Taos Anniversary trip

Crystal and I have a little tradition.  Every year we take turns planning an anniversary trip that is a surprise.  This year was Crystal's turn to plan the trip and she didn't disappoint.  We made the 4.5 hour drive down to Taos, NM to enjoy the forecasted 80 degree weather and thaw out after a long winter of playing in the cold.  We stayed at the Historic Taos Inn which initially made me nervous considering it had a neon sign marking its location.  The Inn was actually a great place to stay, located across the street from the city square, our room was large with canopy bed, wood burning fireplace, and really nice bathroom.

Our first day in town supplied 80 degree temps and clear skies as promised so we headed out to an area sport climbing crag after grabbing a morning brunch.  Really unique walls with huge cobble stones and pockets.  The rock was really different then what we were used to but a lot of fun.  We hopped on a couple routes then cruised back toward Taos stopping to do some bouldering along the Rio Grande.  Once back in town we took the recommendation of our friends Brian and Ted and stopped at Eske's Brewpub for dinner and a sampler of beer.  The beer was good with a few brews that even Crystal liked.  The most distinct was Eske's own green chile beer, how New Mexican indeed, surprisingly palatable and spicy, yet not something I would want to drink a pint of.  We also split a huge burrito at the suggestion of Brian who said he still thinks of it on occasion several years later.  As with the next two nights we enjoyed some live music at our hotel bar and called it an early night.  Taos is an interesting town as it seems to attract an older crowd and I suppose in turn doesn't have a whole lot in the way of nightlife. 

Suiting up for some cobble climbing

Rio Grande

Looking for boulders

A little out of order, but this was breakfast

Green Chile Beer!!!

This is for you Brian

The next day is when the weather changed and a snow/rain mix moved into the area.  We headed to Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe for breakfast, and remarkably only had to wait a few minutes for a table.  This place is great and I would highly recommend it if you are in Santa Fe, unfortunately it is always busy and is a small place so waiting for a table is the norm.  Last time we waited 30 plus minutes for a table for breakfast.  The food is amazing though.  I had polenta with tomatilla, corn, and chorizo, topped with egg.   It didn't disappoint.   We spent the gray afternoon cruising around Santa Fe and checking out the galleries and shops.  Several inches of snow fell and we regretted not bringing skis for what looked like some promising backcountry.

I can't remember what she got, I was too distracted by mine.

Mmm....Chorizo

Pasqual's Cafe

So much for 80 and sunny

Slim Pickings

Brian agreed to go check out some climbing in Boulder canyon last Tuesday despite the rain falling all night.  The forecast for the day showed a gap in the rain with acceptable temps before noon with more precipitation expected in the afternoon.  Although we were less then optimistic we headed out to the Riviera where we hoped if the sun did peek out it would shine on this south facing cliff.  Our ride up the canyon was not reassuring as the clouds hung low.

Brian tries to illustrate how cold it is (you could see our breath)

Note the freezing line

We hiked up the face and found one, yes ONE semi dry route, a 5.9 that I had retreated from in the past.  The only problem was that water was dripping down the left side of the crux moves making it a more complex and tricky move.  Brian killed the lead in excellent style despite the 93% humidity.  I headed up on top rope and took about 10 minutes to figure out the weird crux moves.

Our dry patch of rock

After playing on the one dry route we took the jeep for some exploration in the woods.  As we headed up the canyon the snow started falling.  We cruised the Switzerland trail in the snow which took us through some interesting little towns that had some near misses with the big Four Mile Canyon Wildfire last year.  The trail was really just a forest road that you could realistically drag and scrap a Subaru down if it was dry, but it was adventurous enough for me considering I didn't have my new spare tire on the jeep yet and there was 2-4 inches of snow on the road.

snow

The scars of the four mile canyon fire

Some old mining ruins

Opps

 And just a few pictures from a trip to Lincoln Falls a few weeks ago.  Note: BV up to his tender bits in snow after he stepped off the packed trail.

-MG