Acequia Trail Underpass GroundBreaking

After many months of delays the groundbreaking for the new bike and pedestrian tunnel linking the Railyard to the west Acequia Trail is set for this Wednesday, Aug 17th (Turns out it was a groundbreaking in name only - instead it was a formal announcement of groundbreaking planned for mid-September!). Construction is expected to take 6 months from beginning to end though some of this will be prep and landscape work rather than road closures.

Approximately 85% of the funding for this project source from a Federal Non-Motorized Transportation grant, the remainder from 2012 City Parks and Trails bonds. This won't keep un-informed and uninterested folks all over town from complaining about prioritizing spending. The project also spent many many years in planning, committees, and public meetings but this won't keep the same people from belly-aching about design or the need for an overpass or unrelated hang-ups, etcetera, etc., ad infinitum. Bottom line is that all of this new and sorely needed infrastructure is going to change the town for the better, tying together adjacent neighborhoods, increasing land values and incentivizing private investment, and increasing foot traffic for local businesses.

Acequia Trail Tunnel - Schematic drawings

A related project that will likely arrive on the heels of the new underpass is the re-work of the Rail Trail segment along Pen Rd and the Rail Runner Station between Cordova and Alta Vista. Trees will be added as will improved road crossings and safety medians. Planning is complete and funding has been allocated from previous bond sales. This whole area will be spruced up and looking fine.

Groundbreaking Celebration: Wednesday Aug 17th, 4pm

Related Posts:
 - Delays in Pending Trail Projects (2016)
 - Acequia Trail Underpass Scheduled for this Fall (2015)
 - Arroyo Chamisos Underpass Nears Completion (2012)

Delays in Pending Santa Fe Trail Projects

Several Santa Fe city trail projects that appeared to have been slated for work prior to year-end 2015 have yet to move forward. There's sadness and disappointment each time I'm running errands on the bike scanning for the expected orange barrels and flags. These things are complex but with planning complete and funding in-hand the recent delays are difficult to explain. Pending projects include the Acequia Trail Underpass, the Pen Road connector, Dale Ball connector at the SF Canyon Preserve, various signage, etc.

My working theory on the stalled work is that the city's current financial problems are creating a freeze, and this affects the planned projects even though funds for trail construction source from bond money rather than city operating funds and shouldn't be affected by the coming budget cuts. The full reason is likely some combination of staffing uncertainty and a defensive political posture from the Council who would ultimately approve the ground-breaking on these projects.

A review of the Jan. minutes from the Bicycles and Trails Advisory Committee (BTAC) shows little if any discussion on the anticipated projects and no indication of construction planning. The next BTAC meeting is tomorrow evening (Wed 2/17), 530pm at City Hall. Should you ever have the itch to show up and discuss a trail topic know that public comments are welcome and are generally the third item on the evening's agenda after roll-call and approval of minutes.


Related Posts:
 - Acequia Trail Underpass Scheduled this Fall (Sep 2015)
 - Trail Improvement Page
 - Arroyo Chamiso Underpass Nears Completion (Jun 2012)
 - Santa Fe Rail Trail Improvements (Sep 2015)

Acequia Trail Underpass Scheduled this Fall

Artist's rendering of the new underpass. Much larger than the Zia Rd crossing.

The final public meeting for the Acequia Trail Underpass was held last night. Groundbreaking for the project is expected in as soon as 6-8 weeks. Construction of the entire project is expected to take approx. 9 months, with a focus on completing the tunnel and disrupting traffic on St. Francis much quicker than this. Unlike many Santa Fe developments, this is a project that directly benefits those that live here. It bears remembering that the construction of St Francis Drive back in the 60's divided neighborhoods and projects of this sort begin to bind them together once again.

The meeting was an open house that drew the regular crew of cyclists, urban planners, and grumpy neighbors to discuss the project with the designer and city park and trails managers. Part of the project design was completed by local landscape architect Solange Serquis whom entertained my many questions. I was especially fond of her use of trees and rock work to lighten up what has always been a sad and dusty intersection. Unusually, several city councilors were in attendance (Bushee, Lindell, possibly Rivera) though I didn't get a minute to chat. Wasn't certain if they were there to be seen as part of such a large non-motorized infrastructure project or perhaps to get a feel for the public mood of such an undertaking.

