Walking the Rim Trail

The Canyon Rim Trail is a fairly new trail in Los Alamos that loops around the "main" mesa (does it have a name?).  It starts out across the street from the new Co-op store.  You walk a paved path above DP Canyon, then you cross East Road near the fire station, and walk back along the other side of the mesa along the rim of Pueblo Canyon, behind the airport. The Pueblo Canyon side is especially pretty. The cliffs of North Mesa are gorgeous, and I was coveting some of the homes that sit on the edge.

Here is a nifty map I found of Los Alamos for your reference.  Hover over the map, click, and it will give you a nice PDF.

It was a fairly cloudy day, and a nice breeze blew. It was perfect for a 4-mile walk. Come with me!

Not too many wildflowers this year!  Waay too dry, I guess. But here's one.

I was surprised to see this fungus. No rain, no humidity, but it still managed to ...what? bloom? emerge? fungasize?

As I started along the Pueblo Canyon a helio was taking off to go fight the fire some more, and as I finished this section, he came back.

At least one helio crew came from the Grand Canyon.

I could see some smoke from a little spot fire.

The cliffs across the canyon are sooo pretty! Here are some pictures!

See the large adobe-style house? That is my home. In my dreams.

Want.

 I took a panorama of North Mesa.  I was standing on a cement jut-out like the one you see on the right. Nice vistas!

Some more pictures.

The Potty Place.

Growing behind the Co-op at the end of the trail, I enjoyed some California Poppies!  A little piece of home!

Viewing Las Conchas

BobBIE and I drove up to the Jemez to see the burned areas of the still-burning Las Conchas wildfire.

It was super smokey. Here are some shots of the Valle Grande.

And a panorama of shots.  As always, click for bigger version.

Here is the Las Conchas trailhead, near the area where the fire started.  Sad.

The happy news is on the other side of the road, at the trailhead itself, the forest is still beautiful and pristine.  Fishing and hiking next year for sure!

We drove into the Caldera to take a look from another viewpoint. It was so smokey, it was hard to see to the other side of the Valle.  We met some new friends, though!  Cuties!

Bad Onion!

Ooooooh, those folks at The Onion are sooooo naughty!

Gotta laugh to keep from crying.


Californians Gather To Celebrate Annual Wildfire Tradition

Childhood Fears

Since some of us are hauling out the monsters from the closet....

My biggest fear was fire. I'd wake with a start and have a doom feeling about a fire starting. I'd have to go to the living room to sit for a while until the fear passed and I felt sleepy again.

That fear didn't carry on with me as I grew up. Lucky, cuz otherwise I'd have had numerous panic situations over the years.

San Roque Canyon

As you know, I was unable to hike San Roque Canyon for the final installment of the Creek Watch because the trail is closed due to fire damage from the Jesusita Fire last month.

The bridge over the canyon and park was a turning point in the firefighting effort. According to news reports, several fire engines parked on the bridge and poured water over into the canyon. This stopped the fire from progressing into the San Roque neighborhood and threatening the whole city.

Here is a map of the area. The pointer is on the bridge.

View San Roque Canyon Bridge in a larger map

Here is a shot of the bridge from just to the north of it.



Here are a few photos from my attempt at hiking it last week. I walked just a few hundred feet beyond the bridge. I decided to honor the closed signs.

This is a shot from the top of the bridge looking north.

And here is a view of the other side, looking toward Santa Barbara on the south.

Whew! We are so thankful for the efforts of all the firefighters!

San Antonio Creek

Today I hiked San Antonio Creek. The media said that it was the one trail that is open. There was still a barrier across the parking lot entrance, as the park was (is?) being used as a staging area for firefighters. I drove around the barrier. Scofflaw! There were no firetrucks around. There were a couple cars at the Tuckers Grove park area, but I was the only one at the far parking lot near the trailhead.

The trail was fine until about 2/3 the way, when it was quite singed.

Come along with me, again! I've visited this trail many times in this blog, plus visiting as part of my Creek Watch.


This silly wabbit crossed the trail early on.





I saw Mrs. Lizard fly out of a round hole in the middle of the trail. "Someone's coming! I must leave!"

Peeking in, I saw a lizard tail.


Did Mrs. Lizard lose her tail to a snake occupant? I took a look, and suddenly Mr. Lizard appeared, giving me a stern stare. How dare I interrupt him and the missus? "Mind your own business! Go away!"

The first part of the trail is green. The whole mountain in the background is burnt.

The burned areas were hit and miss along the trail. Suddenly, there were singed trees and blackened ground, then a few yards later there was no evidence, or very little, of fire, and a few yards after that, more leafless trees and shrubs.

All the cobwebs were ashy.

Look at this house! It must be at the end of Via Gennita. Now, that's a close call!

Here's another house visible from the top of the trail at the 154. Great defensible space, huh?


There weren't a lot of wildflowers left. A few canyon sunflowers, some thistles, a few wild roses.

Wild Rose


MonkeyFlower

Oooh! And there were wild raspberries! I sampled some and they were tart!

Since RetroMag likes lizards, here is another one. There were a lot of them scurrying around!


And here is one I meant to share last week. I took it on the day the fire started. It was the only subject I recorded on that hike!