Ron, Jan (girl), Bill, Jackie, Elena, and Kathleen. Jan (boy) is the photographer.
View near the top as we backpack to camp.
Ron speeds ahead as we drop into the basin.
Near the bottom of the basin.
Photo taken just after we set up camp, and take our first break.
After we setup camp, four of us hiked up stream to a nearby high point.
Kathleen enjoys the view near our high point on the first day hike.
Elena on the ascent of Toltec Mesa on our second day hike.
This and many of the following photos are from the ridge of Toltec Mesa.
This is a view of a major obstacle that led us to reconsider getting to the goal of our day hike. We had hoped to get all the way down canyon to the Rio de Los Pinos.
Barely visible in the center of this photo is a narrow gauge train traversing the distant hillside. I just missed the more prominent locomotive as it went behind the trees. We heard the train whistle many times while in the wilderness.
The next several photos were taken while traveling through the narrow canyon created by the granite obstacle and the stream flowing through it..
Jackie admiring a beautiful red boulder.
We work our way carefully down the cascades.
Bill stops for a dip in a deep cold pool, as Jan continues to explore.
The Rio de Los Pinos gorge is in the invisible cleft well ahead of me. This is as far as I got in my quest of the river. The hiking was difficult at best, and the required plunge was quite a bit farther than I wished to go.
The many granite rock outcrops were quite rugged and beautiful.
Beaver Creek provided all our water for the 4 day trip.
We really lucked out with the near perfect weather. We never got a chance to use the group shelter that we erected with Bill's new tarp.
Our third day hike took the party up Cruces Canyon.
Nearby San Antonio Mountain shows it's self as we climb higher.
Elena was a great addition to our trip. She was always happy and up for almost anything.
Posers......Kathleen and Elena.
Shortly after this photo was taken, Jackie, Kathleen, and Elena broke off from the group and headed back to camp, leaving the remaining four hikers to continue on to the other side of the valley.
We found several of these humongous cairns on or near high points.
I thought we would see a lot of Gold, but we were a couple of weeks too early.
A small version of the nearby Brazos Cliffs was seen as Ron, Jan (girl), Bill, and Jan (boy) head back to camp. The final day of the trip was used for our backpack out and drive home, supplemented nicely by a stop at the Spanish restaurant at Ojo Caliente.
This map shows an overview of the Cumbres Basin with features from or hikes.
