More snow | Outdoor Recreation Day | Guidebook | Mayor

Author

Pam Neely
March 16, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Spring Arrives, but Snow Continues

Can you feel spring yet? You probably can. It arrives officially this Thursday, March 20th, with the vernal equinox (aka “the spring equinox”). For those of us who like precision, it will arrive at 3:01 am mountain time.

We should get more snow, despite it being “officially” spring. And we could use it. The All Mountain Snow Report for the Santa Fe Ski Basin is counting 124” for the season so far. Sipapu is showing 109” for their season total. Taos Ski Basin reports just 97”.

All of that is low, but not dire.

This matters to hikers nearly as much as skiers because it determines when the trails in the higher elevations will be clear. It also contributes to whether or not the woods get closed due to potential fire conditions.

March 18th: Outdoor Recreation Day at the Santa Fe Roundhouse

The New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division is hosting Outdoor Recreation Day at the Roundhouse this Tuesday, March 18th, from 9 am to 3 pm. There’s more info here.

I was not able to get a table for the thru-hike (😞), but I will be there for at least a few hours. According to the Facebook page for the event, “Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will kick off our hour-long speaker series at 11am!”

The guidebook progresses

Huge thanks to the three lovely people who have given me feedback about the guidebook so far. I am still welcoming feedback, but the window for feedback is getting narrow. Here’s the schedule:

  • Week of March 17th: I go through the whole guidebook, again, fixing things and adding things, and incorporating the feedback I’ve gotten so far. I also distribute the 10 copies I got today to various people, including a few people up in Taos when I’m there this Wednesday.

  • Friday, March 21: After making those changes, I order another round of pre-launch copies. This is just enough time to have a recent copy in hand to give the Mayor of Santa Fe (ahem) a copy when I go see him Friday, March 28th at “Meet the Mayor” day.

  • March 24 to April 3rd: These are the last two weeks to make any significant changes.

  • April 4th: Copyediting begins. (Good news: I found a copyeditor. Expected news: It’s going to cost $950 to get the guidebook copyedited. This is not surprising, as the guidebook is 44,000 words. Donation page is here…)

  • April 18th: Proofreading begins.

  • April 28th: All changes to the book should be completed. Launch copies will be ordered.

  • May 6th: Amazon locks me out of making any changes to the book.

  • May 12th: The book launches. Everyone who pre-ordered a Kindle copy will get their copy. Several bookstores and outfitters around Santa Fe and Taos will have the guidebook for sale. Pretty sure I will also be selling the book directly from the Santa Fe to Taos website.

It exists! Note the sloppy cropping from Amazon. I’ll use either IngramSpark or BookVault for printing (POD) because of that, but also because the paper Amazon uses for “standard color” makes the photos look blurry and flat.

What Will I Talk to the Mayor About?

Three things:

  • To let him know this fabulous thru-hike exists, and to give him a copy of the guidebook so he can see how real it is.

  • To ask him to use his influence with the Santa Fe parking authorities so we can get 2-week or 3-week parking passes at the garage in the Santa Fe Convention Center so y’all can leave your cars there while you do the thru-hike.

  • To ask him to write a letter of support for the thru-hike. This is part of Project: ✨Funding✨. Most grant applications ask for a few letters of support, so I am doing the legwork to get those. It’s a long-term project.

I’ll stop here. If you read all the way to here… wow. Thanks.

Maybe next issue (in two weeks) I’ll share a photo of me and the Mayor. Unlikely, but you never know.

- Pam Neely