What NOT to Wear When Hiking

When we went to Santa Fe, one of the things we wanted to do was go on a hike.  We usually go to Tent Rocks, but we wanted to try someplace new, so we asked my friend Catherine for some advice.

Catherine and I at her library at Santa Fe Prep.

Now, you might notice that Catherine is very fit and athletic.  When I asked Catherine for some advice on trails, I figured she would look at me and take notice of my general shape and remember my eating habits (we did just eat lunch and I did just have a milk shake and split fries with her). But no, she looked at Fred and saw his slender hiking frame and super hiker fitness level and remembered that he had ordered the super skinny yogurt man meal or whatever something that isn't fried and isn't greasy and is good for you is called these days.

"Why don't you try the Chamisa trail? It is a nice hike and has some elevations and some great views," she said.  Did you notice how she snuck those elevations in there? I didn't.  I really didn't.

"Sounds lovely," I said.  I was thinking about my green chile cheeseburger and how good the fries were and if Fred would want to go back and get some more.  Probably not.

Fred on the Chamisa Trail.

So, the next day, we got ready for a nice hike.  I put together my outfit and Fred put on his hiking clothes.

After about 10 minutes in the car, I asked, "How far up do you think this trail is?"

We had been driving up a road to the ski trail and the road just kept going up and up and up.  We hadn't seen our trail yet.

"Keep going," Fred said.  We kept going.

At 7800 ft, we found the sign for Chamisa Trail.  Remember, we live at sea level.  We don't have mountains we were are.  Fifty feet above sea level is considered a big deal. Really. Don't laugh. I live on a mountain.  It's 50 ft above sea level.  I get winded walking up to it.

"Ah.  7800 feet. This will be interesting."

I pull over and we get out of the car.  There are several cars parked on both sides of the road indicating what a popular trail this is.

Chamisa Trail, a ravine on the left and mountain on the right.  Trees all around.

We begin to walk up the trail. And I do mean walk UP the trail.  It is all uphill.  I'm wheezing and panting and sounding like a wounded bear and we haven't even rounded the first bend.  As we turn the corner, we see this young family approaching.  The dad is carrying his two daughters, one is in his arms and the other is on his back.  As they get closer, it appears that these girls are IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.

What is wrong with this trail that even young children can't handle it?!!

I look at the dad and say, "Tough hike."

"Don't I know it."  He plods forward.  His wife comes after with a baby in a baby sack in front of her.  She is smiling.  How far did you walk, I want to ask, but they are past us and it is too late.

I turn to Fred.  "We don't have water!"

"What?"

"The water is in the car."

"I'll go get it," he says and jogs easily back to the car.  I spend my time trying to breathe normally and not think about what lies ahead.

Fred looking very handsome on the Chamisa Trail.

 Fred returns with nary a huff or a puff and hands me a large bottle of water, which I put into my hiking purse, which also carries my long lens, and my sweater and a few other things I might need. I'm beginning to think perhaps I haven't gotten the outfit right for this outing.  For one thing, I don't even have real tennis shoes on.  I have skechers on.  Who wears skechers to a hike?  What was I thinking?  Where were my tennis shoes?  And why does Fred always look like he belongs on a ranch? And I always look like that sidekick character who falls off the horse or down the ravine.

My hiking purse.  It's lovely isn't it? A big burlap bag
with an Indian design.  It is about 2.5 ft by 2.5 ft big.

We start hiking in earnest.  It is a lovely day and there is a nice breeze.  The trail is only about 3 feet wide, but that's ok.  I can handle that.  I'm looking for views and ask Fred if he sees any as he is out in front.

View of the narrow trail.

View of Fred way out front.

Just when we are getting going, along comes this group of really old lady hikers.  And they are hiking really fast.  Like, get out of my way fast.  And they all have matching hiking outfits.  AND they all have hiking sticks!

Sticks!  We need sticks for this trail?!

Seriously, is there a dress code for this hike? These old ladies are wearing hiker couture: REI, Columbia.  Not to mention, they are walking really FAST.  Also, they didn't pant or wheeze or gasp.  Nor did they grab onto a tree and yell out, "Hey, slow down, I'm dying here!"  I don't know anyone who did that....

Old lady hikers with sticks.

I snapped a secret photo.

"Fred!"

He turned and looked at me.

"I want a stick!" I pointed at the old ladies who were disappearing around the bend at a fast clip.  "We need to find me a stick."

Fred shook his head and continued to walk.  I looked for a stick.

