Visiting Pat’s brother Steve and wife Sharon, they took us to one of their favorite places for a Walkabout.
The Drive In
I’m not one to give you directions around Wake Forest, so … check with GoogleEarth: “Sanford Creek Greenway”, or download a link below and let GoogleEarth (.kml) or your favorite mapping program (.gpx or .kml) give you guidance.
The Hike
Sanford Creek Greenway Walk.PatSteveSharon.2025-07-04
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
A most pleasant walk along a flowing stream through open forest.
Statistics
Total Distance: 2.59 miles Elevation: start 294 ft, maximum 294 ft, minimum 227 ft Gross gain: 67 ft. Aggregate ascending 239 ft, descending 239 ft Maximum slope: 12% ascending, 15% descending, 2.5% average Duration: 1:24, Average Speed: 1.9 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Visiting Virginia, in July??. Yes, after many years not accepting his invitation, we traveled to attend the annual Fourth of July bash hosted by my son James’ and his wife. And to visit daughter Valerie and family.
The Drive In
The entrance to Newport News Park – north on Jefferson Avenue, just north of Fort Eustis Blvd. Turn east onto Constitution Way, 1 mile to the parking lot next to the bridge across the lake.
The Hike
White Oak Trail.Pat.2025-07-06
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
This was a favorite hike for us back when we lived in York County, winter and summer. Across the lake on the bridge, then into open forest on a well groomed trail. Tho’ not this day, one can continue around the upper end of the lake and return to parking.
Statistics
Total Distance: 2.31 miles Elevation: start 17 ft, maximum 119 ft, minimum 17 ft Gross gain: 102 ft. Aggregate ascending 757 ft, descending 731 ft Maximum slope: 50% ascending, 51% descending, 10.0% average Duration: 1:13, Average Speed: 1.9 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
This is a post of our visit to Chicahuaxtla during our 5 week visit to Oaxaca. In company with José who we engaged as our guide into this Mixtec and Trique territory of northern Oaxaca. We started at this village where Pat would get an introduction into backstrap weaving.
The Drive In
After spending a day in Tlaxiaco, José engaged a taxi for the 1.5 hour trip (24 miles) to Chicahuaxtla. On a concrete highway, the road passes through valleys and hilly terrain, then at 15 miles climbs into more mountainous terrain, reaching Chicahuaxtla at 8,000 feet.
The Walkabout
San Andrés Chicahuaxtla Walkabout.PatJosé.2024-01-22.kml
Chicahuaxtla is situated on a ridge at 8,000 feet, overlooking surrounding valleys as low as 4,000 feet. It is a small village (population ~2,700) about half mile in size. After our arrival, we had time to stretch our legs and take a walkabout around the village. Late in the day, the views of the surrounding mountains and valleys were beautiful as we walked along the edge of the village, then up onto the hill overlooking the valleys to the west.
Statistics – The Walkabout
Total Distance: 0.8 miles Elevation: start 7,970 ft, maximum 8,048 ft, minimum 7,999 ft Gross gain: 49 ft. Aggregate ascending 186 ft, descending 183 ft Maximum slope: 21% ascending, 23% descending, 7.7% average Duration: 1:04, Average Speed: 0.7 mph
The Hike
San Andrés Chicahuaxtla Trail Hike.Arturo.2024-01-23
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue area).
Again this year I had the pleasure, and honor, of hiking with a local guide, in this case Arturo. Local guides know the area around their village, interesting hikes (usually to the top of a nearby mountain), and they are patient with my limited Spanish as we explore and learn each other’s language. Gracias, Arturo.
With José and Arturo, getting acquainted before breakfast.
I met Arturo at the village office to hike to the top of their nearby mountain, Cerro de Zarzamora. We hiked to the trailhead at the edge of Chicahuaxtla, along the way enjoying a magnificent view of the village and across one of the valleys to the mountains beyond. We soon turned into the forest, proceeding uphill on a two-track.
