The High Road to Taos (and the Low)

The High Road

If you tell someone you are going to Santa Fe, one of the first questions they ask you is "Are you driving the High Road to Taos?" It definitely should be on anyone's "bucket list" for New Mexico. Our first trip up to Taos was driven at night because we left after Ally got off work on Saturday night. On our way back, we went to Ojo Caliente (a mineral springs spa and resort - honestly, I wasn't super impressed but I'll have to comment on that on another post) so missed the High and Low Roads to Taos again.

However, last weekend we drove up to Angel Fire because we had a free room for two nights at the Angel Fire Resort. We decided this would be a good opportunity to check out both the High and Low Roads to Taos (or to Santa Fe if you want to get technical!)

We left Sunday morning from Santa Fe and decided to take the High Road up to Taos. We started it a little differently than some of the directions online suggested. The suggested route starts you heading east on NM 503; however, we took US 285/84 north into Espanola to have the hottest (by far) and one of the most delicious (tough competition in NM) breakfast burritos of my life! El Parasol has a little stand outside the larger El Paragua Restaurant on Santa Cruz Road. We ordered breakfast burritos, sat outside at one of their picnic tables (there is no inside seating), and sweat our faces off (because the burritos were hot, not because of the weather).

We picked up the High Road to Taos by heading east on Santa Cruz Road. Continuing on that road, we reached Chimayo. The thing to do in Chimayo is the Sanctuario de Chimayo, a Roman Catholic Church and National Historic Landmark. It is an important pilgrimage site for Catholics, and therefore receives almost 300,000 visitors a year (some pilgrims actually walk all the way from Albuquerque!)

 Going to call these Bean Trees (no idea what they really are)

Along the High Road, there are lots of signs for art galleries and studios, and I'm assuming most of them are attached to people's houses. We weren't really in the market for art on this trip, so we didn't stop at any of these.

I enjoyed reading the Wikipedia page on the High Road as we drove along. This way we learned some history of each little town, as well as any of the places we should stop to check out.

Truchas and its views from the road 

We took a slight detour to drive through the town of Cordova, but there wasn't much to the town. We drove past Truchas, but maybe should have detoured there instead. The next place we got out of the car was at San Jose de Gracia Church in Las Trampas. It was well worth the stop and right on the main road. You can't miss it. The church was built in 1776 and is a model for Spanish colonial church architecture. There is a cool, little cemetery in the yard and it's just an awesome place to take some pictures!

The drive through Carson National Forest, after Las Trampas (and really all the way to Taos), was really beautiful. There was very little traffic and wide open views. When we reached the stop sign (the end of State Road 76) we turned left to check out the Picuris Pueblo. It had another beautiful, picturesque church. I guess the church was torn down in 1989 due to water damage, but the pueblo members rebuilt the church by hand. Pretty remarkable!

On the way out of Picuris, we stopped at a little market for a cold beverage. There aren't many options on the high road for stopping for a soda or snack, so I'm glad we came across this. If we had continued on the High Road by turning right at the stop sign, we would've missed it!

Carson National Forest Vista Point

We stopped in Taos for some groceries (We missed Cid's Market again! Cid's is supposedly an awesome organic/crunchy market but it is closed on Sundays!) and continued on our way to Angel Fire. The road between the two is so beautiful, but better when it's not raining and your windshield wiper breaks! We ended up on the side of the road for awhile, which made this day really long. We finally made it to Angel Fire Resort and spent our evening NOT in the car, drinking wine, and playing cards on our balcony with a lovely view of the mountains and valley.

Oeste Vista Trail

The next morning, we went on a short hike in Angel Fire. We wanted to head back to Santa Fe kind of early, because we didn't want to get stuck in another afternoon thunderstorm with no windshield wiper. Oeste Vista Trail is a lovely loop (I've seen conflicting information on the distance, somewhere between 2.6 and 3.5 miles) and pretty straight forward. The views are not amazing but it was a great way to stretch the legs and get outside, without driving very far.

 The trailhead instructs you to take the Lower Loop first, which is actually the trail to the right. Kind of confusing but the right trail is correct. All signage is set up for people hiking counter-clockwise on the loop. 

The Low Road

The Low Road back to Santa Fe was a little more straight forward. No way to get lost on this road. It goes right along the Rio Grande for a lot of it, which is really cool. We stopped to eat lunch at a pull-off, and happened to be there while a group was rafting down the river. The river was pretty low at this point, so didn't look all that exciting (definitely not as exciting as our trip down the Rangitata River in New Zealand!)

In Rinconada, we saw a sign for a brewery and decided we should stop in and have a beer. Really glad we did! This little brewery had a cute patio out back with some shade and we shared a Tarantula Trek Red Ale (suggested by the bartender). After we had our beer, we walked to the fruit stand next door and went home with some tasty nectarines.

