The first surprise came when we pulled up to the parking lot at the Los Poblanos Fields Open Space.
The usually quiet lot overflowed with hundreds of cars. It was serving as overflow parking for the Los Ranchos Lavender Festival today.
The festival is fantastic. But it’s hot, crowded and costs money, and we had a shaded, free and wide-open plan in mind: using the open space to get to the North Valley’s second-most enticing ditch.
As we embarked on that goal, Western kingbirds chattering on power lines above us, the second surprise: a 5K run, part of the Lavender Festival, coming right for us, and sharing much of our route.
We had to step aside a few times to let crowds of runners pass, but there was room for all of us.
We lived near the Los Poblanos Fields for two years, and I was there almost daily. In winter, it’s sandhill crane migration central. In spring, ring-necked pheasants cavort in the clover. In summer, the fields used to dance with sunflowers.
I saw no sign of those today, but the open space is still hard to beat. It has killer views of both mountains and mesas, which few flat plots of land in the city can boast.
As we turned onto the ditch, the crowd thinned and the water just kept widening.
By the time we came near the back side of the Los Poblanos Inn, the 5K route had diverged from ours, and all was quiet but the water and the birds. Tangles of wildflowers and foliage engulfed the ditch. A red flash soared by overhead, leaving us wondering if it was a cardinal or pyrrhuloxia.
Our route took us near the crossroads with the North Valley’s most-enticing ditch, which we explored earlier this week.
How many more ditches throughout Albuquerque have just as much to offer?
Depending how long the forests stay closed, we might find out this summer.
Hike length: 2.9 miles
Difficulty: easy
Trail traffic: busy at the open space, moderate to light on the ditch
Wildlife spotted: hawk, pyrrhuloxia/cardinal (?), dragonflies, butterflies, velvet ant, goat, ducks
Woman Seeks Elevation 
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