Name: Scott, aka "The Santa Fe Naturalist"
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Bio: New Mexico is an almost perfect place to explore the Earth’s history, because it’s all laid out here for you to see. From the ancient rocks that glitter coldly in the mountains above Santa Fe to the ashy cliffs west of town that have barely cooled off, travelers here can find windows into the past wherever they look. Let Scott Renbarger, Director of Sales at the Inn on the Alameda, be your online guide to the remarkable natural world that surrounds Santa Fe.
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- A natural abstract painting of lichen and gneiss along the trail
The Butterfly Meadow
June 28th, 2010Santa Fe National Forest: The Aspen Vista Trail
The Aspen Vista Trail is probably the most popular trail in the Santa Fe area. The trailhead, with abundant parking, is around 14 miles from downtown Santa Fe, right along Hyde Park Road (NM 475) and the trail itself is a 5.7 mile doubletrack with a wide grade and wonderful views, especially in the autumn. The elevation of the trailhead is at 10,000 feet, and if you make it to the crest of Tesuque Ridge, you’ll find yourself on the lip of a cirque at nearly 12,000 feet, well above tree line.
The hike I’ll be describing is a much shorter excursion of about a mile, with a steep side trip along upper Tesuque Creek to a unique meadow. While the Aspen Vista Trail is open to dogs on leashes, livestock, and mountain bikers, the unmaintained path to the meadow is steep and littered with downed aspen, making it impassible for livestock and bikes. This is definitely a summer and autumn hike. Be prepared for thunderstorms from June through September.
The Butterfly Meadow from my rain shelter under a spruce tree
Several years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to a butterfly census around the Fourth of July weekend, led by a local lepidopterist (the oddest things happen in Santa Fe) and the high point of the walk – literally – was a tiny meadow along upper Tesuque Creek, just off the Aspen Vista Trail. Full of flowers – and butterflies – this little rift in the forest has been a favorite place to visit over and over again, to enjoy the changing palate of wildflowers that it offers over half the year. Although it has no formal name, for me it will always be the Butterfly Meadow. It’s a remarkable spot.
I still haven’t learned the names of all the flowers that live there. I learned three new ones this weekend alone, among which was a showy member of the mustard family that grows with its feet in the water:
Bittercress in Tesuque Creek
Who would have guessed that a hot-tempered plant like a mustard would like a frigid mountain stream?
The first of the seductive (and poisonous) Monkshoods are unsheathing their jewel-toned cowls:
Monkshood flowers
At this time the meadow is full of pale lavender Richardson geranium, bright yellow Mountain parsley, intensely red Scarlet Indian paintbrush, pink and blue Franciscan bluebells, and twinkly-white Cowbane. Deep carmine King’s crown is blooming along the creek, and there is plenty of magenta Shooting star along the walk up the path. Nature journalists have to bring all their colored pencils this time of year!
Franciscan bluebells and ferns in the meadow
Rock-lovers will enjoy the boulders of high-grade gneiss that fill the meadow:
Twinberry blooming in front of a beautifully banded gneiss
And of course – once the sun breaks out of those ominous thunderheads that have already gathered over Tesuque Ridge – the butterflies appear as if by magic:
Variegated Fritillary enjoying the sun
Butterflies aren’t the only creatures that enjoy this meadow:
Some nice ladies enjoying a picnic. This could be you!
Having disregarded my own advice about bringing rain gear, and tempting the summer rain gods thereby, I was of course caught in shower that came up with remarkable speed. Pellets of stinging ice were soon added, although I was spared the thrill of lightning. I crept under the dense skirts of a short Engelmann spruce that swept the ground and was immediately snug and dry in a fragrant cave where I could sit quietly and wait out the rain. And in that way that nature has of offering you a treasure if you will only be quiet and receptive, toward the end of my wait I spotted a carefully hidden nest among the boughs – the work of a Hermit thrush – with a perfect jewel lovingly set within:
A hidden jewel
I wouldn’t have spotted this in a hundred chattering hikes among the spruce and aspen. It took a time of enforced quietude for me to receive this gift.
Every weekend brings a new wave of blooms and butterflies to the mountains above Santa Fe, now that summer is here. You could do no better than to take John Muir’s advice:
“Keep close to nature’s heart . . . and break clear away once in a while, climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. . . Go to the mountains and get their glad tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”
Getting there: The Aspen Vista trailhead is clearly accessible at the eastern end of the extensive parking area along Hyde Park Road. From the Inn on the Alameda, you turn north on Paseo de Peralta, and then turn right at the light at the intersection of Paseo with Bishops Lodge Road. A second right at the next light, which is Artist Road, or NM 475, puts you on your way.
The path to the Butterfly Meadow is about 0.8 miles along the Aspen Vista walk, just after you see the sign that says “Tesuque Creek Trail” (which heads off downhill to your right). A few steps further along, you’ll see the creek flowing under the road, with the informal trail up the mountain just in front. You’ll be making a left turn and heading uphill. It’s a steep hike of about 0.2 miles, with lots – and I mean lots, after our hard winter – of downed aspen to step over, under, and around.
Tesuque Creek
The Zen Forest
June 14th, 2010Pecos Wilderness: The Winsor Trail
The Winsor Trail is Santa Fe’s gateway into the Pecos Wilderness from the west. Its most popular trailhead is near the western end of the large parking area of Ski Santa Fe, at an elevation of 10,240 feet. On the map for which I’ve provided a link, the portion of the trail from the parking area to its intersection with the Nambe Lake Trail is shown, a walk of about 2.5 miles one way. There is a relentless elevation gain of 760 feet in about a mile, to reach the crest of Raven’s Ridge and the entrance to the Pecos Wilderness, so be prepared – this is the price everyone must pay to enjoy this beautiful walk.
Dogs on leashes, mountain bikes, and livestock are allowed on the Winsor Trail. You can hike this trail year round, but it is snow covered in the winter and snowshoes or cross-country skis might be necessary. Thunderstorms are very frequent in the summer and you’ll want to bring at least some light rain gear, because the showers are chilling. Lightning and hypothermia are dangers once you get above tree line.
A walk in the "Zen Forest" along the Winsor Trail above Santa Fe
The Winsor Trail, the local hiker’s route into the magnificent Pecos Wilderness east of Santa Fe, is beautiful from end to end, but there is a short section that passes through a grove of trees with such a remarkable quality of light and peace that I call it the “Zen Forest”. And since you can reach this place after only a two mile walk from the parking area at Ski Santa Fe, it makes an ideal destination for a day hike during your visit with us.
I’m not sure exactly what accounts for the appeal of this stretch of aspen. The mature trees, tall and widely spaced, let in a generous amount of the radiant northern light. The dark spruces are widely spaced as well, and hang their dark boughs down in a manner admired by the Arts and Crafts printmakers, contrasting beautifully with the bright upright aspen. Huge boulders and outcroppings of white stone emerge from the forest floor in sculptural forms, nestled in a sea of bright green heath and wildflowers. At any moment in this forest, you expect to hear the sound of temple bells, or catch a glimpse of a forest hermit reclining in the shadows.
Light and aspen
And the fragrance here is heavenly. In summer the air is drowsy with the balsamic scent of spruce needles, warming in the sun. In spring the powerful life-force of the tasseling aspen adds its note. And in fall, with the yellow leaves swirling down against an alpine blue sky and collecting on the stones, there arises the subtle fragrance of oriental lilies, faint but unmistakable, distilled somehow from the aspen leaves as they participate in the Eternal Return.
It’s hard for me to tell you exactly when you’ve reached the Zen Forest. Not too long after you’ve left the dense spruce thickets along the slow descent from the saddle at Raven’s Ridge, the trail begins to turn to the right, and aspen begin to replace the dark evergreens. These trees grow larger, the light magnifies, and presently you’ll reach a spruce whose branches sweep toward the trail, forcing adults to genuflect ever so slightly. You’ve entered the grove. By the time you reach the rustic little bridge over the Rio Nambe, you’ve left it.