And we made it home before it rained! We were watching storms coming from both directions, but made it home with no problems. So glad we had the opportunity to explore both the High and Low Roads to Taos during the day time. New Mexico has such beautiful scenery and it seems to go on forever!

Nambe Lake (Santa Fe, NM)

Hike Difficulty: Moderate/Difficult (pretty steep for mile before/after lake)

Hiking Distance (Round Trip): 7 miles

Time (Round Trip): 4 to 5 hours

Elevation: 10,252 feet to 11,400 feet

After dropping Ally off at work (so sad she works Saturdays, especially when it's an absolutely gorgeous morning!), I took off up Artist/Hyde Park/Ski Basin Road to the Santa Fe Ski Area. Many of the hikes into the Pecos Wilderness start here at the Winsor Trail. We are waiting to do some of the longer ones until the monsoon season is over, so I figured a moderate hike that I could finish before 2pm or so would be perfect. Although Nambe Lake is only 7 miles round trip, it is a challenge nonetheless!

The hike started at the Winsor Trailhead, the same place we started the Raven's Ridge hike a week before. I followed the trail north by turning right at the trail marker. I have to say, I'm obsessed with the Winsor Trail. I definitely plan on coming back to this trail while the aspens are changing color. So many beautiful aspens once you pass into the Pecos Wilderness!

Before reaching the boundary fence, the Winsor Trail is all uphill. After passing through the fence, the trail continues to go downhill gradually until you turn off the Winsor Trail and right onto the Nambe Lake Trail (Trail #400). The fact that this section of the hike was all downhill could partly explain why I enjoy Winsor Trail so much. However, I think it had more to do with the fresh air, solitude, and sun coming up and shining through the aspens. I was feeling quite energized by the time I reached the Nambe Lake Trail (and good thing, because it was tough!)

 Note: Don't take the Rio Nambe Trail! It heads off to the left from the Winsor Trail and I've read the trail is very steep. Plus, it's not the right way to go on this hike anyway, so just keep going on the Winsor Trail.

 I am going to name these the "love trees". 

 Do you see why I loved the Winsor Trail so much?!

After hiking 1.25 miles from the boundary fence, I came across the sign below. Things got a little less straight-forward after I turned off the Winsor Trail. There is a creek that comes down from the lake, and this is what the trail follows. However, there was a trail on either side of the creek and many smaller trails that took off in various directions. It seemed like the all ended up in the same place though, and that was way farther up the mountain! There was no way to get around the steep, steep climb that continues for another mile or so up to the lake. I stayed on the right side of the creek (closer to this sign) and just made sure I kept the creek within sight or at least could hear it. 

 Views of Santa Fe Baldy behind me

 My fave: Indian Paintbrush

 Definitely had to watch my step a lot.

 The sun was catching the creek just right. I think this picture looks like a painting. 

When I came to what felt like the top (not even close), I saw several tents in this lovely meadow. I got distracted by the people and ended up veering off the trail. To stay on the trail, I should have crossed over the creek right when I saw the meadow. There is a clear trail across the creek that heads away from the meadow (the trail takes off to the left when coming up the creek).

The hike continues along the meadow and I recall this being a very brief reprieve from the constant uphill. Don't worry....it continued soon after. If I thought the climbing was bad on that first section near the creek, it wasn't. It got more challenging as I got closer to the lake. Also, I had to cross the creek again. Thankfully, people had these rock piles out to direct hikers. I would've felt a bit confused if I hadn't seen the rocks.

Continuing up the trail, the trees began to open up on my left. There was a large area of scree/talus rocks (basically a landslide).  At this point, I was very close to the lake. When I got to the lake, no one was there. Unfortunately, as soon as I sat down to enjoy my incredible view and a small lunch, a family with five kids and two dogs appeared. I'm very supportive of taking kids (and dogs I suppose) out into the wilderness, but they were yelling (kids) and barking (dogs) so it did take away from the lovely moment I was having.

I couldn't get enough of the reflections on the lake. Here's where I got irritated with the dogs....they were out swimming in the lake and totally ruined the reflections (not to mention they came up and got me all muddy).

There is a small trail around the lake. I went part of the way before my lunch. However, as I was finishing up I started to hear thunder, so I began my way back down the trail.

Getting down the Nambe Lake Trail was a little rough on my knees, but not as bad as I thought it would be. And neither was the slight uphill hike on the Winsor Trail. I was just feeling so good, I barely noticed the uphill! And look at how marvelous the aspens were in the afternoon sunshine! (There was a storm coming up behind me, but you can't tell from these pictures.)

I was on the trail by 8:30am and back to my car by 1pm (with a break for lunch and plenty of short breaks for pictures!) If you are fit, this hike will feel challenging but manageable. If you don't hike very often or you are not adjusted to the high altitude, I would be prepared for a fairly strenuous hike to Nambe Lake.

Santa Fe Picture A Day - Day 16

A City of Artists