Ode to Albuquerque

This post has been percolating for a while.  I really wanted to write this post just after Christmas, but I am pretty terrible at doing this regularly.  At the time it was the culmination of two separate ideas.  The first was the vacation read of a great book entitled 'Albuquerque: City at the End of the World.'  It is a pretty interesting book, which talks about the great, unique city and future challenges facing it.  At the same time, I was thinking a lot during a vacation spent with family and friends on how to answer the question: "So, Albuquerque.  What do you think of that place?"   

I have thought a lot about this question  very recently too, as we just entertained some friends this past weekend who were contemplating a move here to our beautiful state.  Using this as inspiration, here are some scattered ideas on why I love living here in Albuquerque.  

1.  The great outdoors.  The pictures that accompany this post were taken one afternoon in January after one of our snow falls.  We decided to go up into the open space for a little hike.  It was actually a pretty cold afternoon (maybe in the 20s) with a cold breeze.  However, it was a nice walk.  The open space is one thing that makes our city unique.  It is 28,000 acres in and around ABQ that will never be developed.  One of them is in the east of the city flanking the mountains.  In just 15 minutes, we can get out of the city into the great outdoors.

2.  Wide open spaces.  From our walk you are standing on one side of the city at roughly an elevation of 6200' gazing across the city of Albuquerque, nestled in the valley of the Rio Grande.  Usually you can see the tiny ribbon of river winding it's way through the middle.  Casting your eyes just a little further, you can see the escarpment, the volcanic cliffs which mark the western edge of the city.  And beyond that?  Nothing.  Miles and miles of wide open spaces.  Hundreds of miles. Seeing this beautiful vista makes you realize that, even though ABQ is the biggest city in the state, with roughly 700K people, we are absolutely swallowed by windy, desolate high altitude desert.  This is pretty unique in the continental US.  This simultaneously makes me feel very small, and truly in awe of this place.

3.  The Mountains  The open space we were walking around in was at the foot of the Sandia Mountains.  This translates as "watermelon" so called for the beautiful pink they turn everyday as the sun sets in the west.  It is also a pretty unique mountain, towering 4000' over the valley almost straight up.  In the picture on the right above, you can see the snow covered Sandia Crest, peaking over another mountain below it.  It is a rift mountain, completely different than a range like the Rockies. The back side has a very gentle slope, which you can drive up, and the front side has the famous La Luz Trail.  It is an 8 mile hike, which crosses through 4 ecological zones, which even during the peak of summer heat hikers can get hypothermia after a sudden rain.  Whether going up the front the hard way, or driving up the back, these fantastic mountains are right there.