Day 46 - 8/30/2004 - Rain, Rain, go away...

Well, the weather concern I had expressed yesterday became a reality this morning.  The locals are calling for 50% chance of thunderstorms, and it already looks like some moisture is building early this morning.  Based on past experiences, it looks like we have three options - try to climb anyway (not the smartest), delay for a day (we are already on a tight schedule), or postpone for another year.  Hunter and I discussed and it seems like postpone is the best option.  Wheeler is close enough to Mt. Elbert in Colorado that we can tag it next year (we already postponed Mt. Elbert this year with the school year closing in fast).  

We wolfed down an headed out of Taos.  A quick note about this town - it seems to be stuck in the 70's.  It looks like the type of town where executives would send their spouses for a week of "finding themselves".  Buddhism, Shamanism, Existentialism, its all there with the exception of the Holy House of Glenn.  Hmmm....I wonder if that could be a tax deduction...

Next it was through canyon country toward our next stop - Black Mesa in Oklahoma. The drive to Black Mesa is full of colors - red, gray, white, brown.  The road winds through the canyons, providing a great view of the geology.  On the way we also passed by Capulin Volcano.  This erupted about 10,000 years ago and provides one of the best examples in the us of a true cinder cone.

We finally reached Black Mesa State park.  Black Mesa is huge - stretching for many miles as a high plain above the valleys.  This is not a huge hike or climb, but it is 8.4 miles through the middle of rattlesnake country.  We have been seeing lots of signs warning us to stay on trails.  We will see how it looks in the morning.  It is starting to lighting very badly, so its time to shutdown for the night.