Category Archives: Sandias, West

In the vicinity of the west slopes of the Sandia Mountains, NM.

Eye of the Sandias Hike – 2/21/2016

This trail is in the southwest corner of the Sandia Mountains. The trailhead is at the end of Copper Avenue. It is a loop trail; we went about it in a counterclockwise direction. It is largely open, with cholla, prickly pear, and other cactus plus mainly juniper trees (more like shrubs). Like most all of the west side of the Sandias, the surface is rock, gravel, and sand.

The Hike

Eye of the Sandias Hike.Jay.2016-02-21

The first half mile of the trail is easy: flat and a well-traveled trail, a segment of well-used bicycle trails. It then begins a climb, at times fairly steep (maximum slope 36%, average slope 16%), taking us from about 6100 feet to 6900 feet elevation. At about 1.5 miles into the hike, at waypoint EYEWP3, we continued on the spur to the end of the trail and The Eye (another half mile, to about 7270 feet elevation). After taking a break with our usual snacks and coffee (enhanced a bit with Makers Mark), we headed back down taking the loop to the north.

Throughout, we had views of the whole of Albuquerque, and for the first half we had a clear views to the south of Tijeras Canyon, the Manzanito and Manzano mountains, and the expanse of Kirtland and Sandia bases and beyond to Tierra Grande. The weather was cool with the 5-15 knot wind coming out of the east through the Tijeras Canyon.

Statistics

Total Distance:  4.02 miles
Elevation: start  5,936 ft, maximum  7,281 ft,  minimum  5,936 ft
Gross gain:  1,339 ft.  Aggregate ascending  1,557 ft, descending  1,584 ft
Maximum slope: 35% ascending, 37% descending, 14% average
Duration: 3:55

GPS Track Files for Download
Eye of the Sandias Hike.Jay.2016-02-21 (KML)
166 Downloads
Eye of the Sandias Hike.Jay.2016-02-21 (GPX)
80 Downloads
I urge you to explore our hiking tracks with Google Earth. 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 2-dimensional screenshot above. For assistance: Using Google Earth Track Files.

References

ASCHG:
     Sandia Eye Hike
     Mano Trail – Sandia Eye Loop Hike
SummitPost: Eye of the Sandias Trail
HikeyHikey!: Hiking Albuquerque’s Southern Sandia Mountains: Eye of the Sandias
Dog of the Desert: Eye of the Sandias
AllTrails:  Eye Of The Sandias Loop Trail

Eye of the Sandias-the Eye
Eye of the Sandias-Windy
EyeOfSandia+Geo

Jay's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show.
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George's Photos: Click on a Photo for Gallery Show

Mano Trail Hike – 3/6/2016

This trail is in the southwest corner of the mountains. There are two approaches to the trailhead, from Embudo Canyon and our choice, from the east end of Copper Avenue. This is a loop trail; we proceeded in a counterclockwise direction. And like Eye of the Sandias, it is largely open, with cholla, prickly pear, and other cactus plus mainly juniper trees. The surface is rock, gravel, and sand.

The HikeMano Hike.Jay.2016-03-06 @ 09-43-18

From the end of Copper, we proceeded north-northeast on a well-traveled trail in the complex of many Foothills trails used by many hikers living nearby and by trail bikers.  At 4/10ths of a mile,we turned east going up a wide wash area still on well used trails.  At about 3/4ths into the hike we began the serious ascent, going from the wide wash up onto a ridge and continuing on that ridge for 1 1/4 miles to waypoint MNOWP8 (now 2 miles into the hike).  

We proceeded another 1/4 mile on a spur to a saddle (MNOSDL) that afforded us a great view east into Tijeras Canyon.  Here we enjoyed our customary coffee break, celebrating our accomplishment?  From here we returned to the junction of the spur with the main trail, then headed north to make the loop.  Initially the trail descends about 300 feet in elevation, then climbs back up 250 feet or so to another saddle.  From there the trail proceeds down’hill’ and back to the car.

We had great views of Albuquerque along the way.  Weather was quite comfortable, tho’ we doffed and donned the outer layer as the sun, breeze, and elevation changed the air temperature.

Statistics

Total Distance:  4.43 miles
Elevation: start  5,929 ft, maximum  7,149 ft,  minimum 5,929 ft
Gross gain: 1,220 ft.  Aggregate ascending 1,581 ft, descending 1,578 ft
Maximum slope: 37% ascending, 35% descending, 12.7% average
Duration: 3:43

GPS Track Files for Download
Mano Hike.Jay.2016-03-06 (KML)
80 Downloads
Mano Hike.Jay.2016-03-06 (GPX)
81 Downloads
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.