8 Mile Accent

Hiked the La Luz trail today with my brother and two friends. Started rise and shine. The neighbor and I left at 6am to pickup the other friend and then we met my brother at a point along the drive to the trail head. The trail starts at the base of the Sandia mountains and ends at the Sandia Peak Tram. The worlds longest tram. The trail is eight miles in length with around 3100 feet of elevation change. The plan was to hike the trail up and then take the tram back down. Although there is a three mile trail from the base of the tram to the La Luz trail head, we opted to park one car at the tram base and then car pool to the trail head. Since this was our first time hiking it, we did not know how rigorous the trail would be. We hit the trail head about 7:20am.

So along the trail . . . Look out, here comes the sun.

This tree does not look too happy.

What a view!

Needle Point.

Aren't we there yet! 2.8 miles to go :( The trail was really rocky and rough for about the next 1.5 miles. Made the trail to this point look pretty good.

Sheer cliffs.

Here comes our prospective ride. Viewed a short distance from the end of trail.

Made it. Ready to take a break viewing the scenery and then take the return trip down the tram.

Verdict? Tough trail. We did fairly well for our first time hiking the La Luz trail. Six hours total to hike it with breaks to chat, photo ops, snack, and flat out rest. Feeling pretty good right now, but that could change in the morning. Luckily, we are all fairly active people; not couch potato's, but not marathon runners either. I think we will all end up a little sore, but will recover fairly quickly.