Wheeler Lake

We drove to the south end of Taos Ski Valley to the Williams Lake Trailhead to hike into Carson National Forest and the Wheeler Peak Wilderness to Wheeler Lake and to the far end of the lake, 4 miles round trip with 1,000 ft of gain. The trailhead is at 10,200 ft and it was below freezing when we started. There was some snow and ice on the trail.

The trail is mostly in the forest going past talus fields

We had some views of some peaks as we approached the saddle and then as we descended into the lake basin

Views as we walked down to the lake and around to the far side, the lake was prartially frozen

Before leaving the lake basin, we found some boulders to sit on and enjoy lunch.

another view of peaks near the saddle as we hiked back down the trail.

Big Arsenic Trail

We drove up to Río Grande del Norte National Monument north of Taos, to hike the Big Arsenic Trail down to the Río Grande and back, 2.7 miles round trip with 800 ft loss/gain. This was a beautiful hike down the canyon to follow the river upstream and included some petroglyphs. We also saw a tarantula on the trail here. Views hiking down the Big Arsenic Trail towards the Río Grande

The petroglyphs

Continuing along the trail upriver

Continuing to hike upriver along the trail

We found a steep boot track down to the river's edge

We then returned downriver along the trail, stopping at the river's edge near the camp spot closest to heading back up out of the canyon

Tarantula on the trail, then views heading back up the canyon to the the trailhead