If this crossroads had a boulder to lie on, I’d be asleep in the sun.
Even sitting upright with my backpack for a cushion, my eyelids droop.
The 1,800-foot, 2-mile climb to the junction of Three Gun Spring Trail and Embudo Trail contributed. But the perfect nap conditions come from the direct sun. It pours onto this trail, this crossing, into my cells, warms me inside out.
Just as I sought on the shortest day of the year.
The hike up always makes me wonder if sun poisoning can happen when it’s 45 degrees. I roasted even in my floppy hat and long sleeves. The hoodie came off less than a mile in.
The canyon looks like an undifferentiated mass of boulders from the highway below. Birds dart among junipers in its lower reaches. As switchbacks lift you into the sky, the griddle turns on. This canyon soaks up heat and holds it.
The reward: the stone walls that stretch into the blue. The layers of mountain ranges rolling to the south. The warmth to take me all through the winter.
Just as my legs reach their limit, the junction.
Even a few steps from this crossroads, trees press in, temperature drops, snow and ice patch the trail. Every turn presents a new view of soaring stone.
Solar fortified, I descend the steep path with confidence, hips slightly ahead of my torso, heels into the earth. We pass another sun seeker lying on the hillside.
We reach the canyon’s heart again. The sun goes from blaze to glow.
“Happy solstice!” call two women on their way up.
Right behind them, a couple with hiking poles.
Someone leaving the trailhead with poles at 3:23 p.m. on the winter solstice can have only one thing in mind: watching the year’s earliest sunset from the junction.
I can’t imagine navigating down that trail at dusk, but there’s no better place to soak up every last minute of sun.
Hike length: 4.5 miles
Difficulty: Officially, moderate. This section gets a solid difficult rating in my book.
Trail traffic: moderate, but none above the junction
Wildlife spotted: pinyon jays, blue jays, hawk, robin, juniper titmouse, beetle
TIPS: To continue a theme, this is hot and rattlesnake-friendly terrain, and I don’t recommend it April-October.
Woman Seeks Elevation 