Month: June 2017

I’ve only been on Tree Springs Trail when it’s 100 degrees in Albuquerque. The trailhead is at 8,500 feet elevation. You step out of your car and instantly you’re in a mountain forest: evergreens soaring overhead, wildflowers at your feet, chipmunks scampering, sky an eye-popping blue. The elevation change alone is good for 10-15 degrees lower temperature than in the valley.

The first time we came out here, the mountain was shrouded in mist and fog. I needed extra layers. We hiked all the way to the Sandia Peak Tram terminal, over seven miles roundtrip.

I was hoping for that same cool mist today, but the only clouds to be seen appeared to be far-off smoke from a fire in the Jemez Mountains. No moisture there.

A thing I cannot overstate about hiking in New Mexico: it’s usually solitary, rarely crowded, and never, ever really crowded. It was a prime, if hot, summer Saturday on a popular trail 30 minutes from downtown, but after saying hello to a few folks at the trailhead, we didn’t see anyone but black-and-white Abert’s squirrels for most of the first hour of our hike.

Much of Tree Springs Trail is deeply shaded. The sections on mountain bends in the sun were already baking at 8 a.m. The trail is a gradual but constant 1,000-foot climb over two miles. Much of the trail is limestone rock, and as you ascend, more and more fossils from when this trail was at the bottom of an ocean appear in the rocks. My husband kept seeing animal shapes in the limestone rock formations, and after he pointed them out, I did too.

Amid the canopy of massive evergreens and sprinklings of wildflowers, some great views over the surrounding mountains and small-town valleys appear. We followed a couple of huge yellow and blue swallowtail butterflies, hoping they’d settle on a flower long enough for us to snap a photo, but couldn’t quite catch them.

It’s been many months since I did a real mountain climb. My calves and ankles felt it, and the low humidity had me guzzling twice as much water as usual (and usual is a lot). As the morning kept warming up, I began to wonder if they’d moved the spectacular overlook at the top of Tree Springs Trail further away. Finally, we passed the wilderness boundary sign and took the path to the overlook. We waited in a shaded glen while a loud couple took overlook selfies. I spotted something moving on the ground. It was the biggest horny toad I’d ever seen, gray and black. We watched him, snapping a few photos, until he disappeared in the brush.

Then we climbed around the enormous overlook, with its panoramic view of dusty, hazy Albuquerque below, faraway mesas and the arrowhead-shaped Sierra Ladrones range 60 miles to the south.

On my previous two visits to this overlook, the winds were so strong it was hard to stand. I understood for the first time why it’s always so bumpy when you’re flying over the Sandias. Today, a cool, gentle breeze offset the baking sun.

There would be no trip up the Crest Trail to the tram today; after the hot climb to the overlook, I had enough energy to make it back down the trail, and that was all. We enjoyed that breeze on the way down, passing panting but happy dogs and their owners as the trail came to life for the day.

Will we have the good fortune of hiking this trail in a gentle mist on a blazing day again? Stay tuned. The current forecast for next Saturday: 103 degrees.

Length: 4 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Trail traffic: moderate

Wildlife spotted: many kinds of butterflies, chipmunks, rabbits, Abert’s squirrels, bluebird, towhees, ginormous horny toad

I knew the day was coming when I would need to go to Chattanooga for my grandmother’s funeral.

Last week, the news came, and the waiting for the arrangements to be determined, and the frantic flurry of preparations when they were.

The night before I left, with the trip I’d been dreading almost here, the flight and hotel and rental car booked, I did a quick Web search.

My sister and I were staying a half-day longer than everyone else, flying out later to save a little money. I quickly learned that during that half-day, 150 miles of hiking trails awaited us within 15 minutes of downtown Chattanooga. I just had to pick one.

After the service, and the reception, and the meals with family, and the chess squares and pound cake, and the goodbyes, my sister and I got up early and drove through rolling hills and rural neighborhoods to Audubon Acres nature sanctuary.

Our goal: Little Owl Village, the site of a Native village hundreds of years ago. I’d chosen a two-mile roundtrip hike because it was hot, it was my sister’s first hike and we had a plane to catch. We arrived just after Audubon Acres opened for the day and had the place to ourselves for almost the entire time we were there.

The path began as packed dirt carpeted with pine needles – the softest trail I’d ever felt under my feet. Sweetgums and water oaks towered above us, vines twining around them, creating a canopy of almost complete shade.

In half a mile we came to a swinging bridge over fast-flowing South Chickamauga Creek. The thought of a swinging bridge had made me a little nervous, but it felt buoyant yet sturdy under our feet. The path tracked the creek, winding through trumpet vines and yellow and purple wildflowers I didn’t recognize. Birdcalls and the ripples of fish moving through the water occasionally broke the silence. And the constant buzzing of flies – we spent the whole hike waving our hands in front of our faces to keep them off.

We detoured to check out the Ford of Youth, the spot where those with swinging bridge phobias can ford the creek. It was twice as deep and three times as wide as any spot I’d forded on my trip to the Middle Fork of the Gila River.

As we stared across the water, imagining how challenging it would be to ford, an enormous blue bird swooped down right in front of us, wings outstretched, gliding over the water. I’m going with a great blue heron; they hang out at Audubon Acres year-round.

When we emerged from the creek path, the Little Owl Village loop in front of us glowed in full sun and the grass was ankle-high. It was 10 am, it was already sweltering and our relatives’ efforts to put the fear of God into us regarding ticks in the Chattanooga area had worked. The return trip along the shady creek beckoned.

As we drove away from Audubon Acres, a huge turkey ran across the road in front of our rental car. While he ran back and forth and we gawked, another turkey appeared.

My grandmother’s death, and this trip to Chattanooga, were certain to come, though I didn’t know when.

That being the case, I’m glad I got to see a great blue heron, and a swinging bridge, and those turkeys.

Length: 2 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: easy

Wildlife spotted: great blue heron, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, squirrels, wild turkeys

Trail traffic: almost none