The Ravine is great.

 I just couldn't find a good stick.  So, I sat down. I needed to reevaluate this hike.  This hike, where we were going. Whether I wanted to continue.  I was not enamored with Chamisa.

It was at that moment when a running woman appeared.  She quickly approaching Fred.  I had my bottle of water out and was watching her well dressed self.  She slowed a little as she caught sight of me.  As she came near, she said,

"My, what a lovely purse you have."

My eyes narrowed.  "Thank you."  I tracked her as she ran past and around the corner.  Then I turned to Fred.

"Did you hear that?"

Fred wrinkled his brow.  "What?  She said it was lovely."

"That was hiker speak for 'what kind of moron are you?'" I started gesticulating wildly in the direction she had disappeared. "She meant, "Did you think there was a TJ Maxx out here in the mountains? Were you planning on going shopping out here?"

"I don't think so."

 I gazed back in her direction.  I whispered, "I do."

"Fred, I think it is time for us to go back," I said.  "My purse just got really heavy."

Me with my totally wrong hiking outfit.

Photography Tour of Taos with Steven Bundy

On our vacations I usually try to find something unusual to do.  Last year I did bike tours of Paris, the year before it was horseback riding in Madras, NM.  So, this year, I thought since I have been trying to up my game in photography, that we would try to do something related to that.  So, I booked us a day with a photographer: Steven Bundy (Website, ).  I did the usual research and was very pleased with the reviews I found on  tripadvisor and with the awards that he has won and the museums that have purchased his work.

But mostly, it seemed like he knew what he was doing AND he would be a fun guy to spend some time with.  So, we chose the high road to Taos tour.

It was a delightful day!

So, what can you expect from a day with Steven?

Photo by Fred McLean. Cheryl on rock with camera.
Steven is watching from a distance behind.

Let me start first by telling you about us.  I am an experienced beginner.  I have a Canon Rebel T3 with several nice lenses that I have been using for several years.  However, I rarely get off the several different programming buttons.  My goal for the day was to learn how to do that and develop the confidence to do that.

My husband shoots photos with his phone exclusively.  I had borrowed a Canon for him to use on this trip. He just wanted to learn how to use a nice digital camera and decide if that was something he wanted to do.

My worry was he wouldn't like the day at all and we were scheduled to be gone from 9 am until 7:30 pm. Oh, and all of these photos are taken by Cheryl McLean, unless otherwise stated.

Photo 1.  Wood Cross with a wood fence trailing off into distance.

 We met at Steven's house and we got into his very clean and very nice and comfortable extended cab truck.  There were back roads were going to be traversing and having an SUV or truck was going to be necessary.  But his vehicle was super comfortable.  Our first stop was in the city and that was where got our first lesson on aperture priority and how to use this setting of our camera.  

Photo 2.  Wood Cross with a wood fence trailing off into distance, narrow version.

 I also learned about white balance.  My friend Gabriele had tried to teach me all of this as well, but I had never had the confidence to go it alone on this setting.  Today I had 8 hours to shoot this way. I was determined to try.

Photo 3.  Old adobe building with wood cross and snow capped peak in distance.
Crumbling adobe fence to the right.

Steven also told us to use the histogram setting for our photo display.  That lets you see if you are too over or under exposed.  For each photo I would try the white balance option of + or - and see what the difference made in the histogram.

Photo 4.  Old adobe building with blue door.

He also talked to us about placement, what to look for, and what made a good composition.

Photo 5.  Adobe church side view with shadows.

Sometimes he would set the shot up for us, like with the above photo of the church.

Photo 6.  Beautiful NM valley.

 Other times, he would let us decide what to take and then either make suggestions or corrections.

Photo 9. Crazy colorful road memorial.

 Now on some shots, like the above, I had a hard time finding the right angle.  This memorial had a lot going on. Fred's shot is probably better than mine.

Photo 10. Metal bridge.

The bridge and the bridge corner were interesting to shoot.  I don't think I am very good at architectural photos.  I think that is a specialty that takes a particular eye.

Photo 11. Bridge corner.

 Frankly, I wouldn't have even seen the corners as a likely shot if Steven hadn't pointed them out. They are pretty.

Photo 12. Dirt road.

 I really like roads and streams and churches.

Photo 13. Back of adobe church.

Sometimes the backs of churches are more interesting. Odd, isn't it.

Photo 14. Old wooden church with a wire fence.