Cross section view of traffic overhead, the underpass, and east/west entrances

This major piece of the city's urban trail network has been in planning for at least seven years if not longer. Dozens of public meetings led to this point. Big discussions three years back focused on whether the transportation link should be an overpass or underpass, with many elected officials advocating for a more visible, possibly iconic overpass at the city's busiest intersection. The majority of trail users backed the practicality and ease of use of an underpass (a no-brainer in my opinion). The two valid criticisms of the project at this time were user safety (minimized with several lighting and design elements), and the price tag. Cost estimates were large enough that the underpass was designated a non-priority project in the city's transportation plan with maybe an 8-12 year time horizon. This was until a $3.8m federal grant came through last fall and suddenly the largest and most visible non-motorized transportation project in the city's plans was green-lit. The incoming federal dollars equate to $7 in matching funds for each $1 of invested city funding for this project. Or when compared with the $15m in city voter approved trail bonds since 2008, this sum equals a direct return on public trails infrastructure investment of 25%. This is a straight up coup, and whomever wrote up that grant application deserves free drinks and several million hi-fives.

The overview drawings. Railyard Park at right. 

Well then, exciting times and lots to think about. Will the project be complete for next year's May Bike-and-Brew event? Unlikely I suppose. Will complaints from the pending construction traffic be loud and bellicose? Undoubtedly, but this would surely be the case for any road construction anywhere in town for any reason. In return for a few months of traffic cones the planned improvements will be of use for generations of Santa Feans. Will this project lead to more private investment and revitalization in nearby neighborhoods and/or along the nearby St. Francis and Cerrillos corridors? I'd assume yes. How soon until an underpass is feasible along the Santa Fe River Trail at Alameda? I'd guess it's a ways out unless another generous federal grant were to come along to grease the skids.

Update: Trail project delays run into Spring of '16

Related Posts:
 - Acequia Trail Underpass Funding (2014)
 - Arroyo Chamiso Underpass (2012)
 - Area Trail Improvements Page
 - Improvements to the Santa Fe Urban Trail System (2012)



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Acequia Trail Underpass - Queued Up

Last week's Santa Fe Reporter was the bike issue. Terrific read. Everything bikes and trails and bike shops. Lotta great stuff including a piece about the west section of the Railyard and its old derelict caboose, (a personal favorite of mine). Embedded in the article was mention of $3.8 million in Federal transportation funding that very recently became available for construction of the often discussed Acequia Trail Underpass connecting the Railyard to the Baca Street District.

This was the first I'd seen or heard of this new money. After a quick search I found a Julie Ann Grimm piece, also in the Reporter, confirming the new funding. It means that ground breaking on the new underpass/trail connector is a go, possibly in the spring or summer of next year. Planning and designs for the project have long been in place and the public comment process was completed this spring (underpass preferred to overpass). The remaining hold-up was funding, or rather, a priority mis-match in spending this great sum for the benefit of a critical yet relatively low-demand section of the trail network. The city will need to come up with $500,000 to cover remaining project costs, and this funding happens to be immediately available due to a June City Council decision to defer construction on the Alameda Underpass (Santa Fe River Trail) and instead re-allocate the $1.9 million in bond funds for that project across several smaller projects.

Coincidentally, one recipient project of the re-allocated funding will be the western-most terminus of the Acequia Trail, the connector that will feed into the Santa Fe River Trail from South Meadows Rd to ~San Felipe Rd and Agua Fria. This portion of the River Trail is an orphan section built-out last year with available federal funds targeted for The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This western end of the River Trail falls within the National Parks Service alignment of the historic Camino Real, and the federal dollars became available before the County could work on the surrounding parts of the trail network. An additional recipient project of the new funding will be the planned spur from the Camino Real section to the soccer fields at the Municipal Rec Complex along Caja del Rio Rd. The tunnel under NM 599 is already there, built along with the road. I've been through it but it's literally choked under several feet of tumble weeds. I imagine this new money will be used to clear out the weeds and chamisas along the trail itself, and add a few signs so you know where the hell you're at and where you're going.

Conceptual designs of the new underpass - from above and at path level.

