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| Footbridge across the creek on the Bridal Veil Falls Trail |
Dr. K and I hit the Bridal Veil Falls Trail at 9:00 this morning certain that we didn't want to go all the way to the falls since we'd been there yesterday. As we hiked the trail I said, "I wish there was some other place we could explore, another trail to somewhere else." And then, about two-thirds of the way down, we started noticing a trail we'd not seen before along the mountain on the far side of the creek. We were elated to discover a new trail (T-131) that intersected with the Bridal Veil. It's the Calico Peak Trail, and we anxiously headed up it.
It gains altitude pretty quickly, and we were treated to outstanding views of the area including several of White Sands National Monument. We couldn't stop marveling at the spanking-new trail we'd not heard of before as we climbed to a point a bit past the midway mark to the Calico Peak Road. We turned around there and started back.
On the descent to the Bridal Veil Falls Trail junction we encountered two women who asked us if we knew anything about the new trail. They had seen the trail marker sign for the first time, too, and decided to try it out. We all laughed when I said we'd done the same thing, admitting we knew nothing about the trail nor who built it. Later, back at the cabin, I googled for information about the trail and discovered it was an effort by the New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Association and had been opened within the past few months. What a great find. Can't wait to hike all of it next chance we get.
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| Skeletons |
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| Not Queen Anne's Lace |
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| Sumac color |
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| Down the trail |
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| Headed for the grotto |
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| We'll reach that gorge soon enough |
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| Colorful trek |
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| Still a lot of green for late October |
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| Sotol |
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| Eureka--a new trail |
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| Calico Peak Trail |
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| Damianita? |
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| Gaining altitude |
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| Lots of flowers still in bloom |
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| Going up |
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| Cottonwoods along Salado Creek |
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| Looking down from elevation |
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| Beautiful new trail |
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| White Sands from the Calico Peak Trail |
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| Trail barely visible at lower section of the image |
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| Almost orange |
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| We didn't go all the way to the road |
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| Indian Paintbrush |
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| Sotol again |
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| Three-leaf Sumac |
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| This and the next: Rock Squirrel on our property |
1 comment:
So exciting to find this new trail to explore. Your photos do it justice, Packrat, especially the ones of the beautiful landscape. We had perfect weather, too.
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