West Rim Trail - Taos, NM

Taos Gorge Bridge

We spent our Thanksgiving in Taos this November, a marvelous place to be for a few days and it generally helps us rest and re-set for the chaotically busy month of December. Terrific museums and restaurants for such a small town (recommended: The Love Apple, Blumenschein, Fechin House), plenty of trails and wide open spaces.

I got out for a few miles on the West Rim Trail. Views are really something out there, unparalleled honestly. The trail itself is decent though wouldn't have near the draw without the dramatic scenery. Big crowds and groups of people near the Taos Gorge Bridge which then thin out abruptly to maybe a half dozen hikers strung out over the remaining miles of trail. The full layout stretches 9.5mi one way ending near the Orilla Verde Rec Area, by Pilar.

It just so happened that I had been reading of the Rocky Mountain Sheep herds in the Gorge. Two herds were introduced in 2006-2007 and have been growing and doing quite well for themselves, no small feat in a very challenging state to grow wildlife stock. I knew nothing of this until reading of it, and you know, this is great news. Made me happy. I then saw a few dozen of the animals grazing the east rim during my run which was all very exciting as one can imagine. They were bunched right along the rim's edge and I made an attempt to take pictures though my photos didn't quite capture the moment.

The Gorge looking south

Another Taos favorite of mine is the Devisidero Trail which is set southeast of town near Ranchos de Taos. A 5-6 mile loop, though very steep with a similar profile to the summit of Atalaya Mountain. Just across the road from the Devisidero trailhead there's access to the famed South Boundary Trail.  


Above: The view looking east, Pueblo Peak and the white cap of Wheeler. There's sheep over there on the canyon rim eating their weeds but you'll have to take me at my word since they don't show up in the photo. Click thru for a larger image.


Related Posts:
 - Wheeler Peak, Taos NM
 - Additions to New Mexico's Wilderness: Columbine-Hondo
 - Enchanted Forest Ski Trails - Red River, NM

New Fall Trail Races - Ultra Santa Fe and Bull of the Woods

There are a couple of new trail races on the schedule this Fall with a lot of potential:
  - The inaugural Ultra Santa Fe at the ski basin (Sep 10th), and
  - The inaugural Bull of the Woods Trail Run up in Taos Ski Valley (Sep 17th).

Ultra Santa Fe - 13mi/50km/50mi, Sep 10, 2016
Santa Fe's first organized ultra at both 50k and 50mi distances. Race directors Peter Olson and Taylor Pardue have done a ton of work and promotion to launch this new race. The courses are terrific (including the first rate maps setup on the race website), starting/finishing at the ski area lodge and descending the network of forest service trails on to Dale Ball in town (great race viewing, cheering, and cow-belling) before circling back up the mountain.

As of this writing there are 66 entries to the ultra distances and another 75 at the half marathon distance. This is going to be the new area test-piece, and the scheduling ties in beautifully to the fall trail racing calendar: it's one week before the Bull of the Woods Trail Run and Buffalo Thunder Half (Sep17), three weeks before Big Tesuque (Oct 2), and five weeks before Pajarito and Duke City (Oct 17).

More details and registration info at the event website here.

SF Reporter write-up - 6/29/16
SF New Mexican write-up - 9/1/16

Bull of the Woods Trail Run - 8mi, Sep 17, 2016
A couple of local trail runners in Taos have managed to get approval at the Northside@Taos Ski Valley trail system to stage an 8 mile high altitude race. The mostly singletrack course runs between 10,000-11,000 feet elevation with magnificent views of Gold Hill, Kachina Peak, and Lobo Peak. The expectation is that in years to come the race will be expanded into offering longer distances, and perhaps a combination run with the Taos Ski Valley Up-&-Over, and potentially part of a Northern New Mexico trail race series!

More details and registration info at the event website here.

Related Posts:

 - Inaugural Plaza2Peak (2015)

 - Our Wild (Trail) Friends (2016)

 - Ravens Ridge - Pecos Wilderness Boundary (2015)

 - 2016 Outdoor Event Calendar

Snowpack at Santa Fe and Taos Fall Short of Last Season

Sunday was the final day of the ski season up at Ski Santa Fe. The final day as well up at Taos Ski Valley including the final day the resort will be operated by the Blake Family since its founding.

Not a great year for skiing in northern New Mexico due to the dry weather and light snowfall. Continuing a trend of below average years, this season's snowpack came in below last season even though the snow arrived a month early for us. Pajarito Mountain never opened. The departure of Santa Fe Mountain Sports marks the second ski retailer to close up shop in the last four three years. All a bit sad for those with memories of snow and wintry seasons of years' past.

Below are some interesting year-over-year comparisons, from this season and last, of reported base depths at Ski Santa Fe, Taos, and Crested Butte, CO. They're sourced from onthesnow.com , my go-to snow/ski app for tracking ski conditions (which is not at all helpful in NM since the next ski season is nine long months away). The base totals in red for Santa Fe and Taos clearly show the large early accumulations in Nov/Dec then very meager additions for the rest of the season until late the final month. Colorado saw quite a bit more in the way of moisture and storms beginning in February that just didn't sweep south to our end of the Rockies. Last year most of the Colorado snowpack tracked fairly evenly with ours, an average base depth at the Butte of 40-50in (not an impressive amount).


Lots of other cool snow stats to click through for recent years at the website, showing a highwater mark of 258in of total snowfall in calendar year 2010. Just 71in in 2007. Last year's snowfall, which mirrors this one, recorded 147in of total accumulations.

Related Posts:
 - Taos Ski Valley Bought up by Wall Street Financier
 - Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works Closes its Doors
 - New Mexico River Levels Spike to 30 times Average

Taos Ski Valley Bought up by Wall St Financier

Some eye-popping news out of Taos. The Blake family has agreed in principal to sell the family owned business to a billionaire east coast hedge-fund fella.

Family patriarch Ernie Blake first scouted the valley and built out the ski resort in the 50's, modeling it after the ski villas in his native German Alps. To this day Taos is far and away the best ski experience in New Mexico - steepest terrain, charming european feel, professional alpine trained staff and ski-school, cozy old-world bars to end the day.  

A potential plus to the deal is the needed influx of capital to open terrain with another lift or two. One has to imagine that the new owner, Louis Bacon, has lined up some type of continuity agreement with the Blake family not to blanket the place with condos and soul-less real estate developments. The guy touts himself as a conservationist so perhaps he sees this venture as a rewarding personal interest rather than just another business model in need of streamlining and optimization.

Kachina Peak, the East Ridge and The Bavarian Lodge

 - Outside Online - Adriana Blake on Selling Taos Ski Valley

 - Santa Fe New Mexican - Investor to buy Taos Ski Valley from Founding Family
 - NYTimes Dealbook - Bacon buys Taos Ski Resort