White Mesa ride and on to Sante Fe

Dateline: city park in Sante Fe waiting for evening to go find a city sleeping spot.

Checked out casino parking idea: big parking lot w/ lots of traffic in & out and in sun. Decided it would be too noisy and opted to get the rough road to White Mesa TH out of the way and hope for quiet.

4.5 miles of washboard dirt road out to TH that I had all to myself just about dusk. Wonderful view of Mt taylor way off in distance. Walked a short piece of trail from TH: Packed red clay. Beautiful evening: no clouds for a sunset. Still and clear skies, big full moon and muted stars.

Woke arly to get ride underway b4 heat of day. Up @ 6:00, riding @ 8:00. A truck w/ 2 riders entered & departed for their ride b4 I could speak to them, never saw them again.

Windy: 21 mph gusts, average 18 and the trail in places is on an exposed knife ridge. Kansas prepared me for the buffeting but nothing prepared me for the exposure while being buffeted. The going out part was wind on my left and exposure. Towards the end of the ridge there is a climb a bike thru a gap in ridge on crumbled rock and the wind hammering my moves. Successful arrival on ridge top. The trail shortly had several drop overs. The first one I was a bit off the ground and the wind deflected my planned course of earth contact. The last one was a long steep roll out in cross wind and I chose to walk it hanging on to me and the bike.

What makes this trail unique is that it travels over hydrated calcium sulfate known as gypsum. The land was once under the sea and the calcium is still drying out. Several spring weeps seep on to trail which is all hand made ST. High desert.

Rode the main loop and missed the rest of the more miles of trail. Finished mid morning with temps in mid 60s.

Drove back out bad road and continued N on Rt 550 to rugged rt 4 across mtns towards Los Alamos. Stopped for a short soak in a hot spring.

Drove up to Pajarito ski area, base elevation 9200′ with internet access. Web site said there are trails and lifts to ride. The lifts were not running and I did not try to find maps. One ride for the day was good. The land was drying out after snow melt.

By passed city of Los Alamos as it appeared that i had to go thru security but maybe that was because the map lacked detail to show a way around nuclear base.

Dropped down into Santa Fe @ 6000′ Way confusing city streets. There is old Santa Fe and the new sprawl. Adobe architecture to me is really pleasing. Houses are nestled close to one another, earth colored, radius edges, no yards. Old part has some tree shade.

Did wash & bought groceries @ 2 organic stores.

Stopped @ Bike @ sport to buy map. Listened to staff member tell a customer about goatheads and the need for slime tubes. i asked for rides w/ no goatheads and learned that if I stay up in mtns I will avoid them. Woman @ shop tells me that there are places to camp along the road to ski area.

Out in parking lot a guy takes notice of my van and we engage in a lengthy conversation about mine and what he has done to his.

Almost dark and I am trying to make gps and city map tell me where the road out of the city to the ski area is. Finally find it. It is 17 miles to ski base. Santa Fe is at around 6000′. I stop driving @ a FS roadside free XG @ 9500′ and the ski area is about 5 miles away and more climbing. Snow banks linger in shade @ XG.

There are 2 separate campers in XG. After dark I hear a rapping on my window and see a woman who is one camper. She asks if she may borrow my cell phone to call 911 as she is having pains. She has no car. She calls and 911 dispatches vehicles. Meanwhile the other camper, a guy joins me and asks about my van and fills me in on his understanding of the woman’s situation. She hopes to be admitted to hospital for treatment which will mean that her camp stuff will need to be packed up and sent down mountain to her. Plans are made for this contingency.

I crawl into bed. It is chilly. the fridge does not relight on its program sequence because of high elevation. I don’t sleep well. Every so often I would look at the control panel and see the letter “F” meaning the fridge wasn’t working. I would hit a button 2x and wait for sound of ignition.

Cold morning. Ran heater.

Today is a rest day for my aching knees. I drive down mtn in sunshine & increasing warmth looking for a shaded park to hang in. Find city rec center that opens @ noon. Cool, need a shower. Hang behind building under partial shade of spreading elm trees and do computer stuff. Moved pictures & music to external harddrive to free up memory.

Shower for $1.85.

GPSd regular grocery stores wandering around “new” city & looking for shade and a place to spend night. Nix on both accounts.

Drove back to rec center. By now the shade is gone and full sun on van. Set up folding chair in shade of van and finished Jayber Crow by Wendel Berry.

Made a short walk downtown walking the streets filled w/ tourist stores of jewelry & Indian art and western stuff.

Back @ rec center made dinner and hung till now waiting for dusk and prowling for sleeping spot.

Tomorrow i will ride Dale Bale trails right out of town and then head to Taos.