About a quarter of a mile on, Arturo left the two-track thinking we would find a shorter route and possibly a less steep trail. This quickly turned into some serious bushwhacking, so he changed course to rejoin the two-track. (In hindsight, looking at our track on GoogleEarth, we could have continued further into some open space and rejoined the two-track.)
From there it -was- a steeper climb – 400 feet in two-tenths of a mile. And it became even steeper; still hampered by my sore heel, I decided to not tackle the last 100 feet of elevation gain.We returned on the two-track, pausing again to take in a great view of Chicahuaxtla and the mountains beyond.
Statistics – The Hike
Total Distance: 2.43 miles Elevation: start 7,968 ft, maximum 8,730 ft, minimum 7,960 ft start 2,429 m, maximum 2,661 m, minimum 2.426 m Gross gain: 770 ft, Aggregate ascending 1,022 ft, descending 1,023 ft gain: 235 m, Aggregate ascending 312 m, descending 312 m Maximum slope: 58% ascending, 57% descending, 14.8% average Duration: 3:20, Average Speed: 0.7 mph, 1.2 km/h
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Highlights
As noted above, it is a great joy to hike with a guide who is from the local village. And while I was hiking, Pat was getting an introduction to the backstrap loom from one of the weavers in Chicahuaxtla. It has been her great interest in meeting indigenous weavers and learning from them that has let us into these small villages in the mountains of northern Oaxaca. Thanks, Pat.
This is a post of one of many hikes or walkabouts that Pat and I enjoyed during our visit to Oaxaca in January of 2024. This one was with friends of our guide José during our first visit to the small city of Tlaxiaco, about 3 hours by van-bus from Oaxaca de Juarez (Oaxaca city). This was our first stop on an eight-day trip to small villages in the Mixtec and Trique regions of northern Oaxaca.
The Drive In
The drive to this trail was from the outskirts of Tlaxiaco on a good road. The destination was a trail following a small stream from a small pool and waterfall, a favorite place for our friends to enjoy time in the forest.
The Hike
Tlaxiaco Trail Hike.PatJoséBelénSilEmilio.2024-01-22 The track on the return leg was foreshortened by GPS failure.
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
The hike was a combination of well-used trail, some less-used trail, and a bit of hiking through open forest. It began with a visit to small waterfall pouring into a nice pool (sometimes used for a soak, ‘tho not warm water). From there we proceeded on a well used trail along the stream for a few hundred. With Beln leading, we turned uphill through an open forest on a sometimes vague trail.
Since I continued to be hampered by a sore foot, we turned back at 2/3rd of a mile, descending down the hill to return along the river.
Often the clown, José showed off one of his dance moves for Pat’s photo.Finishing up this short hike – Belén, Sil & Emilio, Pat, and José .
Highlight
Thanks to our hosts, Belén, Sil, and little Emilio, for sharing with us a place they often visit, to enjoy the stream, pool and waterfall, and “un paseo por el bosque”.
Statistics
(The GPS lost track on the return of this out-and-back hike. Statistics are extrapolated to complete the hike.) Total Distance: 1.35 miles Elevation: start 7,238 ft, maximum 7,362 ft, minimum 7,118 ft Gross gain: 134 ft. Aggregate ascending 134 ft, descending 118 ft Maximum slope: 29% ascending, 32% descending, 6.8% average Duration: 1:43, Average Speed: 0.8 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Our second hike during our visit to Oaxaca in January 2024. We visited the very small village of Santiago Apoala, 3 hours or so north of Oaxaca de Juarez (“Oaxaca City”), deep in the mountains of the Sierra Norte.
Santiago Apoala – Peña Gemelas Trail Hike.Pat.2024-01-10
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
This trail, Peña Gemelas, is one of three trails described online for hikes around of Apoala. From our hotel, Casa de Mi Abuelita, we walked southeast on the street that leads to the Cabañas de Santiago Apoala. Associated with the Cabañas is a large open camping area and two open-air restaurants. To the right of the camping area, the cañon wall goes up some 900 feet; to the left there is quite a nice stream flowing out of the cañon ahead – a very pleasant setting for camping or hanging out.
