Arriving in Santa Fe after dark, I put my trust in my semi-reliable Southwest campsite guide. Not that the book is entirely inaccurate but let's just say that I've penciled in enough corrections to personally update the next edition. On this occasion, the book was The Golden Tome of Truth and I found a great campsite about 7 miles northeast of Santa Fe on Hwy 475. As 
you drive up 475, the terrain quickly becomes mountainous and thickly forested. This photo is taken overlooking the uninterrupted Santa Fe housing development sprawl that creeps up the hills right to the start of Santa Fe National Forest.
The Black Canyon campsite where I stayed was the perfect place to launch both my assault on several spectacular trails and the city of Santa Fe. This city is a haven for artists and there is not a block that one can travel without seeing some spectacular results of their work. Sculptures, murals and quirky odds-and-ends make a walk through the streets an adventure in visual delight. I just don't know how a destitute artist could afford to live here.
On my first morning there, I was craving some non-camp food and I searched Santa Fe for a tasty breakfast. I stopped by a nice, sunlit cafe and perused the menu. The orange juice alone exceeded my budget and $9 for an omelete is plain wack. Damn, people wanna stick me for my paper. Traveling on, my stomach recreating Mutiny on the Bounty, I
found myself on the edge of town. I am an ornery S.O.B. without some G.R.U.B. And then I stumbled right into the bargain special of the day: LaBells New Mexican Food & takeout. For $2.25 I got the phat Southwest breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, potatoes and chorizo. Oh so tasty! Be prepared to answer the official state question, "Red or green?" Chiles, that is.
After stuffing my grill, I meandered back through town and mingled with all the pretty tourists who had descend upon the central Spanish style square in the center of the old town. Trying to look like I knew what I was doing, I haggled with some of the street vendors (photo) and walked through a couple of art galleries pretending like I might possibly buy. Every saleswoman here is an aspiring artist (kind of like the L.A. actress) and won't hesitate to tell you that the big break is just around the corner.
For me, however, the big break lay back in the mountains. I returned to camp after stopping by a local bike shop for some trail info. During the next two days I made back-to-back hard rides in the Santa Fe National Forest. It was heaven. Ride a few hours, eat, read, sleep, ride again, watch animals, etc. The trails here are challenging but not too steep as to require a lot of dismounting. My favorite trip was found on the Chamisa trail which starts about 2 miles west of the Black Canyon campground. Chamisa begins steep but then meanders its way along a
gorgeous creek and through stands of pine and aspen, some of which is within Hyde State Park. To see another photo, check out my mountain biking commentary. Even at this time of year anything over about 9,000 feet is covered in snow and I was thwarted in my attempt to ride to the top of Baldy Peak at the Santa Fe Ski Resort sits. Incidentally, right next to the ski area base is an access point to the gemstone of this portion of the Santa Fe National Forest: the Pecos Wilderness. It is only 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe! Had I two or three more days here, I would've laced that trail system with boot tracks.
Santa Fe has only a limited selection of open space outings that are really close to town and possible to visit on a lunch break or after work. One of them that I hiked and highly recommend is called the Atalaya Mountain Trail that runs partially through private land on a city easement (land upon which the development rights have been contractually limited and, in this case, purchased by the city for public recreation access) and mostly in public forest. The trail is steep and challenging and runs 3 miles one-way to a great overlook which The New Mexican Newspaper describes as "an unobstructed look at the sprawl of the city." Not a particularly enticing lure but an excellent local trip, nonetheless.
My days in Santa Fe seem like a blur of surreal art and grin-inducing biking. I did not want to leave. I will have forever ingrained in my mind the images of stream crossings and Georgia O'Keefe paintings. Oh, and I probably won't forget the near-concussion that The Rig's tailgate gave me as I, unstooped, attempted to load it up to leave. Beyatch dropped me like sack of taters. That lump on my head is not a tumor.
So let's see. Three nights of camping, that's $24. A couple of burritos and some gas for the car (unrelated to the aforementioned burritos) and I'm in at under 15 Dawgs per day. Speaking of dogs, I took the remaining cash from the Santa Fe budget
and strolled proudly into the Chicago hot dog joint on the way out of town. There's just nothing like quality processed beef. The photo of me eyeing my treat in surprise is a tribute to my good buddy Joe Leake. Last summer we went on a vacation to Chicago to catch a couple of games at Wrigley and amid the carnage, we managed to capture every meal on film, from fried onion bricks to deep dish pizza.