Related Posts:

 - Multi Use Trails Update (2014)
 - Arroyo Chamiso Underpass (2012)

 - Trail Work - Arroyo Chamiso Trail (2014)

 - The Santa Fe Urban Trails System

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Drink Beer - Support Local Trails

Awesome squared

Stopped off at 2nd Street Brewery last night. They're canning some of their beer now which is a terrific addition. They're also featuring a special batch of brew with the handle, Boneshaker Bitter, which is being marketed in tandem with the 20th anniversary of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. $.25 from each pint or can will go toward support of the SFCT and their mission to preserve land, build and maintain some of our largest rec trails on said land, and advocate for starry nights.

It's fitting that the two organizations are working together. Both 2nd Street Brewery locations sit along the Rail Trail, and though they're located on the city maintained sections, the Trail as it extends south of town toward Eldorado was one of the first efforts of the fledgling Conservation Trust back in 1994 (along with the build-out of the Dale Ball Trails). 2nd Street's campaign aims to raise at least $5,000 in funds for the Trust, in addition to providing a marketing platform for greater public support of their programs.

The Trust currently does more for area biking/hiking/running trails than any other organization in Santa Fe. Through their trail maintenance arm, the Santa Fe Trails Alliance, they organize and manage regular volunteer trail maintenance days on lands they hold in trust (Dale Ball, Arroyo Hondo) and those they don't (La Tierra, Winsor, Atalaya). A large pool of their volunteers is comprised of the good folks from the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society who - very appropriately - appreciate a well made beer from time to time.

Related Posts:
 - Craft Beer in New Mexico
 - The Santa Fe Rail Trail Re-Imagined
 - IMBA World Summit - Santa Fe, NM



View Santa Fe Rail Trail - Santa Fe, NM in a larger map

Street Art and the Painted Desert Project

High Desert Babe wheels past Thomas' Love Train mural - July 2011

The east end of Santa Fe's Railyard Park has a big 'ol red caboose parked there near St Francis Drive northbound. It's been there for as long as I can remember. Someday soon there'll be a cool new underpass constructed right there that will neatly tie the Railyard/Guadalupe Districts to the Hickox/St Anne/Baca St Districts of town along the new Acequia Trail.

That Railyard caboose has just sat there overlooking things from its well-trafficked perch through the last several decades. She can generally look pretty worn down, especially when aspiring young artists markup the red car-walls with tags and immature scribbles. In the fall of 2010 however, the caboose looked glorious. Artist Chip Thomas (aka Jetsonorama) was commissioned to put up a wheat paste mural of playing children, and the transformation of old railway relic to contemporary art chic was jarring. I loved to ride by there and marvel at how glue paper and ink could have such a bold effect on that forever-dusty corner setting.

Pool Diver

The paper and images have worn away since then with sun exposure and the rotation of seasons. The Pool Diver on the north-facing side remains but the piece has poor visibility from trail or road. I often wonder if the caboose will be re-done and made new again! Better yet, what other number of scribbled walls and faded surfaces around town or beside the trails could be costumed with new meaning and fresh outlook?

All this imaginating and curiosity got me reading about the artist, Chip Thomas - and whoa - could not have envisioned what an impossibly badass guy this dude is. Grew up in New York, heavily influenced by the nascent hip-hop and graffiti scene (now more developed and categorized as street art). He now works as a practicing physician with Indian Health Services on the Navajo Nation and in his spare time dreams up and  pastes these transfixing images that mirror the people and lands themselves. An extended body of work that he and visiting artists and his pasting team (calling themselves No Reservations Required) pulled together in 2012 they call the Painted Desert Project. The images themselves are ordinary, but their size and setting somehow become extraordinary when viewing. I love what this guy does.

All work by Chip Thomas
More images at the artist's site, speakingloudandsayingnothing.blogspot.com

John Begishie

King Fowler

Laughing Woman

Open Hand

Standing Sheep

Watching Tank

Ben

Related Posts:
 - Shepard Fairey's Newest Artwork
 - New York's Incredible High Line Park
 - Not Seen on Treadmills - Shepard Fairey Edition

Last Minute Charitable Giving to Outdoor Organizations

SFCT and the Trails Alliance - Since 1993

Several of the organization that take care of our trails around town and in northern New Mexico are tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations, meaning, that if you're looking for a few end-of-year tax deductions (or are just feeling generous) you ought to consider sending a few $$$ their way before end-of-day on the 31st.

