Casual Day Hike

I've been meaning to explore the wilderness outside of our front door, the Sandia Mountains, for a while now. This past Saturday, the opportunity presented itself. I called upon my a friend from work and school, Nate Z. to join me in my quest. Of course, Una was included.

The plan: Hike up to South Peak in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness from the Embudo Canyon trailhead, and return via an unmaintained trail (Whitewash Trail) to the end of our street! Kind of a car-to-door thing. Here are some pictures:

Here we are in Embudo Canyon. It was more humid than normal. Do you like my cap?
This is Albuquerque from Post Pass, looking West.
To the South, you get a view of Carnuel, I-40, and the Manzano Mtns.As we climbed into and then out of thick spruce forests, Albuquerque seemed further and further away. The ridge with the shadow in it is the one we had to traverse to get home!

Una leading the way through thick scrub oak. She now has to see the vet because something is stuck in her ear.

Somehow, Nate doesn't seem to break a sweat! This is Albuquerque from the top of South Peak. It was about 4,000 feet of elevation gain from the trail head.

A video:

Una was too tired to care anymore.
US Forest Service doing some trail maintenance.
Looking back up towards South Peak from the Whitewash Trail.
Can you spot the horned lizard?
Una can sense we're getting close to home. This part was a toe, shin, and knee killer.
So close to home... on Candelaria, below the foothills.

All in all, it was quite the cool hike. Varied climate, great views. I need to pore over some topo maps to get an accurate distance, but we're guessing it was about 13 miles. Fun! Having access to such an amazing wilderness experience in your "backyard" is just another blessing of living in crazy ABQ!