Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Starting mileage: 15866, Distance travelled: 373

We awoke late in Amarillo, TX, glad to find our camper van intact after parking overnight in a sketchy deserted end of the parking lot with warning signs about leaving valuables. The time change worked in our favor and bought us an extra hour. Welcome to mountain time! Our drive time was relatively short compared to the prior four days. We only drove four hours west to Albuquerque, NM. With only a short time to explore, we opted for an aerial tram ride to the top of the Sandia Mountains in the Cibola National Forest on the northeastern edge of the city. The tram has the longest single length between towers. The ride up provided views of the Albuquerque region and the Sandia range. The craggy rocks and deep canyons were striking.

At the top, the views were no less spectacular and we could see the other side of the Sandia Crest, north over a ski area in the process of rebuilding after the pandemic. There’s a very high-end restaurant at the top that serves formal dinners but in the afternoon is more casual. We got drinks and enjoyed them along with the stunning vistas.

We decided to take a relatively short hike up to the highest point, where the Kiwanis Ski Cabin was perched, blending into the landscape. The first two versions of the cabin, made of wood, burned and blew off the mountainside. The currently standing stone and masonry structure was built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. We quickly realized that the 10,000 ft altitude made a fast pace impossible, and made some of us lightheaded.

The fauna was incredibly varied along the trail and Laura captured several of the flowers.

Just as we were beginning to head back, Susan and Laura saw a giant bolt of lightning in the middle of the canyon, only a few hundred yards away. We quickened our pace on the decent and at one point heard a crack of thunder so loud and close we all jumped. Although no rain was falling, we were right I the center of the electrical storm. When we reached the tram station we were not surprised to see a crowd huddled inside waiting for the suspended tram service to resume. All things considered, it didn’t take that long and we were down on the third tram in about an hour.

We asked a local woman on the tram for a dinner recommendation and had a fabulous New Mexican meal at El Pinto.