Forest Service bridge over the Rio Nambe
Wildflowers are abundant here:
Golden Banner
In spite of the high elevation, some of these forest dwellers have an almost tropical luxuriance:
A spray of Corn Lily near the Rio Nambe
The clean white boulders that crop out in the Zen Forest add to the grove’s luminosity. A closer look at these rocks reveals complex patterns that hint at turbulent past lives:
Ancient metamorphic rock on the forest floor
Without leaving the thread of our story too far, I just want to mention that these are truly remarkable rocks. They are called migmatites, and they represent metamorphic rocks that have been subjected to geologic conditions so extreme that the rocks began to partially fuse, bleeding white granitic melt and contorting into fascinating marble-like patterns.
When you reach the cheerful Rio Nambe and leave the Zen Forest, you will catch views of Santa Fe Baldy shouldering its great massif skyward, to the north:
Santa Fe Baldy, looking north from a clearing near the Rio Nambe
This might even be your destination, if you are in good shape and you’ve left the trailhead early enough, on a cool summer’s morning. You’d be about a third of the way there, with a climb to a rocky summit at 12,622 feet still facing you. But you might be content instead to sit quietly by the stream and take in the peace of the forest, and then make your way back home, blessed by your brief sojourn among the aspen of the Zen Forest.
Heading home
Getting there: The parking area at Ski Santa Fe is approximately 16 miles from the Santa Fe Plaza, at the very end of NM 475. From the Inn on the Alameda, you turn north on Paseo de Peralta, and then turn right at the light at the intersection of Paseo with Hyde Park Road. A second right at the next light, which is Artist Road, or NM 475, puts you on your way. The Winsor Trail trailhead is clearly marked at the northwestern corner of the parking area, and the Forest Service maintains some pit toilets and picnic facilities there. It would not hurt to bring a trail map if this is your first walk on the Winsor Trail. You can download the PDF from the link I provided above, or purchase a map at the Travel Bug right next door to the Inn.
A Rocky Mountain iris in a meadow near the Winsor trailhead
The Acceleration into Summer
June 2nd, 2010
Since this is a State Park, there is a $5 day use fee, payable at the parking area near the entrance of the park. There are no camping facilities.
Apache Plume in full headdress in the Cerrillos Hills
We are moving rapidly into summer, here in the Southern Rockies, and the natural world is bursting with activity. My favorite change can be seen from here in Santa Fe, looking up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east: the grey expanses of aspen high on the mountains are donning their bright yellow-green coat, with the usual suddenness that never fails to impress me. It’s a look as soft as the fuzz on an elk’s new antler, and as welcome as summer itself.
The alchemy of change is strong up there among the leafing aspen, and this is that brief moment of transition when the fairies appear in the forest. By which I mean, the fairy flowers; those two species that seem the most fairy-like of all our woodland flowers here – the diminutive Red Columbine, and the elusive Calypso Orchid.
Red columbines along the Winsor Trail above Santa Fe
A flower like this, bright red, with nectaries perched well up into tubes, is naturally pollinated by hummingbirds, and you can hear the flying jewels chattering under the forest canopy and whirring about. The complexity of this flower is fascinating:
Hummingbird's view of a columbine
Even more intriguing are the ephemeral Calypso orchids, or fairy slippers. After finding just one of these, years ago, along the Bear Wallow Trail, I have been searching in vain for another look. Our wet winter must have been the key to my luck this year, because I found an entire cluster of these beauties:
Calypso bulbosa along the Winsor Trail
This orchid has a surprisingly sweet fragrance, although I have to warn you that you’ll have to put your head practically on the forest floor to enjoy it.
Meanwhile, here below, in the more arid hills, a tougher set of flowers is showing off its resiliency. Our newest State Park, the Cerrillos Hills State Park, south of Santa Fe, has been offering a variety of nature walks, and this past Sunday the park’s ranger Sarah Wood led a wildflower walk along the Jane Calvin Sanchez Trail. The walk was very well attended; I think nearly 40 people showed up.
Wildflower walk in the Cerrillos Hills, south of Santa Fe
You’d be surprised at the number of flowers that bloom in this harsh environment. There were far more species flowering here than up under the aspen. Sarah gave us the lowdown on the most abundant of these:
Sarah and the Narrow Leaf Yucca
And she talked about the native grasses, another set of flowering plants many of us overlook:
Grass flowers are tiny
There were splashes of color everywhere:
Paintbrush growing among the rocks
Verbena
This was a very pleasant way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon.
