[Bloated Chipmunk]

Last wknd. I decided to go into the higher hills & check out the east end of the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve. I needed more of a 1/2 day hike in order to make it to a party back in town in the evening. This place fit the bill. A few yrs. ago I checked out the west end, now it was time to see what the 79 staging area had to offer. I arrived in the early morning to find an empty parking lot, & lots of trailhead signs.

TH

TH signs

TH signs

Map

Map

The morning was warm but tolerable, & I slowly made my way up the old road. My plan was to do the small loop & take a break @ what sounded like a cool viewpoint.

In the preserve

Big oak

Oaks

As a rounded a curve, I encountered a white cow on its way down. I gave it a wide berth & continued on as it eyed me suspiciously.

White cow

Views opened up to the SW.

Gettin' some views

Lots of dry grass

I reached a junction & turned right, to make a counterclockwise loop, w/the viewpoint supposedly somewhere in the middle. So far I had seen no one on this hike.

Junction

Big oak

I got to the next junction partway through the loop; turning right would commit to a much longer hike, & left would continue around the short loop. Given my time constraints & the heat, I stuck w/my plan of the short loop. There was a shaded picnic table in this area, which I might have photographed if it hadn't been for a parks 'n rec truck suddenly barreling up the road, kicking up dust in its path. A guy jumped out, said hi, grabbed what looked like a water trough for cattle, & took off in the direction whence he came. Gotta love these hikes along old rds. that may or may not provide a sudden surprise of vehicular traffic. I continued along the loop, keeping an eye out for the side path to the overlook. The only thing I found that was more or less in the right area turned out to be a gated side road that stated it was closed. D'oh!

Is this where the viewpoint is supposed to be?

So, I continued on until I found some big rocks in the shade where I sat down for a snack.

On break

I continued on downhill, soon reaching the 1st junction again.

Tree # 256

View to the SW

Just about the time I thought I was going to successfully complete another hike w/seeing no other peeps, suddenly there were 2 parties w/2 peeps each...1st mtn. bikers coming down & then 2 guys hiking up. Near the trailhead I saw a white cow...perhaps the same one, perhaps not...who can really tell?

The same white cow?

Route

Since I still had some time, I decided to check out the nearby Inaja Monument & Trail. This is a super short, 1/2 mile touristy thing that I never bothered to visit before since it's not really worth it unless combining w/another hike in the area. Or, if you're a lazy tourist I suppose...

Sparse sign board @ the Inaja picnic area

Inaja Memorial

I think I'll manage to not get lost

Upper SD River

Looking down into the upper SD River

Views

Scope

Places seen through the scope

Looks like it's a big natural toilet

Looking down inside

On the "toilet"

Picnic area

I stopped @ the bakery in Santa Ysabel for stuff to bring to the party, then headed back to town.

[Ski]

so... are all the trees numbered like that? can't tell for sure on the cows... maybe if you go back and get some more photos I might be able to tell if they're the same.

[Bloated Chipmunk]

I only noticed the one numbered tree, but I think I've seen other numbered trees in various places in the past.