My Travels

This was my first hike. My best friend Curtis, conned me into this somehow and then forbid me from using the term "Death March". Seems a bit unfair...
The Pecos Wilderness is North East of Santa Fe New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo range. We started out in the Cowles Campground and trekked just over 5.5 miles to Stewart Lake. Even though 5.5 miles doesn't seem like a long way, I was exhausted by the time we reached it. But man was it worth it. I've never been to a more remote and stunningly beautiful place in my life. It's amazing how fast you can relax and unwind. I did suffer a touch of altitude sickness but over came that with pleanty of water and sleep Friday night. Saturday, neither of us felt up to another hike so we stayed around the lake. We trekked around it some and took quite a few pictures. I wish I were a better photog and had the equipment to capture what the eye sees. My pictures are ok but nothing compares to being there.
The weather was fantastic the whole weekend. It sprinkled on and off and kept the temp. down. The nights were cool and the mornings crisp and clear. The evenings were sill and calm.
We managed to get a nice fire going on Sat. afternoon, wet wood and all. Nothing beats a chearfull fire when you're camping. I wish I would have brought along one of those Pocket Fisherman by Ronco. The lake was begging us to take some fish out of it. I'll definately remember for next time. The dehydrated meals were ok, but some trout would have been awesome!
The hike out was just under 5 miles as we took a different trail out than in. I had different aches and pains coming down than I had going up. This time it was just my feet. I was limping along and dragging my left foot by the time we hit the road at the camp ground. No blisters though!!
We saw a doe and her fawn on the trail out. The fawn looked really young. It couldn't have been more than a week or two old.
All and all, I was very impressed with Curt's mountianeering skills. Mostly I'm impressed that he put up with my whineing and complaining. Kudos to Curt.