Set the controls for the heart of the sun! Or maybe just the summit. Should be sleeping right now, got a date in seven hours with God's Godawfuls. Sleep is overrated.
It's five o'clock somewhere and that means it's too early to go to bed. Never was a morning person no ways, would rather be going to bed as the sun was coming up than waking up. Speaking of the sun coming up, that's what these photos are from.
Or rather from hiking up Sun Mountain in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At 7200 feet above sea level, Santa Fe is the highest state capital in the US. Could explain why weed is legal there, everyone was already high.
In honor of our lowland origins, we decided to wait a few days before attempting it. The three mile hike only had 750 feet of elevation gain but it's best not to anger the altitude sickness gods.
The trail itself wasn't much to look at, which was good because you needed to keep both eyes on the cacti beside it. Lots of switchbacks and lots of great views.
Santa Fe may be the highest state capital but nearly everything around it is higher, it's pretty well surrounded by mountains. That extra 750 feet lets you see for miles and miles, or at least the next mountain.
There's plenty of those to see too, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Santa Fe National Forest are just east of Santa Fe. Sun Mountain is just outside of the national forest, the trail is at least partially on private land (the city got easements so hopefully nobody is shooting at trespassers).
This marks the summit of this post. Ought to mark the summit of the mountain too, with all the dips and rockpiles it's sometimes hard to tell which one is the most summit-y of them all.
Could have spent hours up there but one was about all we could take before we had to race the sun down the mountain.
But first, one last photo.