Wheeler Peak

Hunting season has begun here at Vermejo Park Ranch. Because of this I am on restriction as far as my hiking goes. I can still hike in the immediate area, a five mile radius, around the lodge, but not up in the high country. Since I had two days off in a row, I decided to get off the ranch for a bit and go hike Wheeler Peak~ the highest mountain in New Mexico~ 13, 161 feet. I had attempted to hike it four years ago when I was on my journey across the country. I had to abort the hike three miles into it though because there was too much snow on the mountain, and I wasn't prepared to hike in snow. It was June afterall! I lost the trail, went this way, then that way, and back again, then decided I had to quit. So, it was an extra sweet victory to be able to summit the mountain this time.

Saturday I had cleaning chores to do and finished about 2:00 in the afternoon. I had mostly packed my truck up already, so took a quick shower and set off on yet another adventure. I drove to the Taos Ski Valley~ a three and a half hour drive. It was raining when I arrived which is never a pleasant event when planning a long hike and camping out. I fixed my dinner on the tailgate in the rain. This involved heating some leftovers from VPR- mashed potatoes, elk chili and French onion soup. Since I'd already learned from reheating risotto in my Jet Boil that it doesn't work well for that, I brought a very large can from the VPR kitchen to use as a pot. It worked wonderfully, and then acted as my trash can when I was done. Although it wasn't raining hard, I didn't like the idea of setting up my tent in the rain and having to put it away wet the next morning, so I again slept in my truck. It's really quite comfortable. I awoke at some point in the night and was pleasantly surprised to see a star filled sky. The next morning proved to be quite clear and sunny, a great day for a long hike.

I set off up the Bull of the Woods Trail, a seven and a half mile hike up to the summit. The first three miles I was off to a good pace thinking, "oh, this is good, I'm fully acclimated to the altitude and this hike will be pretty easy." Not. It's difficult hiking in high altitude no matter what! This was truly one of the most beautiful, awe- inspiring hikes I've ever been on. At about mile four or so I was above tree line and the views were incredible. I passed a man with a young girl and small dog about a mile into the hike, then several people passed me. I could often see folks ahead of me and behind me on the switch backs. At one point I saw what I thought was the peak, but once on it realized it wasn't. Then thinking: "ok, that next one is the peak." Not. Finally though, I did see it with a bunch of people relaxing and enjoying their lunches. I summited at 12:15, four and a half hours after my start. I thought I would return via the same trail because I'd heard the other, shorter trail was quite steep and rocky, and that just didn't sound appealing. However, once at the summit, talking to those that had come up the Williams Lake Trail, I decided I wanted to do that. The trail was once just a rock slide, but a year ago a group turned it into a real trail. And, trail worker that I am, I really appreciated the workmanship of this wonderful trail. Yes, it was steeper than Bull of the Woods, but so nicely worked, it really was an easy descent and not tedious as I had expected. So, it was seven and a half up, and four and a half down, with two miles inbetween the trailheads at the bottom. I caught a ride back to my truck rather than hike the last two miles of dirt road inbetween.

On the way down the Williams Lake Trail I took the spur that took me over to the lake, and this is where something like a dream happened. In retelling it, it sounds like a dream anyway, but I assure you this really happened....

There was drumming as I approached the lake. I listened and took some pictures, then walked around to where a small group was sitting. When the drummer stopped drumming, I asked if I could join them. They welcomed me joyfully. There were three women and two men in the group. The man who had been drumming asked if anyone had any prayer requests, and so I asked for prayer for my daughter Kelly. I explained that she has epilepsy and is going through a very difficult time right now and possibly facing brain surgery in the near future. He said a prayer and then lit a peace pipe. After smoking from the pipe, he did a little ritual of turning the pipe and passing it to the man to his left. This man did the same thing and passed it to me, I took a turn and passed it on. It went around a second time, and then stopped again at the drummer. He smoked once more and asked me to cup my hands, which I did. Then he blew the smoke into my hands and told me to lay my hands on Kelly when I get home. After this, he started drumming again and chanting as well. It was beautiful and quite moving for me. I guess I am more spiritual than I realize. He prayed again, and I wrote down Kelly's name, birthdate and place for them to continue praying and healing from afar. This all took maybe 20 or 30 minutes. I don't know what was in the pipe; it did not taste like marijuana or tobacco, nor did it make me high. I know it seems like a crazy thing to do with strangers out of the blue, but for some reason, it just felt right to me.

In retelling this, I feel the same way that I do about my photographs. I can't quite capture it. The depth of the experience doesn't truly come through. It was like walking into a dream. A beautiful, amazing, spiritual experience. I want to say thank you to Pedro, Gary, Sabine, Rosalind, and the woman with the dog whose name I did not get. Blessings to all of you!

Also, on that note, I think of others that are praying for Kelly. My Uncle Donnie who is Buddhist chants for her, her dad's church prays for her, my friend, Ken has sent Reiki, and strangers whom I've met here and told her story to send prayers and healing energy her way. If you'd like to add your prayers, or chanting, or healing energy of any kind, it is very much appreciated. I believe there is more power to that than any of us realize. Thank you!

And the adventure continued.....

Once back at my truck I called my couch surfing host that I'd arranged to stay with that night. She gave me directions almost to her house, then came and met me so I wouldn't get lost finding her place. Porsha lives in a cute little cottage with two guinea pigs, two inside cats and two outside cats. She's just a couple years younger than me, and we found that we had much in common and much to talk about. I took a quick shower and then went out to get something to eat while Porsha participated in an online class she is taking. She suggested a pizza place just a few miles down the road, so that's where I went: Taos Pizza Outback. As I walked up to the front door I had a bit of deja vu, realizing I had been there four years ago when I was in the area. They make these huge individual slices of incredible pizza with a beautiful, homemade crust. After my long hike I couldn't resist having a beer with my huge slice. And, that one was so good, I had another. I felt fully satisfied after my full day.

I returned to Porsha's house where we stayed up way too late talking about life and healing and creating what we want in life. Monday morning we took my truck to a nearby hot spring. It was a short drive and then a short hike down to the Rio Grand River where the natural hots springs are. It's another one of those amazing experiences I just can't describe. We soaked in a hot spring (my guess is about 100 degrees) right beside the Rio Grand. Porsha took my picture, but it's not something I can post in the album : ) There is a photo of the hot springs though. After a little over an hour of soaking we drove over to an old bridge across the Rio Grand. John Dunn Bridge. We wandered around a bit, waded in the river and then headed back to her place. I had a few errands to run, so we said good bye and I headed into Taos. I went to a Chinese Restaurant again where I got a big plate of broccoli again to satisfy my craving for green vegetables which I don't get on the ranch.

My co-worker, Christina had been in Santa Fe for a few days and caught a ride back to the ranch with me. It was nice to have some company on the long drive "home." And so I am "home" again on the ranch, settled back into the routine, although it's a bit different now, having shifted from fishing into hunting. I can't wait to see what the next adventure may be!