Leaving the camping area behind, the trail soon begins to climb, about 500 feet. Then a half mile on it descends to the cañon floor and along the river. A few hundred yards further and the trail enters the narrow section of the cañon. Along the way we made a couple of river crossings; this time of year the river level is low and crossing on rocks was easy. (They say during the rainy season, expect to wade across.) We proceeded to the far end of the cañon, then returned to the Cabañas where we enjoyed a nice lunch at one of the two outdoor restaurants there.
The view from the Mirador above Santiago Apoala.
This made for a nice easy hike along the river and into the cañon. Other features are mentioned in other reports (a cave and some rock paintings), but as my hiking was limited by an issue with my feet, we didn’t explore further. And for the same reason, we did not tackle the other hike mentioned in most articles, a hike to the Mirador, the top of the mountain overlooking the valley and Santiago Apoala (but we did visit the Mirador on our drive from Apoala back to Asuncíon Nochixtlán.
Total Distance: 3.19 miles Elevation: start 6,508 ft, maximum 7,036 ft, 6,500 minimum ft Gross gain: 536 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,664 ft, descending 1,664 ft Maximum slope: 17% ascending, 16% descending, 16.8% average Duration: 3:22, Average Speed: 0.9 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
This is a post for one of many hikes or walkabouts that Pat and I enjoyed during our visit to Oaxaca in January of 2024.
The Drive In
Santiago Apoala from the highway above the village, before a steep descent into the valley.
Our trip to Oaxaca began in Oaxaca de Juarez, the largest city and capital of the Mexican District of Oaxaca. After 4 days in the city, we embarked on our first excursion, visiting the small village of Santiago Apoala in the mountains north of Oaxaca. The first leg of our trip was from the city to Asuncíon Nochixtlán in one of the many small van-busses that serve as the primary means for people traveling from and to the surrounding towns and villages.
On arrival in Nochixtlán we ate lunch at the market (there is one in every town), then were spotted by a taxi driver (us being Norteameranos with back packs) who offered to take us to Apoala (which is known as a village that many visitors go for the hiking trails). The drive to Apoala was 24.5 miles/1 hour 45 minutes on a well paved road, starting at 6,800 ft elevation, climbing to a bit over 8,000 feet, then a steep descent down to 6,500 feet in Apoala. From near the high point we had a great view of the village.
Upon our arrival in Apoala, we registered at the Oficinas del Centro Ecoturistico Apoala Yutsa Toon. Our plan was to spend 2 or 3 nights in Apoala, and hike one of the trails each day. Two options for lodging are available – Cabañas de Santiago Apoala or La Casa de Mi Abuelita. We were unsuccessful in our attempts to reach the Cabañas to arrange lodging, so we made reservations at La Casa. ‘Tho spartan (by city standards), La Casa was well appointed and quite comfortable. We checked into our room, then walked down the main street in town for dinner at the El Centauro restaurant.
The Hike
Santiago Apoala – La Cascada Trail Hike.Pat.2024-01-09
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
After a good night’s sleep at La Casa and breakfast back at El Centauro, we chose to hike first to the Cascadas de Santiago Apoala. With GaiaGPS it was easy to find our way down the street from La Casa to the trailhead at the edge of town, then to follow the well used trail. The “hike” consists mainly stairs and sections of the steep trail descending from 6,458 feet elevation to the valley floor at 5,940 feet at the pool at the base of the falls, and a total distance from La Casa of o.78 miles.
Highlight
Even though our visit was during the dry season, there was a good flow of water down the falls, and a beautiful pool at the bottom. Above the pool was an overhang laden with hanging mosses and plants; the sun was in just the right position to cast reflections of ripples on the water onto the ceiling (yes, the video is right-side-up).
