A winter's day walk on Aspen Vista Trail, above Santa Fe

Gloomy weather is always Nature’s way of veiling a secret undertaking on her part that will take more than the usual effort on your part to discover. It’s much more comfortable to stay warm and dry inside when the day dawns with miserable cold rain and low grey skies, as it did in Santa Fe last Sunday. But bad weather is uncommon here, and I took this gloom as a subtle invitation to find out just what was going on up there in those obscuring clouds.

Bundling up in fleece, boots, and rain gear – and not forgetting to bring along a thermos of coffee – I pointed my car’s nose for the road to the Santa Fe Ski Basin and was soon surrounded by light fog and snow-covered trees. My destination was Aspen Vista Trail, a very popular walk high in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains not far from Ski Santa Fe, about 15 miles northwest of town. This trail is such a favored destination that the Forest Service has provided a large area of parking as well as some minor picnicking facilities and an interpretive sign:

When I pulled up, scrunching through some five inches of fresh snow, I was sharing the lot with only one other car. The telltale tracks of cross country skies let me know that another early riser had answered the morning’s invitation. I set off in an obscuring veil of cloud and the absolute hush of a forest newly covered in snow. The dense stands of aspen mysteriously vanished in the distance. The dark spruce and firs held their new mantle of snow lightly, stretching their branches in preparation for the heavier falls of deep winter.

It’s impossible to get lost on the wide track of Aspen Vista, so I wandered happily alone in the quiet forest, slowly climbing through the leafless aspen toward the dense stands of Englemann spruce that cover the higher elevations of Tesuque Ridge, now hidden in clouds. No views today – just the peaceful isolation of fog and the squeak of my boots in the new snow.

And then I noticed what I had been invited to witness: out of the fog, from every twig, from every needle, from every spray of winter grass, crystals of frost began growing in tiny glittering spikes. The forest whitened in silent manifestation all around me. It was amazing.

How lucky I felt to be present at such an intimate moment, concealed from all those who chose to stay home on a cold wet morning.

It wasn’t long before the same chill that drew crystals out of the air penetrated my clothes, and I turned back for my car and a swig of warming coffee. The snow covering the trees disappeared as reached the wet streets of Santa Fe. The mountains behind me remained hidden in their veil of winter clouds.

It’s 1:00 in the afternoon on Chamisa Trail, just above Santa Fe, and the light spilling through the trees is utterly perfect. And that’s exactly why I’m writing about this walk – it’s November 22 and winter is well on its way here in the Southern Rockies. Finding a pleasant hike in the mountains is a bit more challenging this time of year. But this trail, winding through the mixed-conifer forest at around 8000′ elevation, just happens to be oriented perfectly to catch the magic light of a sunny winter afternoon. If you leave downtown Santa Fe right after lunch and make the short drive to the trailhead just inside the National Forest, you can look forward to about a two mile round trip walk on a well maintained trail, with plenty of parking just off Hyde Park Road.

The Chamisa Trail makes its way through a forest that is transitioning from the pinyon- juniper woodlands that surround Santa Fe into the groves of Englemann spruce and aspen that cover the higher elevations of the Rockies. And in spite of its name, the only Chamisa bushes that grow along this trail are the ones in the disturbed meadow near the parking area But if you want to see examples of nearly each kind of conifer that grows around here, this is the trail to take. This is the home of the Douglas fir, with its fresh green needles and quirky cones with the little snake’s tongue sticking out. “White” firs give a sharp blue note to the forest. Crush one of its flat grey-green needles between your fingers and enjoy the scent of pineapple and the holidays. (This is the tree many of us in Santa Fe choose for our Christmas tree). Limber pines grow here, with their soft pom-pom bundles of needles and surprisingly big, pitch-covered cones. But the monarch of the forest, of course, is the Ponderosa, sporting platy cinnamon brown bark and long, olive-green, shiny needles held out on twisting branches that always make me think of Japanese woodcuts.

And all of this is bathed in glorious winter light.

A mile’s walk brings you to a dry and fragrant saddle with a signpost and a map that lets you see how far you’ve come along. This is a good place to retrace your steps and enjoy the warmth of the southern light on your face as you walk back to the trailhead. And don’t forget – as the sign there reminds you – to Breathe Deeply.