How the winter solstice looks from Atalaya Mountain

Fifty feet makes such a difference.

At the overlook, a brisk, chill wind whips your face.

But we’re lounging on a rock higher up the hill, protected from the wind, soaking up the sun.

The sun brought me here today.

I’d realized a week ago that I’d be off work on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. I made it my mission to do a full-sun hike that day.

I’m looking at the place where we’d planned to hike, Tetilla Peak, miles away and 2,000 feet below where we sit. Our truck wouldn’t start this morning and the rough road to Tetilla demands high clearance, so we needed a destination reachable by car.

My husband suggested Atalaya Mountain in Santa Fe, a trail that tops out above 9,000 feet. I worried it would be too snowy. But Atalaya’s notorious sunshine keeps most of the mountain basking in the rays. Snow blanketed north-facing slopes around us, but much of the Atalaya trail was totally clear, save for a steep, icy section I dubbed “the chute.”

Early on, a well-marked fork in the trail presented a stark choice: “Easier Route” and “Steeper Route.” My husband charged for the steeper route, but I insisted we do the easier route, concerned about ice and my calf capacity. Even the easier route was tough; I was glad we’d done a comparably steep hike a week earlier.

At the top, mountain ranges melted into clouds in the distance. Crows traveling in pairs and threes floated in blue overhead. My husband cawed at them and they cawed back.

We stopped at a viewpoint on the way down just after 3 p.m. With the sun already falling, it looked more like 5 p.m.

Luckily, we’d gotten ample sun worship in already.

Hike length: 7 miles

Difficulty: difficult

Trail traffic: moderate

Wildlife spotted: crows, dark-eyed juncos, bluejays, a fleeting glimpse that might have been a coyote on the way down

With this hike, I completed the #52HikeChallenge in 11 months and 1 week!