La Luz Trail (trailhead) to Tramway Trail

It was a bright and cool afternoon so I decided to take a walk up on the La Luz trail that climbs up to the top of Sandia Peak. I had no plan other than to visit the trail head and walk about a mile or so and take some pictures. I walked about three miles -- 1.5 miles out and back. This was my first visit.

This is an 8 mile trail and serious hikers get an early start for the 4,000 foot climb. I only saw a few people on the trail...mostly casual walkers.

The trail head is a parking area off of Tramway Blvd. on forest road 333 -- a $3.00 fee covers parking and access.

Trailhead 

small aspen grove

Rio Grande valley

switchbacks

Rio Grande and cottonwoods (bosque)

prickly pear

cholla

1 mile in - make a decision

In the Bosque

Hunters Moon

It was a pretty fall day so I decided to spend some time over in Corrales, a little artsy village in the Rio Grande bosque. A 'bosque' is the swath of well-watered and wooded land that runs along each side the river. The trees are usually huge cottonwood trees but there will be some willows or other trees. In Corrales you'll see lots of small truck farms mingled in with homes that can run into the millions of dollars. Corrales is somewhat gentrified now and most people couldn't afford to live there. There is a network of irrigation channels (acequias) that bring water to the farm lands and there are usually trees along the canals so the place is very wooded....quite different from areas just a mile or so away. There's lots of horses and goats and a few burros.

Corrales has a number of galleries and a few places that offer lessons in painting or pottery. I stopped at one cluster of shops that had an oriental rug store, a gallery and a southwestern décor shop. There are also numerous restaurants and a brewery and several wineries.  I stopped at a farmer's market and then went to visit one of the wineries.

Red Chile Ristras

Lots of red chiles

Chiles roasting



Corrales Winery vineyard

a former cottonwood...now firewood
- it died a natural death after a few hundred years

patio at the winery

Yum

I roasted the chile peppers myself and the house is full of that smoky-spicy fall season smell.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2013

This week has been busy due to the 42nd annual International Balloon Fiesta. Today, Wednesday, marks the half-way point and I have not gone over to the balloon launching site. The first couple days were quite cold and I didn't feel like heading out in 34 degree morning temperatures. You need to be at the fiesta site well before dawn so getting up and heading out at 4:30 AM is the usual plan for those wanting to attend the fiesta.

I did that once, way back in the late 1970s...probably 1978 or 1979, so I'm not too excited about the early morning schedule. The fiesta is much bigger now and harder to get around.  This year they have 554 balloons, many more than I saw back in the 70s but fewer than a few years back when they had 1,000. They try to limit the number now becuse 1,000 was too many. The cost of fuel and just getting here is limiting the number a well. They still have an impressive bunch from other countries...most notable is Brazil.

The first couple days had the wind coming out of the north so the balloons all went south over the city. Yesterday and today the winds were from the south so they all came up toward me. Tuesday was most remarkable bcause I had balloons landing across the street from my house.  Of course, I took a bunch of pictures --way too many to post here but I'll post a sizeable bunch.  Mostly without comment but I'll add a few captions.

Dawn Patrol

here they come

almost translucent in early morning sun

large cow - very large

Darth Vader

across the street

another one down

Darth coming over my neighbor's house