Biennial New Mexico spicy sampler
Every two years I attend a conference in Santa Fe, NM that allows me to meet up with a few friends in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area and spend some time adventuring as the Pittsburgh winter languishes into its final month. I’ve been nursing a stress fracture in my shin and haven’t been able to use running as my flotation device to make it through another gray Pittsburgh winter, so this trip was especially conducive to breaking up the winter slog by allowing me to hike and rock climb consistently without any ill effects on the slowly healing stress fracture. I was able to meet up with a grad school triathlete friend in the area and Mason from the ECP, who I met as a classmate in my 2016-17 mountaineering school. I took a few days before the conference and after to get out and adventure. Jessie joined me for the first half of the trip and was later joined by a colleague attending the conference. During the second day of the conference, my colleague and I drove a few minutes from town to spend our lunch hour bouldering at nearby Rat’s Peak. We drove past Gene Hackman’s house each time as more and more reporters gathered to report on his death. He was found while we were bouldering that first day, less than a mile from our spot. We joked that we would end up in Santa Fe jail for being suspicious characters. We were not implicated.
Day 1 - Hike around Sandia Mountains crest
Upon arrival Jessie and I boogied up to the Sandia tramway with the remaining evening hours. We hiked around the crest for a few miles to get our bearings, acclimate to the elevation, and shake out those airplane legs. The crest gave great views of the golden hour sun. We managed through some snowy and icy sections on the leeward side of the crest. We visited my grad school friend down the road then made our way to dinner with Mason. He housed us for the next few days.
View of the Sandias from the tram.On the Sandia crest.
Returning along the crest. Jessie checking out the abandoned cabin at one peak.
Low light highlighting the rock layering.
Day 2 - Rock Climbing at El Rito
We joined a few of Mason’s local climbing friends to climb at this destination crag. It was variable sized aggregate that looked like a canvas of holds, but those holds would evaporate upon reaching them. This was really fun climbing and the sunny day was just perfect for staying warm while the air was still a bit chilly. I top-roped my two hardest outdoor climbs here and felt great. It was a good opening day to the several days of climbing planned throughout the trip. We fed ourselves at the Santa Fe BRewing company, reminiscing the day over Mexican food and beers.
Mason and I on the wall.Finding those holds.
Climbing the big open face of this crag in the morning hours.
Day 3 - Rock Climbing at White Rocks, Galley’s Edge
This crag was just outside of Los Alamos and offered basalt rock created from ancient volcanic activity. It was another standard NM sunny day. Jessie, Mason, and I were able to move left-to-right and climb nearly every route pretty efficiently with our trio where Mason would lead each route, Jessie climbed second, and I cleaned. Some routes had these “shark teeth” holds that were small but super sharp, resulting in putting your body weight into what felt like shark’s teeth. Mental preparation was needed for routes that had several of these holds. The temperature warmed through the day but the NM sun continued to feel nourishing. The views across the Rio Grande valley were spectacular, especially while on a climb. Bonus - there weren’t too many other parties there. I don’t do much leading, but ended up getting a fun, comfortable lead on a 5.4 towards the end of the day. We even made it over to the area called “the Pit”, which you gain entry to through a “cave”. As light waned, Mason and I climbed up and above the Pit and rappelled out of it. We drove to Tesuque to finish off the day with huevos rancheros and voluminous amounts of delectable dessert.
This arete made for some great contrastive photos between the vertical foreground and horizontal sloping background.
Getting into and out of the Pit.
Climbing the main face at the crag.
Rappelling out of the Pit.Returning to the car.
Day 4 - Drive through Jemez Springs
Although we already drove past Santa Fe from Albuquerque the previous two days to do climbing day trips, the plan was to take the long way to Santa Fe through Jemez Springs. I’ve done this drive a few times and already have some great memories, but this one included Jessie and my colleague Ryan. We stopped at the Soda Dam (collocated hot springs that accumulated calcium deposits into a dam), Macaulay warm Springs, Spence hot springs, Valles Caldera national preserve, Bandelier national monument (cliff dwellings and petroglyphs) and the Tsankawi outpost of Bandelier (more cliff dwellings and petroglyphs). Lots of hiking and relaxing in water today. Spence hot springs had this neat feature that part of the springs was inside of a small cave, forming a natural sauna.
Macaulay warm springs hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/13738345928
Spence hot springs hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/13738346082
Bandelier national monument hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/13738346583
Tsankawi trail hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/13738346838
Soda Dam.Macaulay warm springs.
Spence hot springs sauna and hike out.
Bandelier national monument iconic scene from within a dwelling and ladder climbing.
