NM Trip #28 Part 2: Albuquerque And Fun In The Snow

Page One lies below this entry.  Scroll down to find the real beginning!

PETROGLYPHS NATIONAL MONUMENT:  PIEDRAS MARCADAS CANYON 

This is a northern branch of the main monument, still within the city limits of Albuquerque.  It is seldom visited, and has an amazing display of ancient rock art.  We visited for several hours on a March morning and were all alone the entire time, except for some of nature's citizens.

 

We were both amazed at the astounding quantity and quality of the rock art,the first of two major sites we visited during our visit to Albuquerque.

 

Aside from lizard petroglyphs, there were lizards.

 

Rock art man, with a spiral and hands above.

 

Bird with horns.
 

Raven at the petroglyphs.

 

Jack rabbit at the petroglyphs.

 

Kokopelli with phallus.

Gallery of hands.

An elegant water bird, unusual in desert rock art.

 

RIO GRANDE NATURE CENTER 

This is a restful place, a nature center with walking trails along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque.  There is a welcoming building with observation windows, and just about any nature field guide you would care to peruse.  An entire day could be spent here, inside and out.  Outside there were basking turtles a plenty.  We did 2 1/2 miles of trails in the late afternoon, sat and watched the ponds, and stared at the background mountains.  Afterwards we headed to Marble Brewery, our favourite local. 

 

One of the active ponds at the Rio Grande Nature center, in Albuquerque.

 

Turtle convention.

View of Sandia Mountains from one of the nature center trails along the Rio Grande.

 

The beer board at Marble Brewery, downtown Albuquerque.

 

Old Town, Albuquerque. 

 

CERILLOS HILLS HIKE 

The Cerillos Hills, near the town of the same name, contains my favourite kind of hiking environment, namely the pinon/juniper belt.  Usually located in the 5,000' to 7,000' altitude range in NM. the country is open and expansive, though shelter from wind can always be found at the nearest juniper tree.  The smell of pinon trees, and the smell of the desert earth itself, is usually associated with blue skies and wide open landscape, though usually hilly.  Our hike today took us from Amtrak tracks near Waldo, a siding, to the top of Grand Central Mtn.  We began at 5700' and topped out at 6976'.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike, with a few surprises in store.

We have passed by here four times on the train from Chicago to Albuquerque, and though we heard a train pass today, we were behind the hills and never saw it.

 

    

The Cerillos Hills are actually good sized mountains, except in the west, where they are hills.  Our peak, Grand Central Mtn., is at the right, background.  We began our hike near the cliff shadow in the middle ground, then wended our way upwards to the summit.

 

The GPS of our hike, which was done counterclockwise.  We ascended 1350', walking a total of six miles.  It was a great hike!

At the base of Grand Central, which was not on the original agenda.  Not for the first time, Deb questions my motives and sanity.  The picture is very deceptive; this is a steep and rocky climb.
 

The Ortiz Mountains, from the base of Grand Central Mountain.

Deb on the summit, with Santa Fe Baldy way behind her, and more than 5,000' higher.

 

Summit view west.

Summit view north, again showing Santa Fe Baldy. 

 

Summit view of Ortiz Mtns., and the beautiful pinon/juniper country surrounding us.

 

It was a tricky descent, and we took a long time doing it.  One loose rock and a nasty spill lay ahead.

 

Deb spotted a beautiful pottery sherd as we walked a canyon back to our car.

Reverse side of above.  We left it where we found it.  A nice discovery.

 

Canyon scenery on our return hike.

 

We followed the Turquoise Trail back to Albuquerque, stopping the former coal mining town of Madrid.  We had coffee, then headed over to our favourite saloon.

Downtown Madrid.

 

Driving back to Albuquerque, we passed the San Augustin Mountains south of Madrid.

 

CIENEGUILLA PETROGLYPHS 

On our last full day we returned to a petroglyph site we had cancelled earlier in the week due to heavy snow.  The snow was now gone but the rock art was still awaiting.  There is a ton of rock art within easy reach of Albuquerque if one knows where to look.  This site surprised us with its variety of art, and the sheer number of glyphs.  Located near a spring, it even boasted a fish glyph!  All week I had thought I was fighting off a cold.  However, today we witnessed clouds of pollen coming from juniper bushes.  I realized I had been suffering badly from allergies. Later in the day I picked up some meds at a drugstore.  Voila!  I felt better.

 

Gallery of Kokopellis.

 

My first fish petroglyph sighting!  There were small wetlands nearby.

 

Rock art gallery.

Large water bird, La Cieneguilla.

 

Petroglyph gallery.

La Cieneguilla petroglyphs. 

 

CERRO SEGURO 

Cerro Seguro is a small peak NW of Albuquerque that we climbed on our final afternoon of adventure.  The peak overlooks a dramatic portion of the Santa Fe River.  We had plans to descend into the canyon (more rock art), but another swift incoming snowstorm ended our hike early.  The soil almost comes alive when wet, and soon turns into a very stick mud.  We sat beneath a juniper bush for awhile, trying to wait out the storm, but it kept on snowing and blowing.  So we returned to our car.  We have unfinished business here.

 

Our hike only lasted for 1.75 miles today, before the storm hit.  We climbed the hill, though, a 500' elevation gain from our car.

View from the summit of Cerro Seguro into the Santa Fe River Canyon.  Our plans to descend into the canyon had to be cancelled due to weather.

 

Summit view SE showing the Ortiz Mountains in the background, and the Cerillos Hills in the left middle ground.  Incoming weather ended our adventure early.

Another view of the canyon we had hoped to enter.  Another time. 

 

We ended up enjoying 8 hikes that week, totalling 25.3 miles with 4,500' of elevation gain.  Not bad for a pair of flatlanders coming off a meager winter exercise program.  While I enjoyed every single hike this time, I would single out Volcano Hill as my favourite of the bunch.  the blue sky, the wilderness setting, solitude, and hiking difficulty were all perfect.  Next would come the two petroglyph walks, a thrilling reacquaintance for us.  We also had a bit of luck with Deb finding a lovely pottery piece during our Cerillos Hills hike.  In addition, the new snow made for some lovely photo ops!

See you next time for another blast from the past.

Mapman Mike