Well today was a LONG day, about 13 hours of driving, hiking, kayaking, biking and some minor injuries. We didn't get back to camp until 11pm or so.
First on the agenda was to hike to Williams Lake (elev. 11,100 ft) from Taos ski area. There was a beautiful picture of it on the cover of some tourist magazine we picked up at the Taos visitor center. It is a 4 mile round trip trek with about 900 ft elevation gain and loss. The trail was nearly completely snow covered, sometimes very deep. Sometimes the trail was packed down well from previous hikers, other times we sunk in to the slushy, sharp snow. I sunk in past my knee once, resulting in my first minor injuries of the day. It was interesting to see what a ski hill looks like when its not ski season.
These cute, very friendly chipmunks were our reward for making it to Williams Lake. They were literally crawling over our feet.
So this is Williams Lake in May, no exactly the cover of the Taos tourist magazine and hardly even a lake at all this time of year, but still pretty.
Next on our agenda for the day was to kayak Rio Chama, a tributary into the Rio Grande. It was a longer drive than expected, about 2+ hours past Taos. We drove way up into a mountain range and back down again. This was what we came across on the other side of that range on the way the Rio Chama. The colors of the rock were spectacular and better now that the sun was starting to peak after a cloudy and rainy day! This was taken at a little park called Echo Amphitheater.
We made it to Rio Chama and didn't put in until 6:45. We decided to do just a 2 mile stretch so we could put out before dark. I joked that it was going to be a lovely sunset cruise. Ryan tried out his hard shell kayak for the first time and loved it, except that he fell out twice. I used my trusty inflatable self-bailing kayak, but still managed to fall out after getting caught on a rock. More minor injuries! The scenery was so beautiful and easily worth the long drive to get there.
Nothing like a pretty sunset...the first one we've seen since on the way to Carlsbad. Now for the 3 hour drive home...
Total Miles: 309 miles
Gas: $98.41
Injuries: bilateral knee bruises, right shin bruise, left hip bruise, abrasions to bilateral shins and 3 knuckles on the right hand, 2 broken nails (and that's just me). Ryan twisted his knee among other things.
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