Uncategorized – Page 25 – Living Wonderously

The trail sign itself isn’t much to look at, but I shared the photo, anyway, because it captures our beautiful blue New Mexico skies in the background. We can’t complain about winter and colder temperatures when we live in a climate that brings us abundant sunshine almost every day of the year. There is snow in the mountains this time of the year for those who like to ski, but for those of us who like to hike we can find places to go where the trails are open and clear.

On this particular hike, our only weather related issue occurred when we rounded a corner of a switchback on a canyon edge. A howling wind hit us head-on and it felt like we were going to get blown right off the mountain. This point of the trail was where we had turned around the last time that we had been on this hike. Lee had hoped that on today’s hike we could go further up the trail to reach the other side of the canyon where there was a higher viewpoint. But we all agreed that the wind did not make that a pleasant option. Instead, we found a sheltered spot behind some rocks and ate our lunch before coming back down.

View to the west — View to the southwest. The dirt road visible in the distance is the one that we drove in on.

Goal is around the corner. — Less than a mile from here is the corner we rounded and faced the fearsome canyon winds. But no winds here!

Alligator juniper — This tree is called an alligator juniper. Obvious why it’s called that, isn’t it?

One of the criteria we use in deciding where to hike is to compare the time spent in the car getting to the trailhead with the time spent on the trail. A rule of thumb is that time in the car should be less than time on the trail. In this case, it was just about equal, but, as Lee pointed out, we couldn’t let such a beautiful day pass without spending some time outside and the Manzano Mountains were a great place to be. On a Saturday, closer to Albuquerque or Santa Fe we would have encountered other hikers. But out here you really get the sense of being in the wilderness. We were the only hikers who got to enjoy the Pine Shadow Trail yesterday.

To get a sense of the location and terrain, you can use
the interactive map that has the track of our hike.

Because the Sandia Mountains are practically in the backyard of Albuquerque, we have done numerous hikes there in the years we have been here. Since it isn’t a big mountain range, you would think that we would know most of the trails by now. But yesterday our friends, Ken and Sue, introduced us to an interesting trail, labeled on some maps as the Whitewash Trail, but not appearing at all on other maps.

The hike required a shuttle, parking one car at the Embudido Trailhead in the foothills on the east side of Albuquerque. Then driving east of town through Tijeras Canyon we started the hike on the Three Gun Springs (Tres Pistoles) Trail. We have done that trail a number of times in various combinations, as it connects with a couple of other trails.

Map of hike on Three Gun Springs and Whitewash Trails.

It’s a steep ascent for 3 miles up to Oso Pass, which is about a mile below South Sandia Peak on the Crest Trail. This is where we left familiar trails and took an unmarked trail heading west along a ridge that would eventually descend the mountain and get us back to the foothills. We could now see the advantage of hiking this Whitewash Trail in the Sandias that we hadn’t been on before. It had very distinctive views of the city, as well as views of the Crest towards the north and the south from different perspectives.

At Oso Pass, looking up at the Crest under the clouds somewhere.

South Sandia Peak shrouded in clouds behind us viewed from Whitewash Trail.

Looking at north end of Sandias from Whitewash Trail.

At lower elevations on the ridge when the trail was still obvious.

The fact that there are no trail signs for this trail wasn’t a problem in the beginning. It was easy to follow the trail along the ridge at the higher elevations. But once we got out to the more open areas and could actually see where our car was parked in the foothills below, that’s where the problems began. Somewhere along the way we got off trail and found ourselves scrambling over steep, rocky terrain, trying to make our way downhill without slipping and falling into a cactus or other obstacle.

A view down into the city which couldn't be reached before scrambling over a lot of rough terrain. — A view down into the city which couldn’t be reached before scrambling over a lot of rough terrain.

It looks like an easy way down into the city but it was in the wrong direction.

Looking to the south before ascending into the foothills.

The parking lot is to the right of the water tank but no direct route to get there.

It was a relief to finally reach level terrain in the foothills, but, unfortunately, we had gotten so far off course that we were not in the section of the foothills where our car was parked. It was another mile or so trudging through the desert before we rounded a hill and could see once again the parking lot that was our goal. I was quite exhausted after trekking 9 miles, a third of it a very steep ascent and a third of it trying to scramble back down the mountain. But, as is always the case, it was an enjoyable day spent doing our favorite outdoor activity.

An interesting canyon, but a final obstacle to scramble around before reaching the bottom--and then another mile across the desert. — An interesting canyon, but a final obstacle to scramble around before reaching the bottom–and then another mile across the desert.

I created an interactive map from the GPS track of our hike. If you click on the link for the map it allows you to zoom in and out and move around to get a better idea of where we were.
A map of the hike