to see the sunset.

The following day, we went west to Hermit’s Rest, with the intent of hiking down the Hermit Trail and over to Dripping Springs.

View down Hermit Canyon from the Dripping Springs Trail.

Erin at Dripping Springs.

Dripping Springs is at the head of a pleasant little valley.

Just before rejoining the Hermit Trail for the climb back to the rim, looking up the Hermit Valley.

After the hike, it was dinner at the El Tovar and then back home to Los Alamos in the morning.