View from Alcove house at Bandelier.
Jessie through a cliff dwelling hole.Tsankawi hike.
Day 8 - Free solo Sandia Knife Edge
After the conference, I returned to Albuquerque to climb the Knife Edge in the Sandia mountains with Mason. This is his usual longer training route that includes climbing moves. Since he is training for a big objective, he put 40 lbs of weight into his pack, whereas I simply had what I needed for the day. The hike featured over 4k feet of vertical (mostly hiking) and almost 1500 feet of vertical gain along an exposed “knife edge” ridge that is listed as a 5.4 climb. The day started with a few miles on a conveyor belt of all you can eat elevation (a line lifted from my Chris). We came prepared with climbing gear but didn’t need it as I gained comfort with the exposure and solid moves, only pausing for a few crux moves to make sure to do them right. The second half of the knife edge was headier, and knowing that was ahead, opted for some harder lines while in relative safety. After about 10 minutes, as I thought would happen, I settled into the scenario and conducted my moves with confidence and always had a safety hold or move available. A few moves required very focused attention with immediate exposure consequences. We made it through the “W” and the eponymous knife edge feature at the very top. We celebrated getting through that technical section unscathed with cigars and beers. We continued the loop along the ridge and descended into a canyon full of loose rock and dirt. After a long time losing significant elevation in the canyon, it opened up to the La Luz trail that felt like a highway back down to the car. We slept well that night!
https://www.strava.com/activities/13755308970
Lenny on the Knife Edge route.
Lenny on the Knife Edge route.
Mason on the Knife Edge route.
Lenny and Mason on the Knife Edge route.
Enjoying the spoils of a successful ascent.
Making it back to the car before sunset on the La Luz trail.
Day 9 - Water Canyon
The accumulated fatigue from the conference and the Knife Edge hike I needed a slow morning before the next adventure. I had breakfast and coffee with Mason and two of his friends before meeting my grad school friend for lunch. Then I headed south to Socorro to check out Water Canyon based on his suggestion. I found a campsite, set up my tent, then used the last two hours of daylight to hike up to a vista. The first half was pretty steep but I fell into a nice rhythm while listening to a podcast and just kept trucking. I spent some time on the summit ridge then returned quickly to a better vista of the valley below back towards the car. I had the place to myself and felt a renewed sense of calm after a week of filling up time with cool adventures, being social, and academic concept absorption. I spent the evening eating dinner, reading, and looking up at a solid night sky. The wind picked up overnight that kept me up a bit, but it was still a very restorative night.
Water Canyon hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/13781795949
Day 10 - Climb at Box Canyon
I passed this area on the way to Water Canyon, so I backtracked and started climbing some boulders that I had climbed 5 years before. I moved on to a pretty muscly traverse in the canyon. Another climber brought his three dogs over and we worked on the traverse together. He asked if I had climbing gear to do some top roping. I did, and we reconvened to another section of the canyon called Hueco Wall to do some fun climbs where many of the moves used huecos, or holes in the wall. We did well as a team and his dogs were well-behaved at the crag, resulting in a really satisfactory experience. I wasn’t quite ready for more social interaction but it was easy enough to get along over our shared love of climbing and good boys. We made a plan to do some multipitch in the morning before I had to head back to Albuquerque. We had dinner in the parking lot and retired early for the early wake-up call. I stayed up a bit past sunset to catch another beautiful night sky. Unfortunately my sleeping pad developed a hole and I basically slept on the hard ground all night, which wasn’t conducive to restorative sleep.
Boulders at Box Canyon.The hillsides at Box Canyon.
Hueco Wall.Night sky through Box Canyon.
Day 11 - Climb at Box Canyon
After getting off to a little later start than intended, the climbs went as expected. Jacob led and I seconded. The wind coming off of the top was so persistent and whippy that it was hard to think. Luckily we made it back down and had some extra time and gusto for a harder climb. He led up it with a few detachments and rests. I recognize a good climber, and he is a good, strong one. So I really surprised myself by basically having the same type and extent of stalls on my top rope ascent. This was the hardest route I’ve ever done outside. It was a satisfying way to end the morning. The drive back to Albuquerque was super windy and I spent my mental energy on dodging tumbleweeds doing their Sonic the Hedgehog impression across the highways. I spent a few hours in the afternoon visiting Petroglyph national monument to round out the day. I spent the night at Mason’s catching up with him and Phoebe, leaving for Pittsburgh very early the next morning.
Carg dog.Beginning our rappel.
Jacob rappelling.Bringing the rope back down.
Crag dog.Petroglyph national monument.
