Mountain & Marine Medicine Blog

Highlights from November

2014-11-27T13:50:00.002-08:00

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

2014-11-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

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

2014-10-19T19:40:00.003-07:00

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

2014-10-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

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

2014-10-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

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

2014-10-18T10:28:00.001-07:00

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

2014-10-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

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

2014-10-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

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

2014-10-18T10:00:00.003-07:00

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

2014-10-06T22:58:00.003-07:00

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

Nature Pointe to Campo Rd

2014-10-05T16:36:00.003-07:00

Nature Pointe to Campo Rd.
I do not recommend riding from the Nature Pointe Trailhead. The trail from the neighborhood is faint, overgrown and indistinct until it meets with an unnamed trail that roughly parallels the Lower Pine Trail which can be seen on the other side of the canyon. I recommend starting at Campo and continuing south towards the Lower Pine/Pinyon Trail.

View to the west

Cibola Nat Forest from Nature Pointe

Campo is near the Lower Pine Trailhead

Cryptic Campo "Trailhead" is completely unmarked

Ride from Nature Pointe


Overview of area - this trail's not on the map

If I'd gone south, I bet the trail intersects with Lower Pine here (blue and brown trails above)

Tecolote, Oso Corredor, and Elena Gallegos

2014-10-04T21:38:00.003-07:00

Tecolote Trail

Tecolote is (mostly) awesome. The views are exceptional, especially this time of year. Click on the link above for the mountainbike-legal trails in the Sandias, including Tecolote. The Aspens are changing this time of year, as seen from Tecolote. Only deficit is that it is a short ride. It is still worth it.

Tecolote Trailhead starts at Dry Camp. Free Parking

Autumn in the Sandias (did you know they don't say "fall" in Auckland and Sydney?)

Perfect fall day

An old mine along the trail

Twin peaks of Manzano Mountains to the South

Sangre de Cristos on horizon

View towards the Ski area

Oso Corredor

Accessed from Tree Spring Trail

Running Bear Trail

Oso Corredor has some very nice sections of singletrack, linking the Bill Spring/Faulty Trail and Tree Spring. It suffers from a slight problem of limestone outcrop-itis. Riding down is easier than going up...

Elena Gallegos Open Space

Night Ride

This area is accessible from Tramway at Sims Park Road. I parked on Tramway (free) and rode smooth singletrack (new to me) along Sims Park Rd a mile from Tramway up to forest trail 365. This trail might not be so exciting during the day, but for a night ride under moonlight, the frisson of danger heightens the senses. It would possible to access this area from Spain road, taking dirt singletrack parallel to the asphalt bike path, to Sims Park Rd. For that matter you could ride from Bear Canyon Arroyo or Embudito Trailhead to the Sims Park Road singletrack, making a large loop possible.

Sign at Forest trail 365

Elena Gallegos


Next morning: 1st day of Balloon Festival -Satkirin photographing the festivities

