Gaspin' in the Aspens
Information
What's the deal?
- Trails: NM has quite an array of terrain, from fast, buff, flowing singletrack to brutal, technical rocky mayhem. Throw in the bonus of almost no flat terrain and count on a good deal of climbing mixed with the descending! We'll ride lower (~8,000 ft) and higher (Tesuque Peak is 12,200+/- ft. elev.) elevation so there's no easy way up, other than driving! We'll look at shuttling some parts of some days, TBD. It should be high season for fall colors, and the Aspens should be spectacular, given that we've had an extraordinarily wet winter & spring.
- Camping / etc: This page will also have info about lodging, camping, travel and more.
Camping information: I have reserved the 'overflow' area at Hyde State Park, which has 3-4 formal camp spots (#30-#33) with PLENTY of room for 8-10 tents/paties, a shelter, fire pits and lot's of space in a nice meadowy area. On the Hyde Park Map - It's across the road & just uphill from the RV areas. The key attraction is that it's about 100 yards down the road from the Borrego/Bear Wallow trail head - making rides from camp easy. Water is available right across Hyde Park Road adjacent to three other reservation camp spaces (#34-#36, feel free to strike out 'on your own' at these sites) as is a chemical toilet. Plenty of room for a couple of pop-upp RV trailers and such. Should be perfect! If we haver a HUGE turnout, the park will be pretty quiet this time of year, so we can take over as much space as we want in the first-come first-serve spots. There's a chance we can snag one of the day-use group areas, where they typically do not allow overnight stays, but given the time of year, we may be able to work it out. The reason to try is that the shelter(s) are huge, they've got there own chemical toilets and water supply. The downside is that it costs $60/nite plus the camping fee ($10 per vehicle - we can coordinate 'vehicles' as needed) so will see how everyone feels about the extra cost. If we had enough peolple, it'd make sense to do it of we could.
What else? It is fall, and can be chilly at night, so bring all you'll need to stay warm in 40 degree temps. Cell phone service at the camping areas is so-so as it's in a beautiful little valley.
Between myself and the other Local attendees, we'll supply plenty of firewood and a lot of the basics for the group stuff. I'm looking at a portable propane-fired shower set-up, but no promises yet!
The park is only about 20 minutes from downtown, so we're relatively close to civilization. Note: Do not SPEED coming up or down Hyde Park Road, as the rangers love ticketing drivers in the Park stretch. I'm working on transportation/shuttles from the bottom (elevation-wise) of the harder days for those that need to avoid excessive climbing, more later.