Sandia Mountain Wilderness and Elena Gallegos Trail Ride

 

 

On Friday, I organized a group of seven lady riding friends to go enjoy some of the foothill trails on the east Side of the Sandia Mountains. I live on the west side, the “green side” of the Sandias and I was looking forward to enjoying the different, more rugged, steeper and vast views from the western side. I told everyone to meet inside the Elena Gallegos Open Space, and park in the horse trailer parking area.

Here is our group of horse trailers and equines waiting beside them. If you look closely, you can even see my Apache mare tied to the second to the last trailer. City of Albuquerque and the western skyline off in the distance. (photo taken by my mule riding friend Paula)

 

I had hiked at Elena Gallegos Open Space with my kids a couple years ago, but hadn’t yet had the opportunity to ride there. Thankfully, my friend Peggy had ridden there once before, and offered to take the lead position.

My friends below from left to right: Peggy, Loeta, Paula, Karen R., Karen A., and Julie. With me pulling up the rear.

Apache started off a little slow because she was a bit gimpy with her left shoulder arthritis. It had been two weeks since I had ridden her, and even with her joint supplements, she needs to have regular exercise to keep her from stiffening up. Apache was much happier trotting and she moved better if I let her keep a trotting pace. So we would walk along very slow until we were far behind our group, and then I would cue her to trot to catch up.

That maneuver also allowed me to take some pretty good photos of our entire group. 

Neither Apache nor I are very fond of nose-to-tail riding, so it works well for us to mosey along at our own pace, yet still be able to ride “with” a group.

The views of the Sandia Mountains were beautifully stunning as we gradually rode higher towards the east.

And we could see that there was still snow up on the Sandia Crest above 10,600 ft elevation.

Apache enjoys the views, too. And likes having a little rest when I take photos.

The Elena Gallegos Open Space Trails are very well marked and maintained, and are also very horse-friendly, too.

Of course, you have to expect hikers, dog-walkers, and bicyclists on the trail, even on a Friday. But we chose to ride on a Friday, because weekends are much more crowded than weekdays.

 

Soon, we crossed over into the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, by riding through a fence opening.

We would now be riding on the Pino Trail in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, which is only open to hikers and horseback riders.

 

It was quickly apparent why bicyclists were not allowed to ride on these trails……..

But our horses handled the interesting steps obstacles, placed there to help control erosion, with ease.

The trail also became more hilly and steep in places…..

With the steeper sections steadily climbing upwards.

But the trail held many surprises and we still continued to have steep downhill sections, too.

 

About halfway up we all stopped to let our horses have a rest on a wide section of the trail.

Here’s my dear friend Loeta and her sweet Paso Fino gelding, Profe.

And my fun friend Karen A., (riding our friend Karen R’s gelding Trigo) whom I met from riding down at San Acacia last Spring. And this was the first time I had ridden with her since last May! It was so great to see her again!

And this is Paula and her special jack mule, Tecumseh. He is special because he has ridden almost the entire CDT trail. Paula bought Tecumseh last year from the French lady who rode him and another mule from Mexico to Canada. And I met Paula through a New Mexico local horse group. She lives in the Rio Grande Valley, so I had been looking for the opportunity to invite Paula to ride with me and my friends for a while, and this was the perfect situation! I was thrilled that she was able to make it. These two are awesome!

And this is my new friend, Julie and her 4 year old gelding that she has been training. I met her through a mutual friend via Facebook, and am so happy she was able to join us to ride on Friday. Julie is a lot of fun!

And Paula managed to capture a photo of Apache and I as we stood on the fairly steep hill, because there wasn’t enough room for all 7 of our equines up on the flatter area. Which is why we look very downhill. And I am leaning forward, so I don’t throw Apache off balance. But Apache didn’t seem to mind. She was just happy to enjoy a little rest.

And as we rode higher, the views just kept getting more incredibly beautiful!

 

Pino Trail was wonderfully interesting and challenging, too. It’s not the kind of trail where you can just sit back and stroll along on flat, featureless paths. It’s the kind of trail where you and your horse both have to pay attention and work together over, around, and through all kinds of unique terrain.

As we climbed higher the trail became more shaded with tall trees, which was nice because Friday’s temperatures were in the high 70’s.

When the trail became more shady, I had to change my camera’s setting to ‘Sunset’ mode so my photos would look more like what I was actually seeing instead of the dark, flat, grey tinted photos I was getting in ‘Auto’ mode…..like the photo you see above.

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I love being surrounded by tall ponderosas and listening to their whispering as the wind blows through their boughs. And their fresh pine scent, along with the earthy moistness in their shade is such a contrast from the dry, sage-scented high desert on the trails farther below.

As we rode higher, the trail wrapped around these mini-canyons that required us to ride along the side of the mountain.

And seriously……why set up all sorts of artificial trail obstacles in an arena to play on, when you can just head out on a beautiful trail and experience the real thing and so much more……like roots growing out of the ground.

I’d just like to publically thank those folks who do the trail maintenance, because without them, many trails, including this one, would be impassable because of fallen trees and other debris, as well as washed out trails (more on that one later).

Apache doesn’t mind being in the rear, in the middle, or leading. But I think we both enjoy the slower pace in the back and not having anyone pushing behind you. Unfortunately, the view is always the same when you ride in the back….you only see your riding friends’, and their horses’, backs!

Unless of course, the trail curves and bends. Hah!

The trail became narrower the higher we went with a steep uphill on one side and a steep downhill on the other. And there were beautiful canyons to ride through, too.

When I first told Julie that we were riding Elena Gallegos, I told her it would be mostly flat, sandy and gently rolling. But then when my friend Peggy took the lead she wanted to show us Pino Trail, which is far from flat, sandy and gently rolling. hah! Thankfully, Julie took it all in stride, but if she had known beforehand, she probably wouldn’t have taken her green horse on this ride, and instead brought one of her more seasoned mountain trail horses.

