Watermelon Peak
Our final day in the Albuquerque basin and we are finally going to get that tram ride up to the top of Sandia Peak. I say finally, but that is quite overly dramatic, don’t mind me. When we got to the mountain base, we took a quick look around the gift shop after purchasing tickets and then we were off on a magical journey about a thousand feet above the ground in a metal box. Yikes. On the way up, the operator told us a little bit about the mountain and the mountain range. Fun fact: sandia means watermelon in Spanish so we were riding up to the top of Watermelon Peak. He also pointed out Kiwanis Cabin at the top of the highest point of Sandia Peak that you can hike to and was
originally built right out of the mountain rock by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was a public work relief program that was in operation from 1933 to 1942. The cabin is still used by Park Rangers who stay there overnight to watch the park. One we got to the top, we took a couple pictures and then went off to the restaurant for lunch. It was a lot like ski lodge type dining, which would make sense as the side of the mountain opposite the one we came up is used as a ski hill and had just closed a couple of weeks earlier. After lunch, we walked around the peak a bit more, checking out the ski hill and the views. We wanted to hike over to Kiwanis Cabin, but the trail was covered in ice, snow and water and none of use were wearing particularly grippy shoes, so we opted just to go back down instead. Back at the bottom I bought a couple of keychains from the gift shop before we headed home to relax for the rest of the afternoon. Peace out m8s.
