There’s a window of opportunity in the high country, albeit a small one, wherein the aspen leaves transform from their jade green scales to a deep gold opalescence, and with each wind gust, the overhead canopy flickers like an evening gown. When this window opens, we flock to the Taos Valley to ride two of New Mexico’s true gems: the South Boundary Trail and Heaven on Earth…

A few weeks back, a crew of us got together to ride these two trails as snow fell in the high country and the leaves had almost all changed over to their gilded façade. It was a full day spent in the mountains with friends and it was Cari’s first time taking on a ride of this magnitude aboard her Revel Ranger.

These trails are by no means a secret but please, if you’re coming to ride them be respectful of other trail users, obey the Leave No Trace Principals, and remember, uphill traffic ALWAYS has the right of way. We’ll leave you with a leaf peep gallery to ring in the weekend. Follow along in the captions…

Editor’s note: we’re trying something new to really highlight our imagery, letting the story be told in the Gallery captions with fewer words in the story’s body… Let us know what you think!