North of Taos, in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, Columbine Creek and its tributaries have carved out a steep bowl of canyons that are connected by a well developed trail system. For our first two night trip to the area, we entered the WSA via the Columbine Creek Trail. Despite scheduling the trip on a holiday weekend, once we left Columbine Creek, we saw more pack animals than people. We ascended Pacer Canyon to reach Gold Hill, an unrelenting 4,700\' elevation gain over about 7 miles. Unfortunately, gale winds limited our enjoyment of the sweeping views from the peak, but I\'m sure we\'ll be back. The descent via Deer Creek was only slightly less steep, with sunbaked, south-facing switchbacks leading us back to Columbine Creek.
