Bop To The Top Of The Volcano
We wanted to take the tram/gondola up to the top of Sandia Peak, which is the highest point in the area, today. We got all packed up and ready to go, hopped in the truck and drove all the way through Albuquerque before, upon our arrival at the base of the mountain, we learned that the tram is closed for maintenance on Tuesday mornings. Only Tuesdays though. Just like us to pick the worst day. We took Route 66 back but it was basically just a road, so that wasn’t very much fun. After lunch we decided to do one of the other hikes at Petroglyph National
Monument. The first hike we tried was the one that didn’t allow dogs, so we chose Volcano Day Use hike instead. The hike was a couple of miles long and went over a few of the old volcanoes that are still sticking out of the valley floor. They were created when the fissure Albuquerque sits on split open and shaped the whole area, with the Sandia Mountains on one side and some other mountain
looking things on the other. It was a pretty good hike, with some nice uphill parts. At the very end of the hike we saw a weird helicopter/airplane thing that had two tails and was performing some practice flights (I assume) around the airport. After we returned to the truck, we drove back to the visitor’s centre to watch the video on the history of the monument and so Isaac could get his Junior Ranger badge. The video was interesting and involved a lot of current Pueblo people talking about their ancestors, which was pretty cool. It also explained the formation of the Albuquerque Basin and the Rio Grande Rift in more detail, showing how the land quite literally split apart. Peace out m8s.