One day my friend Dana and I were discussing how fun it would be to ride up to the High Finance Restaurant at 10,300 ft elevation and tie up our ponies and enjoy a delicious hot lunch with margaritas and a view. So, I got busy mapping out a route for us to take that would provide an enjoyable, long trail ride with the fun of riding to our lunch spot restaurant.
So, I made plans to meet Dana and her mare up at 10K trailhead.
Apache and I got there a little early, so I took a photo.
I love my stocky, tough little mustang mare!
The route I planned out had us riding across the ski runs, which is pretty amazing to do, especially with the jaw-dropping vistas out to the east.
Apache was thrilled to be belly deep in all that green grass!
The grass on the ski runs was so tall that Apache didn't even have to lower her head to graze.
And you can't really tell, but we were actually standing on the trail in this photo below.
In between the ski runs, the trail travels through stands of aspens and pine trees.
One of my favorite trees is the aspen, so I am always happy to ride among these beautiful white bark covered trees, beneath their quivering, quaking leaves.
A goofy trail selfie of me and my friend Dana!
As the trail travels south, you ride beneath several chair lifts.
Apache and I climbed up for a photo op.
My friend Dana and her mare. Somewhere way up there is the Sandia Tram Station and the High Finance Restaurant.
A Between the Ears Sandia Ski Run/ Chair Lift photo.
Looking up.
A Between the Ears Sandia Ski Run/ Chair Lift photo.
Looking down.
Lots of awesome photo opportunities as you ride across the ski runs!
Ha! I couldn't pick my favorite!
The views from up there are truly incredible!
Amazing to think that our horses were belly deep in green lush grass, yet in about 6 months, there will be a couple feet of snow up here, and skiers on the chair lifts.
Just look at all that tall green grass...in New Mexico!
This photo gives a unique perspective on how high the grass was...even the trail is barely visible. And Apache wasn't even bending her head down to eat.
When we ride across the final ski run, there is a sign there announcing the Ski Area Boundary.
But we stay on the trail as it travels down through the dense forest.
There are some impressive boulders and rocky ridges to ride over and around.
My friend Dana is a lot like me when trail riding. We just feel so much joy and happiness being out in nature being carried by our strong, brave and willing trail partners. We tend to smile a lot!
As the trail climbs back up towards Sandia Crest, the vegetation becomes very dense and green.
It's really quite gorgeous! Especially when most people think of New Mexico as only being a dry, desert state. Yet, just 30-45 minutes from our homes, we can be surrounded by thick, green, lush vegetation on beautiful trails. We are truly very blessed!
My trail selfie.
This trail feels like traveling through a dense, green tunnel. Heavenly!
At the end of the trail, the options are to get on the Crest Trail and travel south or north. We were riding north, back up to Sandia Peak, to the High Finance Restaurant.
The Crest trail is not a good idea for horses that are not acclimated to high altitude or steep, rugged mountainous climbs, and narrow rock steps with drop offs on one side. Thankfully, both Dana's horse and my horse are well acclimated, sure-footed, and very fit and strong. And the two of us are brave and adventurous.
As we got closer to Sandia Peak, we came upon more hikers. Many that were thrilled to discover our horses on the trail. We, of course, were happy to let them come up to pet and say hello to our wonderful equine trail partners.
Apache was less than impressed with all the attention, although she calmly tolerated all the petting and happy squeals from the teenage girls.
And then we continued our journey up the Crest Trail towards Sandia Peak.
When we finally reached Sandia Peak, we were above the ski runs.
And the altitude was over 10,300 feet elevation and this view is looking east towards Texas!
My Sandia Peak Selfie. Apache was too busy eating grass.
Great photo op for my friend and her mare.
Just behind and above Apache and I, is the Sandia Peak Tram Station. We could hear the wheels and gears whirring and spinning as the tram moved up and down the cables.
A Between the Ears photo of the Sandia Peak Tram Station
And just beside the Sandia Peak Tram Station is the High Finance Restaurant.
We tied up our horses just below the restaurant.
Some tourists offered to take our photo with the city of Albuquerque spread out far below us.
We both ordered Akaushi burgers, a Japanese Wagyu breed of cattle. It was some of the best beef Dana and I had ever eaten. And the onion rings were the most delicious I have ever had.
Of course, we both had margaritas, too.
Talk about living large! No beef jerky and plain old water for us on this trail ride!
We couldn't even finish our lunch and margaritas. Everything was so generously portioned! And we were eager to back on our horses and continue our ride.
For our ride back down to the parking area, I mapped out our route using several different trails, which created a fun loop ride for us. And I was thrilled to ride through aspens again!
When we arrived back at the parking area, we spied a deer across the road.
There he goes!
What a great adventure we had!
Note: Sadly, during our wonderful lunch, we were informed by a waitress at the High Finance Restaurant that, after 40+ years, this would be the final year the restaurant would be serving customers. At the end of October 2016, High Finance Restaurant will be shutting it doors forever and the building will be demolished. In it's place, a new, larger, more modern and updated restaurant will be constructed and it should be open for business sometime in 2018.
So, of course, when Dana and I heard the news, we vowed to do a few more trail ride lunches up to High Finance Restaurant before it closed. So, stay tuned!
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