Mountain Trip - Fall 2023

This was the first trip to Dad's beloved northern New Mexico since his death. So it was a little bittersweet, but mainly sweet - thanks to a dozen kind friends who made the trip with me this year. They all knew and loved Dad, and they had shared many memorable moments in the mountains with him.
The Aspen leaves were golden during our trip, and the skies were almost exclusively dark blue, with cool temperatures, and no rain. So nice. Thirteen of us came to the mountains this year, including me, Chuck Mandernach, Kent Mandernach, Stan & Nancy Ferguson, Shelley & Tom, Tim & Debbie Speck, Audrey Speck, Chip & Judy Speir, Daniel Speir. Oh, and the Ferguson's wonderful dog, Murphy.




Audrey, Kent & I road 4-wheelers and my dirtbike to the beautiful Goose Lake on our first full day in the Red River, NM area. From there we hiked up to the top of Gold Hill (12,716 ft) which was one of Dad's favorite hikes. We spread some of his ashes at the top of Gold Hill. I also spread some ashes at other spots in the Red River area that I knew he loved.


Murphy was an excellent cabin mate and travel companion. Very sweet dog.


At the top of the Old Red River pass on a beautiful Fall day.


Washers and Corn Hole were played a lot this year!

The perfect place for a hammock. And notice the deer a few feet behind the hammock.

I brought some past pictures of Dad, as well as old photo albums. We thought of him a lot during the trip.

I made a pilgrimage over to the beautiful Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos. On that journey I also visited the amazing ("life changing" I like to say, LOL) Red River Fish Hatchery, and I walked the main square in Taos. As I drove between Questa and Taos, I noticed several cars parked along the side of the road. Native American families were picking something off the ground. I stopped and chatted with some friendly folks - they said they were picking pinon nuts. They take them home, roast them, and sell them. They gave me a small sample of some pinon nuts that they had already roasted - and they were fabulous! They were buttery, sweet, and slighly smokey.


Double Solitaire!

Chuck & Kent looking at old pictures on the porch of Cabin #20.


Tom did a great job cooking burgers for the annual cookout near the cabins. And per tradition, I made a bannan pudding, which turned out fine despite me forgetting to include a second layer of bannana slices in it. LOL.

Enjoying the day under Dad's packing quilts.

The entire gang at Texas Reds steakhouse. Dad loved that place, and he always enjoyed paying for everyone's meals there. It was one of his many kind traditions. Before we ate, I gave a toast to him, and to Marci Taft (Chuck's girlfriend) who had also recently passed. I also passed around an 11-page handwritten document that Dad made while planning a Red River trip with a dozen folks back in the 1980's. That document was a hoot - he adored planning for these trips almost as much as doing them!

The annual Crossing Of The Creek

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