Outward Link Trail | Guidebook 2nd edition | Fish & Game Expo

Outward Link Trail

The Outward Link Trail has been re-opened after a district judge found in favor of the Town of Taos earlier this month.

This means that thru-hikers no longer have to choose between the “official route” of the thru-hike, which goes out to Route 64 from El Nogal and the “alternate route” which goes under the high-tension wires and near the Don Carlos Lounge. Using the Outward Link Trail will bring you out a bit north along the bypass, but it’s easy to cut over on Cruz Alta Road and then Fernandez Road to pick up Witt Road again (highlighted in turquoise).

Here’s what all those things look like on a map:

Having the Outward Link Trail back cuts out the most dangerous section of the thru-hike: that tight-shouldered, short walk along Route 64 between El Nogal and the bypass. I am grateful to have it back, but sympathetic to what the Bambergs (the landowners who closed the trail) have gone through. Please: Be respectful of property owners. Pick up some trash or some broken glass as you pass through.

Second edition of the guidebook

This decision from the court about the Outward Link Trail accelerates the need for a second edition of the guidebook. There was always going to be a second edition, but I had planned on getting it out by May. Now I’ve got a wish to get it out by mid-February.

That’s a push, but it’s possible.

I realize many of you who bought the guidebook will now think: “Oh no! My copy is no good.” Your copy is still good. It still “works", in that you can do the full thru-hike with the information in the first edition.

I put together a simple survey to give you all a way to give feedback about how to handle the transition to the second edition: https://forms.gle/oBTud87LsZGUGwLD6. Or just reply to this email.

Fish & Game Expo aka the Outdoor Adventures Show

It’s on! The New Mexico Outdoor Adventures Show, put on by the excellent people at the NM Fish & Game Department, will be February 13-15 at the Expo Center in Albuquerque. I have requested a booth big enough for both the 10’ banner map and the projector images and video. I also volunteered to speak. I even pitched the idea of doing a bear hang educational event… we’ll see if they’re okay with the idea of throwing things in the air at a crowded indoor event.

This was a high-volume, game-changing event for the thru-hike last year. The booth got a lot of attention. If you would like to volunteer, let me know. I will buy you lunch and pay gas and say “thank you” to you probably every three minutes. But it’s a hoot. You’ll get to hear about peoples’ experiences and memories of the NM backcountry. Sometimes these conversations become surprisingly heartfelt, even emotional. It’s a privilege to hear people talk about what the places along the thru-hike route mean to them.

Managing impacts: Campsite monitoring

As part of my work to manage the impacts of the thru-hike (and to prepare for The Trek’s post about how the thru-hike will be “packed” in two years), I’ve been talking to people at the Forest Service. After a lot of thought about all the issues overuse raises, what I’m really concerned about is the impacts to the high alpine lakes (Lake Katherine, Stewart, Pecos Baldy, and especially Truchas Lakes).

One these Forest Service employees has considerable experience with monitoring campsite impacts. They sent this article/study about a) monitoring impacts around a wilderness lake, and then b) responding to those impacts by strategically building new campsites.

I’m telling you this so you’ll know that I take the overcrowding issues seriously and am collaborating with the Forest Service to minimize them, but also because this is a volunteer opportunity. We’ll need people to check different campsites. I’ll probably be on trail more this year than last year, but still — I’ll need at least two or three volunteers for this documentation work.

Restoring the “Be Here Now” Sign on Winsor Trail near the Santa Fe Ski Basin

Most local Santa Fean hikers know of the “Be Here Now” sign that was just off Winsor Trail as you climb up the switchbacks from the trailhead at the Santa Fe Ski Basin. It was widely loved.

Sometime last spring, it disappeared.

Most people’s best guess of what happened to it is that the Forest Service was doing some work and just removed the “Be Here Now” sign because it is not an official sign. When I spoke with them about potentially restoring it, they were cool on that idea — but not opposed. They pointed out that if everyone put up signs like this, the woods would be a thicket of signs, which is of course true. But this isn’t a new sign; it was an old sign. And it may have had Forest Service backing of some kind at some point because it is a recognized type of “birdhouse” Forest Service sign.

I miss the sign. A lot of people do.

I have found competent trail maintenance crew that says they’ll do the work to replace the sign — but we have to get Forest Service approval first.

Would you like to have the “Be Here Now” sign restored? If you would, the petition is here.

You read to the end! Thank you.

Pam Neely, Founder and Creator of the Route, The Santa Fe to Taos Thru-Hike

P.S.: I also got a new printer — an Epson 8550. This means I can print 13” × 19”… so small poster size, or panoramas 13” tall and up to three feet long. It will also save me a lot of money on ink (which is why I bought it in the first place). With the right papers and some testing, I will also be able to produce high-quality prints, notecards, and even short run brochures. I should have a selection of prints available for sale by the Fish & Game Expo.

P.P.S.: Stay tuned for very big news, hopefully by the next newsletter, or at least by mid-February. I’ve been working on something for almost a year now. Can’t wait to be able to talk about it.