The two organizations that (far and away) provide the most improvements and volunteer days on our trails are The Trails Alliance (the volunteer arm of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust), and the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society. Terrific groups that could use a Saturday of your time as well as your financial support. If you've used a trail in the Santa Fe area over the last 20 years, The Conservation Trust is who you want to give thanks and appreciation.

SFFTS - Since 2011

As far as the running community and support for running programs and events in and around Santa Fe, the most active organizations are the Santa Fe Striders, Girls on the Run, and WINGS of America. Most of the overflow revenue generated by the Striders is directed to the latter two organizations so you might consider just contributing to them directly.

Most of these folks are setup to accept funds electronically at the links below. Give them a boost and support the outdoors in Santa Fe and northern New Mexico:

  - Girls on the Run
  - Santa Fe Trails Alliance and the Santa Fe Conservation Trust
       (also supported by the Banff Film Festival, the La Tierra Torture, XTERRA Glorieta, 2nd Street Brewery)
  - Santa Fe Fat Tire Society (via membership)
  - WINGS of America
  - Santa Fe Watershed Association (manages the SF River)
  - Southwest Nordic Ski Club (nordic ski trails in Los Alamos)
  - The Santa Fe Striders (via the button below)

Related Posts:
 - The Santa Fe Rail Trail Re-Imagined
 - Winsor Trail Improvements

The Santa Fe Rail Trail Re-Imagined

The Pistol - out rippin' miles like a boss

In light of the recent trail and forest closures due to excessive fire danger (our second closure in three years), I thought I'd write about the Rail Trail which will remain open during the closures and for that reason is likely to see a bit more foot and cycling traffic over the next couple months. Because the southern section of the trail is relatively flat and has only one road crossing (Rabbit Rd) it's ideal for long marathon training runs (20+) and for non-technical mountain bike rides if you or someone in your riding group lacks the skillset to negotiate Dale Ball or La Tierra.

The Rail Trail is a genuine classic, holding title as the oldest of our in-town trails. It predates the Arroyo Chamisos Trail (footpaths before the trail was put in), by several years if not longer. As such, it stood as the template for the many trails that have come afterward including Arroyo Chamisos (1997), Dale Ball (2001), and eventually the Santa Fe River and Acequia Trails. The Winsor, Borrego, and Atalaya trails are much older, but they traverse the foothills and high county and share a pastoral history that generally belongs in an all together different class of trail systems.

Thirty years ago the Rail Trail was primarily an ad-hoc route that followed along the Santa Fe Rail Line from Arroyo Hondo and Sunlit Hills up to the city limits. Eldorado was just being built out then and Lamy was a as sparsely populated as it is now. An adventurous friend I knew in high school would occasionally bike in along the rail line all the way from Glorieta, (he also happened to be a state champion runner). But things changed for the better in 1994 when Stewart Udall and the newly formed Santa Fe Conservation Trust stepped in and secured the land in trust, and with some federal funding that they cobbled together they were able to build out a few re-routes and development of actual sections of trail separate from the railbed cobbles and rail-ties.

New trail improvements include a planed surface and significant erosion control - Fall 2012

Rock work and an newly elevated section near the tracks - Fall 2012

Looking north at the newly elevated path. It's completed now.
Note the snow in the highcountry when the photo was taken. 

Cadillac pedestrian crossing out in BFE

The Rail Trail has been improved on a couple times since, most notably the formal development of the trail from the city/county line out on Rabbit Rd through town and into the new Railyard Plaza in 2008. Formal trailheads were also put in at Nine Mile Rd, Rabbit Rd, and Zia & St. Francis at that time. Last summer (2012) saw the completion of stage 1 of a new alignment and re-grade of the trail, bringing the trail up to code by setting it a minimum distance from the tracks, building in fence lines and signage, and adding features for better drainage and maintenance of the trail. The work involved the two miles of trail between Rabbit Rd and the Spur Trail. I don't recall the sequence in which work is scheduled on the other sections but I believe the Eldorado portion attracts the second most traffic along the trail and so they are next in line.

New signage

Old signage. True story - I probably ran out a couple hundred miles on the Rail Trail
before someone pointed these mile markers out to me.  Just never noticed them I guess. 

