Last weekend I decided to hike the North Crest Trail. It has been very hot here lately and that’s the coolest place to hike in the summer as it is over 10,000 feet in elevation. I haven’t been on this trail for a couple of years. Sometimes when you don’t hike a trail for a while, it seems almost new again.
Up until about 2 weeks ago, the crest of the mountain has been getting rain every few days – socked in with thick clouds. But on this day, it was crystal clear. Because of all the rains, the trail was very lush.

Miss Scarlett blends in with the lush vegetation
It is a shady trail to hike in the summer, but still has lots of wildflowers blooming in the spots of sunshine. There were lots of Orange Skipperlings flying about. I managed to get a nice shot of one in a spot of sunshine.
The winter weather and winds of the spring took their toll on the trail in places. There were a lot of fallen trees blocking the path.

Lots of fallen trees – as you can see, Scarlett had a much easier time navigating the trail 🙂
I heard a lot of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets singing but never did see any to photograph. But a House Wren made a brief appearance. I heard a Golden-Crowned Kinglet but never saw it. Which was disappointing as it would have been a lifer for me.

House Wren
About a mile into the hike you finally get to see some view of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley 10,000 feet below you. The photos are a bit hazy because of the Dog Head Fire burning about 25 miles south. The fire is only about 10 miles from my house. Yikes!

Dog Head Fire as seen from the top of the hill behind my home.

View of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley
I always seem to stop at the same point on this trail…right where another trail intersects it and it’s a big clearing. I had hoped to go further down the trail this day, but soon realized why I always turned around at this point. I’ve hiked 2.5 miles to get to this spot. That means my total hike is 5 miles. I could probably go further, but it’s almost all uphill on the way back…ugh!
Someone came walking by while I was taking the photographs above. I asked him if he would take a picture of Scarlett and I. I didn’t do my hair today because I was supposed to be wearing a hat. But silly me left the hat in the car. Ah well….

Me and Scarlett
While in the clearing, there were lots of birds about singing at the tops of trees. I managed to get a couple photos of some close by.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Spotted Towhee
I was appreciating the abundant shade on the way back as the day had really warmed up. I lingered in the aspen grove as it was so beautiful.

Beautiful Aspen trees
On the way down the mountain, I decided to stop at Capulin Spring to see if there were any birds wanting a drink during the hot afternoon. I wasn’t disappointed. Lots of birds came by for a drink. It was the usual culprits there except for a very vocal MacGillivray’s Warbler.

Northern Flicker

Dark-Eyed Junco

Western Tanager

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

MacGillivray’s Warbler

MacGillivray’s Warbler
Just before leaving the spring, a Broad-Tailed Hummingbird made an appearance. I notice they always want to drink right where the spring drips into the log. Which is bad because you can see all the plumbing gets in the way. Whenever I am there, I try to do a little maintenance around the log. Clean up any grasses overgrowing the log and trim any branches in the way of photographs. I also move the rocks around to hike the plumbing. But somehow these rocks get shoved aside between visits. I’m guessing it must be bears but who knows?! So I made a mental note after looking at my photographs to see what I could do to improve the looks of that pipe where the hummingbirds like to drink. But here’s the photos I did take. Still pretty as the sun was shining on the back of the bird making those beautiful jeweled feathers shine.

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird

Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
Heading further down the road I decided to hike up to Bill Spring to see what butterflies might be enjoying the mud. On the way I saw I very pregnant Mule Deer feeding along the side of the road. I clicked a quick photo while driving by.
There were lots of butterflies flying about at the spring.

Weidemeyer’s Admiral

Question Mark

California Sister

Underside of California Sister

Red Admiral

Silver-Spotted Skipper

Clouded Sulpher
There were a few birds that made an appearance at the spring as well. The chipping sparrow was there the whole time gorging himself on all the bugs flying about the water’s edge.

Chipping Sparrow

American Robin

Black-Headed Grosbeak
By this time I had hiked 7 miles. Scarlett was pooped! She napped the whole time I was photographing butterflies at Bill Spring. She was a very happy dog! It was a very fun day!
Amazing pictures as always, thanks!
Thanks so much Joe!!
What an exciting day for you! The photographs of Albuquerque are so beautiful and really reflect how high you are. Your butterfly photos are fantastic! It takes so much patience to capture these beautiful insects! As always, your bird photos are excellent! I really enjoy reading about your adventures!
Thanks Stephanie for the compliments. I agree butterflies are tough. It seems just as they land and you get a bead on them to take a picture they’re off again. But I was determined to get a good photo of that California Sister. Such a beautiful butterfly.
Wonderful walk and some great birdies you found. I think one can walk a trail very regularly and always find new things, the more you walk it and familiar you become the more you see. It is like walking up and down a trail, up you see different stuff than going down. Great job with identifying all the butterflies..lots of variety.
Thank you!! I have a couple of friends that are big into butterflies and they’ve helped me get better at identifying them. And I agree about walking a trail regularly. I’m always finding something new on trails I’ve walked for years. Nature is a wondrous thing.
For sure. ..
I love all the butterfly photos!! That shot of the Flicker is photo-prize worthy…really a nice capture 🙂
Thank you so much! I can submit 3 photos to the state fair photo contest. I’m having a hard time choosing. Lol!!