Saturday, April 14, 2007

Saturday Walk after Snow

I was planning to do a 12 mile walk this morning. I started around 7:45am. When I got to the railroad tracks around 9am the snow and ice from yesterday started melting and everything was getting muddy. I walked for about a mile in slippery mud and decided to turn around.

I ended up walking about 8 miles - but the really great part of the day was seeing the left over snow from yesterday and the beautiful landscape. Here are some of the things I saw.

The railroad tracks with the Jemez Mountains with a new coat of snow.



Snow on Cactus.



Ice on plants just beginning to thaw in the morning sun.



Birdhouse.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Good Friday Walk



I walked to Chimayo by myself this year. Joel dropped me off at Camel Rock at 7:30am and I started at a good pace, at about 4mph. There were a lot of people walking from Santa Fe this year, more than I remember in years past.

Walking alone, I noticed more than I have in the past. Most people walk with their families - and I would guess most groups have between 4-6 people. Walking from Santa Fe, it seems like most people were in their 30s and 40s or in their teens. After the turn toward Chimayo at Nambe, there were many older people and many people walking with babies. From Nambe to Chimayo the walk is hard - it is hilly and over 10 miles.

A new addition to the walk this year was the number of people handing out free food to walkers. One group was handing out hard boiled eggs - extra protein for the final hills. In past years there has been a lot of fruit and burritos - I haven't seen eggs before.

The last hill in to Chimayo is the hardest. It is the longest hill as you walk into town. The road narrows and the sides of the road are steep and sandy. The car traffic coming and going from town is slow moving, but there are a lot of cars. I called Joel to come and get me me when I was about a mile from town, and starting up this last hill.

I didn't take any pictures as I walked the route. I was really focused on walking and getting to the Sanctuario.

The following pictures I took after arriving in Chimayo. I was really tired and didn't really feel like taking pictures - but now I wish I would have rested and taken more.

The Sanctuario.



The line of people waiting to get into the church. I overheard that the wait was over 4 hours.



Chimayo has a carnival atmosphere with vendors selling ice cream from mobile carts with bells and temporary huts with people selling grilled corn on the cob. There are artisans selling jewelry, large wooden crucifixes, and dried flower displays. Below is a snowcone vendor.



This final picture is where I waited for Joel for about an hour and a half. It took him over 2 hours to get from Santa Fe to Chimayo by car (it took me only 4.5 hours to walk it). It was exhausting waiting for Joel, and we had not made good plans to meet up. Cell phone service was spotty. So I stood, watched cars, ate my last peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and listened to the traffic cops yell at people who were blocking traffic.



While I waited for Joel I saw pickup trucks loaded to capacity with people getting rides back to Santa Fe and Espanola. There were restored cars from the 1950s and a few low riders.

Once I found Joel, we drove from Chimayo toward Espanola (westward) where we encountered a DWI checkpoint. A surreal end to an exausting journey.