Immediately after leaving Cuba we climbed to 10,000 ft and were greeted with lush meadows and aspen/pine forest. We timed the snow melt correctly and had easy walking with plentiful fresh ice cold water. A stark contrast to the previous desert sections.
We enjoyed the cool weather for a few days and eventually dropped down to the desert for 1 more day en route to ghost ranch. The 1 day turned to 3 as we soaked in the atmosphere, landscape and all you can eat meals at the beautiful ghost ranch. It was a great last stop for New Mexico and tourist and I went exploring for dinosaur bones in the Jurassic/Triassic mudstones and sandstones in the area. We were unlucky but it felt good to be hunting for rocks again.
The climb out of Ghost Ranch solidified why we loved New Mexico so much. We took a side trip to a box canyon and then climbed up our final Mesa, with commanding views of where we had come from. We immediately climbed back into Aspen groves and stayed at ~10,000ft for the rest of the way to Chama. We walked along trail and forest service roads, winding through rolling meadows and forest.
As soon as we reached the New Mexico/Colorado border we were greeted with a panoramic view of Cumbres Pass, arguably the best vista of the trail yet. 635 miles down, and now the best mountains await us. Colorado ahoy!
