Valles Caldera

After our morning in the Bisti Badlands, we continued south to pick up Kelsey in Albuquerque, then headed back north to the Jemez Mountains. Our first objective was Valles Caldera National Preserve ... a volcanic depression about 13 miles across, located at an elevation ranging from 8500' to 11,200'. We spent a couple of nights in a nice cabin west of the preserve, giving us easy access the next day. The official entrance to the preserve is set in a huge, picturesque meadow (Valle Grande), surrounded by tree-covered mountains. Quite scenic.

We spent most of our day in the park hiking to South Peak. The hike was nice, though not spectacular. It started by making its way to the edge of Valle Grande, then up and around the wooded hillsides on an abandoned road. The upper portion was a more direct trail, and things opened up into pretty large meadows. The top was very broad, with no obvious summit point, so we parked in the tall grass and enjoyed a hillside lunch. On the way down, Kelsey went out ahead of us down-hill challenged almost-seniors. But, when we arrived at the car, she was nowhere to be found. Hmmm. We drove a couple miles across Valle Grande in hopes of finding her at the visitors center, but no such luck. Fortunately, she appeared on the road as we were returning to the trailhead!