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Winter wonderland in the Collegiate Peaks |
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Cecilia and I planned to drive from Houston to Scottsdale before Christmas 1998, and stop to camp and hike along the way. Cecilia planned to spend a day or two in Scottsdale before leaving for Bolivia to see her family. I would then drive up to Colorado, where I would meet Scott, Vic, and Andy for some winter camping in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. We would then together drive down to Ruidoso New Mexico to celebrate New Year's and the bachelor party of Chris Hysinger, our good friend from Houston. Finally, we would drive back from Ruidoso to Houston after New Year's. It would turn out to be a long but successful trip for my aging Nissan Maxima.
into
the Chihuahuan desert towards Guadelupe
Mountains National Park. We arrived in the park limits at 2am,
and made camp for the night in a small roadside campground. Guadelupe
is one of the most remote national parks in the United States, and we saw
no one on the road 
for
the final two hours north of I-10.
Saturday morning we woke up to chilly temperatures in the desert. We intended to do a one-way hike through the park, starting at McKittrick Canyon, and ending at the main visitor center in the mountains. We could not rely on hitching a ride back to the car, so I had brought my mountain bike along to provide transport between points. We dropped and locked the mountain bike at the main visitor center, then drove to the east side of the park to the base of McKittrick. We were packed and ready to go just before noon. We headed up the canyon, crossed the river, then started to climb up into the mountains. Towards the end of the day we ran into snow as we were ascending a trail on the north face of the mountains. There were many patches, but no significant buildup on the trail. We reached the top of the ridge at the end of the afternoon, and looked for a suitable place to camp. We found the designated backcountry sites, but all were covered in several inches of snow. We cleared an area, and setup camp just before sundown. We spent a brief few chilly moments watching sunset on the edge of a windy ridge, then quickly retired to the tent to warm up.
Cecilia and I had been going out for only two months when we started the trip, and this was our first semi-adventure together. Cecilia had done many overnight hiking and camping trips in Bolivia, but she surprised me with her lack of knowledge in more modern equipment and technology. For example, she and her friends still hiked in jeans, and not in breathable-waterproof goretex REI shells. They carried heavy cans food, and not dry pack or just-add-water meals. For rain gear they carried rubber parkas, and not a North Face shell. But, when it rained, they accepted the fact that they would get wet....it was quite a simple philosophy really. She made me realize how caught up one can get in equipment and protection gear, and how unacceptable a little discomfort had become for the North American hiker. Ironically over the next few years of our relationship she would upgrade all of her gear and habits to the high-tech and REI performance realm, but I think that she still carries with her the ability to handle a little wet cotton, or a backpack laden with heavy canned goods.
Sunday morning we woke up early, and started hiking along the top of the ridge. The sun was fairly warm and the winds were mild, and we had a relatively easy hike back down to the main visitor center. We arrived in the early afternoon, and I rode the bike in a stiff headwind back to McKittrick to pick up the car. We left the park in the mid-afternoon, and drove northwest across the New Mexico border to the town of Carlsbad. We intended to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park on the following morning.
decided
to take the rough road. For the first thirty minutes the road was
rough but paved, as we drove through the farm country surrounding the east
side of the park. We entered the park limits and the road turned
to dirt - it was slow but easily passable by the Maxima. We climbed
in altitude over the next thirty minutes, and found more and more snow
and ice alongside and on the road. Eventually, as we exceeded 7000
feet, the entire road was covered in snow and ice. Traction was still
decent, as we were still proceeding uphill. We reached the top just
after 10pm. Our luck would not remain the same during the ride down.
We started down, and found that the Maxima was slipping quite often - on our left was the mountainside, and on our right was a significant dropoff down the mountain. We proceeded slowly, and hoped that the road would never get too steep. We hit a steep stretch, and despite my efforts to go slow, we started to slide and could not stop. The car went sideways, and still continued to slide. Finally we caught a bit of traction on the road, and the car went directly into the ditch on the left side of the road. We were wedged in the ditch, sideways, with over ten miles to go until the campground. The road was so steep and slippery that even walking was tough, and I thought that we would certainly spend the next twenty-four hours trying to get out of this predicament. While we were standing in awe looking at the car, we saw a glimmer of fire at the bottom of the slope, in the middle of the road. Suddenly several figures appeared in the firelight, and we saw three men struggling to walk up towards us. As they got closer we realized that they were teenagers. They had tried to drive their 4WD vehicle up the slope that we were sliding down. Unable to make it, they had decided to stop and camp in the middle of the road until morning, as they were sure that no one else would appear until the following day. They were amused but impressed wit h our situation. They had rope and shovels, and together we were able to drag the Maxima out of the ditch, and slowly slide it down the remainder of the hill. They told us that this slope was by far the most slippery of the remaining sections, and that we would probably be able to make it down to the bottom. We thanked them, left them to their campsite, and headed down the road. As we dropped altitude the snow and ice disappeared, and the road cleared. Forty-five minutes later we arrived at the visitor center, and the main park campground. We setup camp in the chilly night, and were happily asleep within minutes.
