The Pajarito Trail and a Chopweiler

HighDesertWalker

HighDesertWalker

Joined
Mar 11, 2008
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Betcher getting tired of the Quemazon Trail; I know I am. I hike there a lot because the trailhead is 10 min from my front door and it's one of the best places to train for the Grand Canyon trek I've got coming up in November.

But I stayed closer to home today. The Pajarito Trail begins only 5 min from my front door, and the terrain is much more varied.

Parked my vehicle in the shade to the side of the Rendija Canyon jeep road. Our sportsman's club is located in Rendija Canyon about a half mile further in, and the jeep trail through the canyon is the route Karen and I took when we evacuated Los Alamos as the Cerro Grande fire roared into town in 2000. It was quite an adventure. With smoke and cinders drifting through the air overhead, the fire tended to hop from one location to another.

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Nice to return to a cool vehicle after a hike.

Rendija has several branches at this elevation, so we cross a couple of mini-canyons in route to our destination, Guaje Ridge.

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Come Fall we'll be hunting Abert squirrel in these Ponderosa Pines.

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The first ridge we cross consists of volacanic tuff formed into pock marked tent-like structures:

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Dingus appears to be having a good time:

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(C O N T I N U E D)
 
Thats great Bill. Loved seeing Dingus. I need to get you some pics of Boudy. He's huge now!
 
Beyond the first ridge is another branch of Rendija Canyon. Here's a shot looking down canyon toward the Sangre de Christo Mtns in the east:

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Looking straight cross-canyon you can see that the fickle Cerro Grande fire devastated this area:

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The patch of white in mid-frame shows where the trail passes through an outcropping of volcanic pumise.

BTW, forgot to mention that this area is some of the best mountain lion country in the region. There are numerous sightings, including one by a woman whe relates that a big male harrassed she and her small dog. (Never take a small dog into big cat country....they look too much like lunch). Another account claims that a big cat encountered a twosome on the trail and tried to "stare them down". A local game official commented that the cougar probably just wanted a peanut butter sandwich; he's practically been raised on handouts says the official.

Talk about dangerous. Never feed wild game, especially not predators. I carry my Kahr PM40 in this area, and I'm confident that a shot into the ground would stop any trouble before it got started. Dingus, of course, provides an early warning system. Cougars will not ordinarily attack a large dog, although they are strong enought to kill one easily. They just want to avoid an injury that could lead to slow starvation. Cougars are the apex predators in the area.

Last time I had Dingus at the vet he weighed 100lb 4oz:

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Too big for lunch. BTW, Dingus had his first rattlesnake vaccination a couple weeks ago, and will finish the series next week. That will make him about as snakeproof as you can get.

One more story. A couple years ago a turkey hunter was sitting in front of some brush in his camo clothing, quietly clucking like a hen. A big male cougar hit him from behind and rolled him in the dirt before realizing the mistake. The cat took off and the hunter was uninjured. Lucky bloke!

Here's big blowdown encountered while crossing the second ridge:

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Easier to just go around it than climb over.

Now this one's a different story. It's dangerous:

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This is a blowdown on top of another blowdown, both crossing the trail, with no reasonable way to go around it. We crossed under quickly without touching the trunks or anything that might be providing support. Next time through here I'll be carrying a bowsaw and will remove the danger. Someone else (county) will have to remove the wood from the trail later on.

Beyond the small wash, it's a long steady climb up to Guaje Ridge:

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That notch on the skyline is a saddle where the trail begins it's descent to Guaje canyon. But we shall go no farther than the ridge today. If we were to descend and hike up canyon we would eventually encounter the end of the Quemazon trail. Hiking downcanyon would take us back to an intersection with Rendija canyon after a hike of 8 miles or so.

As usual, Dingus reaches the ridge first and looks back with an air of superiority:

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Here I'm standing in the notch looking up Guaje canyon:

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You can see that the trail continues down into the canyon:

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You can't really see down canyon from here because it narrows and takes a sharp bend back to the east:

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(C O N T I N U E D)
 
Time now to take a break and try out my new Chopweiler. For now, I carry it in a Spec-ops modular sheath that is stuffed in the bottom pocket of my pack:

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Here's an in the tree shot:

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I've chopped about half way through a hard, dry 3" branch in this shot:

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Done deal! Took a little over a minute to chop through. Not bad for a 7.5" blade: :thumbup:

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Heading back now. Forgot to show you the creek bottom that passes through the first section of Rendija. Here's a couple of shots:

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The creek is dry now, but it usually runs water every year.

This was a fun hike. See you next time.

Cheers, :)
 
nice pics, looks like a good hike.

and wise move parking in the shade...too many times have i forgotten, or the people in charge of parking have forgotten. not so bad though, becuase of the tall trees there is often plenty of shade moving around the lot depending on time of day...
 
I like your hiking area the rock formations are great... Have you ever tried Geocaching I bet there alot of them in your area..

Sasha
 
Beautiful pictures and beautiful country. I especially enjoy seeing scenery shots of places I'll never be.

Doc
 
I love the landscape in your area, nothing like that over here that I know about it. Thanks for the great subtitles also. Excellent post:thumbup:
 
I love the open look of the canyon. No underbrush. Thanks for the pictures. It looks so much cooler and nicer than the thick cover down here.
 
Great pics but Bill, don't you have a 2 lb base packweight? interesting to see you hiking with a knife that must weigh close to that!
Looks like a good blade.
 
Nice hike. I'll be doing a variation of it on Friday. I'll go up Cabra Loop and down Pajarito. My son wants to do it too, so well prabably do it again on Sunday.
 
HDW - Nope, I'm not actually tired of seeing the trail, but these pics are great too....
 
sasha said:
I like your hiking area the rock formations are great... Have you ever tried Geocaching I bet there alot of them in your area..

Sasha
Click to expand...

I first heard of geocaching in one of your posts Sasha. You're probably right about there being a lot in the area. We have all sorts of outdoor groups here, including search and rescue, orienteering, paintball, mountaineers club, etc. I'll do a little research on the web. Thanks for the tip.
 
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