We're with our good friends, Connie and Steven, who brought a Polaris RZR four-seater with them when they came to visit us. We've already spent a day getting used to this vehicle's ability to climb up and over rugged terrain. So we think we're ready for anything . . . maybe.
At the very beginning of the trail there is a choice--going over a narrow wooden bridge or through a creek.
We approached the bridge, but the lone fisherman yelled at us that we were supposed to go through the water. He added that all the others before us this morning had gone through the water, and "it's only two feet deep." So we backed up and headed through the water.
As we started crossing the creek, it came up to the tops of the tires . . . then into the floorboards . . . then into our seats! When we looked to the bridge, our friendly fisherman that gave advice was laughing and taking a video. What a jerk! Steven's good driving got us through it, and Denisa did not walk back to the bridge to throw the fisherman into the water like she wanted. We were all drenched to our waist! What a way to start the day!
We went two miles up the trail before we found a turn off in the trail to a wide flat spot. We all took off our shoes and socks to wring some of the creek water out of them. We stayed in the sun for a while to dry out our jeans. It's at this stop that Denisa proposed the idea of heading back down the mountain because this is one scary trail!
In that first two miles we had already passed by two wooden crosses. We had read that vehicles can slip off the side of these narrow paths and then it is straight down a steep ravine.
In that first two miles we had met our first vehicle going the opposite direction. There is barely room for one ATV, so meeting a full-size vehicle is tricky. We had to back down that narrow winding road until we got to a spot wide enough for two to pass. Scary!
And in the first two miles we had experienced downed trees in the middle of the narrow road.
But our travel companions are brave souls, and we continued up that narrow trail through the woods. Did we mention there was a second wooden cross at the bottom of another ravine?
We're taking this trip in the middle of the week, because we have heard how busy it is on the weekend. After meeting a couple vehicles that were coming down, we can't imagine how tough the trip would be if you met a dozen or more!
We learned from our 40-mile-ATV-day to wear face coverings to keep from breathing so much dust. Here is the backseat crew modeling their fashionable (but effective) face masks.
Here was our view from the back seat, as Steven did all the driving up this crazy road.
We started this trail at an elevation of 8,714 feet, and we're driving up to 11,668 feet. That means that even in the middle of summer we found snow along our path.
After eight miles and over an hour, we made it to our destination of the day--Goose Lake!
But of course, we couldn't help but notice that mountain-top background, and a trail that zig-zags to the top of the peak that looks down on Goose Lake.
Our friends were smart enough to be content with those views around the lake. But the Engelmans love a good view from the summit. So we started up that steep trail that would take us up to 12,265 feet. In the bottom right hand corner, you can see Denisa gasping for breath in this thin air.
We made it through the snow . . .
and finally over the crest! We exchanged picture-taking duties with another couple that was attempting a selfie when we came over the lip of the summit.
From this peak we could see a whole new set of mountains around us . . .
including the ski runs cut into the mountainside of the Taos Ski Resort.
By walking across the mountain-top plateau, we could see mountain peaks in another direction! Because the ATV did most the work of getting us to this mountain-top, we were rested enough to really enjoy these views.
From our mountain-top, we took panorama pictures that included Goose Lake far below on the left, Mark standing on the peak in the middle, and Taos ski mountains on the right. What beautiful views!
We have been blessed to wander up to another of God's wonders, and this will surely be another highlight of our summer! Thanks to Connie and Steven for providing the transportation to bring us here!
While we are in awe of the big mountains around us, we are also amazed at the tiny wonders that bloom here at high elevations.
We could have stayed up here for hours, but it was time to make our way down that steep slope of rolling rocks back to the lake. There's one more view with a very tiny Denisa standing in the upper left-hand corner of the picture below.
From there we could zoom in for a picture of Goose Lake, and the parking lot above it where the ATV is parked.
We can even zoom in that parking lot to find Connie and Steven down there waiting for us.
Likewise, they took a picture of us--those two tiny dots at the top of the big rock wall behind Goose Lake.
We had missed the beginning of the trail on the way up, and ended up sloshing through the marshy ground close to the lake. But we found the real trail on the way back down off the mountain. The sign says that we have come down one mile off of Gold Hill, and we could walk seven miles to get back to Red River City.
We're glad we have our little four-seater ATV to take us back down instead of hiking that seven miles. We were amazed to see that a full-size Tahoe made it up that narrow road today. We were sure glad that we didn't have to meet him on the trail!
After enjoying our picnic lunch, it was time for our more relaxed drive down the mountain. It was late enough in the day that we didn't meet anyone coming up the trail towards us. We must have been driving faster than some others, as we did catch up with this guy going down.
There were still trees over the narrow trail, but we knew we could get around all the obstacles on the way down.
When we got back to the very beginning of our trail, you can be assured that we used the wooden bridge instead of driving through the water. The fisherman giving advice this morning was gone, so Denisa couldn't make good on her promise to throw him into the water.
We were dirty and dusty, but we finished our day with a little tour of the tiny town of Red River. Many of the restaurants are closed in the middle of the afternoon, but we finally got a table outside and a meal at the Red River Brewing Company. We had to check out the old ski lift seats hanging from the porch at the brewery.
What a great adventure and a mountain-top experience we had today at Goose Lake! We can tell that this is going to be a highlight of our summer. We have wandered another of God's wonders with some wonderful friends!
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