Tuesday we woke up, stopped at the visitor center, and chose an interesting looking day-hike. We spent the day walking through a section of the park that contained hoodoos - tall spires of rock that had withstood the erosion of the softer earth that formerly supported them. It reminded me of Bryce National Park in southern Utah - on of my favorite parts of the continent.
After
eight hours I stopped to camp for the night in San Juan National Forest.
There was at least a foot of snow on the ground, and all of the National
Forest campgrounds were closed and deserted for the winter. I chose
a quite roadside campground, and plowed as close as possible through the
snowed-in entrance with the Maxima. I setup camp in a miscellaneous
spot, and went to sleep. After several hours of hearing strange noises
on the outskirts of the campground, I decided to spend the rest of the
night inside the Maxima. Maybe it was the fact that I was camping
roadside alone, but I could have sworn that I heard hoof stomping near
the tent!
Sunday morning I headed the remaining few hours to Buena Vista Colorado, on the edge of the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area - you can see many of the fourteen thousand foot peaks from the town - Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, etc. The weather was clear but cold. I checked into the hotel, and relaxed and waited for the other guys to arrive. I had gotten a bit sick over the past few days, and was just getting over a cold. In the early evening Scott, Vic, and Andy arrived from Denver - Scott and Andy had driven in Scott's Nissan Sentra from Iowa, where they had spent the holidays. They had picked up Vic at the Denver airport where he had arrived from Pittsburgh. We chatted for a bit in the hotel room, then went to bed prepared for an early wakeup.
Monday morning we packed up at the hotel, and stopped by a nearby gear
rental store. Upon the advice of the store owner we decided to rent
snowshoes. Even though we did not think that we would need them for
much of the trip - better safe than sorry. We left the store, and
headed up a dirt road into the Collegiate 
Wilderness.
We intended to hike in, camp around 10,000 feet elevation, and then hike
up to the top of Harvard and Columbia peaks on the following day.
The dirt road to the trailhead was rough - we stopped and left Scott's
Sentra in a parking area on the side of the road, and all piled into the
Maxima in hope that we could make it the last 5 miles to the trailhead.
Within another half mile we encountered an impassable rocky part of the
road, and we abandoned hopes of making it to the trailhead by car.
Note that this was done only after failing several times to make it past
the tough section of the road with the Maxima. We left the car parked
on the side of the road, and started off on foot - grudgingly carrying
the snowshoes. After 30 minutes of walking the road turned from dirt
to snow, and as we approached the trailhead fresh snow began to fall.
The snowfall increased as we stopped at the trailhead to get our bearings
and to adjust gear, and we reconsidered the former contempt that we had
felt towards the snowshoes. The trail ahead was almost invisible,
and it only then occurred 
to
me that orientation might be an issue.
Within minutes of hiking through the thickening snow we decided that it was time to don the snowshoes. There was almost a foot of snow on the ground, and the trail was marked only by occasional orange piece of tape hanging from trailside bushes. We tried our best to follow the subtle pattern of the cleared trees that traced the boundaries of the path, but often found ourselves lost, and had to retrack back to the last confirmed trail location. For the next four hours we continued walking through the increasingly deep snow. The snowfall never ceased, and we took turns leading and breaking trail along the path. Even with the snowshoes we still sunk in over a foot, due to the fresh powder and cold temperatures. The snow was almost three feet deep at certain points along the trail, and our progress was very slow. By late afternoon it was evident that we would not make it even halfway as far as we originally intended, and that the snow was only getting deeper as we climbed in altitude. After five hours we decided to stop and make camp. We found a suitable clearing in the trees just beyond a river-crossing. The river was covered in snow and ice, but we hoped to later break through and get water. For an hour we worked to clear two good tent spots in the snow, and we succeeded in building a very respectable campground - fully equipped with a firepit and gear hanging trees. Vic, during the hard workout of the day, had managed to soak his winter down jacket with sweat, and it was now useless until dried. Luckily we had extra gear among the group, and we managed to outfit him with some new warm layers.
