- Joined
- Mar 11, 2008
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- 1,357
The snow has finally cleared in the mountains above Los Alamos, so I took my dog and headed up to higher elevations. Here's Dingus still in the SUV to the right of my reflection:
The bottom 1000 ft of the Quemazon trail was completely burned out by the Cerro Grande fire in May 2000. The fire then proceeded into Los Alamos where it destroyed 235 homes and forced the evacuation of 18,000 residents. Karen and I evacuated over a jeep trail through San Ildefonso Pueblo with 3 dogs and all the possessions we could carry in two vehicles. Our home was spared, but my office on Lab property was burned to the ground.
So, the scenery is not very pretty at the lower elevations, especially now before things have had a chance to green up. Here's the last (and the largest) blowdown on the trail: (Ponderosa Pine)
I'm only going up 1000 ft today. The burn continues up to 2000 ft and, within a month or so, I'll be climbing 3000 ft on a regular basis. Here's a couple of trail companions I took along:
And here's my hydration day-pack:
The old Sierra Cup is for Dingus. I carry water for him on my longer hikes.
There's a nice view 1000 ft above Los Alamos:
We're looking east here. That's Los Alamos below the burn and the Sangre de Christo (Blood of Christ) Mountains in the background. The mountains are so named because they take on a crimson glow at sunset.
Here you can see how the town and Lab Site are laid out:
That's Town Site to the left of the big tree and Lab Site on the right. The two areas are bisected by Los Alamos Canyon. The horizontal structure you see is the bridge that connects the two areas. The Lab is laid out over 40 square miles between Town Site and Bandelier National Monument.
This weekend I'll encounter four canyons in the Bandelier back country on the way to the Stone Lions Shrine. Won't make it all the way until I've trained a bit. Have to build up to making the full trek.
Cheers,
The bottom 1000 ft of the Quemazon trail was completely burned out by the Cerro Grande fire in May 2000. The fire then proceeded into Los Alamos where it destroyed 235 homes and forced the evacuation of 18,000 residents. Karen and I evacuated over a jeep trail through San Ildefonso Pueblo with 3 dogs and all the possessions we could carry in two vehicles. Our home was spared, but my office on Lab property was burned to the ground.
So, the scenery is not very pretty at the lower elevations, especially now before things have had a chance to green up. Here's the last (and the largest) blowdown on the trail: (Ponderosa Pine)
I'm only going up 1000 ft today. The burn continues up to 2000 ft and, within a month or so, I'll be climbing 3000 ft on a regular basis. Here's a couple of trail companions I took along:
And here's my hydration day-pack:
The old Sierra Cup is for Dingus. I carry water for him on my longer hikes.
There's a nice view 1000 ft above Los Alamos:
We're looking east here. That's Los Alamos below the burn and the Sangre de Christo (Blood of Christ) Mountains in the background. The mountains are so named because they take on a crimson glow at sunset.
Here you can see how the town and Lab Site are laid out:
That's Town Site to the left of the big tree and Lab Site on the right. The two areas are bisected by Los Alamos Canyon. The horizontal structure you see is the bridge that connects the two areas. The Lab is laid out over 40 square miles between Town Site and Bandelier National Monument.
This weekend I'll encounter four canyons in the Bandelier back country on the way to the Stone Lions Shrine. Won't make it all the way until I've trained a bit. Have to build up to making the full trek.
Cheers,
