Saturday, February 6, 2016

Hiking the Foothils from Elena Gallegos to the Tram 2-5-2016

Jan pondered a long time as to whether she should take us on a snowshoe hike in the mountains or avoid the adverse possibilities of snowy and icy roads altogether and settle on a hike in the foothills...The Foothills won...but that doesn't mean we could have left our snowshoes behind.

The Hoofers: Heidi, Kathleen, Jean, Ginny, Jan:our leader, Jane and...

...Rose

Heading out....Remember what I said about the snowshoes?

north side: snow & a bit icy

south side dry and clear

Enjoying the rock formations along the way


A short break for water and conversation



Jane went snowshoeing the day before so she took the break to heart and conserved her energy

Taking a side trip to the entrance of Domingo Baca....just to add some mileage and climb to the hike :-\

Heading out of Domingo Baca canyon to retrace our steps back to the fence and gateway out of the Wilderness area

This gave me a chance to take the pictures I neglected to take on the way up, boulders that were turned over by a bear looking for a snack before going into hibernation

Another boulder moved in hopes of finding a fat little grub

Heading on the Foothills trail to the Tram



Another break for some essential, snacking, water, whatever....


Taking advantage of the stop to take some pictures Tram Tower #2




I found this on the trail... the top part of a "coyote's' skull (?) Guessing a mountain lion had lunch (?) Better the coyote than me!



Meandering along the Foothills trail


In and out of the snow





Selfie

The other one was too dark, standing in the shade....a bit rusty with my photo taking

Yep, could almost use the snowshoes here...

But on the south side of the canyon...not so much







Are we there yet?  We all agreed that someone must have moved that Tram to Santa Fe!


No, the towers are still there just have to Hoof it further

The Communication towers on top of Sandia Peak

Getting closer to Tower #1

Water tank in view that means we are close to the Tram House


Heading down to the Tram house....we know it is the Tram house because the cables are coming out of it.....(inside joke)


Looking back at the water tank as the rest of the group follows us down the road


Perfect timing as a tram car comes in for a landing



Heading for lunch at the Tram house..we deserved it and will need the energy for the trip back

Standing at the crossroads... Is Jan thinking of taking us back to Domingo Baca?
Trail # 230  Domingo Baca Trail

Trail #365 straight back to the cars...No discussion needed....365 it is!


I named this Whale Rock several years ago the first time I saw this... doesn't it just look like a whale with Jonah's foot sticking out of its mouth? Chomp Chomp!


THANKS JAN FOR A GREAT HIKE!  EVEN THOUGH IT TURNED OUT A BIT LONGER THAN YOU PLANNED...WE ALL LOVED THE DAY OUT IN THE WINTER SUNSHINE!

3 comments:

Kathleen said...

You always do such a great job on photos Rose!!

Kathleen said...

You always do such a great job on photos Rose!!

Rose said...

Thanks Kathleen...I guess it was so good it was worth repeating!!! I am so glad to be back hiking. Had such a great time!

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