100 Rides Project - Rides so far

2014-10-02T21:10:00.001-07:00

1. East Mountain High Nature Trail

2. Chamisoso Canyon

3. Golden Open Space

4. Mars Court

5. Chamisa Trail

6. South Foothills Trail

7. North Faulty Trail

8. Mud Spring Trail

9. Armijo Trail

10. Gutierrez Open Space

11. Rio Rancho Cartagena Road

12. Capulin Snowplay Area to 10K

13. San Pedro Creek from Golden Open Space

14. Four Hills to Manzano Open Space

15. San Antonito Open Space

15. Coyote Trail

16. Embudito Trail

17. Carnuel to Manzano Open Space

18. Longview Trail Head

19. Trail 66 to Yucca Mountain

20. Harry's Trail

21. Lower Pine Trail Head

22. Forest Park Trail

23. Three Gun Spring

24. Ojito de San Antonio Open Space

25. La Cueva - Juan Tabo Picnic Area

26. Rio Grande State Park

27. Golden Eagle Trail to Sandia Crest

28. Chamisoso to Tunnel Connector

29. Birdhouse Ridge

30. Gambel Spur Trail

31. North Pine Flat

32. Jackalope Trail

33. White Mesa

34. Gambel Oak to Deadman Trail

35. Crest of Montezuma

36. Bear Canyon Arroyo

37. San Antonito Spur

38. Tijeras Open Space

39. Quarry Area Trail

40. Piedra Lisa Arroyo

41. Powerline Trail

42. Three Bottles Trail

43. Tres Pistolas Open Space

44. Tunnel Canyon

45. Lomas Arroyo

46. Deadman Flat

47. Copper Trailhead

48. Gutierrez Ridge

49. Cienega Horse Bypass

50. Otero Canyon

51. Ponderosa Trail - Juan Tomas Open Space

52. Sabino Canyon Open Space

53. Cedro Singletrack

54. Elena Gallegos Open Space

55. Oso Corredor

56. Tecolote Trail

57. Nature Pointe to Campo

58. Sandia Peak Tram

59. Torres Trail

60. Post Canyon (Oregon)

61. Surveyor Ridge (OR)

62. Dog Canyon (OR)

63. Lewis River (Washington)

64. Delberts Trail

65. Longview East

66. Golden Trail Extension

(Astute readers will note the numbers do not match the original blog posts exactly. That is because I left out similar rides from the same trail head, e.g. at Gutierrez and Golden Open Spaces. I did not include sites where riding is not allowed, e.g. Sandia Ranger Station and Carlito Spring)

Cedro Singletrack and Sabino Open Space

2014-10-02T20:33:00.001-07:00

Cedro Singletrack
Of the East Mountain riding areas off "North 14" (aka state road 337), I come here the least, in part because the trail used to be very rough. Its been improved recently. I recommend this trail.

Cedro singletrack takes off from the campground

Singletrack here is nicer than I remembered

Cedro goes to Meadow Ridge Trail and Meadow Singletrack which I rode on a previous day

Sabino Canyon Open Space
The Sabino area is near Cedro:

Super Scenic

You can ride on both sides of the road - two loops

Information on Sabino

In the past, a trail led from the Open Space up the canyon, probably into private land. Now the public open space is fenced. Since the area is not big, the ride's pretty short. But it is a beautiful place to visit and the trails are excellent despite their brevity.

Jaw dropping

2014-09-30T22:25:00.001-07:00

Humans have killed half the world's vertebrates in my lifetime.

Do something about it.

I am on the board of New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Our goal is to preserve large wilderness areas for humans and non-humans alike. Wilderness medicine folk should protect wilderness. Period.

P.S. My 100 rides in 100 days project has taught me two important facts. 1) Make time to get outdoors everyday. It is amazing, and your health depends on it. 2) As much as I love mountain biking, some places need to be preserved from bikes and especially motorbikes. I love to hike in the designated wilderness where no machines are allowed. Wildlife need this. Humans do too.

Joe Alcock

Otero Canyon and Ponderosa Trail

2014-09-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Otero Canyon

This area is why the group Friends of Otero (Foo MTB; now renamed "friends of the outdoors") was formed. I was at the public meeting when the Kirtland AFB described plans to close most of this excellent riding area. Check out Foo Mountain Bike's site.
This is a crown jewel of Albuquerque. Read this ABQ journal piece about the possible re-opening of upper Otero canyon. I hope the military withdrawal area is reopened for the sake of the land and those who want to recreate responsibly on it.

Otero near the military withdrawal area

Otero from the parking area

Juan Tomas Open Space
Starting at Oak Flat to Ponderosa Trail to Easy Picking and back to the car via Oak Flat Connector

Juan Tomas Open Space is an exceptional place to ride

Glimpse of the Sandias

Aptly named Ponderosa trail

I love this ride.

Copper Trailhead, Gutierrez Ridge, and Cienega Horse Bypass

2014-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Day 50 Gutierrez Ridge to Piñon Alto Road

New (for us) singletrack in the Gutierrez Open Space took us to the Piñon Alto Road. We explored a few nicely built spur trails that go to neighborhoods in the Cedar Crest Area. Overall, a spectacular ride.


Scott Forman (a Race Across America finisher this year) in Gutierrez Open Space

Sandy Sanborn on singletrack

Day 49 took me to the Copper Trail head for a night ride. A few night hawks glinted in my lights, no doubt gathering up a great number of night-flying desert insects. The tarantuas were spotted migrating during the day, but I did not see any this night.

Copper Trail Head

Neighborhood Tarantula

Night Ride with ABQ to the west

Day 48 Cienega Horse Bypass to Faulty Trail
Cienega is undergoing tree thinning, which sounds benign, but in the ground it is nothing but. Edward Abbey would not approve of this machine pictured below (and neither do I):

Fossil fuel belching tree destroyer

www.wrenched-themovie.com

My totem animal

Faulty trail near Armijo intersection

Loop complete at Sulphur Canyon

Cleveland Museum of Natural History

2014-09-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Nicole Burt and Katie Hinde (and Dunkleosteus)

Yesterday was a great day of brainstorming on the topic of evolutionary medicine with new friends at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Nikki Burt is the Fellow of Evolutionary Medicine at the museum. Katie Hinde is an assistant professor at Harvard's Dept. of Human Evolutionary Biology. By the way, the charismatic megafish in the photo is Dunkleosteus from the Devonian era.

