June 01, 2004 - 9:20 p.m.

Go West!

What a wonderful weekend! Despite a little initial angst (more on that in a bit), my extra-long weekend was excellent and just what I needed to lift my spirits at the end of a trying month. It was also a wonderful kickoff for the summer, though it hardly feels like summer here, since the temperature never rose above 60 degrees today. Ugh.

My weekend began on Thursday afternoon, as I had a 1:40PM flight out of Boston. Since B gets out of school at noon, I had arranged to have him stay for the afternoon so that his mom wouldn't have to miss too much of her workday for my benefit. B was excited about staying for the full day at school like a "big boy", but it didn't pan out that way. Just as I was about to head to the airport, I got a call from the school secretary informing me that B wasn't feeling well and had been sleeping most of the morning at school. So, I got to call S and inform her so she could leave work and come pick him up. I felt bad, since they have a nanny so that they don't have to worry about that sort of thing. But S had approved the whole plan, and knew I would be heading out of town, so I didn't let it bother me too much. It wasn't my fault, but the timing was bad.

I got over the guilt pretty quickly, though, in my excitement to get to New Mexico and see Meg. I flew through Denver and got to fly over the Rockies a bit. All I have to say about that is, wow! It further enhanced the rather unfounded, though possibly still true, idea that I would be very happy living in Colorado.

New Mexico was also gorgeous and breathtaking, though in a very different ways. While catching up with Meg and getting to know her new husband better, I also go to experience the awesome geography of the Southwest - mesas and canyons, desert and mountains. It was all impressive, beautiful, and inspiring. Meg and Robin took me to Bandolier National Monument where we saw the ruins of an old Pueblo village built beneath the cliffs and climbed ladders about 140 feet up the cliff to a ceremonial cave. Spectacular. It was literally amazing to see the well-ordered settlement and to imagine how the Native Americans struggled to survive in such a harsh, dry environment.

The hightlight of the weekend, though, was my first backpacking trip. I have done a fair bit of hiking, but hadn't done any overnight trips or anything at all in any sort of altitude. Los Alamos, where Meg lives, is at about 7000 feet above sea level, so I wasn't sure how well I would handle the elevation, much less hiking much higher with a 20 something pound pack on my back. I guess I did pretty well, though, since Meg started calling me Mountain Goat about 3/4 of the way up to our destination. :)

On Saturday we drove from Los Alamos to Santa Fe National Forest to start our trip into the Pecos Wilderness. We hiked 7.5 miles each way from 8800 feet at the trailhead to 11,500 feet at the lake near which we camped for the night. Along the way we passed through pine forest, mountain meadows dotted with irises, rustling groves of aspen, and occasional patches of snow that still hadn't melted from the winter. It was a wonderful hike dotted with incredible views of the surrounding snowcapped mountains in the Sangre de Madre range. It was windy when we started the hike, but by the time we reached Pecos Baldy Lake, about 1100 feet below the summit of East Pecos Baldy, it was beyond blustery, and as the sun went down it got very chilly. We cooked up some dinner and cocoa and retreated to the warmth of our sleeping bags inside the tent. The wind continued to howl throughout the night, strongly enough at times to wake me from an exhausted sleep.

In the morning we woke with cold noses to a dusting of snow around our tent and the water in my bottle that was left outside the tent frozen solid! I was actually amazed at how cozy we were inside the tent and was extremely grateful that Meg had lent me her down sleeping bag. I knew it would be cooler up in the mountains, but I wasn't expecting freezing weather! We suffered the cold while we got breakfast ready - I even resorted to using a spare pair of socks as mittens. Before too long the sun's warmth started to counteract some of the wind chill. Still, the gusts were fierce enough that we decided not to venture up to the even more exposed summit. So, we packed up and headed back down the mountain.

On our way back to Meg and Robin's house, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner, and I had the best guacamole I have ever tasted! They make it fresh in a big stone mortar right at the table. Mmmmm. It was truly heavenly, and tasted even better after a couple of active days on a windswept mountain eating freeze dried food. :) The rest of the dinner was very tasty too, but the guac was definitely the high point along with the margaritas.

Yesterday Meg drove me back down to Albuquerque to catch my plane back to my usual life. I was definitely sad to go. Hiking and camping was wonderful and rejuvenating. The natural beauty lifted my spirits immensely, and the accomplishment of hauling myself and my gear up a mountain boosted my self esteem. The conversations with Meg and Robin ranged happily from deep and thoughtful debates about religion and politics to silly and immature riffs on potty humor. My hosts were also willing to give me time and space to be quiet and alone, which I also needed. There were certainly moments when I thought of Sam or being suddenly single and succumbed to a bit of sadness. But the weekend, all in all, was overwhelmingly happy, and I am so glad I went!

However, I got home late last night and had to get up early this morning for work. I really should be in bed right now so that I can catch up on some sleep.

today's project:readjusting to Eastern Time and life without a mountain view

Did you know? A person from Switzerland is called a Helvetian

consecutive workout days: zilch. perhaps tomorrow.

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flutter back - fly ahead