Author: bjregan

We spend so much time traveling to explore other places that I often forget  what treasures we have right in our own backyard.  After putting a lot of miles on our car the past two weeks of travel in Texas we weren’t in the mood for doing a hike that would involve hours of driving.  The 10K Trail is easy to get to from town and high enough in elevation to get us out of Albuquerque’s expected 90-plus temperatures today.  We have hiked there many times and, although any outing in the mountains is welcome, I wasn’t expecting anything special.   But we hadn’t been on the trail for very long when I realized that, yes, as many times as we’ve been here, and as close to home as it is, this is a special place.

Usually we head north from the trailhead and climb up to the Del Agua overlook.  Instead, I checked some maps and the Albuquerque Senior Center Hiking Group page to see what kind of hikes we could come up with if we went south.  There was a nice 5 1/2 mile loop that followed 10K South to the intersection with the Tree Spring Trail where it then headed up to the Crest Trail to begin the loop back north.  It took us past the Tram station and on two different side trails that we didn’t even know were there.

Normally, there would be crowds of people around the Tram station, but the Tram has not yet reopened.  Except for some ongoing construction work it was deserted.  There are a lot of trail access points everywhere in the Sandias for both hikers and bike riders.  We encountered more people than we do on our usual getaway hikes but there is plenty of room in the outdoors to safely accommodate everyone.

There is just nothing that comes close to the refreshing sights and sounds of a mountain trail.  And this one has the added benefit that it’s only a short drive back to town where we could make a stop for ice cream.  We sure needed it since the temperature back here in the desert had reached 99 by the early afternoon when we finished our hike.

Since we had been easy on ourselves for the other hikes we took this week, I thought it was time to do something a bit more challenging. Lee wasn’t too happy when I suggested Manzano Peak, but, being the good sport that he is, he went along with the plan.

It’s a good workout to get to the 10,000 foot peak, the highest point in the Manzano Mountains. The trail starts at 8,000 feet elevation and intersects the Crest Trail after 3 miles or so of uphill. From there it is about a mile of up and down along the Crest to get to the peak. It’s not the most scenic place to hike because much of the trail goes through a large area of forest that was burned during the disastrous Trigo Fire of April 2008.

We have done this hike twice before, November 2017 and November 2018. When I considered how different our lives are now than they were in November 2018, it was comforting to look around on the trail and over the vast forest and desert expanses to see that the beauty of the landscape does not change. Since it was spring this time, there definitely were some differences in the fresh green of the trees and in the plant life sprouting up along the trail.


We have had such a dry spring that there weren’t very many wildflowers, but there’s always something to surprise us. For example, we didn’t have too much further to go getting back to the bottom of the canyon, when we spotted a single columbine blossom hiding in the undergrowth. We see lots of those hiking in the Sandias, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen one in the Manzanos. Another surprise at the peak itself was to find numerous cactii in blossom of a variety that has become a favorite of mine. I think they are Simpson’s Hedgehog, but haven’t researched them in detail.

Obstacles are many on a hike, and often you feel tired and want to give up. But you keep going and before you know it you are there and the view is marvelous. Kind of like life, in general.