Over the weekend of June 5, 6 & 7, I went camping with a number of my colleagues in Northern New Mexico. My field partner, Juan Steen has family just north of the campground and goes camping here every year for his birthday (June 6 - he turned 24).

Entering the Santa Barbara campground from the town of Penasco offers a great panoramic view of the southwestern portion of the Sangre De Cristo mountains. The flat peak in the upper left is Jicarita Peak, a dormant volcano that was my destination for an overnight backpack trip.

Unfortunately, when I arrived at the divide, unmelted winter snow still dominated the gradual incline between me and Jicarita Peak. Initially I was able to serpentine around the piles but after about 1/2 mile I encountered a solid snow field with depths of 3 to 6 feet and could go no further south towards Jicarita.

The photo above is looking northeast from the divide. The winds were very strong, so I elected to not setup camp here even though it was the most flat real estate of my hike up the mountain. On my descent to find a high piece of flat ground, it started to rain so I continued trekking back to the campground turning my two-day trip into one long day hike with a backpack outfitted for an overnight stay. At least it was a good cardio workout!