One morning in January, my friend Mary and I set our alarms early, and headed up the mountain to see the first light in a snow storm. We were headed for the Chamisa Trail, a 4.5 mile loop trail in Hyde Park Memorial State Park. I love how the mountains and trees get shrouded in the fog and snow heavy clouds, and wanted to see it up close. We parked at the trailhead, pulled our cameras out and our gloves on, and headed up the trail. A lot of snow had already fallen before sunrise, but there was a break in the snow. The forest was quiet, with a snowy untouched path leading further into the woods.
Mary heading back along the trail after the snow picked up.
The weather really changed quickly. We were enjoying the break in the snow on our walk, but as soon as it started snowing again, it was so heavy and fast that it really limited the visibility.
We hung out in the car for a bit to warm up. Once it slowed down, we headed back into town. Old Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe has a great vantage point of the city, so on our way back we stopped to get a photo of the snowy city.
It was a completely magical morning. Mary and I were both back in Santa Fe and working on our normal day to day around 9 am. This is one of the things that I love most about living in Santa Fe - the closeness to the mountains and the desert. It’s easy to get away into the woods, even if you just have an hour or so.
