Around About New Mexico

Albuquerque from Sandia Peak

Last Sunday, Jackie and I took one of our first drives around this area, over the south portion of Sandia Mountains on I-40, then up the east side of Sandia Peak, up to 10,700 feet at the top. Jackie did not bring her camera, so all I have are a couple of shots taken with my phone, but the views were excellent, and the weather was clear and sunny, just like almost every day in New Mexico.

The road to the top was not bad - low speeds and lots of switchbacks, but only 13 miles and perfectly decent road surface. It was cold and windy at the top, so we did not stay long. Then we headed north to Placitas on a road somewhat grandly called Highway 165, which was possibly the worst dirt road I have ever driven on (although, actually Jackie was driving and repeatedly blaming me for the road conditions.) Lots of deep ruts and a few places we could have gotten stuck if Jackie had not steered around the worst parts. We learned that, in New Mexico, "unimproved road" means barely maintained at all, so we will try to avoid such things in the future. However, we had some really good views to the east and north, and after ten miles the road changed to perfectly civilized asphalt, and we drove around the north end of the mountains.

One surprise: on the east side of the peak, there are trees, a whole forest of them. On our side, there are only a few scattered mostly stunted trees. I guess the mountains create a rain shadow.

Today, we drove in a longer loop, north to Santa Fe, farther north to Georgia O'Keefe's Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, west from there to within 50 miles of the continental divide, and then back home. Once again, we forgot Jackie's camera, and this time I did not even take any pictures; we have to go back and take the camera. The views out there are really amazing.

Anyway, we are starting to explore, and if we can get our act together, I will have some good photos to share.

My walking is going OK. Arlo and I have found some longer routes to walk, so I am getting 6,000 steps in most days and managed 10,000 the other day, which kind of sadly seems like a lot now. I am currently about 50 miles west of Redstone, Colorado, 130 miles from the Utah state line.

From Sandia Peak, looking toward the wasteland to the south of Albuquerque. There is similar wasteland to the north, east, and west of Albuquerque and all across the state. Most of New Mexico looks like that barren area past the city, but you know, there are pockets of civilization, and it's pretty, and the weather is good.

In the picture you can see the southern end of the Sandia Mountains, and the peak where I was standing is near the northern end. Similar to the Olympic Mountains in Washington, you can see the whole range from a good vantage point.