It was rocky, it was rough, it was steep, and because we were in the canyon it was hotter than we have grown accustomed to.
This is the Jasper/Agate Trail, and we rated it a "2" out of 5--the lowest rating we've ever given a hike in the AllTrails app. You know it's a bad trail when the best thing about it is a dead tree picture taken at the top.
This trail was so bad that the only wildflower we saw was this little pink geranium near the parking lot.
The hike didn't even take us to a summit, it just dropped us off in the woods and looped us back down an equally difficult steep trail to the bottom. The other highlight of the trail was taking some time to rest at the top. So, we could say that deciding to go on this hike was not a good decision.
But we usually balance out these bad decisions with some good decisions. For example, we decided to drive another mile into the canyon and stop at the Palisades. These majestic rock walls dwarf everything around them, and Denisa is feeling very small standing at the bottom.
The Cimarron River is roaring down the canyon right in front of these stone walls, and we decided to have our picnic lunch right here.
What a view of the beautiful blue sky and more of God's wonders. We made a good decision to come here!
After lunch, we made the really good decision to soak our hike-tired feet in that cool mountain water. That was another good decision!
Another mile's drive down the road got us to one of the New Mexico state park campgrounds that we wanted to check out for future reference. The governor still has Maverick Campground closed, but plenty of people are enjoying the lake behind the campground.
Another example of our good and bad decisions came the day we planned a hike up to the top of the mountain at the Red River ski resort. There are two options to get to the top. One is to pay $22 per person to ride the chair lift. The other is to hike the two miles straight up on the ski trails. Being the frugal wanderers that we are, we decided on the hike. Was this a bad decision?
Again, we insert a picture of the wildflowers, as the daisies were blooming all over the ski trails on this blue-sky day.
We're not sure about our decision to make this steep hike. It was hotter than usual and the sun was beating down on us. We didn't have the usual shade from the forest on these wide cut ski runs. We probably won't get much sympathy from friends enjoying temperatures around 100 degrees in the Midwest, since our high for the day was all the way up to 80 degrees. We were just glad to have good company on this hot hike.
Brent and Melinda and their dog, Fuzzy, hiked with us to the top. The five of us made it up the last ski run and arrived at the Tip Restaurant hot and sweaty. But we got there just as the live music was starting. We ate lunch at the top of the mountain listening to a fine musician. Now that was a good decision!
The other good idea was that hikers get a free ride down on the chair lift! Mark and Brent walked Fuzzy back down the mountain, while Denisa and Melinda enjoyed the views from the lift.
The town of Red River is bustling as people are trying to find places to vacation amid the pandemic. We're guessing the crowds are smaller than usual for this time of year, but it is nice to see people out enjoying nature--even if it is with their masks on.
So we win some and we lose some, but we always seem to end up having a good day. Even though we sometimes choose hard hikes, we like the exercise. We always seem to be blessed as we continue to wander God's wonders!
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