A great hike, a great day and a little wine tasting

Hard to believe that a day that included a 3-mile walk up a steep trail with plenty of obstacles could be a perfect day, but that was today. Joan and I found a trail on the Cochiti Reservation that seemed out of the way enough that it might be just the kind of hike that we would enjoy.

So off we set this morning after a quick tour around the RV park to see how many different states were represented here. There are plenty and the park is quickly filling up for next week’s Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque. From what we have heard this annual event draws many, many thousands of people from all over.

When I booked out spot, the park manager told me we would have to be out by Friday as he is completely booked for the next week.

Anyway back to the hike.  About half way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe we left I-25 and drove the back highways to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

We were greeted at the gate by a Native American man who welcomed us to the park and outlined for us the various trails available for the monument.

We chose the Slot Canyon Trail which was 1.5-miles up and 1.5 miles down the same trail. Over that distance we rose from the valley to nearly 800 feet with a panoramic view of New Mexico from the mountains north of Santa Fe to Sandia Mountain next to Albuquerque.

It is difficult to describe the beauty we saw on this walk. The pictures will help, but there were several times that our breath was taken away as we turned a corner and saw new vistas. The park seems not well advertised and going up and down we met only about two dozen people on what was a picture perfect weather day. (After reading this scroll down to the previous item and see several more photos of our hike).

We saw wonderful wild flowers, a few lizards and one very ugly tarantula, which I grabbed a quick snap shot of as it hid under a rock. The large hairy spider was hiding under the same rock I had just climbed over on our way down the mountain.

Joan was a real trooper, especially with her barely functioning knee. She refused all my offers to end the hike and head back down and just enjoy the view from the bottom. We both made it to the top and I extended my hike to a long trail that put me on an overlook of the trail and parking lot where we started the walk.

Some of the trail took us through stone wall canyons hundreds of feet high and some of the spaces so tight only one person could squeeze through at a time. The weather was warm in the sun and reasonably cool in the shade. Unfortunately there was much more sun than shade.

Some of the stone steps required Joan to really stretch and use my helping hand to get up and on the way down a few required her to sit down and edge down slowly. But she made it.

The unusual rock formation was the product of volcanic activity some 6-7 million years ago and the effect of millions of years of water and wind erosion.

In spots the trail was a little slippery due to the loose gravel. But neither of us fell. Looking down from the top it was hard to believe we had made it all the way up in just two hours. It took us a little less time to make our way down.

The high altitude, we were above 6,500 feet at the top of the trail, certainly contributed to the difficulty of the hike. Hope you enjoy the photos.

After the hike we continued on north to the City of Santa Fe where we did a little sightseeing and Joan did a little wine tasting at the Vino Del Corazon Wine Room in old town Santa Fe.

Joan found some very fine New Mexico wines and purchased a couple bottles and joined the wine club.

By 4:30 p.m. both of us were pooped from the hike and walk around Santa Fe and we headed back to Rio Rancho, but not before a fairly major shopping excursion at the local Walmart, which is next to the RV park.

Joan rustled up some bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, cole slaw and potato salad for dinner. We have spent the rest of the evening yawning and groaning as our muscles tighten and complain.