The Ponderosa Ridge Trail, Sugarite Canyon State Park, New Mexico

Distance: 

2 miles

Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous

Elevation: 7,500' to 8,000'

We took this hike on Wednesday, July 15, 2009.  The day was beautiful and skies were blue.  (Of course, we were hoping to meet a bear on this trail!)

The first half of the trail was easier than the moderate rating that it suggested.    The suggested time to hike this trail was to be an hour and a half.  However, not for photographers!!  The wildflowers were dynamic.  There were so many varieties.  So, of course, we had to stop and photograph them all.

As the morning waned, we stopped at a beautiful site among the ponderosa trees to have a picnic lunch… no bears!  

It was at this point that the grade started to go downhill.  We knew that the going back would be a challenge.

Along the way we enjoyed vistas of Lake Alice...

... and Lake Maloya.

However, we had no more than reached the end of the trail and a thunderstorm mean as heck started to brew.  There was no way we could take the trail back to our truck.  Luckily, another volunteer was posted near where we were and we hitched a ride back to the trailhead.

The rain, thunder and lightning were very enjoyable now.  It really cooled things down.

Maybe we’ll see that bear on another day when we take that same trail going the other way!