The Sandias

[GregW]

Are they planning on a salvage logging operation in the dead spruce forest? That much standing dry wood is a fire waiting to happen.

IT is still in the 50s in Boston. At least it is sunny for a while. The full moon was spectacular on the horizon this morning from my front door. I leave the house for work at 0500 weekdays so I was up for the display.

[mortimer]

GregW asks:

> ... salvage logging operation in the dead spruce forest?

I doubt it since the slopes in that area are very steep.

I find it interesting that horses are allowed on the trail since one mis-step puts damage on the trail that will take a volunteer 20-30 minutes to repair. There are gobs of 7-8" "hoof-holes" in the trail.

penelopelp related:

> Mortimer, I didn't really think I'd get pneumonia.

Ok then, it was just theatrics.

> not too fond of being cold. ... least favorite thing on the planet.

This pretty much offers endless opportunities at cheap shots then doesn't it?

It's kind of the compliment to Towanda and her fear of Las Cruces heat.

I'm a jerk, I know.

> The La Luz wasn't all that packed Saturday evening.

People tend to climb on that trail in the early hours when it's cooler. Also, since the trail affords the opportunity to ride the tram down, there is a certain portion of up-hikers that you don't see as down-hikers. Many people (in better shape and I) who start at, 5:30 am, reach the top by 8 and return to their car by 10.

> planned on ... hiking the Piedra Lisa, but I couldn't figure out how to get to that trail.

Where the paved road turns toward the La Luz, the straight road becomes dirt. (It's next to a pay station.) Follow the dirt road to the locked gate and park in the obvious (dirt) parking lot. Then walk past the gate and up to an obvious very wide trail heading straight to the Rincon Ridge (the trail almost looks like an extension of the road).

Along there, you will find trailheads to Fletcher, Movie, and Waterfall trails while Piedra Lisa continues forward all the way to the ridge. It continues down the other side, but that part is best accessed via the N trailhead.

The North part is much cooler for hotter weather hikes.

Movie trail was the site of some movies filmed there in the 1950's with Kirk Douglas.

> So, those spruce are all dead?

Yup. I don't know when they were killed, but they were completely gone last summer. I noticed that some of them have snapped in the winds since then.

> It didn't feel like 90 to me, ...

It's probably because it officially hit 90 at the airport and probably only for 3 or 4 seconds.

I did the walk to CNM last evening for a class that just started. Along Tramway, it was probably safely in the 80's at 3:30pm, but when the class let out at 7:55, the sun was about 10 minutes from setting and I walked back via Bear Canyon arroyo. The colors were just fabulous. I had to negotiate the culvert under Tramway (just N of Academy) in near-darkness - keeping my eyes peeled for 'critters' that I didn't want to startle. Five minutes later and I would have had to use the intersection above.

Two-three seconds after turning off on my street I faced the first fraction of the full moon's face rising up directly over South Peak at about 9:10.

Tomorrow, I'll take my bike. The 1.5 hour walk is nice, but not practical at that hour.

> did run the swam cooler a bit today, and it made it nice & pleasant.

It's wonderful to be able to do that isn't it?

Oh, and as a side note and JUST TO BE CRUEL to non-residents:

I had a green chile hamburger at Flying Star next to CNM on Juan Tabo just N of Montgomery.

Detailed descriptions of how good it was available upon request. (See earlier comments about being a "jerk.")

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by penelopelp

EnjoyEP, it was nice and warm today. It didn't feel like 90 to me, but of course, I'm used to all that humidity. We did run the swam cooler a bit today, and it made it nice & pleasant.

Well, while you fired up your swamp cooler yesterday, my wife and I agreed mutually last night to fire up our furnace again!!!

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by mortimer

I had a green chile hamburger at Flying Star next to CNM on Juan Tabo just N of Montgomery.

Detailed descriptions of how good it was available upon request. (See earlier comments about being a "jerk.")

Ah, what the h*ll, I will take the torture. At least to live vicariously of sorts. How about that description mortimer??

[mortimer]

EnjoyEP asked:

> How about that description mortimer??

You mean the extremely rich, thick, bun or the cooked to perfection patty or the subtle burn and roasted flavor of diced green chile?

I posted a bit about the Spruce die-off here:
Sandia Spruce Die-off

There are pictures and maps making it clear what it looks like and where we are discussing.

The dead trees are clearly evident in the photos. They have been selectively killed so that the forest floor is still quite green and alive as well as any trees of a different species.

It can probably be expected that the Ponderosa will populate some of the lower levels and the Aspen will populate from the upper levels.

I don't know if there are Spruce trees even now punching up through the bottom of the clutter at floor level via dormant cones, bird droppings, and such.