All along the way, Steven had a cooler packed with snacks and cold water and sodas. Everything was thought of and taken care of.

Photo 15. Rusty roof with dormer.

Photo 16. Crazy house with two dormers.

Photo 17. Dormer with wide view of roof.

Photo 18. Las Trampa church using my 24-105 lens.

Now this is where you can see the difference a lens makes.  Here is my average lens (24-105 mm, which is my walking around lens).

Photo 19. Las Trampas church using the wide angle lens.
Much better view of stairs leading up to church.

 But to get a super nice shot, Steven suggested that I use the wide angle lens.

Photo by Steven Bundy: Fred and Cheryl at Las Trampas.

I still cut off the stairway a bit.  I need to look more carefully into the viewfinder and take several shots.

Photo 20. View of Truchas. Snow capped peaks in background.

Photo 21. Falling down shed.  Fred's favorite kind!

Photo 22. Truchas church.

This was a hard church to shoot.  It was in the middle of everything.

Photo 23.  Another view of the Truchas church.

Photo 24.  This is a puzzle photo.  There is something unusual hanging from the cross.
Photos 24, 25, and 26 get you closer and closer.  Photo of the exterior of a building with a white cross in the corner where a fence meets the edge of the building.  A wire birdcage hangs from the cross.

Photo 25.  This is a puzzle photo.  There is something unusual hanging from the cross.
Photos 24, 25, and 26 get you closer and closer.  Photo of the exterior of a building with a white cross in the corner where a fence meets the edge of the building.  A wire birdcage hangs from the cross.

Photo 26.  This is a puzzle photo.  It is a skull inside the birdcage.  So weird.

 I just like the fact that someone stuck a skull in a birdcage and hung it from a cross.  That is so weird.

Photo 27. Photo of Steve and Fred talking about their photos.

Photo 28.  Before my wide angle lens. The Chimayo Sanctuary.

Photo 29. Chimayo gates.

Photo 30 After the wide angle lens. Chimayo Sanctuary.

 Again, I should have looked more closely at my shot and gotten the doors fully, but I do like the shot.

Photo 31. Rushing water.

 We learned about how to catch the effect of rushing water, which was such a cool effect.  That was using our tripods with a long exposure.

Photo 32. The earthships.

 I love the sky on these next shots as the sun was getting ready to set.  These houses are called earthships because they are a special type of bioengineering houses.

Photo 33. The earthships, view of the front of one.

Photo 34. The earthships, view of the second strange one that is grey with sparkles.

Photo 35.  My one coyote photo.

 Our trip to find big horned sheep was a bust.  They were all hiding.  But we were successful in finding a coyote.  I didn't change my ISO setting up high enough to catch the swiftly moving coyote, but I did get one nice shot of him.

Photo 36. Night photography: so cool! The Taos church at night with statue in foreground.

 What I enjoyed the best, though, was our instruction on night photography and using the tripod with the St. Francis church.  It is one of the church's that Ansel Adams really loved.

Photo 37. Taos church side view with side lights.  Full dark.

 Using a long exposure to capture all the available light and varying the white balance created these amazing blue skies from skies that appeared to be night black to my eyes.

Photo 38. The back of the St. Francis church: this shot just stunned me by how cool it turned out to be.
Not that I am amazing, just that the shot turned out really interesting and unexpected.

If you want to see the photograph that Ansel Adams took of the St. Francis church, you have to use the link.  They are very finicky with his photos.  8-)

Here is what he said about the church

What impressed Adams about this structure?When he first saw the church, Adams was impressed by it's "magnificent form" and its "rigorous and simple design and structure." The photograph of this church was shot from the rear, which was the angle that Adams thought made it "one of the great architectural monuments of America." He wrote in Elements, "it is not really large, but it appears immense. The forms are fully functional; the massive rear buttress and the secondary buttress to the left are organically related to the basic masses of adobe, and all together seem an outcropping of the earth rather than merely an object constructed upon it." (Examples - The Making of 40 Photographs by Ansel Adams, pp 90-93)

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our day and think of Steven as a friend of ours.  He is a lovely person, very easy to talk to, to learn from and to be with.  Not only that, but we learned a lot that we can use for our next trip.