Statistics
Total Distance: 1.82 miles Elevation: start 8,511 ft, maximum 8,520 ft, 8,124 minimum ft Gross gain: 396 ft. Aggregate ascending 822 ft, descending 825 ft Maximum slope: 54% ascending, 48% descending, 14% average Duration: 3:43, Average Speed: 0.6 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
This is a preliminary post of one of many hikes or walkabouts that Pat and I enjoyed during our visit to Oaxaca in January of 2024. I will publish a full reports when I return home in early February.
The Drive In
We visited this village, San Andrés Chicahuaxtla, during a 5 day tour through the Mixtec region of northern Oaxaca.
The Hike
San Andrés Chicahuaxtla Trail Hike.Arturo.2024-01-23
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
José, our guide for the tour, introduced me to Arturo to be my guide for a hike up a mountain that overlooks the village. I was advised that the trail was quite steep, and it was.
On the way up, Arturo took a “shortcut”, that is bushwhacking. Because I was favoring a quite sore foot, we didn’t go all the way to the top. But along the way there were some great views down into the valleys and the villages.
I enjoyed tremendously the hike .. and the time that I spent with Arturo each learning more about the other’s language.
Highlight
Statistics
Total Distance: 2.43 miles Elevation: start 7,968 ft, maximum 8,462 ft, minimum 7,960 ft Gross gain: 502 ft. Aggregate ascending 565 ft, descending 565 ft Maximum slope: 25% ascending, 22% descending, 12% average Duration: 0:52, Average Speed: 1.1 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Related Posts
References and Resources
XXX’s Photos w/ Captions: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.
This hike was near the end of a road trip through Kansas to visit my home town and cousins in eastern Kansas. After 8 days of driving and visiting, it was really good to get out on a trail. And a trail as beautiful as this one.
The Drive In
Not much to say here: drive to the summit of Monarch Pass on US Highway 50, 18 miles west of Poncha Springs, CO. Park in the very large parking area at the Visitor Center. The trailhead is 500 yards west (downhill) and across the highway.
The Hike
Old Monarch Pass Loop Trail-CDT North Hike.Pat.2023-08-28
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
Reading reviews on AllTrails, I found a discussion about taking the loop clockwise or counterclockwise. We recommend counterclockwise, as Pat observed the best views will be ahead of you, those during the early part of the hike.
The trail is quite well used which makes for an easy hike. Whether going clockwise or counterclockwise, the first 300 yards will be steep, steeper going counterclockwise for about 150 ft elevation gain. Gaining the top of the ascent the view to the north is spectacular – the -big- peaks of the Sawatch Range and the Presidential Range, some of them among Colorado’s “Fourteeners” (over 14,000 feet elevation at the summit).
Two thirds of a mile into the hike the trail rounds the end of the ridge above the highway and proceeds northwest, now on the north face of the ridge and through nice spruce and fir forest (although many of the fir are dead, having been killed by the bark beetle that infested these mountains some years back).
The “top end” of the loop is the Old Monarch Pass Summit, a dirt road and a sign to mark the spot. The trail then turns southeast then south back towards the highway. It passes through open and shaded sections, rounding the other end of the aforementioned ridge. It then descends down, not so steep, back to the road. And back at the trailhead, a signpost notes that this is part of the Continental Divide Trail (and we saw quite a few backpackers in the visitors center and a few seeking a ride to Poncha Springs).
Highlight
The views to the north, looking across the many high peaks of this central part of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
Statistics
Total Distance: 3.33 miles Elevation: start 11,308 ft, maximum 11,490 ft, minimum 11,233 ft Gross gain: 257 ft. Aggregate ascending 868 ft, descending 868 ft Maximum slope: 32% ascending, 30% descending, 7.8% average Duration: 2:39, Average Speed: 1.3 mph
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Visiting with Pat’s brother and wife in Raleigh, as is customary we took some time to get in a walk on a trail in one of the many parks in the area. Steve and Sharon chose the Durant Nature Preserve, nice trails along a stream in a forested area around Camp Durant Lake Number One.
