Traditionally, each July 4th, I’ve found myself yearning to get out and find somewhere to visit or a trail to hike.

This year was no different, except I am not sure of the mental state of this docile midlifer on Independence Day when, on Monday morning, I arose fairly early, wavered a while about a destination for the day, and then did a dart throw to decide to go find Nambe Lake.

The pull to visit Nambe Lake was partly a consequence of being enchanted by photos online of alpine flower fields in a few Facebook Southwest groups. My mind mostly checked out right after that decision, but researching the hike, I found it listed as “challenging” on AllTrails. Meh. In my brain, I am still 18, even though my body reminds me daily this is not so.

No biggie. I needed to find this lake!

So I set off around 8:30 AM for the Santa Fe area, and for Hyde Memorial State Park north of it- and ultimately, to park in a lot for the Santa Fe Ski Basin at the end of that road.

About 10, I arrived at the ski area and got my pack arranged and my hiking boots on. I grabbed the newly bequeathed hiking poles I had brought along, and I headed for the trailhead. It was a popular location that morning- the trailhead launches hikers onto trails branching in a number of directions towards various attractions.

I headed north on the Windsor Trail (254) and let it take me where it took me. And at first, it took me up and up to and through a fence, and then down for a spell, leading me through a flattish section of aspen and pine to a broad turn with a lovely view of the top of Mt. Baldy across the valley.

On I went, towards the hustling Nambe River, where, at a final sign, I was directed up again, and the hike became a long vertical clamber by the long ribbon of water rushing down from the lake.

Lordie.

The hike in was beautiful, but by the time I hit this last leg of it- simply, the up, up, up part- my legs regularly asked if they could sit down, down, down.

Compounding my fatigue here, the trail(s) became confusing, and I missed a turn to get me across the river and up where I belonged, and wandered for 10-15 minutes trying to find my way, until I rechecked my route on AllTrails on my phone, saw my location dot on the map a small distance away from the trail, and using that info, backtracked to find my way again. Thank goodness for technology, GPS, and an internet connection, which all set me right.

The last push up along the river was pretty vertical until it gave you a short reprieve in a rocky glen, and then the trail called you out and up and over jumbles of stones before it opened before you your goal: the little green lake in the scenic alpine bowl.

I walked a little around it before I found a nice large lakeside rock on which I could sit and rest and recharge. I chugged several bottles of water and munched on a a bag of trail mix and just enjoyed quiet by the water. There were few people present there when I arrived, and a gray cloud bank overhead added to the insular feel of the place and time. A chipmunk eyed my trail mix almonds. A party arrived at the lake and set off around it on the other side.

Once rested and fueled, I took a trail around the lake halfway, avoiding the broad marsh that sat around it on the side opposite of the lake access trail. I admired the scree sitting above me and the walls of the bowl that contained the lake. More hikers began to arrive. The low rumble of somewhat distant thunder touched the quiet, and I made my way back towards the access trail.

A couple sitting off-trail stooping over a shallow edge of the water asked me about critters in the water. A closer look revealed a nursery of what I would later discover as juvenile tiger salamanders, chilling together in the shade.

I snapped a few more photos, and made my way back to the trail. And the descent began.

The trip down from the lake had its own challenges, and as I was already dealing with some fatigue, I found myself needing to stop a few times along the way. I was grateful to have brought hiking poles, though, as they gave me stability on the descent and kept me from leaning excessively, which usually ends up wearing out my back for a few days. I was also grateful for the gray over the afternoon sky and the mist of moisture that cooled my descent hike. I took some lazy photos of the river running down the hill as I worked at getting back to level section of trail. And once I was on the flatter grade, my mind turned off to some extent. I was drained.

And, of course, I had to ascend again on the return leg to reach the fence crossing, where the trail would again descend fully leading me back to the parking lot.
And as I neared the trailhead entering later afternoon, the clouds opened and golden light painted my last half a mile of trail. Trailhead reached, legs wobbly and feet stinging, I mechanically marched on and got to my truck, and put my backpack and poles in the bed.

I then drove it to a nearby shaded road shoulder area, parked it, grabbed a sweatshirt from the rear cab to use as a pillow, and then climbed into my truck bed for a twenty minute nap.

I needed that.

All Trails rated this 7 mile out-and-back hike as “Challenging” and requiring about 4 hours to complete. I happily extended that trip time to 6-and-a-half hours.

Now, don’t let the end of my post here suggest that I didn’t enjoy the hike, or the day out. It’s just meant to suggest that that hike was kind of hard for this sedentary midlifer- and that’s okay. Because I was glad I made it.

I saw some alpine flowers and got to enjoy a quiet mountain lake for a bit. Mission accomplished. And I got to see a lot of pretty nature.

And in time I will be excited to go find another mountain lake.