2026 route summary map | Rio Grande Sierrian article | Snow status

I’ve been updating maps a lot lately. All the section maps for the SF2T member packets have been updated. The summary map - above - is updated. I’ll post it on the website soon.

I spent several minutes tensely tallying up the individual sub-sections, then the sections, wondering what the full distance would be for this new route. The old route was 132 miles. But after so many route changes, the distance was surely going to change. I have a lot of materials out publicly that say “132 miles”. Now all that was going to be wrong.

But…

I got lucky.

Article in the Rio Grande Sierrian

Status on snow

Good news first: We got a bit more in this last weekend.

The Santa Fe Ski Basin: 8 inches new snow. 61 inches for the season so far.

Sipapu: 11 inches new snow. 46 inches for the season so far.

Taos Ski Valley: 13 inches new snow. 53 inches for the season so far.

It’s great to get some new snow, but the season totals so far this year are not good. We’ve still got more than two months to go, though. Do whatever snow conjuring magic you like - we need it.

Lack of snowpack means increased risk of fire. Increased risk of fire means potential forest closures. I would hate to see the woods close, but I’d vastly prefer them to be closed than for us to have one of the massive hot “crown” fires we’ve been getting. Small underbrush fires? Meh - they belong.

While we’re on the topic, Watch Duty is a good app to have if you’re thinking about doing the thru-hike. It lets you monitor fire activity. It’s free.

Update on the “Be Here Now” sign

I have been in communication with someone at the SF New Mexican about an article, with my contact at NMVFO about them doing the work to restore the sign, and - most importantly - with my contact at the Forest Service about getting permission to restore the sign. If you read the last newsletter, you know that I made a petition about restoring the sign. It had been next to Winsor Trail (near the Winsor trailhead at the SF Ski Basin area) for 14 years, then disappeared last spring.

My contact at the Forest Service says that doing a petition is a bad idea and not likely to work. They appreciate that 15 people signed the petition just by me sending out one notification about it (thus proving there is strong interest in restoring the sign), but they were cool about talk of a petition and a newspaper article.

Because I want to be on the best terms possible with the Forest Service, I am not going to promote the petition. I have asked my contact at the SF New Mexican (our local newspaper) to hold off on an article until all parties have reached a happy consensus.

Now here’s the good news: My contact at the Forest Service proposed two possible options:

1. Letting us have a “Be Here Now” sign on the kiosk at the Winsor trailhead

2. Having a sign like the old free-standing sign put up in a NM DOT ROW (New Mexico Department of Transportation Right of Way) that was cut through the forest last year and that intersects Winsor Trail fairly close to where the sign used to be.

I said our first choice is to have it back were it was. Second choice is next to the new DOT ROW. Third choice is the kiosk.

This is extremely positive. I may not be able to get the sign back to where it was, but maybe we’ll get it back along the trail at least. My contact is willing to meet us halfway, or even more than halfway, and that’s hugely appreciated.

So far so good. I’ll keep you posted.

The Fish & Game Outdoor Adventures Show is Friday, February 13th to Sunday, February 15th

The thru-hike has a 20’ × 20’ booth. I am speaking Saturday, February 14th about “The 10 Essentials”: The ten things we’re all supposed to bring on any hike. I am arranging a few cameos during the talk for related organizations. If you’d like to do a cameo for one of the ten essentials, let me know.

So… did you just wonder what the 10 essentials are? Here’s a refresher. 

If you would like to volunteer at the Outdoor Adventures Show, it would be great to have you. There are about eight people signed up now, but the more the merrier. Reply to this email if you’re interested.

Cheers,

Pam Neely, Founder and Creator of the Route

P.S.: I am looking for two to ten parking spaces within a 2.0 mile radius of Taos Plaza. I am willing to pay $200-$500 to use them from June 1 to November 1 of this year. These spaces would only be available to SF2T members. They would only be used to place a car near Taos so the owner of the car can come back to it a week to two weeks later after they’ve completed the thru-hike. If you know of someone who might agree to this, please reply to this email. I have a few leads so far, but no closed deal.

P.P.S: Rio del Pueblo, the day before yesterday.