You can keep track of activities like these by visiting the State Park’s event website . And if you prefer to explore on your own, local bookstores like the Travel Bug, or Collected Works, or the Nature Center at the Randall Davey Audubon Center have good selections of guidebooks, from the most basic pamphlets, to tomes only a botanist could love.
Getting There: Cerrillos Hills State Park is about 25 miles south of Santa Fe, just a couple of miles off of Highway 14, the famous “Turquoise Trail” that connects Santa Fe to the eastern outskirts of Albuquerque. Turn into the scenic little village of Cerrillos, and then turn right at the sleeping dog – er, first stop sign, and follow the dirt road past the railroad tracks and Broken Saddle Riding Company to the park. Be sure and bring $5 to pay the day use fee.
The Rio En Medio Trail
May 17th, 2010Trail name: Rio En Medio: map link here.
Recommended seasons: The lower part of this trail is an all-seasons trail, although it can be icy in winter. There are a number of shallow water crossings and you’re likely to get your feet wet in spring runoff so plan accordingly. A walking stick helps with the crossings. Dogs (on leashes) and mountain bikes are permitted.
The parking at the lower, western trailhead is very limited.
Small cascades along the Rio En Medio
A walk along the lower parts of the Rio En Medio Trail is one of the more pleasant hikes you can make in the Santa Fe area, especially now that the weather is warming up. This trail practically defines the words “riparian environment” for me. At no time do you leave the pleasant gurgling music of the little creek, born far above, practically in the parking area of Ski Santa Fe, and the shade, the mix of vegetation – so different from the arid hills literally a few steps away from the trail – and the spectacle of an unexpected waterfall about a mile and a half up the walk all make this a very rewarding excursion.
The weather in Santa Fe was perfect on Sunday, far too nice to spend on any mundane yard work, and the Rio En Medio hike suggested itself immediately. The trailhead is about 14 miles north of Santa Fe, and the drive requires you to cruise through the little village of Tesuque, so if you haven’t packed a lunch, stop at the popular Tesuque Village Market for something to carry along. Their Dream Bars are. . . dreamy. A turn on NM 592 just beyond the village sends you into picturesque badlands and eventually brings you to a tiny trailhead, maintained by the National Forest Service, just past the little settlement of Rio En Medio.
The trail winds through bright green thickets of willow, river birch, and Rocky Mountain maple that cluster along the creek. In many places it passes through dark groves of Gambel Oak that grow out of the canyon walls. Some of these groves are so twisty and tangled that a friend and I call it the “Witches Forest”:
Tangles of Gambel Oak along the Rio En Medio Trail
Most of the trail is as cheerful as can be. There is an amazing show of Canadian violets this year:
Canadian violets
In places the canyon opens up a into tiny meadows that host sunny, fragrant groves of Ponderosa pine:
Ponderosa pines along the Rio En Medio
Some of these pines are impressively big, with thick, cinnamon-colored plates of bark:
An old Ponderosa
And if you haven’t done it before, this is the time of year to put your nose up to these thick boles and breathe in – you’ll get a very pleasant surprise.
One oddity I’ve noticed in the stream-laced canyons of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains here in Northern New Mexico is the occasional apple tree, growing far from cultivation. They are blooming now, in practically bridal bouquets:
Apple blossoms
Are they escapes, or are they remnants of old settlements far up here in the mountains?
About a mile and a half from the trailhead, the canyon walls begin to crowd together, and if you manage to keep to the creek – and don’t mind getting you feet wet – you can enter a small slot canyon carved into the granite and gneiss:
The "Little Chasm" along the Rio En Medio
And at the end of this box is a bright cascade of water, and a good place to have a snack:
Little Chasm Falls on the Rio En Medio
The main trail actually skirts this slot in the rocks and switchbacks up a steep outcropping of granite, with views of the falls from above. The trail continues much further along the creek and eventually brings you up to Ski Santa Fe, but I haven’t walked the entire length of the path. I do know that there is a very charming series of cascades above the waterfall, so you might want to keep on going a bit to see these.
Of course, I can’t leave you without mentioning the rocks. The Rio En Medio cuts its way through the tough crystalline rocks of the Santa Fe Range, and there are plenty of glittering fragments of metamorphic and granitic rocks along the path. But keep your eye peeled for an unusual variety of granite pegmatite called graphic granite, which I often find on a walk here:
A fragment of graphic granite on the forest floor
The intimate intergrowth of pink feldspar and grey quartz mimics runes or cuneiform writing, hence the name.
