Survey Trail, Sandia Mountains, NM, 7/10/16

Greenery, shade, a breeze and pleasant temperapures! That's why we selected the Survey trail on the east side of the Sandias for our monthly hike.  Temps in Albuquerque have been reaching in the low 100's for the last few days. Needless to say, the reprieve from the heat was most welcome. 

Found the trail head about 1/4 mile up from the Ellis trail head parking lot and followed the trail for about 2 miles to the 10K trail intersection.  From there is was a very short 1/4 mile to the Crest trail with its gorgeous views to the east overlooking the city.

Instead of retracing our steps, we opted for the Ellis trail which runs about 1/3 mile parallel and west of the Survey trail.  To our surprise, we found beautiful meadows instead of shaded forest. And, instead of the steady, slow elevation gain of the Survey trail, a number of ups and downs.  I found the explanation for the meadows in the Sandia Mountains Hiking Guide: in the 1060's trees were cut down to make way for a highway running from the Crest to Placitas. The highway was never built and the cut down areas became man-made meadows.