I love the what they've done to the trail. It's just gorgeous now with most if not all of the sand sections and widowmaker potholes removed (not fun to be surprised by one of these at night). The new rock work and berms provide texture and capture the proper aesthetic. My favorite times to be on the trail are daybreak, sunset, and at full moon. Unmatched views. The major new complaint from rec users that I hear often is that in an effort to make the trail more accessible all technical elements have been sanitized and removed. Bollocks, I say! If you get out and explore a little a bit you'll find that there's miles of untouched singletrack on the east side of the tracks. Great for running, less great for riding in my opinion because in my experience sand and blind potholes lead to unnecessary separation from the bike followed by pain and discomfort. If your aim is technical riding why mark the Rail Trail anyway when Dale Ball sits beckoning only a few miles to the east? The two offer very different trail experiences. One is a national class recreation trail, Dale Ball; the other is a stellar off-road commuter route amenable to jogging strollers, the Rail Trail. Decades in the making no less.

Now get out there and make it happen. Explore your trails.

Miles 6, 7, and 8 - on any given summer evening on the Rail Trail. 

Related Posts:
  - Rail Trail Improvements Update (Sep 2015)
  - Train Trestle Loop
  - Cycling the Rail Trail - Zia Rd to Nine Mile Rd'
  - Luminaries on the Rail Trail



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Craft Beer in New Mexico

This evening is the first annual Santa Fe Summer Brew at the Railyard Plaza. Sort of a follow-up on several successful area beer-garden events in the last few years presented by the New Mexico Brewers Guild (see: 2011's WinterBrew). Herman and I, and a few of our other traildog buddies plan to be there lingering about, sampling the merchandise as it were.

In a very timely article, New Yorker Magazine has compiled and published some interesting figures just this week about the meteoric growth of the craft beer industry over the last few years. There are currently 2,360 breweries (not including brew-pubs) in the U.S., up from just 79 in the 1980's. In a very cool interactive graph the magazine pulled together you can see that New Mexico is the home to 27 small brewer/bottlers, more than half of which will be at tonight's Summer Brew event. This collection of craft brewers ranks NM 26/50 states, and together they produced 48,000 barrels of hops flavored go-juice last year which ranks us 31/50 states. New Mexico's craft brewery to population ratio is even more impressive, 6.6 per 500,000 residents - which slots us 12th out of the 50 states.

Other interesting facts: The largest craft brewers by production are Sam Adams (Boston, MA), Sierra Nevada (Chico, CA), and New Belgium (Fort Collins, CO). A list of the 50 largest breweries by volume can be browsed in the click-through graphic.

Cool inter-active craft brewery figures by state. Disregard the unintentional focus on the state of Texas.

Related Posts:
  - Drink Beer - Support Local SF Trails
  - Santa Fe WinterBrew
  - New Belgium Brewery and Their Awesome Beer



View New Mexico Craft Beer in a larger map

Banff Returns to Santa Fe - March 18 & 19

Kent Little is once again bringing the Banff Film Festival to Santa Fe and the Lensic Theatre. Along with sponsors Hutton Broadcasting and KBAC Radio Free Santa Fe, Santa Fe Prep, and the Lensic Performing Arts Center, two screenings of the 20th Annual Banff Film Festival are scheduled for 7pm on March 18 & 19th .

Kent used to host the annual Banff screenings as owner of Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works, which sadly closed its doors two years ago. But Banff lives on! - and Kent has remained active through his position on the Board of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust to continue the annual screenings. The Banff World Tour is a best-of screening of the year's top outdoors video-shorts and animation.

The screenings will showcase a different mix of Banff winners on each night. The shows are nearly always sellouts, seating is first-come-first-served, cash bar provided by the Lensic pre-show and at intermission - which is nice. Proceeds benefit the Santa Fe Conservation Trust (the driving force behind construction and maintenance of the many new rec. trails around Santa Fe), and the Lensic Theatre.

Related Posts:
  - Banff Film Festival 2012
  - Banff Film Festival 2011
  - Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works Closes its Doors
  - New Mexico Outdoors Calendar

IMBA World Summit - Santa Fe, NM

If you happened to wander downtown Santa Fe yesterday you probably noticed it had been half-overrun with mountain bikers and serious top-of-the-line bikes (there were also bus loads of Balloon Fiesta visitors which is nice to see but not remotely as interesting as the bikes. Bikes!). Yep, the IMBA World Summit is here and will be anchored at the SF Convention Center through Saturday discussing bike advocacy, trails and trail building, marketing and branding strategies, and naturally getting out for some riding on our local trails followed by green chile and refreshments at the local establishments.

