This spot in the Sandias is familiar, yet unknown

The forest road we finished our hike on yesterday was probably the most dangerous thing we traversed. It was narrow Forest Road 333, with trucks coasting up and down from higher trails in the Sandias, no shoulder or room to get over. Luckily, we were only on it for a few hundred feet.

We’d come off the Boundary Loop Trail in the foothills north of Sandia Casino. Completing our loop, we stumbled into the wrong canyon. It was fabulous, with swirling humps of stone like those we’d encountered on last week’s hike. Luckily, this time the stone was stepped, with some purchase for feet.

We were confident we could find our way back down this canyon. But then we came to a barbed-wire fence. Rather than trespass on Sandia Pueblo land, we backtracked up the canyon.

We’d made the right turn when it counted earlier. From the highest point of the hike, we picked the correct fork of four to lead us down a dirt trail to the arroyo we’d entered when we began.

Before that, we chilled out for a while atop a ridge. Juan Tabo Canyon yawned before us, a mesa’s flat top on the other side.

Haze filled the valley below; we could barely see the Albuquerque skyline. But up here, the sky was blue and clear, the warm sun offset by the cool wind.

The first arroyo we navigated corkscrewed through high-desert hills. Jays squawked and wrens called as we passed. The sand kept our pace to a steady beat.

A quick, steep climb from the road to a ridge had brought us into quiet Jaral Canyon. A steep trail perched on the edge of the canyon wall led us into the arroyo.

This hike feels different than any other I’ve done in the Sandias. The terrain is less mountainous than classic high desert, not unlike Cerrillos Hills.

And the deep, wide canyons tucked into the hills take you by surprise. Yet the Sandias’ famous Shield, Prow and Needle formations frequently appear beyond ridges.

There is the familiar stacked form of the casino as you top the first ridge.

There is hazy downtown Albuquerque.

It’s familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

Hike length: 4 miles

Difficulty: moderate (the classic Sandia Mountain Hiking Guide rates it “easiest;” I respectfully disagree)

Trail traffic: little

Wildlife spotted: jays, chickadees, wrens