Holiday cards | guided hikes survey results | snow pack stats

Would you like a SF2T Christmas card?

Send me your address and I’ll get one off to you. It might end up being a New Year’s card, but who knows - there are 11 days before Christmas.

(If you are a SF2T member or you placed an order via the SF2T website, skip the form. Your Christmas card is already being prepared.)

Guided training hikes survey results

Seven of you responded. I’m keeping the survey open - it’s here if you want to send a response.

I fixed the survey so you can request more than one month. So far, April is the top choice. (And yes, I realize none of these results are even remotely statistically significant.)

Friday and Saturday are the top choices for the day of the week.

The full, 16-mile out and back hike is preferred, just barely.

The most preferred price is $25 per person, but “pay what you’re comfortable with” came in as a close second.

I’ll post the survey on social media soon, but not for another few days.

‘Tis the season to check snow pack stats

This is the best way to know:

a) How early you might be able to do the thru-hike.
b) How likely it is we might have wildfires next year, or if the woods might be closed to avoid wildfires.

Ski Santa Fe’s All Mountain Snow Report is here. 23 inches so far this year.

Sipapu’s Snow Report is here. 16 inches so far this year.

Taos Ski Valley’s Snow Report is here. 13-16 inches so far this year depending on where on the mountain it’s measured.

So is this good? Bad? It’s “meh”.

Low 200s for the season is about “normal” now. We could easily meet or surpass that; it’s very early. The worst snow pack I’ve experienced here (in 20 years) was 56 inches as measured by Ski Santa Fe at the end of their season. That was 2018, and yes - the woods were closed due to fire concerns. Santa Fe Forest closed first… Carson was open at one point, but I believe it closed a few weeks later. We eventually got enough of a monsoon to reopen the forests, and in late August/early September of that year I did the thru-hike all the way through for the first time.

On The Snow has a nice snow history page, for both annual and typical monthly snowfalls. Here’s what Ski Santa Fe’s current report looks like:

I am not excessively worried about the snow yet. The freakishly warm weather that’s lasting for weeks? That worries me. An iris bloomed in our courtyard this week. Apple weather says we are 16 degrees above average temperate.

If you are wondering if this warm weather means you might be able to do the thru-hike this winter, or now, PLEASE do not do that. Let’s keep the search and rescue teams home for the holidays.

My antique crosscut saw collection

Okay - it’s two saws. Not much of a collection.

After a flurry of activity about 2026 trail maintenance projects along the route (huge thanks to NMFVO! And, hopefully, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps), I developed an interest in getting sawyer certification. And an interest in tools. Antique, hard-to-find tools.

Blame my genetics: My mother’s side of the family is from Maine and has a long and storied history in forestry. Long, long ago, a member of my family was actually given one sixth of Mount Katahdin (!). The next day, he went to the town hall and signed its ownership back over to the person who had gifted it to him. We don’t know why.

You read to the end. Amazing.

Happy solstice,

Pam

PS: Thanks to everyone who responded about volunteering and events over the next few months. More soon. Stay tuned.

PPS: New trail dog. Recently adopted from the Santa Fe Humane Society. His name is Andy. He’s about a year old. He’s a good boy. ❤️ Our vet, who up until recently worked in Taos for the last three years, is convinced he’s “a Taos dog”. The vet said that without knowing anything about me, or that the thru-hike even existed. ✨✨✨

Taos dog or not, the thru-hike has a new mascot.