On February 10 we had a wonderful day at Bosque del Apache with a small group of UU hikers: Kathleen Rhoad, leader, Ken Callahan, Virginia Burris, Amy Carpenter, Phyllis Bergman and Gary Donnermeyer. We drove through the refuge and saw 2 Bald Eagles, 2 Kestrels, hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, Pin-tail ducks, Coots, Wild Turkeys. Plus a Mule Deer, a buck.
We hiked the 2.2 mile Canyon National Recreation Trail which starts in Solitude Canyon and climbs to a mesa top with an excellent refuge-encompassed vista. There is a guide at the trailhead that corresponds to 24 numbered posts along the way. It describes arroyos, Four-wing Saltbush, “Game trails”, etc and of special interest to us, a canyon wall of holes made by mining bees, Macrotera opuntiae. The tunnels go about 4″ into the rock and several entrances can connect into a network of tunnels with larger chambers, visible when the wall sloughs away. The bees are believed to gather pollen exclusively from prickly pear blossoms.
The hour and a half hike had perfect light just before sunset. This is one of the most interesting and scenic trails we have hiked.
Finally, we drove to a small lake on our way out of the refuge on time to see some Sandhill Cranes flying in about 5:45 pm.