But her boy did really well. And they both seemed to have a good time.

Apache, on the other hand, changed her entire demeanor once we got higher up into the mountains. Instead of being my normally slow-pokey, laid-back, mosey long mare, she picked up the pace, and was very forward and interested in the trail at her feet and all around her. I truly think that mountains are where she loves to be. She just acts so much happier when we are in the loftier spaces where her views are vast, and the scents on the breeze are many. It’s like I am riding a different horse when we get up into the mountains. And I sure do love this horse of mine.

 

On the north sides of the mountain, there were still scrub oak and mountain mahogany that had held onto their autumn leaves. And those orange-brown shrubs softened the views that would reveal that we were riding on a narrow trail on the side of a steep mountain, that traveled straight up on one side and straight down on the other.

Apache is sure-footed, calm, brave and alert on these types of trails and I trust her to carry me over them, and instead of being scared or worried about the crazy heights, I look straight ahead and only glance occasionally down or up just to get my bearings and wrap my mind around this incredible place my horse and I are traveling together.

 

Unfortunately, shortly after that photo above was taken, the trail started to become pretty dicey, with snow, mud and a washed out section that we rode across (while saying a quiet prayer for safety). Then we made a unanimous decision to turn around and head back, which meant we had to find a spot to turn around on a narrow trail that dropped down steeply on one side, and went straight up on the other.

And since, there was no place to pass one another, we literally just had to turn around on the narrow trail and switch positions in our original line-up.

Which meant that Apache and I were now the leaders of our group!

 

The view is sure different when you’re riding in the front!

(Julie decided to dismount because she didn’t feel comfortable riding her green horse on the steep, rugged, narrow trail)

 

It was nice to be able to take a few photos of my friends’ faces, and not just their backs.

(These two ladies are Karen R. and Karen A., both riding Karen R’s two geldings, Rio and Trigo)

 

I didn’t take as many photos riding down the mountain as I did riding up because of the trail conditions and because Apache was really boogying down that trail. I was concerned we’d leave everyone behind, or that she would trip going over a log, roots or rocks, or would try to find a shortcut on the trail and ride up the side of the mountain. (which she did try twice!) So my photos riding downhill were mostly like this.

But at one point when the trail became less steep, we all stopped for a rest so Julie could remount her horse, and after Apache stopped pawing and trying to continue on, I was able to take this nice photo of Paula, Karen R., Karen A. and Peggy. Julie was behind me mounting her horse from a boulder on the side of the trail.

 

Apache really didn’t slow down until we reached the Wilderness Boundary signs, and we could see the city of Albuquerque sprawled out before us, with 11, 306 ft high Mt Taylor off in the distance.

And soon we had reached the gate entry into the Elena Gallegos Open Space.

We knew were in the Open Space because immediately bicycles showed up on the trail.

Bicycles don’t concern Apache at all, but they did concern a couple of the equines in our group.

Most of the bicyclists were very polite and stopped as soon as they saw us, and moved off the trail, but we did encounter a few that never did any of those things and tried to ride right past us on a narrow section of trail, no less! (more on that later)

 

Once the rest of our group showed up I asked if someone would take a photo of me and Apache.

Apache was too enamored with the views to pose for the photo.

And then someone suggested we take a group photo. So we all lined up and Julie took the first one.

(Loeta, Peggy, Me, Karen R., Karen A. and Paula)  

 

And I didn’t want to leave Julie out of a group photo, so I offered to take one with her in the line-up, too.

And then I took a photo of my friends Loeta, riding her Paso Fino gelding Profe, and Peggy riding her gelding Joey.

But then a couple of hikers walked up behind us and offered to take a photo of ALL of us together! Yay! Hooray!

Loeta riding her gelding, Peggy riding her gelding, Julie riding her gelding, Karen R. riding her gelding, Karen A. riding a gelding, Paula riding her jack mule, and me and my Apache mare…………

Yes…..Apache was the ONLY MARE that day!

Thankfully Apache wasn’t in heat and she didn’t pin her ears are try to kick any of the boys, although she did squeal at them when they tried to give her a kiss. She is a good girl after all!

And she really was a good girl all day. She never spooked, acted up, or refused anything I asked her to do. Or not to do. We never had a to argue or have any serious discussions over anything. So that, in my book, is a great ride.

And so it was time to leave Pino Trail behind and ride back towards the trailers.

 

But as we reached a narrow section between two big juniper trees, a group of bicyclists zoomed towards our group and tried to ride past us without stopping or dismounting. That is until two of the equines in our group freaked out a little bit. Thankfully it was only a minor freak-out, but just enough for the bicyclists to realize they needed to stop rolling and wait for us to ride past.

The remainder of the ride was uneventful and actually relaxing. Our equines were tired and calm, and the trail was wide enough to ride side by side and talk.

 

In this photo of Paula and her mule you can see Mount Taylor off to the far right in the distance, about 70 miles to the west. You can also see the city of Albuquerque down below us.

Paula took this photo of all of us just hanging out on our horses talking, actually within sight of our horse trailers. None of our equines seemed in any hurry to get back to the horse trailers, and we weren’t either, so we decided to just stop, chat and enjoy the views and beautiful day a little bit longer.

Paula and her mule were the first to ride back to the trailers and when she did, she captured this photo of the rest of us returning to the trailer parking area. If you look closely you can see Apache and I in the third position.

 

And I took this photo of all of our horse trailers lined up in the parking area. Interesting that everyone’s trucks and trailers are white. Hah!

 

And here’s the GPS map of the trail we rode on Friday.

Elena Gallegos Trail Ride

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