Guided training hikes | New Section 4 map and photos

Guided hikes between Santa Fe Plaza and the edge of Santa Fe National Forest

Thanks to the helpful people at the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County land management offices, I can now offer guided hikes from Santa Fe Plaza to the edge of SF National Forest. By “the edge of SF National Forest”, I mean the Juan / Saddleback trails intersection at the top of the hill near Little Tesuque Trailhead.

This would be 8 miles and 1,600 feet of ascent if you went one way and got a ride back from Little Tesuque Trailhead. Or it would be 16 miles if you went the full out and back. There are some steep trails, so this would give you a good sense of what it would be like to do a full day on the trail with your gear.

Here’s a map of the training hike route:

I have not yet opened registration up. If you are interested in doing a training hike, PLEASE click here to complete a short survey.

I can’t have any more than 12 people in each group. My current plan is to announce training hikes to SF2T members first. They’ll get 24 hours to reserve their spot, then I’ll open it up for email subscribers for 24 hours, then to the general public.

If you have experience leading hikes and would like to help with this, or to be a co-guide, please respond to this newsletter.

New Section 4 map

This shows the new alternate route and the old roadwalking route on FR 442. (Still want to note that the “roadwalking” is forest road walking and not one thru-hiker I spoke with this year encountered more than two vehicles their entire time walking these roads.)

This is still a bit of a draft, but it’s good enough to share with you all. The red sub-sections are what’s changed in Section 4. The purple line is the new “official” route of the thru-hike.

There is a rough section in this new Section 4. It’s marked on this map as “rough trail” and goes for about a mile before and after the Cosmic Casino Buddha campground. (Here’s the view from the Cosmic Casino Buddha campground. It’s named that because of a dream I had there.) Expect about two miles of blowdown through there. It’s not Upper Middlefork Trail bad - there aren’t truck-sized piles of downed trees. But there are downed trees you’ll have to swing a leg over or walk around. How many downed trees? Maybe one every 40 feet in the worst patches. The last mile or so of Trail 124 as you come toward FR 439a is about as bad.

While I am working with several trail maintenance organizations, I don’t want all of this blowdown cleared. Some of it has to stay because it keeps the ATVs out. That said, we could definitely clear a third to a half of the fallen trees and still block the ATVs.

But if you are expecting park-like trails… you might want to adjust those expectations. If you don’t mind a little adversity, and the feeling of being well beyond the bounds of tame and contained… then you might just love these sections.

It’s really not all that bad, though. Here’s part of that “rough trail” section:

Here’s Trail 124:

Here’s the first view of the mountains behind Taos that you’ll get to see about 1.5 miles after the CCB campground:

There is a definite Wild West feel out in this “rough trail” area. There are elk herds, too. One ran right by me, approaching with a rumble so loud that I didn’t quite understand what was happening at first, before I could see them. There was only the instinct to get out of the way: something huge and fast and powerful was coming. Then they broke through the trees, running straight downhill, one after another, over forty of them, close enough to feel the vibration through the ground and see their shaggy coats.

12 inches of snow past little Indian Creek in Carson (in Section 4-2)

I will always be grateful for snow. Even when it is deep enough and the daylight is short enough that it meant I should turn back rather than continue on.

I almost got the whole route of the thru-hike walked this year. Having to turn around here the day before yesterday meant I will close out 2025 five miles short of the full 132-mile route. This vexes me no end. I hate it. It’s so frustrating. But if for 2025 I had to choose between cutting the amount of road walking in half and this little personal annual goal of mine, I would pick cutting the road walking in half.

I did cover 96.3% of the route. It still vexes me, though. And now the high country is pretty much closed to me and most of the rest of us until May, hopefully late May. I realized that looking at this view: “This is as far as you’ll go this year.” So it’s time to transition into winter mode. To update the guidebook, write grant and guiding applications, do social media, organize finances… to do admin.

Pffft.

Going to stop here with this newsletter, too. Though there’s a lot more to tell. Partnerships are forming. There are several nice developments with services along the route underway.

Thanks for reading to the end,

Pam

PS: Oh yeah… I promised a Black Friday deal. Use code LETITSNOW for 30% off the guidebook and the enhanced gpx file until midnight tomorrow (Monday).

PPS: I am planning in-person events in Taos, Santa Fe, ABQ, and Penasco over the next few months. Please reply to this newsletter to make your suggestions for dates and venues and what the events should include. And if you’re willing to help.