Just past Bobcat pass, we've noticed the sign for something called "The Enchanted Forest." Well that certainly sounds like fun! So we followed the signs to find the office of the "Enchanted Forest Cross Country Skiing and Snowshoeing." During the winter months, they rent equipment and charge a fee to use the trails cut through this section of the Carson National Forest.
But during the summer, these trails are free and open to hikers.
So we took off on the Sasquatch Trail that started at the base of the Enchanted Forest. Do you notice any similarities in the stance?
We also went on trails with names like "Sherwood Forest." After seeing a pile of bear scat, we needed to make some noise so we didn't surprise any bears in the forest. So we thought it was appropriate to sing a song from the Disney Robin Hood movie when hiking through the Sherwood Forest. We didn't see any other hikers this day, or they probably would have giggled at two old wanderers belting out lyrics like, "Robin Hood and Little John walking through the forest, Laughing back and forth at what the other 'ne had to say . . ."
As we sang, we figured out that the snowshoe trails are marked with brightly-colored tape on the trees. These narrow trails wind through grassy areas in the forest.
On the other hand, the cross-country ski trails are wider and follow the dirt roads that snake through these forests.
We discovered that we preferred the snow shoe trails because they were less dusty, and they took us to the edge of our mountain for some great views around us. We have been in this area long enough that we now recognize some of the mountains that we see. That's Gold Hill on the right where we hiked last week. On the far left we can see the ribbon of road that is Highway 578, where we will begin our hike next week into the Mount Wheeler Wilderness.
On the other side of today's mountain hike, we can look straight down into the Main Street of Red River, New Mexico.
Maybe it was because we were singing, but we didn't see any wildlife on this hike. But we always seem to find a new-to-us wildflower. We think this is a purple penstemon. The flowers stand so still and don't care when you are close, so they are much easier to photograph than wildlife anyway.
For the winter skiers and snowshoers, there are warming huts strategically located at junctions of trails. With temperatures in the 70s today, we don't need to be warmed. We are finding these temperatures to be just right!
We also hiked around several yurts that are available for rent here in the Enchanted Forest.
We peeked inside this unoccupied yurt to see that it looked quite comfortable.
Some of the trails dead end at the outskirts of the Enchanted Forest. Instead of walking back up the same trail, Mark loves to bushwhack his way through the forest. We're climbing over downed logs and running into natural road blocks like we have so many times before. Mark thrives on this kind of meandering through the woods! We've done this many times before. That reminds us of the second line of that song from the Robin Hood movie, "Reminiscin' this-'n'-thatting, Having such a good time, Oo-De-Lally, Oo-De-Lally, Golly what a day!"
It is a beautiful day, and we have wandered into more of God's wonders with this hike. We love these big old pines,
and the lovely groves of aspen trees, as we continue to sing that song.
We were trying not to sweat too much as we wandered up and down a 7-mile loop through the forest. That's because we were meeting friends for a special evening just a mile down the road here on Bobcat Pass. They are treating us to a "Cowboy Evening."
After taking the obligatory photos behind the picture boards, we met Brent and Melinda at the open-sided tent for an outdoor feast.
The cowboy chefs are cooking up the rib-eye steaks, baked potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, brown beans, and chuckwagon biscuits for us to savor. They normally feed 300 each night, but because of social distancing rules, they cooked a mere 181 steaks tonight.
The meal was trumped with a cinnamon roll that has become legendary in this part of the country.
While we groaned with delight from our over-filled stomachs, we were then entertained by cowboy music from the stage. It was toe-tapping music, and a couple of wanderers found a way to two-step on that uneven saw-dust strewn ground.
It was such a fun Cowboy Evening, and we appreciate the invitation from our friends Brent and Melinda! Like we've been humming all day, "Oo-De-Lally, Oo-De-Lally, Golly what a day!"
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