Rail Trail Lemonade

With only one day left before I rejoin my family up north in Michigan I was determined to get in a good long run. And since both the National Forest and the Dale Ball system are still closed, the only place to get in a long run is Rail Trail. Yes the only redeeming quality of the Rail Trail is that it's unpaved. But sometimes you just gotta make do with what you got. So Crone and I put together a 30 mile out-and-back connecting the Rail Trail with the Galisteo Basin Preserve that actually turned out to be pretty decent. We started at 5:30 am at the Rabbit Road trail head, made it down to the Preserve in a couple hours (with some bonus miles since we missed the turn off), and did about an hour there before heading back up. Fortunately some good cloud cover kept the temps in check otherwise we would have fried - and I still drained 70oz of water. Round trip time was a touch under five hours.

The Preserve was a really neat place. The open spaces here have a unique beauty to them that is simultaneously harsh and fragile. The landscape can definitely become monotonous at times. That happens anywhere I suppose. Yet somehow whenever I return from an out-of-state trip I always catch myself admiring the rugged simplicity and the expansive views, and the Preserve has both of those. I highly recommend getting out there if you're looking for some new trails to explore.

Galisteo Basin Preserve:

Galisteo Basin Preserve trail map

Some pictures:

The turn off from Rail Trail that leads to the Preserve.
We missed it on the way down.

One of many small multi-colored arroyos in the Preserve

Looking southwest towards Oritz and Sandia

Looking due south into the Preserve

Now it's off to northern Michigan for some much needed chill-axation. Last weekend essentially marked the end of the first half of the racing season for me, and my body and my mind are both understandably quite tired. So the goal over the next two to three weeks will be to rest and recharge (and try not to drink too much beer) before gettin' back at it for my October races.

Home for the next two weeks