Mountain Trip - Fall 2010

It felt great being in the Rockies after a three year hiatus! The Fall temperatures were cool and crisp. And while some of the Aspen trees hadn't turned yellow yet, others had entered into their annual autumnal golden glory. Very nice. The town of Red River, NM is pretty quiet this time of year. Fall is when many locals take their vacations, and there aren't many autumn tourists. So a few restaurants & shops were closed, but that's a small price to pay to have a tranquil mountain town practically all to ourselves. I apologize if this page took a while to download - there were a lot of really good photos this year.

18 people made all or part of the trip, including:
Dan Stone, Brad Stone, Chuck Mandernach, Nancy & Stan Ferguson, Shelley, Tim & Debbie Speck, Audrey Speck, Trevor Speck, Chip & Judy Speir, Daniel Speir, Rick & Leti Carson, Steve & Sally Mills

Chuck (left) and Dan having a chat under the Aspen trees at the Old Pass

Some other cute pictures at the Old Pass

Audrey trying out Dad's CRF150 which has a 200cc kit in it

The hammock got a lot of use this trip!

Rick, Myself, Dad

Heading to dinner

The gang at "Sundance" Mexican-food restaurant. Dad isn't in the photo because he took the picture.

Yoga lessons

On the way to the Middle Fork Lake trailhead

Judy hiking up the trail to Middle Fork Lake

Rick (left) and me hiking up to Middle Fork Lake

Rick at Middle Fork Lake (elev. 10,845 ft)

We did more trout fishing this year than in the past - resulting in a wonderful fish dinner

Dad (left) and Rick in front of Cabin #20

From throwing washers to waiting for cookies to finally bake in the high altitude, mountain trips provide a lot of fun for kids

We often ate breakfast at either "The Old Tymer's" or "Shotgun Willie's", but on this particular morning Nancy & Chuck cooked a great breafast for us

Chuck and Stan & Nancy under some beautiful Aspen trees on the way up to Goose Lake

Goose Lake (elev. 11,630 ft)
This is a very high mountain lake. In fact, it's four hundred feet higher than the top of Greenie Peak (see below).

Chuck (left) and Dad (in the truck with Shelley & her daughter) crossing the Red River at the Goose Lake trailhead. The river crossing was a bit deeper this year. Dad drove his Chevy Tahoe all the way to the lake. That's a tight & tricky trail, with steep drop-offs in places - impressive!

Wheeler Peak (elev. 13,161 ft)
A few of the more intrepid members of our gang hiked to the highest point in New Mexico!
From left to right: Daniel, Audrey, Chip, Trevor

Chip at the top of Wheeler Peak. Funny picture!

The old foot bridge crossing the Red River at the Goose Lake trailhead is being replaced by a 60-foot long bridge (right picture) capable of handling dirt bikes and four wheelers. But most of us will still cross the river the old fashioned way - it's more fun to splash through it!