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Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:09 pm
by jfrishmanIII
I drove by Las Vegas on Saturday, and Hermit Peak indeed looked pretty much snow-free; might be a good option. The higher ridges (e.g. Jicarita) were still pretty snowy on their east aspects though. Indeed, all along the Sangres, the west sides have melted out a lot, while the east slopes look much snowier. If you're after high and snow-free, Hermit, the Jemez and the Sandias will be your best options. I would guess that Hamilton Mesa is pretty good too by now, but I'd double-check that with the Forest Service.

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Mon May 07, 2012 4:59 pm
by jdzaharia
My wife and I got back home from our trip yesterday. Thanks to all for the great suggestions. A short outline follows.

Hiking:
Hermit Peak. Like another group we met on their way down, we could not locate the Hermit's Cave. Neat hike with good views and scenery.
Bandelier National Monument. We saw the main ruin attractions including Alcove House, hiked to the Upper Frijoles Falls, then hiked the loop trail at Tsankawi. Very interesting.
Black Mesa, Oklahoma.
Picture Canyon, Colorado. We hiked to an area with some rock art and vandalism. A hike in search of more petroglyphs was unfruitful, turning up only snakes. I was expecting to find some "pecked" style petroglyphs, but was obviously looking in the wrong areas.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We hiked the Lighthouse Loop.
Caprock Canyons State Park. We hiked a portion of the Upper North Prong Canyon. The intention to make the loop through the South Prong Canyon was thwarted by record high temperatures.

Sightseeing: Santa Fe, Taos, Taos Ski Valley area, Rio Grande Gorge, Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway, Tri-point of OK/NM/CO, Carrizo Canyon, drought-stricken wheat fields, feed lots.

Notable eats:
Smokey Joe's, Amarillo, TX
Tia's Cocina, Santa Fe, NM
The Gorge, Taos, NM
The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, TX
Dyer's, Amarillo, TX

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 5:13 pm
by jfrishmanIII
Sounds like a good trip, glad it all worked out for you!

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 9:28 pm
by jdzaharia
It did work out very well. We saw lots of places that niether of us had seen before, and my wife got to show me a few places that she had seen.

A little tidbit:

We never found the Hermit's cave on Hermit peak. We didn't find many petroglyphs in Picture Canyon. And, we had a little more scrambling on the Lighthouse Loop than my wife had expected. At one point on our way down Capitol Mesa, where there really was no trail and the route was not immediately apparent, my wife says, "I'm starting to think that website where you find these hikes is B.S."

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 4:43 pm
by Bubba Suess
jdzaharia wrote:And, we had a little more scrambling on the Lighthouse Loop than my wife had expected. At one point on our way down Capitol Mesa, where there really was no trail and the route was not immediately apparent, my wife says, "I'm starting to think that website where you find these hikes is B.S."


Wait a minute here. Is your wife using metonymy by saying "that website" to refer to me, the author of the route you were following? B.S. are my initials, after all...

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 8:38 pm
by jdzaharia
Ha ha. I don't think so, Bubba. At least not on purpose.

I had printed out countless trail and hike descriptions from SP, USFS, BLM, NPS, and other sites. She read through most of them and we chose the things that looked interesting and fit into our travels. So, she saw the Summitpost header at the top of a lot of those printouts.

By the way, Arnold's Burgers is now closed.

David Allan Coe was in Amarillo while we were there. "In Texas the talk turned to outlaws..."

Re: Trip Planning, Texas, New Mexico, April/May

PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 4:46 am
by Bubba Suess
jdzaharia wrote:David Allan Coe was in Amarillo while we were there. "In Texas the talk turned to outlaws..."


Now, I like DAC, at least his "mainstream" outlaw stuff. His off-color albums are too out there for me. They point to the bottom line, which is the guy is a complete scuzbag. Still some who records this can't be all bad in my book.