Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - Ride Day at Red Canyon in the Snow!

After a very cold night, woke up wondering which was crazier, driving all this way and not taking a ride, or taking a ride when it was freezing outside. There was, in fact, some snow on the ground in the campground when we arrived, but the temps weren't too bad, in the forties and fifties, but there was a very cold wind coming from the west, which, fortunately, we were somewhat sheltered from, being on the east side of the mountain range. After getting outside and realizing it wasn't too bad, or at least, wouldn't be too bad if we dressed properly, we saddled and booted the horses and left the camp about noon, heading out the Red Canyon Trail, which was the beginning of a loop of about 7.2 miles. The first part of the trail was the most difficult, which was fine because the horses were fresh, and apparently quite happy to go for a ride. After the initial easy bit, we headed into rockier terrain, criss-crossing a creek up fairly steep terrain, but like mountain goats, our horses sailed up them with no problem. We were confronted once by a downed tree across the trail, and I wasn't sure we could get past it, because the cliff dropped away down toward the creek, and the upside seemed to have unsure footing, so I got down and walked it to see how safe it was. My trusty gelding followed right along, climbing up like it was nothing, and Hubby and his mare followed right along. I felt a little silly for not trusting him to take me on his back, but I quickly climbed back up and we proceeded onward. The trail was difficult in some places at first, but once we got past about a quarter mile of rough stuff, it became simply moderate for quite some time. The horses took quite a few breathers as we got closer to the top, understandable considering they climbed about 1100 feet in 2.5 miles. When we reached the intersection at the top, there was a clearing with some grass, so we let them graze for a bit, cognizant that we couldn't waste much time, what with the time change back to standard time this past weekend, and it getting dark here by about 5:00. We certainly didn't want to be late getting back. There were spectacular views, though, on both sides of the mountain range we had just climbed, we could even see Albuquerque in the distance! After the horses had a few minutes rest, which they needed, as evidenced by the goodly amount of sweat they had accumulated, we headed north on the Crest Trail. I had made the assumption that the Crest Trail would stay fairly level and that the returning trail would be all downhill, but I was wrong. The Crest Trail actually descended for 1.2 miles on this particular stretch (the entire trail is upwards of 18 miles), then the rest of the loop was mostly level and gradually downhill, skirting the mid-section of the mountain all the way around. Apollo sensed we were heading home, and his pace picked up a bit as well, and we made the last 3.5 miles in just an hour and fifteen minutes, pretty good considering the trail was still mosting rock and didn't lend itself to trotting, much less cantering. It did get considerably colder on the north side of the mountain, and the snow was a bit deeper, possibly 2 inches or so, which added to the challenge. It was harder to actually see the rocks on the trail, and it made it much more slippery, which made us once again grateful we were using Easy Boots rather than horseshoes, which would have slipped even worse on the rocks. Having dressed in parkas and double socks, we managed to get back without being completely frozen, and in fact, really enjoyed ourselves. We made such good time that we actually made it back by 3:15, even though I had predicted closer to four. We had the horses settled in and fed by four, and relaxed the rest of the evening, happy that we had made the decision to come here, wishing we had done it sooner. We hadn't wanted to ride in snow, but were glad that we had experienced it. The rest of the winter, however, we hope to try to stay in 70 degree weather!