Stewart Lake, Pecos Wilderness

Our friend Mark invited us to a get away w.e. in the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Christo Mountains, northeast of Santa Fe. He rented a rustic cabin (with all the necessary comforts) with a great deck overlooking the canyon. It was made for relaxation and good conversation. However, the cabin was perched on top of a cliff. To reach the cabin, Marc needed to drive full speed up a narrow, winding dirt road... in the dark as it was already 9:30 pm. The picture does not give a good feeling of how steep it really was. If you stopped, you could not get started again because the tires could not get enough traction.

On Saturday, we hiked to Stewart Lake, a high alpine lake. Starting from Cowles campground, we hiked through a little over 4 miles of conifer and aspen groves high above Winsor Creek, to reach a clearing and small lake before finally arriving at our destiny.

We had company at the lake; while eating lunch we watched a young couple on the other side of the lake, brave enough to dip into the icy waters. The mountain gods were on our side... no summer storms.

Thank you Marc for a great w.e.