I’ve hiked to Williams Lake a jillion times, and had never seen what I saw yesterday.
Sam and I hiked with Adrian (my dear friend who’s staying on Kahler Island while she gets resettled in Taos) up an icy trail – foreshadowing alert! – to get to the lake that sits just below Wheeler Peak.
Taos Ski Valley doesn’t have much snow these days, so we made our way up the mountain with all the families who were probably supposed to be skiing but had done the few open runs many times over.
It cheered me to see parents with kids outside instead of sitting in front of televisions or video games. It was mostly the parents hiking together, then packs of children racing ahead with the dogs.
The kids climbed and skidded like pups themselves, teasing and jostling for first place on the trail. A boy sailed past a girl, causing her to lose her footing for a second, and she yelled after him, “Don’t blow my season!” I wish I’d had that kind of confidence and commitment to a sport when I was that age, but was glad to see it out in force yesterday.
Time going up: 1.5 hours. Time coming down: 1.25 hours. Giant bruises on a certain blogger’s ass from slipping and falling: 1.0. Success!
The obligatory selfie at the top. Note that the lake behind us is usually blue and liquid.
Surprise! The lake was frozen over, a first for me and Sam, who wasn’t so sure about all that slick expanse.
As in, really not sure.
Gorgeous fall colors.
I had fun playing with this image, which has a sci-fi feel to it. Close Encounters of the Taos Kind?
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What a great place and you sound so joyful that the bruises are gonna be no biggy.
Sherry – I’m so glad I sound joyful! That’s definitely my mood when I’m up there, or anywhere out in nature, really.
What a gorgeous hike! I love the fall colors and the eerie beauty of,the lake. What fun to have it frozen. You look like you are having great fun.
Lee – You and the clan would love it up here, and you should visit sooner than later. 🙂
Beautiful! I’ve never been up there, so this was fun to see.
Emilie Vardaman recently posted…Corolla Wild Horses!
Emilie, it is so beautiful. I’ve lived here since 2004 and still I think, I can’t believe I get to live here!