lunch hike

Took a little mini-hike (ha!) up Pajarito today. I did the Townsight Lift run. That would be the red line on the left side of the mountain. Took about 44 minutes to get to the top. It was tough - that run is very steep in places. During the final fourth of the hike I had to take about ten steps at a time and then have a breathing, heartbeat rest stop. Then go ahead a little more. I was surprised at how much harder it felt than my usual hike up Pussycat near Mother Lift.

The run is not nearly as snowy as they show in the map (264K) - but there was more than I expected. Couple of inches in the shade in many places, but mostly bare. There were some excellent views of Los Alamos, the mesas, and the river valley from this run. i could see Black Mesa off in the distance - it looked pretty tiny. And the forested canyon near work looked dark green and cool.