Terrible lizard

I'll post more soon on this topic...

Tunnel Canyon, Lomas Arroyo, Deadman Flat

2014-09-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Day 47 Lomas Arroyo
It is possible to ride from Tramway beside the Lomas Arroyo right into the foothills open space. One downside is lots of tire puncturing thorns. But the area has its charms too.

Compared to the Bear Canyon Arroyo, Lomas Arroyo has little singletrack

I supplemented this ride with a hike in the no-bike's-allowed Carlito Spring Area:

Tiny succulent

View from Carlito Springs Open Space

Here is a nice video showing the springs on You Tube.

Day 46 Deadman Flat
According to older maps, this area was once a camping spot.
It still has its own, unmarked entrance. Despite the name, it is possible to ride an entire loop starting here while bypassing most of the Deadman trail.

Road to Deadman Flat

Little-used old campsite

Day 45 Tunnel Canyon
Tunnel canyon is a crown jewel in the Albuquerque mountain bike trail network. The trail is beautifully engineered and maintained, and offers exceptional views to boot.

Sandias and Storm Clouds

Tres Pistolas

2014-09-22T00:04:00.001-07:00

Day 44 Tres Pistolas and old old 66
There is a rough singletrack on what used to be 66, since replaced with route 333. It leads up into the Tres Pistolas open space. Tres Pistolas has some well-trod trails, but I explored the southern boundary which is better suited for walking along game trails and fence lines.

Abandoned 66

Open Space Boundary

Sandias in background

Boundary near Monticello neighborhood

Three Bottles Trail

2014-09-21T08:56:00.003-07:00

Day 43 Three Bottles Trail
This is a new trail that was built as a "terrain park" with some natural features, e.g. big sandstone boulders and fallen logs, that some extreme riders like to challenge themselves on. We generally stuck to the easiest option on the three bottles trail which links Otero canyon and the Mars Court area in the Manzanillo Mountains.

Three Bottles Trail is not for the faint at heart

Day 42 Powerline Trail
Powerline links Chamisoso Canyon and the Cedro Peak Area. Here is the map that shows this trail (and the three bottles trail described above)

It has too much eroded doubletrack to fully recommend it.


Powerline

Day 41 White Wash (Piedra Lisa Arroyo)
Although this part to the foothills trail is not far from our house, we rarely venture this way. It has some nice sections of singletrack with great views.

Trailhead on Camino de la Sierra

Trail from Indian School parking area to White Wash

Bridge over Piedra Lisa Arroyo

Day 40 Quarry Area
A trail heads to the west very near Tunnel Canyon. It rarely has cars parked there. It appears that in the past it was a popular place for shooting; no longer allowed, according to the trailhead sign. There are two canyons that head towards the south from the trailhead. The first has the longest section of singletrack in this area (although still less than a mile). It runs through a wide canyon full of wildflowers, with views of Cedro peak to the east. Eventually the trail narrows and enters the creek bed, becoming a hiking scramble trail. This area is full of fossils.

No shooting sign at the trail head.

Crinoid

Modern artifact

Day 39 Tijeras Canyon Open Space
This part of the open space has its own entrance south of old route66 adjacent to the Covered Wagon development. The area by the creek has that nice distinctive cottonwood smell and some nice short sections of single track. By way of the creekbed, it connects with the 4 hills and Manzano Open Space.

Tijeras Canyon Trailhead.


Cottonwoods in Tijeras Canyon

Bear Canyon Arroyo plus

2014-09-15T22:27:00.001-07:00

Day 38 Back to San Antonito Open Space

My weakness is spotting a trail that I have not ridden and not knowing where it leads to. Last time out to this locale, we did not explore a spur trail that led up the ridge. Naturally I had to find out where it went.

View to the south with sandstone

This trail ends in a neighborhood; all good things must end. Adding the spur to the main loop yields 2.7 miles, which is just enough for a fun evening ride. The terrain here is all sandstone, which makes for some fun technical parts, and generally good riding.

Day 37 Bear Canyon Arroyo Open Space
This was a night ride. I explored the arroyo East and West of Tramway boulevard.

