I love to hike in the mountains and I found
a group on Meetup.com that organizes hikes for all abilities. This morning, we drove to the
Ellis Trailhead on the Crest Highway NM536 and started walking south along the
Ellis service road that ends at the Tram and the Sandia Ski Resort. We took the Kiwanis Meadow Trail to the Kiwanis cabin via Trail No. 130, then headed south to the Tram and the location of where a
new restaurant is being built (replacing the old High Finance Restaurant that was demolished a couple of years ago), The temperature was warm in the 60's and was a delightful morning to hike in the 10,000 ft. elevation of the Sandia Mountain high above Albuquerque, NM. Our total walking time at a slow pace took about 2.5 hours including stops to look at the Kiwanis cabin, the spectacular views, the wildflowers, a few wild turkeys, and the new restaurant building construction. We walked about 3.6 miles.
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| Turkeys in the meadow by the Kiwanis Cabin (photo by Terry Mulcahy) |
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| Lots of limestone outcroppings on the Crest. |
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| Mushroom |
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| Snowberry |
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| The fruit of the snowberry |
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| Fleabane |
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| The Crest |
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| View from Kiwanis cabin to the Tram |
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| The limestone cliffs of the Sandia Crest |
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| A telephoto view of the Tram and the construction of the new restaurant |
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| Velvet Umbrellawort |
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| Shrubby Cinquefoil |
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| Cinquefoil flower |
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| Paintbrush |
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| Kiwanis Cabin |
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| Fendler's Sandwort |
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| Fossil impression left in the limestone by the Kiwanis Cabin. |
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| Paintbrush in meadow by the Kiwanis Cabin. |
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| Red Columbine |
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| Our hiking group |
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| Canada Violet |
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| Kiwanis cabin is seen at the top of the summit |
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| Views of Albuquerque from the Crest |
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| Violet Wood Sorrell |
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| Richardson's Geranium |
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| Giant Hyssop |
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| Western Wallflower |
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| Sandia Coralbells |
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| View of Albuquerque to the east |
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| Sandia Coral Bells/Alumroot |
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| Sandia Ski lift |
Here are pictures of the new restaurant under construction at the top of the tram and ski resort. The date of opening is now April, 2019.
Here is an artist's rendering of the planned restaurant:
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| Lots of mushrooms along the trail |
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| Ferns in the limestone |
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| Rattlesnake Orchid (not blooming) |
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| Fanleaf Buttercup |
I love to hike in the mountains and I found a group on Meetup.com that organizes hikes for all abilities. This morning, we drove to the Ellis Trailhead on the Crest Highway NM536 and started walking south along the Ellis service road that ends at the Tram and the Sandia Ski Resort. We took the Kiwanis Meadow Trail to the Kiwanis cabin via Trail No. 130, then headed south to the Tram and the location of where a new restaurant is being built (replacing the old High Finance Restaurant that was demolished a couple of years ago), The temperature was warm in the 60's and was a delightful morning to hike in the 10,000 ft. elevation of the Sandia Mountain high above Albuquerque, NM. Our total walking time at a slow pace took about 2.5 hours including stops to look at the Kiwanis cabin, the spectacular views, the wildflowers, a few wild turkeys, and the new restaurant building construction. We walked about 3.6 miles.
