My friends Charles, Ashley, and myself went to Albuquerque, NM Friday evening through Sunday. Ashley’s family lives there, so we got lots of great (free) food and company. Saturday morning, the three of us, along with Ashley’s parents hiked the La Luz Trail. About halfway up, a park ranger informed us that there was still a lot of snow on the trail farther ahead, and he didn’t recommend we proceed. We didn’t really want to turn back, so on we went. The snow did get pretty bad, and for about two miles, the entire trail was often completely covered in snow (it was hard sometimes to see where the trail was). Some of the switchbacks were so bad, we just chose to scale straight up the hill instead. I owe mad-props to Mr. & Mrs. Britt for climbing that. I can only hope I can do such things when I’m their age. I live in Midland which is 2,800ft above sea level. We started hiking at 7,000ft, and finished at 10,000ft. Needless to say, I could definitely feel the elevation while hiking.
After reaching the top of the trail (about 7 miles), we hiked another mile (over much flatter terrain) to the Sandia Park Tramway where we enjoyed a well deserved lunch at the High Finance Restaurant on top of the mountain. We then rode the tram down the mountain (which is the longest aerial tram in the world).
The rest of the day was spent recovering at home, which included a dip in the hot tub, steak for dinner, and going to sleep early (11pm is early for me, at least).
Sunday morning we attended church at the Albuquerque Campus of Mars Hill Church. I’ve recently started listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermons and really enjoy his teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to experience one of their campuses. After church we said goodbye, grabbed some lunch, and left the mountains and dry air of Albuquerque and returned to hot and windy Midland later that evening. All-in-all, it was an awesome weekend of meeting new people, seeing new places, and enjoying new experiences.
Here are pictures that I took from the trip:
