Cibola National Forest (Sandia Mountain Wilderness): La Luz Trail

A Formidable Challenge 

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Background:

The Sandia Mountains tower over the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico with a very big presence. Flying into the city, you see the populace nestled in at the foothills of these giants to the North and the Chihuahuan desert to the south. I've visited Albuquerque quite a few times, once I mountain biked in the foothills, but I have never hiked. So that's what I set out to do. 

There are a few ways to summit this giant ridge, but the most popular hike (according to the locals) is the La Luz trail. This trail was created in 1960 with the designation of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness area within the Cibola National Forest. Every year since the designation there is a trail run capped at 400 competitors. The trail is around 9 miles long, climbs nearly 4,000 feet and passes through a few different biomes on the way to the top.

Hike Report: 

I woke up at 6am in my hotel, grabbed some eggs and fruit at the hotel breakfast bar and drove to the trailhead at the Sandia Peak Tramway, about 20 minutes away. The plan was to hike up the mountain and ride the tram down, as much as my knees would have appreciated descending almost 4,000 feet of rocky terrain. 

I didn't waste much time and I started the hike. I had to take a connecting route along Tramway Trail #82 for 2.5 miles to get to the La Luz trail. A very sandy and dry environment, almost desert but technically a grassland. The air was dry and cool, as the sun had not yet come up over the mountains. 

The shaded base of the mountain and the city of Albuquerque off in the distance

The beginning of the hike was not too bad on the legs, as I was mostly making my way along the foothills of the mountain to the La Luz trail. Shortly after I got to the La Luz trail, the sun peaked over the mountain and I caught the moment with a picture. 

Now, I hike a lot out east, but hiking out west is different in a lot of ways. Elevation is one of them, as I started out at around 7000 feet. My lungs were used to between 400 and 3,000 feet out east, so needless to say this was a workout. 

By the time I was hiking at around 9-10,000 feet, the trail had turned into switchback after switchback of rock and boulders, like above. This was very taxing on my already tired legs! By now I was beginning to see some penderosa pine and a lot more green than the desert floor I had climbed out of. 

Alas! I had finally climbed out of switchbacking rocks and was hiking a beautiful ridgeline trail at nearly the summit of this beast of a mountain. The view at the top was incredible, I could see for miles and miles past the city of Albuquerque and beyond. 

As I reach the summit of the mountain, exhausted, I meet civilization again with this fantastic view of Albuquerque and beyond. All of these people at the top of the mountain took the tram up (which is the longest tram in the United States and 3rd longest in the world), so of course it killed my vibe a little bit, but the ability to grab a beer and a burger at the restaurant at the top made me forget about all of that.

Overall, a great hike! Around 9 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain in a little under 5 hours. This one in particular made me feel it the next morning and forced me to take a nap mid-day afterwards, which is unlike me even after a strenuous hike out east. It was a formidable challenge, and the feeling of accomplishment afterward was most definitely worth all of the effort.

 In the end, the climb is always worth the view, and the view is always worth the climb, however you want to put it! I read a quote once about how it is not about being at the top of the mountain that is great, it is getting to the top of the mountain that makes a summit so great. I believe this wholeheartedly.

Why do you climb mountains? The feeling of accomplishment? Being connected with nature? Exploring the unknown? That magnificent reward of a view you work for? Maybe it's the feeling of taking step after step after step after step towards your goal of a summit.

For me, it's a mixture of it all, but most of all wanderlust drives me to see all I can on this beautiful planet before I die. Every mountain I climb is unique in it's own way in the experience I have. I'll be climbing mountains until these legs give out, that's for damn sure.