This is also a great walk for those birders out there, and if you are interested in butterflies, you’ll find them in abundance here. The Rio En Medio Trail is generous with everybody.
Getting there: From the Inn, take Paseo de Peralta north and around to its intersection with Bishop’s Lodge Road. Turn right, and follow Bishop’s Lodge Road north out of Santa Fe, through the village of Tesuque, to its intersection with NM 592. There is no stop sign or light at this intersection; look for the sign directing you to the Auberge Encantado resort. Follow this winding road into the village of Rio En Medio, about 5.5 miles away, and pass through the village on a very narrow, but paved road to the Forest Service Trailhead. Parking is extremely limited so you may have to be “creative” – but please abide by the wishes of the residents in the mouth of the canyon.
Eyes on the ground: Hiking the Dale Ball Trails in Santa Fe
May 10th, 2010
Trail name: Dale Ball Trails South: map link here and here.
Recommended seasons: These are all-seasons hikes. The trails can be snowy in winter but they are unsuitable for snowshoes. The Dale Ball Trail system ranges in elevation from 7000′ to 9000′ above sea level.
Dogs (on leashes) and mountain bikes are permitted. No horses. These trails are maintained by the City of Santa Fe and are very well marked.
I didn’t have as much time to spend up in the mountains as I usually do, this past weekend, and so on Sunday afternoon I made a short drive to the Nature Conservancy’s Santa Fe Canyon Preserve and had a walk along the Dale Ball Trail network up toward Picacho Peak – a hike I have described before. This is one of my favorite “I don’t have much time” hikes, one which I like to recommend to guests here at the Inn on the Alameda. My original intention was to follow the trail almost to the top of Picacho Peak, but then turn south and make a traverse that follows the ridge line over to Atalaya Mountain, another favorite destination for local hikers. But what with my late start, and a leisurely pace, I abandoned this plan when I got to the junction and turned back to make an equally leisurely walk back.
All of the Dale Ball Trails wind around in what can be considered the “foothills” of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which form Santa Fe’s dramatic backdrop. You’ll find quite a few local folks on these walks, many of them giving their dogs an outing. And while most of the trails stay in the “sun forest” of pinon pine that surrounds Santa Fe, green and fragrant all through the year, an observant hiker will find all kinds of signs of the changing seasons on the forest floor:
First flowers of "Perky Sue", an early-blooming composite in the aster family
New Mexico is favored by more flowering varieties of the penstemon clan than any other state. One of the first to bloom is the graceful little Sidebells penstemon. They need another week, but the pretty grey-green spikes, nodding as they do right before pulling themselves erect and flowering, are everywhere in the hills:
Sidebells penstemons about to bloom. Penstemon are in the snapdragon family.
Soon these will be holding up a spike of violet-pink trumpets, with a tiny little “beardstongue” sticking out of each one.
Cactuses bloom in May regardless of the weather. The southern exposures of the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo are home to all kinds of winter hardy cacti. Here’s a cluster of hedgehog cactus aching to bloom:
Flower buds on a hedgehog cactus
Already you can hear hummingbirds whirring through the forest, twittering with anticipation. And there are frisky lizards all over the rocks. I even saw a tiny little horned toad in the stony litter along the trail. I always consider this a blessing, since for years these odd creatures seemed to have vanished.
Everywhere you turn on these hikes, you seem to find peaceful, natural rock alcoves as serenely disciplined as a Japanese garden. This twisting pinon lacks nothing except a statue of the Buddha to complete the picture:
A pinon pine along the trail
And – you know me – you can never disregard the rocks. Everywhere you walk in the Santa Fe Range, you will find the ground littered with fragments of very coarse granites in striking colors of red, pink, and white:
A boulder of red granite pegmaite shot through with quartz
Many of these fragments of pegmatite shine with silvery plates of white mica, and very occasionally you will find even more exotic minerals within, like these crystals of black tourmaline sulking darkly in the heart of the granite:
Black tourmaline, or "schorl" exposed in a pegmatite dike
Too bad they’re not gem quality! Or maybe not. The general metallic barrenness of the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains spared them from the ravages of mining seen, say, up in Colorado, or south of us, in the Ortiz Mountains.
