This hike was faulty, but I’m OK with that

I suffer from Next Ridge Syndrome.

I see a glimpse of clear, open blue through the trees, and I just know there’s a vista spreading out in all directions a few steps ahead. No matter how tired I am, I push on.

A quarter-mile later, I’m still in the trees. My body’s more than ready to turn around and head back. My mind? Please. I see another glimpse of blue, seemingly just ahead, and the cycle repeats itself.

Today this game played out in the delicious-smelling spruce-fir forest at the top of Oso Corredor Trail (that really is an “e” in “corredor,” believe it or not.) I finally gave out at a semi-clearing, right where brilliant green trees crowded close against the trail.

I would have liked to explore that, but the partial view from where I sat was pretty darn good. The grass-green, limestone-capped, rounded peaks that remind me of castles were in view. The birds were singing, a giant ponderosa offered tons of shade, and none of the other hikers and bikers out today had made it this far up this side trail.

As we walked back, we saw two tanagers, brilliant in orange, yellow, black and white, flitting from branch to branch. A fat Abert’s squirrel hustled down the trail in front of us, brandishing its bushy tail.

From Oso Corredor we headed back toward our car on Faulty Trail, which runs practically from I-40 to the Sandia Crest Byway. This stretch of Faulty boasts views of the San Pedro Mountains, Ortiz Mountains and the Estancia Valley below.

We hadn’t meant to wander around this bend in the Sandias today. I had in mind a 2,000-foot climb straight up Cienega Trail to the Crest Trail. But at the junction at the trailhead, we never located Cienega. We couldn’t figure out our mistake, even with the map, but perusing the map later, I think we just should have gone left on Faulty instead of right.

But our mistake was serendipitous. As we walked the last half-mile to our car, I ran into an old friend with her family. We hadn’t seen each other in years, and they told us all about raising two little kids in the East Mountains.

We wondered how many other people we knew were scattered around the Sandias’ 140 miles of trails on a Saturday morning.

You’d probably have to get lost to find out.

Hike length: 6 miles

Difficulty: moderate

Trail traffic: moderate

Wildlife spotted: caterpillar, butterflies, Western tanagers, crow, vulture, dark-eyed junco, Abert’s squirrels, carpenter ants at work