Just before leaving Santa Fe, I completely got over on all those Star Wars freaks who waited like fifty days in line to buy a ticket to a freaking movie. I strolled into the local Cineplex and caught the very first matinee showing. I had to wait about a minute to get in. Oh, and it cost $4. I really liked the movie but everything seems so complicated now with all the wacky aliens. And compared to Vader back in '77, this Darth Maul loser scared me not at all. He needed to mix in a couple of Jedi choke holds and ruthless slayings to build some credibility.
you drive up 475, the terrain quickly becomes mountainous and thickly forested. This photo is taken overlooking the uninterrupted Santa Fe housing development sprawl that creeps up the hills right to the start of Santa Fe National Forest.The Black Canyon campsite where I stayed was the perfect place to launch both my assault on several spectacular trails and the city of Santa Fe. This city is a haven for artists and there is not a block that one can travel without seeing some spectacular results of their work. Sculptures, murals and quirky odds-and-ends make a walk through the streets an adventure in visual delight. I just don't know how a destitute artist could afford to live here.
On my first morning there, I was craving some non-camp food and I searched Santa Fe for a tasty breakfast. I stopped by a nice, sunlit cafe and perused the menu. The orange juice alone exceeded my budget and $9 for an omelete is plain wack. Damn, people wanna stick me for my paper. Traveling on, my stomach recreating Mutiny on the Bounty, I
found myself on the edge of town. I am an ornery S.O.B. without some G.R.U.B. And then I stumbled right into the bargain special of the day: LaBells New Mexican Food & takeout. For $2.25 I got the phat Southwest breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, potatoes and chorizo. Oh so tasty! Be prepared to answer the official state question, "Red or green?" Chiles, that is.After stuffing my grill, I meandered back through town and mingled with all the pretty tourists who had descend upon the central Spanish style square in the center of the old town. Trying to look like I knew what I was doing, I haggled with some of the street vendors (photo) and walked through a couple of art galleries pretending like I might possibly buy. Every saleswoman here is an aspiring artist (kind of like the L.A. actress) and won't hesitate to tell you that the big break is just around the corner.
For me, however, the big break lay back in the mountains. I returned to camp after stopping by a local bike shop for some trail info. During the next two days I made back-to-back hard rides in the Santa Fe National Forest. It was heaven. Ride a few hours, eat, read, sleep, ride again, watch animals, etc. The trails here are challenging but not too steep as to require a lot of dismounting. My favorite trip was found on the Chamisa trail which starts about 2 miles west of the Black Canyon campground. Chamisa begins steep but then meanders its way along a
gorgeous creek and through stands of pine and aspen, some of which is within Hyde State Park. To see another photo, check out my mountain biking commentary. Even at this time of year anything over about 9,000 feet is covered in snow and I was thwarted in my attempt to ride to the top of Baldy Peak at the Santa Fe Ski Resort sits. Incidentally, right next to the ski area base is an access point to the gemstone of this portion of the Santa Fe National Forest: the Pecos Wilderness. It is only 20 minutes from downtown Santa Fe! Had I two or three more days here, I would've laced that trail system with boot tracks.Santa Fe has only a limited selection of open space outings that are really close to town and possible to visit on a lunch break or after work. One of them that I hiked and highly recommend is called the Atalaya Mountain Trail that runs partially through private land on a city easement (land upon which the development rights have been contractually limited and, in this case, purchased by the city for public recreation access) and mostly in public forest. The trail is steep and challenging and runs 3 miles one-way to a great overlook which The New Mexican Newspaper describes as "an unobstructed look at the sprawl of the city." Not a particularly enticing lure but an excellent local trip, nonetheless.
My days in Santa Fe seem like a blur of surreal art and grin-inducing biking. I did not want to leave. I will have forever ingrained in my mind the images of stream crossings and Georgia O'Keefe paintings. Oh, and I probably won't forget the near-concussion that The Rig's tailgate gave me as I, unstooped, attempted to load it up to leave. Beyatch dropped me like sack of taters. That lump on my head is not a tumor.
So let's see. Three nights of camping, that's $24. A couple of burritos and some gas for the car (unrelated to the aforementioned burritos) and I'm in at under 15 Dawgs per day. Speaking of dogs, I took the remaining cash from the Santa Fe budget
and strolled proudly into the Chicago hot dog joint on the way out of town. There's just nothing like quality processed beef. The photo of me eyeing my treat in surprise is a tribute to my good buddy Joe Leake. Last summer we went on a vacation to Chicago to catch a couple of games at Wrigley and amid the carnage, we managed to capture every meal on film, from fried onion bricks to deep dish pizza.Just before leaving Santa Fe, I completely got over on all those Star Wars freaks who waited like fifty days in line to buy a ticket to a freaking movie. I strolled into the local Cineplex and caught the very first matinee showing. I had to wait about a minute to get in. Oh, and it cost $4. I really liked the movie but everything seems so complicated now with all the wacky aliens. And compared to Vader back in '77, this Darth Maul loser scared me not at all. He needed to mix in a couple of Jedi choke holds and ruthless slayings to build some credibility.
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