Jay and I continue to work up to hiking regularly, and doing so on trails that we hiked years ago – trails around Placitas. For today’s hike, feeling like we can increase our length and elevation gain, I suggested returning to trails that we’ve hiked many times, most recently in ’21.
The Drive In
Access to the trailheads for both trails is via the Forest Loop Road 445 off of NM 165 east of the Placitas Cafe. There are two entrances, not far from each other: from the Placitas Cafe the first one – .5 miles, the second one – .8 miles; the second one is preferred. The Loop Road is quite rough with rocks exposed throughout; a high-clearance vehicle isn’t required but the suspension of any vehicle will get a workout. Parking for the trailhead for both trails, Piedra Lisa and Del Agua, is a left turn off of FR 445 – 1.9 miles from NM 165.
The Hike
Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).
We recall when the Del Agua trail began below the mouth of the canyon and offered a pleasant introduction to this hike. But .. the trailhead was on what is now land of Sandia Pueblo and is not accessible. Thus, the Del Agua trail now starts at the mouth of the Piedra Lisa canyon and … now traverses the slope along the ridges between the two trails making a challenging hike of a mile to get into Del Agua. There are sections, especially the descent into Del Agua, that are difficult – steep slope on loose rock surface.
Down in the canyon, it is quite pleasant .. some shade in the shadow of the surrounding canyon walls and juniper and occasional ponderosa trees. I say pleasant .. for a while that is. Starting about half way up Del Agua, maybe 1.7 miles into the hike, we encountered the first of I think 5 rock barriers. These are almost vertical rock faces 10-15 feet high. Fortunately there are enough shallow sloped ledges and other features in the rock face that one -can- climb up them. Not much further we reached the intersection with the Piedra Lisa trail (~2.3 miles and highest elevation of 1,040 feet).
I had predicted that we would enjoy shade on Piedra Lisa – wrong (I guess my memory was about Piedra Lisa going south). At least we were going down hill in the hot temperature of late morning. And for half a mile it was easy going. Then the slope became steeper and … on loose rock like we dealt with back on Del Agua. That combined with the distance we had hiked to this point, I found the trail to be -extremely difficult- and required intense concentration to choose where to place my foot each step. I was younger when we hiked these trails in the past and in better condition; I still have a ways to go coming back from a year off-trail.
Highlight
Statistics
Total Distance: 4.02 miles
Elevation: start 6.22 ft, maximum 7,041 ft, minimum 6,022 ft
Gross gain: 1,019 ft. Aggregate ascending 1,357 ft, descending 1,357 ft
Maximum slope: 40% ascending, 49% descending, 11.0% average
Duration: 3:18, Average Speed: 1.2 mph, shade: 50%
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If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out Using Google Earth Track Files.
Related Posts
Piedra Lisa Trail Hikes (includes Del Agua-Piedra Lisa hikes)
All Placitas Hikes
References and Resources
All Trails: Del Agua Trail
. Piedra Lisa Trail and Del Agua Trail Loop
Dog of the Desert: A note on Del Agua Trail …
ASCHG: Piedra Lisa North – Del Agua Loop Hike
. Piedra Lisa South to North Hike
. Piedra Lisa North to South Hike
ondafringe: North Piedra Lisa/Del Agua Loop
Sandia Mountain Natural History Center: Piedra Lisa Trail (video on Facebook)
Photos
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