We collected frozen wood from under the snow around camp, and made a
roaring fire for dinner. We debated what to do the following day,
since our original plan now seemed to be impossible. We decided that
we would wait and see what the weather held for the following day, and
would possibly try to day-hike up to a higher point or landmark in the
morning. We were in the tents shortly after dark, and asleep after
a long and tiring day in the winter wonderland. Images from the day:
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We woke up early on Tuesday - Vic and I had not quite smoothed out the tent floor, and we had woken up several times during the night while sliding towards the bottom of the tent. It had also been a cold night, so everyone was ready for a morning fire. We had breakfast around a blazing bonfire, while debating our choices for the day. We decided to leave the camp assembled, and day-hike up to a lake that we speculated was a little over four miles away. We packed up our small daypacks, and started again through the waist deep snow. The snowshoes proved invaluable, and we hiked for several hours towards the lake. We stopped for a late lunch of sandwiches and snacks before reaching the lake, and we were still uncertain of its distance. Vic and Scott decided to head back to camp while Andy and I continued a bit further to see if we could find the lake. Indeed, after another forty-five minutes we found the lake, and hiked around it before heading back towards camp. The return trip was downhill and much easier on the now well broken and compacted snow trail, and we were back in camp after only ninety minutes! Animal tracks were clearly visible on the trail, as they too had taken advantage of the easy passageway.
After another dinner around a roaring campfire, we decided that progress
would remain difficult, and that we did not have the time or resources
to make it up to any of the big mountains around us. We decided to
return to Buena Vista on the following day, and start the drive down to
Ruidoso New Mexico to arrive in time for New Year's Eve in the ski town.
A few images from the day:
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Great Sand Dunes National
Monument
Wednesday morning we broke down camp, and followed our original path
back to the trailhead. We found the cars where we had left them only
two nights before, but it had seemed much longer. We had burgers
for lunch at a local diner in Buena Vista, and then started the drive towards
Ruidoso. We stopped briefly by the Great
Sand Dunes National Monument, and spent an hour wandering along the
edge of the giant dunes. The skies were clear and deep blue, which
provided a stark contrast against the orange sand mountains. We passed
several herds of bison as we drove out of the park, wandering about the
park grounds.
We continued south through the remainder of Colorado, and passed into
New Mexico after dark. My car tire, which had been making an increasingly
loud vibration, now thundered along the highway. After more examination,
we found that a huge lateral bubble had developed in the side of the tire,
which had changed the shape of the tire to a football shape. It would
certainly not last for long. It was getting late, so we decided that
it would be best to stop for the night just outside of Albuquerque, have
the tire changed in the morning, and then make it into Ruidoso the following
day. Fortunately we found a hotel located just next to an auto shop,
and the tire change proved to be an easy task on the following morning.
A few images from the day:
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New Year's in Ruidoso
We made it successfully to Ruidoso on Thursday afternoon December 31st,
and checked into our reserved hotel on the outskirts of town. We
also met up with 
Toby,
a friend from Houston. Toby had grown up in Ruidoso, and his
parents still operated the major Ruidoso ski resort - Apache. We
celebrated New Year's Eve at a local bar in town called Farley's.
It was fun to be with good friends for the night, but the bar became a
student hookup festival after midnight, and did not provide too much entertainment.
I guess that it made us feel like the old graduated guys that we were.
On Friday (New Year's Day) Vic, Scott, and I recovered from our New Year's hangovers in the hotel, while Andy and Toby skied at Apache. In the late afternoon Chris Hysinger and several of his school friends arrived from Houston, for his bachelor party weekend. We had dinner at the "Casablanca" restaurant, then went for beers at "The Quarters Bar". After several rounds of beers and good discussion, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for the following day of skiing.
Saturday we skied together as a group. It was a clear but cold
day, and the snow was good. We warned Chris in the morning that he
would be cold in his jeans, but he did not heed our warnings and paid the
price by late afternoon. Hopefully his fiancee would be able to help
him with these issues in the future. We were all happy to find a
hot tub at the hotel after a long and tiring day of skiing, and looked
forward to dinner and drinks in the night ahead. We went together
to the Cattle Baron for a good steak dinner, then made a late-night stop
at the "Inn of the Mountain Gods" casino before returning to the hotel.
A few images from the day:
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On Sunday morning January 3rd our vacation had come to an end, and we started the long trip back to Houston. Scott surprisingly was unable to start his car, and ended up calling a local AAA service to jump-start the car and charge the battery. After failing to jump-start the car, we discovered that he had gotten water into his gas, and that the entire system would need to be flushed. He was towed to a nearby station to complete the long and expensive job. Vic and I left Scott and Andy waiting at the gas station, and started the 12 hour drive back to Houston. The route passed through both Carlsbad and Guadelupe National Park, where Cecilia and I had been only 10 days earlier. We arrived back in Houston on Sunday night, tired and stiff from the ride. It had been a long but fun vacation, that had taken me in a full-circle of the American southwest.
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