Hiking!

One of the activities that I looked forward to in Santa Fe this summer was hiking. Just as it didn't take long to find the knitters amongst my colleagues, it took only a week to discover the hikers. Yesterday we drove up to the Ski Basin and hiked 8 miles round trip to the Puerto Nambe Meadow and back. It was a gorgeous day, not to hot or cold. For the most part there was not a cloud in the sky. The first part of the hike was the most difficult, boasting a steep ascent that made me question whether I had enough water on me.

Santa Fe itself sits around 7,000 feet above sea level. The Ski Basin sits higher, and our hike took us to somewhere just under approximately 12,ooo feet. I'm hoping to have a greater lung capacity when I return to Austin!




Once we reached the meadow we rested and lunched. One of the other hikers noticed a slip of the moon visible in the afternoon sky. It's faint, but you should be able to spot it in this picture. I love my camera - many thanks to my mom and dad who so wisely choose it!











See how nicely the macro setting works? I'm thinking of playing around with some dyeing of yarnstuff at the end of the summer. Wouldn't this make up a nice colorway? This was growing on a tree trunk and seemed to be some sort of parasite.

After we hiked we stopped in at a spa on the way back to town called Ten Thousand Waves to soak in the hot baths, saunas, and reenergize in the cold dip. No pictures of that, sorry. It was absolutely delightful though, and my sore muscles thanked me, both yesterday and today. The women in our group decided against the communal bath in favor of the more private women's bath. Dress is optional, and apparently the men in the communal bath take that to heart. We stuck with swimsuits.

In knitting, I have nearly finished the first of another pair of socks, knit out of Lorna's Laces in a colorway that is all purples and fuschia. And they are for me. I don't know what has gotten in to me lately, but purple has crept in to my color world. As for the pink, I don't know what to tell you. I'm going to blame it on my exposure to it through my friends Amanda and Noelle. My resistence has broken down. No bubblegum pink though. It is absolutely banned - with the exception of the Manhands band tank top, of course. It's just to much fun.

Tschuss!