New trail maps at La Tierra

This is huge for Santa Fe and it's the impetus for the city and county accelerating the time table on the La Tierra master plan and rushing work to install maps and building out proper trailheads at the site (heavy machinery was still at the site on Sunday). A lot of the ground work for this was done by members and volunteers of the Santa Fe Fat Tire Society and the Santa Fe Trail Alliance (the volunteer arm of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust) and their partner sponsor REI Santa Fe (general manager Bob Ward is a huge trail advocate and bikeaphile). Literally thousands of volunteer hours have gone into our trail systems this summer, and if you're a frequent visitor it's impossible not to notice.

A couple of World Summit events open to the public include a scooter criterium on the Plaza this Friday (7pm), followed by a screening of Where the Trail Ends - Red Bull's new mountain bike feature - at the Santa Fe Convention Center ($10 admission). This afternoon, Thurs. 10/11, Red Bull athlete Darren Barrecloth and a few of his bros will be out at the La Tierra Jump Park beginning at 5pm. I don't know much about Darren but do know that he rode in Red Bull Rampage this year which is the equivalent of surfing Mavericks, skiing Valdez Alaska, or climbing alpine big walls. Only dudes with spooky levels of technical skill admitted.

The La Piedra Trail - Dale Ball

La Piedra Trail - Descending the zipline

Among the many new trail projects around Santa Fe in the last year, a real keystone to the area's bike trails has been developing east of town - the La Piedra Connector Trail. La Piedra will tie together the national class Dale Ball Trails system in Santa Fe's east hills with the older and much more extensive Winsor Trail system that stretches north and east of town through the Santa Fe National Forest with access to the Pecos Wilderness and places north - like Penasco. An ambitious Santa Fean can now thru-hike (or run) 40+ miles across the Sangres to the Santa Barbara campground without crossing a road. I love to think about that. Specifically, the Connector will link the north loop of Dale Ball (north of the Sierra del Norte trailhead) with the Little Tesuque Creek Trail 1.5 miles to the north. Little Tesuque links to Winsor through a steep climb north to the Burn Trail.

The La Piedra Connector is the work of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust, its executive director Charlie O'Leary, and the SFCT's volunteer affiliate the Trails Alliance of Santa Fe. Funding came in from local contributors (you can be one too!), proceeds from the Banff Film Festival screenings this spring, as well as proceeds from the La Tierra Torture bike races. Charlie mentioned that a five-figure grant came in from a California Foundation whose trustee held fond memories of running in the hills above Santa Fe, which is awesome. The Trust was founded in 1993 by conservationist scion Stewart Udall, and is primarily responsible for negotiating the public easements and legal work required in setting aside privately owned land parcels for non-developed use in perpetuity. SFCT negotiated public/private easements for the initial construction of the Dale Ball Trails in the 90's, early improvements to the Rail Trail, as well as development of the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, the Cerrillos Hills Preserve, La Tierra Trails, and most recently - the Galisteo Basin Preserve.

My crew from the Trails Alliance of Santa Fe. At far left are Lynn and Charlie.

Some instruction on how to use our lobotomizers for good, not evil

The Dale Ball Trails have become a fixture in town, and the model for all the miles of recreation trails that have been built since. In fact it's difficult to remember when none of this was here. Being a native to the area I can tell you that back when I left for school, Santa Fe had only arroyos, Atalaya, and Winsor. The parcel of land that the Connector now runs through has long been eyed as the finishing piece of the iconic trail system. According to O'Leary, the landowner that placed the parcel in trust knew this and it was the primary motivator for doing so. The new trail crosses through the beginnings of the La Piedra arroyo drainage which it takes its name from.

On the trek in - making trail sons!

Working with the SF Trails Alliance, SFCT designed and mapped out a workable trail through the easement boundaries and contracted a team out of Albuquerque to conduct the initial trail cut. Work was originally planned to have begun in October but was pushed off until this spring when local volunteers including entire trail maintenance teams put together by the Santa Fe Fat TireSociety and REI Santa Fe knocked out much of the detail work by hand, including armoring switchbacks and corners, erosion controls, trail sloping, etc. I got out there and helped too. Myself and another Santa Fe badass named Lynn cleared out a load of deadfall and fixed up other drainage issues on the westside gully before the up-and-over into Little Tesuque. When you ride/run through there and see how awesome it is - you know who to mentally high-five.