The Foolishness of Middle Age: When What You Did in the Past Leads You to Think You Can Do It in the Present

Ah, youth.  It leaves us with such pleasant memories.  While most of the time I can't recall what I ate last night or who I sat next to in high school Spanish class, I do have some fond childhood memories that have hung around.  One of them is of horseback riding.  And so, when I was perusing the tourist brochure information for Santa Fe, considering that this was our fourth trip out to Santa Fe, I thought I would shake thing up a bit.  Do some things that we hadn't done.  Really go out of our way to try new places and be adventurous.  After all, we didn't want to be accused of being old, stick in the muds, did we?

So, when I saw the blurb about Broken Saddle Riding Company, I thought, "This is perfect! We can take a two-hour horseback ride through lovely canyon trails and see amazing scenery. I've ridden horses before.  Lots of times.  In fact, people have said I am a good rider." (Foreshadowing: this was when I was 12.)

Flash forward to Monday in Santa Fe and me on the phone with the very matter of fact Harrold Grantham, owner of Broken Saddle.  He wanted to know how much I weighed and and how tall I was and whether I had ever cantered before.  Now, I would have been a bit put off if I hadn't read the google reviews that warned me that if you weighed over 200 pounds that you had better forget about riding horses with Broken Saddle.  The weight restriction was somewhere between 210 and 235 according to reviews I had read.  They said you had better own up to your true weight.  OK! They also said you needed to be honest about your abilities. OK!

IN WHICH I AM GRILLED BY A COWBOY

Fred was lying on the bed dozing, when Harrold started asking me questions:

"How much does your husband weigh and how tall is he?"  I asked Fred for the data.  He told me and I told Harrold.  Harrold asked me for my stats and I gave him what I thought was a true range given that I hadn't been friends with a scale in many months.

Then came the real question.  "Are you a beginner? Or can you canter?"

"I can canter, but I don't think Fred can canter."

Fred immediately sat up.  "I can canter!"

"You can canter?" I looked doubtful.  I put a hand on my hip and tilted my head as if to say, when have YOU cantered?

"I've cantered." He went back to lying down on the bed.

"Ok, we can both canter." I told Harrold.  I was banking firmly on my years of Girl Scout horseback riding and those times when I went riding in the mountains with friends.  In retrospect, how any times did I actually go riding?  Well, anyway, I have cantered.  I have, I have.  I can see myself cantering.

Harrold said, "Great.  I have you both down for Wednesday.  Advanced beginners."

WHERE I LEARN WHAT REAL HORSEBACK RIDING INVOLVES

It all started to go a bit wrong when we got there.

The Broken Saddle sign.

Looks like a nice place doesn't it?  It's in the town of Cerrillos, which has a population of about 300.  It's a very small place.  Broken Saddle is in the historic part of town.  A very old section of a very old mining town that sits next to a national park that has beautiful views of several different mountain ranges.

When we arrived, Stephanie, who was to be our guide, and Harrold, were getting our horses ready.  Harrold noticed right away that Fred was dressed like a New Mexican, not bundled up like someone from out of town: LIKE ME.  But it was said in a really nice way.  And I was toasty warm in my big yellow Lands End fleece-lined coat with my scarf and three layers of clothing.  I resembled a female version of the Micheline man.  If I didn't weigh 200 pounds when I was talking to him on the phone Monday night, I was probably edging close to it with all my clothes on now!

Fred and I took a quick potty break and when we got back, our third rider had joined us: David.  David lives in the area and is an actor, professor and all around amazing guy and was just there to get some pointers on his riding style BEFORE HE STARTED SHOOTING A FILM ON MONDAY WITH JUDE LAW AND NATALIE PORTMAN. Great.  No pressure.

Stephanie, our guide and David, soon to be in Jane Got a Gun.

So, Mr. I Ride Horses A Lot is coming on our ride to get tips on his riding form.  I am starting to feel a little inadequate.  Harrold and David start trading movie stories about how you can tell whether someone knows how to ride or not by how they approach a horse.  Harrold goes into this really funny story about a friend of his who got a part on the film The 3:10 to Yuma after being coached by Harrold and I'm thinking, "I know nothing about how to approach a horse!"

But after the story, I know that you give it two slaps on the nick and don't kiss it.  Crap.  What was I thinking.  I had come prepared to ace a basic Spanish test and everyone here is in AP Spanish 5!  I am so out of my league.  I don't even think I can fake my way out of this.

IN WHICH WE ARE ASSIGNED HORSES

Harrold pulls a horse forward and looks at us. I am standing there motionless thinking to myself, "Don't call my name! Don't call my name!"  I don't want to go first.  I am suddenly realizing that all my Girls Scout training is for sh*t and that I don't know crap about riding horses.  Advanced beginner my ass.  I'm less than a beginner. I should be in the baby beginner class.  Do they have an infant class?  A fetus class.  Yeah, get me in that class!

