More Aspens, Back to Texas and Wilderness #25



Our magical time in Santa Fe came to an end and we left the mountains and aspens behind us for the plains of Eastern New Mexico and West Texas.  We spent almost two weeks in Odessa catching up with family, washing everything we owned and going through 7 ½  months of mail.  Even when you make every possible effort, junk mail refuses to go away.  Out of two sacks of mail, there were about 10 pieces that were of any importance.

 

Beautiful aspen meadow in the Pecos Wilderness

Maya takes a rest in the aspen meadow

After taking care of all that, we packed up my mom and dad and went to stay in their cabin in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  The weather was warm and beautiful.  Most of the aspens had lost their leaves but we did see a little color.  We all had a great time just being lazy and enjoying the last days of ‘Indian Summer.’

 

Most of the leaves are gone...

 

One day David and I took our 25^th Wilderness hike in the White Mountain Wilderness near Ruidoso.  In June of 2012, the year we set off on our ‘Great RV Adventure,’ the White Mountain Wilderness had a huge fire.  Over 44,000 acres burned in the Little Bear Fire and much of our beloved wilderness was affected.

 

Argentina Trailhead and the Big Bonito Trail in the White Mountain Wilderness

Floating aspen leaves in Bonito Creek

But we knew from our visit last year that many of our favorite trails in the Argentina Trail Complex were still intact.  We checked in with the Ranger Station for closed and blocked trails and found out that indeed, our favorite trails were mostly unaffected by the fire.  We hiked the Big Bonita and Little Bonita trails to the top of the Crest Trail and had lunch. Then we went down Little Bonita to the ‘Cut Across’ Trail to Argentina Canyon.  Upper Little Bonita and the Cut Across Trail had some burned and downed trees which created views of the fire damage on the higher ridges and mountains.  Fortunately the lower parts of the trails were heavily forested and unchanged by the fire.  It was definitely a special ‘25^th Wilderness’ hike.  Hopefully we can squeeze in a few more wilderness hikes before the year is done.

 

Our lunch site at the top of Little Bonito on the Crest Trail

Meadow created by the recent fire

Colder weather came later in the week and there was a dusting of snow up in the mountains.  We took a few hikes around town but didn’t get another wilderness hike in before we had to go back to Odessa.  After spending a few more days in Odessa we were off on a quest to attempt refrigerator repairs again.  More on this seemingly never-ending story later…    

 

 

Sunset from the deck of my dad and mom's cabin in Ruidoso

    

 

David's Stats:
Days Hiked  5

Rain Days   3  
Total Miles Hiked   24.09  
Ave. Miles per Day      4.82
Total Elevation Gain     1,620
Ave. Elevation Gain per day   324