America 250: Taking the Tram into the Sandias!

Hello friends! Today we are riding up to the Sandia Peak Tramway in the majestic Sandia mountain range of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Seeing sights and reliving a few memories along the way… Let’s do this!

Past visit fuels high adventure trip!

Just twenty years ago, my son and I drove out to visit my first disabled student and his family the summer after they moved back from California to New Mexico.

Albuquerque is where they were from and I had kept in touch with them. Our family had become friends with their family over the course of two school years ~ Peter and “K” were the same age, both 12 years old, and had become good friends. I had been this young man’s 1:1 aide in 5th grade and part of 6th grade.

During 6th grade, we were all at the same middle school. The year before, I was dropping off my kids then driving over to the elementary school where I would be hired as K’s 1:1 and became a full-time paraprofessional.

Our daughter Amy was in 8th grade that year and was a student aide in K’s classroom. Peter stopped by often during lunchtimes to visit and he always came to hang out after school until everyone went home. The family ended up moving back mid-year so we made plans to get-together the following summer.

We ended up driving into Albuquerque during a torrential downpour, but then spent three fun-filled days with K’s family, going shopping in downtown Albuquerque, out to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant, and just taking walks out on the beautiful trails near their home.

We could do this as K’s wheelchair was motorized and powerful enough to drive on not-too-steep trails. While there, his mom planned a fun day-trip and said we ought to go ride the Sandia Peak Tramway.

So, while my former student went to his summer school class that day, his mom, sister, brother, grandmother, Peter and I rode the tramway up to new adventures! We hiked all over the mountain and I think we took our lunch with us to eat up there.

This was our first time riding the tram and we soooo enjoyed it!

For a number of years, we sent Christmas cards back and forth but eventually fell out of touch. However, I think of their family once in a while and know that K is somewhere out there enjoying this fantastic part of our world!

That little summer trip has stuck with me ever since. While I was out west, I planned to detour to Albuquerque as this would be my E-ticket adventure for the summer while away for two weeks!

Going up!

The Sandia mountain range are young mountains and rise some 10,000′ above sea level. When my son Peter and I went up on the tram back in 2006 with our friends, we had no trouble hiking around that warm summer day. I was only in my early 40’s back then, and we were still going up into the Southern California mountains on a regular basis, as part of our family’s Scouting adventures.

3000′ to 5000′ were fairly normal elevations for us when we were camping and hiking. For about ten years, we were up in the mountains every few months or so, sometimes every month at one Scout event or another. Peter went to camp up in Idyllwild pretty much every summer since he was 6 years old and Amy even worked up at that particular camp over two summers in high school.

Flash forward twenty years and this girl is now 64 years old and lives in a very flat land ~ This mountain’s elevation might be a bit of a challenge (and kick my tail!). Turns out, just deep breathing (like the tram operators suggested) and walking around a little slower than normal was all I needed.

After an hour, I felt fine up there. Keeping hydrated with water is the other key factor. 🙂

After buying a tram ticket and visiting the gift shop for a couple of cool t-shirts for Hubby and myself (my thing that I pick up on vacations), we waited in a long line of friendly tourists and locals quietly waiting for our turn to take a ride.

Each tram held about 30 passengers and a new tram dropped off and brought up passengers about every 15 minutes, so waiting was only maybe 45 minutes?? Still better than any day at Disneyland waiting for rides! And a lot less people… 😉

The whole trip up took about 20 – 25 minutes with gentle “swoops” as the car cleared each tower pylon ~ those giant vertical poles holding up the aerial tramway’s cables.

We passed the other car both going up and coming down from the Sandia Mountain Tramway. (Actually taken when we were heading down, and they were heading up, but it fits well here.) 😉

Gears and pulleys, which we found out cost about $12,000 a piece, worked tirelessly moving us along.

The ride was beautiful and the scenery stunning!

Amazing the views of the city of Albuquerque from the cablecar…

Even on an overcast windy day!

Down at the base, the wind was calm. Up on the mountain, the winds were blowing! Much different weather than when I came up with my son two decades ago.

A kind visitor and I took turns shooting pictures for each other with the valley in the background below.

Glad I brought my windbreaker as everyone pulled on all the jackets and hoodies they had to keep themselves warm…

Some brave souls wore shorts, and truthfully, I had thought of wearing shorts to enjoy the summer-like sun. Glad I didn’t!

I chose a short half-mile trail to test out the elevation and my older body’s reaction to this abrupt change in heights. The heart thumped a bit harder but really I felt pretty good! Nature signs along the trail posted interesting facts ~ perfect for sharing with your children and grands!

During the summer, these trails are perfect for hiking all around. In winter, the tramway is just the beginning of a day spent snow skiing and taking chairlifts between different ski trails. This is something I would love to come back to do some day. 🙂

What a lovely afternoon up on the mountain! Inside this lodge is a restaurant where visitors can grab a nice lunch or early dinner, some drinks and rest before heading back down the trails or by tram.

The view from where I took that selfie… I moved around that building to get a clear shot looking down the ski lift. What a great place to ski!!! My younger self would have loved careening down the slope next to the chairlift (above middle).

Heading back down

The golden hour was fast approaching and 39 degrees was feeling even chillier. It was time to head back down the mountain…

Climbing back up to the main building, I took a detour to the restroom and a peek inside the restaurant. Several people I recognized from the ride up were sitting inside enjoying a beverage from the bar.

I waited cruised around to sit with others inside the tram waiting room. The heater was blasting away and it felt really good after being out in the cold! Several employees checked people’s tickets to make sure they had paid for the ride down.

Surprisingly, some people chose to walk the trails back down, which on a nice day would have been really good exercise and scenic. We did see a man out on one trail as we got near the bottom during the ride back.

I stayed at the back of the car and near the right side again. These were our views as the tram began its descent…

One of the tour guides reminded us of the plane crash which happened here in the 1950’s on a very foggy evening.

You can see some of the metal airplane parts where they came to rest still in the canyon below.

The victims’ bodies were recovered long ago right after the accident by rescue climbers, but there was no need to retrieve the plane. Over time, nature is covering over those pieces.

And a last look up and around as we head down… Interesting to see how far we had come down in what was a much shorter ride.

Going down only takes about 15 minutes. Gravity works!

Thanks for coming along on this tram ride with me! This is a beautiful place to visit and explore, if you ever get the chance. I highly recommend taking the tram up even if it’s just for lunch and to watch skiers pass by…

Let me know if you have ever been here or if there is a tram near you. Such a fun trip!

.

.

Happy trails, dear friends,