October 7

It was still dark when we got out of bed at 5 a.m. That wakeup time would normally be a heresy on one of our vacations (unless we were catching a flight). However, we made an exception in this case because we had to be at Balloon Fiesta Park by 7 a.m. so that we could watch the morning launch. We quickly got ready and headed downstairs to our car. Instead of driving off to the park, we headed to a local shopping mall. The Balloon Fiesta’s organizers had arranged for a shuttle service that would pick up patrons at a few central locations in Albuquerque and take them to the park. Cost of this service was $7/person for a round trip. Given the long lines of traffic that we were able to avoid, it was worth the money.

The Balloon Fiesta is part balloon launch and part county fair. A lot of the Balloon Fiesta Park’s grounds are dedicated to the balloons. But, a substantial portion of the grounds are taken up by a midway which includes several vendors, food booths, and carnival rides. We strolled the grounds while the balloons were inflating in order to scout out which food booths looked the best.

The program for the Balloon Fiesta says that watching the launch from the grounds is like being at the bottom of a champagne bottle and watching the bubbles rise. I have to say that is a very accurate description. However, the description doesn’t describe how beautiful the whole scene is. It’s amazing to walk along the launch area and look up to see a multicolored rainbow moving across the barely illuminated sky. What made the experience even more amazing is that over 700 balloons were launched in waves, thus extending the effect for over an hour. Given the combination of beauty and carnival atmosphere, it’s not hard to see why the Balloon Fiesta is so popular.

In order to fight off the early morning chill, we bought some hot chocolate and doughnuts at one of the food stands. We casually consumed our food while watching the last of the balloons take off. We then strolled around the grounds for a last look, and then headed off to the shuttle bus. The drive back to the shopping center was uneventful, which it probably wouldn’t have been had we been trying to fight traffic out of the Balloon Fiesta Park.

We picked up our car at the shopping center and headed back to the hotel. After quickly changing our clothes, we got back in the car and started driving for Sandia Mountain. My feet were about 80% of normal, so it seemed like a good time to do some hiking. Lonely Planet had described a trail called the La Luz trail that took one from the base of the Sandia Mountain to its summit. They described it as a “beautiful 8-mile” trail. What it didn’t say was that it was a 3,000-foot elevation change from the trailhead to the summit. Lonely Planet also missed on a few other points. One needs to take the second turnoff on Road 333 to find the trailhead, not the first turnoff on Road 444. Also, there is a $3 charge to park at the trailhead.

Once we had found the trailhead and parked, we geared up to begin our hike. I had ditched the uncomfortable hiking shoes and gone with my regular cross-training shoes. While I missed the ankle support, I was very grateful for the comfort these shoes were providing my feet. Still, after about a mile on the trail, my feet were telling me that they weren’t quite ready for such a hike. So, I suggested to Dianne that we instead take the Tramway Trail. This trail branches off the La Luz Trail and skirts along Sandia’s base to a tram. Hikers can then take the tram to the top of the mountain. Since this hike is only 2 miles from the point where it diverges from the La Luz Trail, I thought it would be long enough to get some good exercise, yet be short enough that it didn’t tear up my feet.

We started along the trail, but quickly lost our way. The Tramway Trail wasn’t marked at all, and wasn’t very well traveled. It seemed like we were facing a maze of little trails that branched off of one another with no idea as to which one was the right one to take. Eventually, we settled on following the one that seemed to be the most traveled. However, we soon suspected that we had chosen the wrong one. The trail we had chosen led up the mountain, instead of skirting its base. Additionally, there didn’t seem to be anyone on this trail other than us. It didn’t seem logical that a short trail like this one wouldn’t have anyone on it. Still, we kept climbing in the hopes that the trail would turn and descend. Our hopes were dashed when a ranger came around a corner. He exclaimed that he didn’t expect to see anyone on this trail because so few people knew about it. We asked him if the trail we were on was the Tramway Trail. He told us that we were on the old La Luz Trail and not the Tramway Trail. He said that the old La Luz Trail was shorter than the current La Luz Trail, but that it was steeper (that fact would explain why we were stopping every few minutes for a drink/break). He told us that the old La Luz Trail would rejoin the new La Luz Trail about 1.5 miles further up the hill from where we currently were.