I’ll have more to say about the origin and significance of pegmatites in some future entry, but for now, I’ll just mention that these exotic rocks add a great deal of spice to your walks above Santa Fe. They fill fractures everywhere in the crystalline rocks, giving all sorts of interest to the outcroppings:
Pegmatite dike cutting across a ledge of gneiss
You probably noticed all these photographs were taken looking down. There are plenty of wonderful views along the Dale Ball Trail, believe me. But some of the subtlest signs of Spring – and the not so subtle evidences of ancient igneous activity – can only be seen with an attentive spirit – and eyes on the ground.
Go have a walk.
How to get there: the trailhead for the Dale Ball Trails South is in the parking area of the Nature Conservancy’s Santa Fe Canyon Preserve. From the Inn on the Alameda, follow Alameda Street east approximately one mile to where it ends in a 3-way stop. Turn left onto Upper Canyon Road and continue east approximately one mile, until the road makes a sharp left and becomes Cerro Gordo Road. Immediately after making this left turn, you will see the parking area for the Nature Conservancy to the right. The trailhead is marked at the far end of the parking area.
A Bad Day for Geology
May 3rd, 2010
Tesuque Creek in "Springtime" runoff
Perhaps I should modify that to say “a bad day for doing geology”, as in, it’s really hard to find subtle contacts in the rock record when the ground is covered in two inches of fresh snow, and the trail is still crusty with old snow (which I thought might be gone by now) and the critical exposures in the creek are covered by floods of ice water. I was pushing my luck, I admit, by driving up to the aspen belt and hoping for an idyllic stroll, but the weather this weekend put the icing on the cake – or rather, the mountains – with a spring storm that simply wouldn’t move along. Read the rest of this entry “
The Circle Trail
April 26th, 2010
A view through the trees along the Circle Trail
The snow is slowly retreating from the mountains above Santa Fe, although winter never gives up without a fight in the Rocky Mountains. There was a dazzling new coat of white on the high peaks only a few days ago, revealed the morning after a chilly and unwelcome flurry down here in town last week. But the spring runoff is in full force, the authorities are letting water out of the reservoirs into the little Santa Fe River, which is burbling happily across the street from the Inn, and the aspen and river birches are confident enough to put out fuzzy tassels in the lower reaches of the forested canyons that lead you into the Santa Fe Range. Read the rest of this entry “
Subduction leads to orogeny
April 19th, 2010
Hyde Park Road, turning east into Little Tesuque Canyon, a few miles from Santa Fe
That’s a little bit of lame undergraduate geology student humor, occasionally seen on bumper stickers. A sort of an inside joke – but one with more than a grain of truth about it. An orogeny is an episode of mountain-building, not so much in the sense of carving mountains out of the rocks, but more in the way of actually creating the hot, thickened and buoyant rocks themselves, which subsequently rise into a range of mountains. These mountains may be worn right down to the gums, subsequently, but the evidence of the disturbance will remain frozen in the new rocks, once they are uncovered by uplift and erosion. Read the rest of this entry “
Ghost Ranch and the Rim Vista Trail
April 13th, 2010
Colorado Plateau scenery from the Rim Vista Trail
One of the most rewarding day trips you can make during your visit to Santa Fe is an excursion up to the village of Abiquiu and beyond, past Georgia O’Keeffe’s house (where you might want to pre-arrange a tour) and into Ghost Ranch, where you are always welcome to stop at the Presbyterian Retreat Center and stretch your legs, or even have a picnic, surrounded by the spectacular pastel cliffs that drew Ms. O’Keeffe into their embrace for so many years: Read the rest of this entry “
Bandelier from above: the Frey Trail
April 5th, 2010
Looking down on the Tyuonyi ruins from the Frey Trail
You would think, after all the hiking I’ve done around Santa Fe and northern New Mexico over the years, that I would have discovered this overlooked gem long ago. But it took a last minute change of plans, leading me to an unpromising trailhead on the arid uplands of the Pajarito Plateau, to put me on its track. Read the rest of this entry “