The Drive In
These trails are in the Durant Nature Preserve in Raleigh, NC; check your favorite navigation program to find your way there.
The Hike
Durant Nature Park Trails Walk.PatSharonSteve.2023-06-13
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
We visited this park during a previous visit, and again enjoyed “… pleasant to walk through the lush woods with a stream and lake nearby. But … so much green; from New Mexico, it is almost overpowering.”.
Statistics
Total Distance: 2.63 miles Elevation: start 296 ft, maximum 324 ft, minimum 236 ft Gross gain: 88 ft. Aggregate ascending 307 ft, descending 308 ft Maximum slope: 16% ascending, 14% descending, 3.6% average Duration: 1:18
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
The 5th hike during our visit to Oaxaca. Pat was to spend the day with José in Teotitlán del Valle, learning about dyeing and weaving. José had also arranged for me to meet up with Alvert for a hike to the top of Cerro Danush, a mountain with special significance to his pueblo, Macuilxóchitl de Artigas Carranza.
The Drive In
José met us at Buganbilias again with Albert to drive us. After a stop at Pan Am, the nearby coffee shop, we headed out into the Tlacolula Valley. After a really good breakfast at Restaurante La Palapa de Raúl, we proceeded to José’s studio on the road from the highway to Teotitlán. Alvert from Macuilxóchitl picked me up to return to his village for the hike.
The Hike
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
The hike began at the edge of Macuilxóchitl, next to a spring-fed watering tank used to feed cattle (and a place to wash the mototaxi for local drivers). We crossed a plowed field and started up the trail, a very steep, rocky trail with sections of outcroppings that (almost) required hand bracing. (It was so steep that I began to be concerned about safety on the way back down.) After about 200 feet of gain, we proceeded on a dirt/gravel road for another 100 feet or so, then .. we started climbing again in earnest on a trail like that on which we started.
Thus we continued to the peak of Danush, where 1) the views up, down, and across the valley were spectacular, and 2) there was a modern day altar. After a few minutes admiring the scenery, we started back down, ‘tho not on the trail we came up on. Alvert paused, loosed his machete, and cut a stiff pole. He saw my reaction and handed it to me, clearly understanding that it would be important for safely descending the steep, often rocky trail, and cut another one for himself.
Alvert then guided us to an open area where he said it was cleared by the Zapotecs as a place from which they had unobstructed views of the skies, for celestial observations. From there, we headed into the bush – no trail so we were bush whacking until we encountered a very steep rocky decline. Judged to be too steep, Alvert led us, bush whacking, from there back to the main trail.
Zapotec Rock Paintings on Cerro Danush.
We descended down the trail for some 200 yards with switchbacks, then turned onto a narrow side trail. Continuing for again some 200 yards, we came to a 20′ tall rock face where Alvert pointed out the rock paintings attributed to the Zapotec culture who inhabited the area around 750 C.E.
We returned to the main trail and down hill to the watering tank where we had started. Then it was back to Macuilxóchitl where Alvert introduced me to Armando Mendoza, president of the Asociacion Civil Guiebelagayo that promotes and supports the heritage of Macuilxóchitl. We had an enjoyable conversation – my limited Spanish and his limited English – but Alvert helped each of us. There was a moment of levity when, after Alvert explained that we had hiked to the top of Danush, he told Armando and others who had joined us that I would turn 80 years old in a couple of days. They seemed to be surprised.
Highlight
The highlight of this hike was enjoying time with Alvert, learning from each other our languages while we hiked up a trail on ‘his’ mountain. I found it interesting to realiise that I was treading on a trail of the Zapotec’s from centuries ago, and Alvert showing to me features that are so closely linked to the history of Macuilxóchitl. Thank you, Alvert!
Statistics
Total Distance: 1.31 miles Elevation: start 5,367 ft, maximum 5,962 ft, minimum 5,367 ft Gross gain: 595 ft. Aggregate ascending 777 ft, descending 778 ft Maximum slope: 42% ascending, 42% descending, 16.8% average Duration: 3:08
If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