The land parcel is limited in size, and as designed the Connector has a lot of tight, technical switchbacks in a steep descent down into the Little Tesuque drainage east of Bishop's Lodge. Thirty-three switchbacks by my count including a few more in the climb preceding the descent. A group of us ran it out the day after our trail maintenance work and it was fantastic. A terrific addition to the growing trail network.

Out with friends the day after - crushing the switchbacks

And down, and down, and further still - down

Blue blazes trace the way up the Burn Trail

At the fence-line to Winsor and beyond

At the Juan Trail/Burn Trail highpoint - Tesuque Peak in view

Related Links

 - The Santa Fe New Mexican (Oct. 4, '11)
 - Santa Fe Area Trails Listing

View Dale Ball Trail System - Santa Fe, NM in a larger map

Banff Film Festival 2012 - Santa Fe

The Banff tour rocked a sold-out Lensic Theatre Wednesday night in support of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. The 16th year the tour has come through Santa Fe. Pretty much all of the town's outdoor crowd were there to see the year's films, chatting it up and draining Pacificos before-hand and during intermission.

As always the short-films and photography were phenomenal. The evening's show started things off with a couple skiing shorts from Sherpa Cinema's feature length All.I.Can which I was familiar with. Lots of fun nonetheless.




Sometime mid-show there was a feature about the Canadian coastal wilderness in the path of a major proposed oil pipeline. The Great Bear Rainforest. Fantastic place, and a really impressive look at the effort of a team of photographers going to battle with big industry using the power of their images and public perception.




The evening closed with a fantastic short by Boulder's Peter Mortimer titled 'Sketchy Andy', featuring slack-line master-of-horror Andy Lewis doing ridiculous things on a tensioned slack-line. Think Dean Potter minus the zen, coupled with the deep ink-black insanity of the late Dan Osman. Cool stuff but the guy is clearly un-well.




Fun times. Motivated now to get out and get my own. The trails are calling.
Last year's best of Banff clips can be found here.

Santa Fe WinterBrew

Last night was the first annual Santa Fe WinterBrew, a craft beer festival featuring breweries from around the state in conjunction with the second annual Santa Fe Winter Fiesta. It’s a crying shame that I forgot the camera because this thing was freaking awesome.

Sid and I arrived at 630pm and stood in line for a half hour to get in, by then the commemorative pint glasses were long gone. I was told they had 570 glasses on hand and something like 1500 people showed up over the course of the evening. This was at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion, the place was past capacity at 630pm to allow anyone else in. Holy shitballs! Along with the breweries and beer we naturally saw a ton of people – Tom and Sheila, Palmer and Lanell, Scott Hussion and Tommy Olsen from the ‘hood, Kennedy and his new family, and Herman who was walking the queue outside handing out discount passes. I think just about everyone in town under the age of 40 had to have been there. I’d never seen anything like it. 

Packed the house - Santa Fe Farmer's Market Pavilion

Some recognition for our namesake High Desert Brewing out of Las Cruces who brew a fine Anniversary Ale IPA

Waiting to get in, Sid and I were sincerely concerned that the beer would run dry since the place was such a zoo. Thankfully it did not. We bought ourselves some pint glasses at the Blue Heron Brewing table and proceeded to sample just about all the stouts and porters brewed in the state of New Mexico. Most were outstanding. Chama River Brewing was exceptional. I tried a couple of Black IPAs - something I’d never heard of or even seen before - from the Santa Fe Brewing Co. and Tractor Brewing Co. out of Los Lunas. These were far and away the winning beers from where I was standing. Tom Anderson insisted that the Turtle Mountain Brewing IPA had no equal. I respect Tom but he was clearly misinformed. 

This event, without question needs to be repeated next year. And they need to double the size of the venue to fit everyone inside. Beer plus snow is an unstoppable combination, the lack of photos does not do it justice. Apparently there was an after-party at Second Street Railyard that must have been fun (and rowdy) as all hell. Sad to have missed it.