Highlights from November

Nov 16th Near Deadman trail - ready for ski season!

Snow on Deadman Trail

Nov 19th Arroyo Open Space

Arroyo riding near 4 hills

November 25th South foothills

South foothills near Indian School

Highlights from October and November

Oct 26th. Near Coyote Trail in and out of the Natl. Forest:

Link to Coyote Trail

Oct. 29th. Tablazon Canyon

Tablazon from Lone Pine Trail.

Oct. 30 Northern foothills

Narrow singletrack

October 31 Northernmost foothills

Sunset view into Sandia Reservation

Nov 8th. Pipeline Trail off Madera

Sandstone feature

Nov 10th Golden Sandstone

Satkirin in sandstone

 

 

Last Day of Wilderness 50th, New Golden Open Space Trail

Dave Foreman gave the keynote sermon (I mean, speech) at the Wilderness 50th celebration this morning. I hope it is posted soon in its entirety on YouTube. It was an electrifying call to arms in the defense of wilderness. Chickadee!! (You had to be there; luckily nearly 1000 attendees were there).

Foreman, the un-rehabilitated eco-warrior

We followed the morning conference wrap-up with a trip to Golden. The new trail extension was completed last week! It adds several miles of spectacular redrock singletrack to the Open Space.

New trail from the arroyo leads to this singletrack

Redrock country near Albuquerque

Longview East

At the end of Longview road, a trail winds towards the east immediately at the trail head. It is a relatively fast ride, without many technical barriers, and eventually deposits riders into a canyon that ascends to the south. A good place to explore.

South Mountain after sunset

50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act Conference in Albuquerque

This conference has been joyful and inspiring. Photos will be posted over the weekend, starting with a picture of myself and one of the main organizers, Tisha Broska, Associate Director of New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.

Tisha and James Broska and Joe Alcock

Angel Pena (with torso) setting up New Mexico Wilderness Alliance's table

NMWA Executive Director Mark Allison introducing the film Wrenched about Ed Abbey and the environmental movement.

Mark Allison at Wrenched screening at the Kimo

Dave Foreman, the bottle of Mezcal, and Abbey's chair

Eco warrior Dave Foreman was a featured speaker, here holding aloft a bottle of Sonoran Mezcal given to him by Charles Bowden (RIP) at Edward Abbey's memorial service. The empty wooden chair was the one Abbey used when he wrote the Monkey Wrench Gang. Also pictured are M.L Lincoln (far right), Terry Tempest Williams (far left), Jack Loeffler, and Kim Crumbo.

Delberts Trail

Back in New Mex: Delberts is a long trail linking Chamiso & Coyote Trails to Powerline Trail. Most remarkable, compared to Oregon and Washington, is that we saw again a grand total of zero other trail users this afternoon!

Gotta love New Mexico riding

Mount St Helens - Lewis River Trail

Lewis River trail in Washington State is absolutely spectacular. It winds through dripping old growth forest in a wildly scenic part of the USA.

Edge of Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument

Old growth - amazing

Hood River Post Canyon Trail, Surveyor Ridge, Dog Canyon

We, UCLA medical schoolmates and friends, had our 18th annual mountain bike rendezvous in Hood River Oregon this year. This trip is a CME course, with emergency medicine LLSA review and wilderness medicine update.

The local trail system in Hood River is Post Canyon:
Beautiful, if marred by the occasional clear cut:

Mount Adams in the background

Surveyor Ridge has spectacular views of Mount Hood. Mount Hood Wilderness is in the background.

Dog Canyon had amazing fall color and was an incredible riverine descent.

Dog Canyon in October

Surveyor Ridge Trail head

Torres Trail

Torres Trail in Tijeras is a 57 acre site that has some red rock features. This area is slated for future development. It is a shame, because this could instead be a take off point for wild land exploration. Luckily other trails are nearby.

Mostly doubletrack in this small area

Sandia Peak Tram

Sandia Peak Tram
I rode from the Tramway Road to the Sandia Peak Tram and onto trail 365 towards Elena Gallegos Open Space.
The ride to trail 230 and back was nearly 6 miles, including a few sections of new (for me) singletrack that links the Tram Trailhead to Tramway Blvd. To stay legal, avoid the adjacent Sandia Pueblo land.

Tram Docking - like a scene out of Star Wars

Leads to trail 365 which extends nearly the length of the foothills

Vinegaroon on the prowl

Tram coming in for landing