You are in the middle of the switchbacks now, climbing toward the pass — still on Sixty-Four, still no turns to make. While you work your way up, here is the thing most likely to actually affect your day.
You are high. Taos is around seven thousand feet. This loop spends most of its time above eighty-five hundred and crosses two passes over nine thousand. If you flew in from sea level yesterday, your body is currently several days behind where you are.
Mild altitude sickness is extremely common and is not dramatic: headache, feeling short of breath on stairs, poor sleep, no appetite, and a general sense of having a hangover you did not earn. It usually passes in a day or two.
What helps: drink far more water than you think you need — the air here is desperately dry and you lose water just breathing. Go easy on alcohol, which hits noticeably harder up here. Do not schedule your big hike for your first day. Eat.
What matters: if someone develops a severe headache that does not respond to painkillers, confusion, unsteadiness on their feet, or breathlessness at rest, the treatment is to go DOWN, immediately, and get medical help. Altitude illness gets better with descent and worse with waiting.
Two more. The sun at this elevation is fierce — there is a third less atmosphere filtering it, and people burn badly here on cool days. And the weather changes fast: a bright July morning can produce a violent thunderstorm by two in the afternoon. Carry a layer and keep an eye on the sky.
Photo: Patrick Alexander · CC0