Another big chunk of open space

I surprised many rabbits, jumping mice, and a nighthawk on the trail at night.

Singletrack west of tramway

This ride extended into the High Desert development and also leads into the National Forest Embudito trailhead

High Desert trails

Day 36 + (extra ride) Crest of Montezuma
This ride is north of Placitas. Because of the lack of developed trails, it is not really a proper ride. There is some short doubletrack near the Kinder Morgan station near Diamond Tail road; it peters out and requires some bushwhacking. I also found some wild horse trails leading into the arroyo. After a distance into the arroyo, my bike toppled over into a juniper. So I would say that this area is better explored on foot. It is BLM land, and there are plans to transfer it to the forest service so that it is better protected. It is not illegal for bikes to be in this little explored area. I saw some additional trails that looked promising but would require passing through private land, so I left them for now.

Not so wildlife in Placitas

Near the Kinder Morgan "Trail head"

White Mesa

2014-09-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

Day 36 White Mesa

Continuing on the theme of geology in New Mexico: The White Mesa area is so named for a top layer of gypsum, with underlying ancient sedimentary rocks. The red ones are the Chinle formation, which is part of the Colorado plateau. The Morrison formation above is tan and apparently is rich in dinosaur fossils. This formation is an anticline that was eroded in the center because of folding and faulting.

White Mesa is the most scenic ride in New Mexico

Travertine springs are a dominant feature

Water issuing from rock, a few hundred feet above the river water table!

Water from the rock in a biblical scene

Trail map at trail head

Dragon back with Cabezon

Avoid the Cryptobiotic soil

Spectacular singletrack

Jurassic and Triassic sediments

Seismosaurus has been spotted in the area

View from the South

I have not ridden the valley yet

This is an amazing spring on the ridge top

Mineral rich water from the rock

Springs feed green oases

Cabezon

Check this singletrack out

Travertine ridges

A seeping spring at the top

Bonus Ride: South Pine Flat to Deadman Trail

Pine Flat and Deadman Trail is some of the best riding in Burque

Diane and Sandy

Day 35 Jackalope Trail

2014-09-12T19:51:00.002-07:00

The jackalope trail is easily overlooked, like its namesake animal:

It is not much for mountain biking: too eroded and steep. But it is great for fossils.

The New Mexico Slickrock: limestone

Embedded brachiopods in limestone

Micro and macro-fossils

Brachiopod shell

Corals perhaps

Marine life 300 million years old

Tiny Indian Paintbrush

Crinoids

Trailhead

Amazing to think that this was once below sea level

Apparently the area was equatorial when the sea existed

Weather to the West

Mountain Rides Day 31-34

2014-09-10T20:51:00.001-07:00

Day 34 North Pine Flat
An unmarked trail takes off from the North area of the Pine Flat picnic area.

The start is near picnic table number 29

It intersects with the Gambel Spur Trail and ends up at Pokerchip (again)

Barbed wire and birdhouse

The days are growing shorter, and cooler

Evening light suffuses the scene

Day 33 Gambel Spur Trail

Gambel Spur Trail From Edelweiss Road

Glimpse of Manzano Mountains

This ride started at the Gambel Spur trailhead, but instead of proceeding up the spur trail, I went clockwise up the road to the Heatherland Hills Fuel Break Area (before the brick entry gate for Heatherland Hills.) I wonder how much taxpayer money went into building that fuel break around the private land? If you make your way up the hillside, an indistinct trail becomes apparent; it gets more defined as you travel to the East. Then it connects with Pokerchip, then Forest road 242, then clockwise on to Mahogany, connecting again to Pokerchip, then to Gambel Oak, then finally a nice descent on the Gambel Spur trail. This is an excellent late afternoon ride that I used to do all the time, since before the fuel break existed in 2002 and before Gambel was rerouted into Pokerchip trail. This is among my favorite areas to ride, because it is all above 7000 feet and into Ponderosa pine terrain.

Day 32 Birdhouse Ridge to Tunnel Canyon
Most people, I'm sure, prefer to descend on Birdhouse. I prefer to go up. It is a well engineered trail, one that is recently built, and offers nice views to the West as you go up.

Nice gradual climb onto the ridge

The view from the top with Sandias

Day 31 Chamisoso to Tunnel Canyon Connector
A short but sweet end of the day ride:

This trail is one of the closest to Tijeras starting at Chamisoso


Inviting meadow, with evidence of Piñon die-off in background