Journal July 18 Through the Gateway to the High Country
Leaving town after a leisurely breakfast, we had not even walked to the end of town when our waitress from the other night, Cindy, saw us, turned around to pick us up and decided to take a drive to Cumbres pass to drop us off!
At the pass there was a confusion of train development and man-made changes to the landscape, but no clear path to the trail. We found the trail head after some poking around and a sign which indicated that the trail (further up) was closed and a detour route would be marked in white. So we started off keeping eyes open for changes to the route.
A couple miles up we encountered a crew of 6 or 7 mountain bikers hauling equipment and returning from doing some trail maintenance. We learned that the detour, obviously not well marked, began back at the pass. Too far along to turn around, we forged ahead deterined to bushwhack through or around as needed.
About five miles in, after signs warning of dangerous trail conditions we came across the remnants of a very sloppy logging job done a year or so earlier. Downed trees left to lie where fallen and damaged soil, burned remnants, and some early, pioneering, shrubby regrowth completely obscurred the trail. A partially marked border with the Tierra Amarillo land grant helped guide a direction through the mile long mess. Dead reckoning to reach a prominant ridge set us a solid, if difficult, course. Very slow going, but we made it through.
We are at the “gateway” to the Colorado high country, our first 12,000 foot Peak which we clamber over. Confirming our entry we come across bear scat (mostly missing from new Mexico’s northern mountain plateaus).
Wildflowers are in full summer display, many kinds, colors, sizes, shapes. Elk roam the rolling hills and plateaus marking the high country, as do cows. On the plateaus the scenery is stunning with deep canyons just off the rim and jagged peaks rising up across the valleys! We are left gasping for our breaths, not just because of the compelling beauty, but also because we are, for the first time since leaving the mexican border that we rise above tree line and that we rise above 12,000 feet.
The surprising delight of the day is a porcupine, who, startled by our presence climbs a gnarly, stunted sub alpine fir growing on the fringes of tree line on our rolling, and mostly tree barren, 12,000 foot plateau.
We walked in the midst of the normal afternoon thunderstorms, getting rained on several times and pelted with hail the size of large peas a couple of times. Each storm cell passes, but we are delayed a couple times, avoiding walking the highest ridges during possible lightning.
We drop into a shallow basin area and camp near some stagnant ponds at about 11,700 feet. It’s our highest camp yet, even higher than any point we have walked upon in NM, ID, or MT.
The evening cools quickly and we busy ourselves making dinner and diving into the warm sleeping bag.
12 miles
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