Since we had already gone that far, we figured we might as well continue on to the new La Luz Trail. We were glad we did because the scenery just got better as we continued to climb. The desert landscape of cactus and dried brush slowly began giving way to yellow leafed aspens and small pinons. It was really quite beautiful to see the progression from desert to mountain landscape in the space of only a couple of miles.

After about 45 minutes, we rejoined the new La Luz Trail. We were not feeling very tired after our unintended detour. Since we were curious about what was further along the trail, and since we had some time to kill, we decided to continue climbing for another mile. During this part of the hike, all vestiges of the desert landscape disappeared. Instead, it appeared that we were hiking on a typical trail in the Sierra Nevada range. All around us was lush green forest interspersed with large granite boulders. It was a refreshing change from the dry brown at the bottom of the mountain.

Some of the hikers we encountered on the trail told us about a waterfall that was a little further up the trail. We were tempted to see it, but instead decided to descend back to our car because we needed to get ready for that evening’s Balloon Fiesta activities. The descent was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that we got to see the part of the new La Luz Trail that we hadn’t seen before because we’d taken the old La Luz Trail. We managed to make it down in about an hour. While we were tired, we were in fairly good shape. Even my feet managed to make it without getting further mangled. Despite the unexpected detour and the fact that we didn’t make the end, we were very glad that we hiked on this trail. The scenery and the vistas are simply spectacular. However, allow six hours to try to do the entire trail.

We drove back to the hotel in Albuquerque to shower and change. After getting cleaned up, we drove toward the shopping center where the Fiesta’s shuttle bus was departing. We stopped at a Subway sandwich shop near the shopping center to get a bite to eat. Then, we parked our car in the shopping center parking lot and got on the bus for the ride to Fiesta Park.

There were just as many people in the park in the evening as there had been that morning. However, there were a few changes. One of the oddest was a booth selling deep fried turkey legs. These legs had the appearance of something that only Henry VIII would love. They were HUGE and full of meat. The most amazing thing was that there was a long line of people buying them. It was hard to believe that everyone wanted to have a deep fried turkey leg for breakfast, but the line at the stand proved me wrong. I guess it must be a New Mexico thing. The other change from the morning was that dark storm clouds were starting to appear on the western horizon. Judging by their size and color, it looked like we’d be getting rain before the evening was over.

The evening events, called the “Night Glow”, were different from the morning launch. The balloons didn’t lift into the sky. Instead, they were inflated, but remained tethered to the ground. At the cue of an announcer, all of the balloons lit their burners so that there was a bright glow across the launch area. This “glow” was performed about five times before the balloons were deflated. The contrast of the lit balloon against the pitch black night was somewhat striking. However, I preferred the effect of the morning launch to the “Night Glow” simply because it was more stunning to see the multicolored balloons dance in the morning sky.

After the balloons had glowed, the Fiesta’s organizers began a fireworks show at the park’s west edge. While the fireworks were impressive, the real show began when the storm clouds started releasing lightning. It was thrilling to watch a couple of man-made fireworks explode, only to have it followed by one of nature’s fireworks. Of course, the presence of lightning so close to the Fiesta grounds meant that rain was nearby. Sure enough, it started raining just as the fireworks show was reaching its crescendo. Everyone scurried for the exits or the shuttle points. We got back on our bus and drove out just as the rain started to pick up. Our bus driver got mixed up as to our final destination, but eventually found his way to the shopping center where we had parked. After we made it back, we got into our car and drove back to the Holiday Inn. We were pretty tired after our long day, so we quickly retreated to bed.

Balloon Fiesta pictures – Morning Launch:

Night Glow:

Finally, some La Luz Trail pictures:

October 8 Home

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page