The gate beckoned us into the wilderness on a snowcapped ridge.
Just a few steps in, my husband plunged up to his knees in snow.
OK. Not that route, at least not without snowshoes.
We’d still spend the afternoon wandering in and out of the wilderness, traipsing through snow that at times was up to our ankles, with occasional drifts to our knees.
Another winter storm smacked Albuquerque since we traversed Embudo Canyon in snow a week ago. This storm dropped a rare two inches at our house in the center of town on New Year’s Day, so we knew the area around Elena Gallegos Open Space in the Sandia Foothills would have plenty of snow to explore.
Despite the similar geography, this was a very different hike than last week’s. The temperature didn’t climb past 25 in Embudo Canyon last weekend, and the wind chill hovered closer to 15. Today we had almost no wind – the forecast around noon read “calm,” the first time I’ve seen that word in a New Mexico forecast. Before I knew it, I was down to a single sweater, warm hat and gloves stashed in my backpack.
A wan sun wavered above the mountains. Moisture and chimney smoke mixed in the valley below us until Mount Taylor and the Sierra Ladrones appeared to levitate on a dusty plain.
We saw fewer people than we’d ever encountered on these popular trails, especially in the wilderness. We thought it was a prime day for another multi-deer sighting, but we saw only birds this day, along with bobcat, mouse and deer tracks in the snow.
Even with a good four to six inches of snow underfoot, the still air and the light blanket of cloud insulated the foothills, the world keeping us warm on one of our most wintry hikes ever.
Hike length: 6.2 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: light-moderate
Wildlife spotted: jays, towhees
Woman Seeks Elevation 