"Fred, get up here.  This is Duke."

"Oh, thank God!  Fred is first."  I think to myself.  I was, honest to God, praying. Someone heard me.  The buzzing in my head has lessened somewhat.  I can hear Harrold again.

"Now, most people think that you hold on to the horn, but you don't." What! OMG! He's telling us not to hold on to the horn.  OMG!  Wait, what did he say?  He's on about something, "keep your heels down" blah blah blah "thighs" OMG what is this about not holding the horn?  Why else is it there if you aren't supposed to hold on to it?

Harrold is now explaining the true purpose of the horn as my mind rebels and I am feeling a little faint.  Evidently my legs are supposed to do all the work.  Oh great.  They are sure ready for that.  Then he calls my name.  Fortunately, David gets called at the same time, so no one is watching as Danvers and I meet and I get settled on her.  She is, I will come to learn, lazy and eager to be at the back of the pack.  

IN WHICH CANTERING BECOMES A SERIOUS LIFE THREATENING EVENT

Now you have to understand that I am the oldest child.  As such, I take rules quite seriously.  So, being told that I needed to NOT hold the horn and I needed to keep my heels DOWN and I need to use my THIGHS to stay on the saddle, I tried my best to do all of these things.

I was trying so hard to do all of these things that I really couldn't be bothered to look around at the scenery.  I would hear the occasional remark from someone about it being lovely and put my head up, but for the most part, I was living in terror for when we were going to canter.  And then it happened.  Stephanie said, "Let's kick it."

And so I did.

It was so bad.  Really bad.  So bad, I thought Stephanie might fall off her horse she was so startled.  Evidently, I was leaning REALLY far off to the left.  Perilously out to the left.  and I had really loose reins, so Danvers could do whatever the hell she wanted and there I was, no hand on the horn, flying way out on the left side, free like a bird in the wind, yet, not screaming like I felt like doing.

Stephanie had us stop.  She said, "Hey, Cheryl! You were really leaning out to the left side!"

"Oh, really?"  OMG! Kill me now. Don't let's do that again.  Please let me hold the horn!

"Yeah!  You need to shorten up on those reins quite a bit and get centered."

"OK."  Or just kill me.  You could just kill me.  And the horrible other part of me was thinking, poor David, he has a film to go to.  What if he doesn't get enough cantering because of the awful old woman in his horse group?  What if he fails because of me?  I can't not canter!  I have to suck it up.  "OK. I'll do that."

IN WHICH I FIGURE OUT A SNEAKY WAY TO HOLD THE HORN AND DANVERS' LAZINESS IS EXPOSED

After the second round of cantering where I still leaned, but not so scarily, I finally figured out a way to sneak my hand around the base of the horn and not appear to be actually holding the horn.  I'm sure Stephanie probably knew, but by this time, I didn't care.  I was just trying to hang on.

As we reached a long straightaway, Stephanie said, "This is where the horses really like to let loose."

"Joy."  I thought to myself.  

Everyone broke into a happy canter and Danvers broke into her sneaky rocking trot.  I, however was prepared for her.  After the last canter, Stephanie had warned me that Danvers was lazy and that the reason I was having trouble with the canter was Danvers was doing a rocking trot that was really uncomfortable because she didn't want to run in a canter.  I would have to kick her into a trot.  Leave it to me to have to get the horse that needed an alpha.  And I am such a dominant personality too!  Every time Danvers tried to creep back into a painful rocking trot, I would kick her back into a canter and it was smooth and lovely.  It was almost worth it.  I felt almost centered.  I felt almost good.  And then we stopped and I blew it by forgetting which hand had the reins and screwing up my stop just as Stephanie and David looked at me.  

Oh for Pete's sake.  Could I never catch one break?

Fred and I seated on Duke and Danvers, respectively. We are smiling.

I made it through the ride.  I would say that if I were to do it again, I would categorize myself as a beginner who could not canter.  Broken Saddle Riding Company is a serious horseback riding company and you need to know your stuff.  They are professionals. They have great horses. They have amazing scenery.  

If you haven't cantered in last 5 years, you are not an advanced beginner.  And if you don't heed my warning, then you will be like me, hobbling around like I have been for the past two days. In pain. Barely able to move.  Because you tried to make your thighs do all the work and not hold the horn.

Heed me now, or heed me later!