Brother Tim suggested that we checkout the aspens and told us to go northeast of Santa Fe to the Santa Fe National Forest. We are glad we did.

We didn’t go on the trail that T-Dub suggested. Instead we took the Tesuque Peak fire road. 

The light and sound that comes from the Aspen’s leaves always puts me in a joyous meditative state. It takes a standard hike to another level, I think.

There are some lovely wildflowers along the path.

Click here for a look at the Strava track. It wasn’t a bad hike but it does get a bit taxing at 10,500 ft!

I’d really like to practice capturing the light in an aspen grove. Light speckled through trees shifting with time makes it mesmerizing. Maybe next time I’ll experiment with some time-lapse shots to capture it.

This one is interesting. Looks like a dandelion but not like one that I’ve seen before. Dandelions are usually more fragile in later life than this plant looks. Perhaps it is milkweed?

I saw people who appeared to be ‘locals’ out for an easy day hike. Many of them were exploring side hikes on trails that diverged off the fire road. I realized that this is a place I’d like to come back to again and again to explore all of those offshoots.