Sagebrush personal hiking blog
The Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge on the southern outskirts of Albuquerque invited volunteers to help with cleaning up a pond near the new visitor’s center in a one-afternoon project. A large group showed, and the majority was a volunteer crew from a local firm, NSC.
The pond, partially drained, still had a layer of ice.
Our task was to thin cattails, remove sheets of algae along the bank, and clear tumbleweeds that had been caught by the cattails.
Continue reading “Valle de Oro 2023”The Save Our Bosque Task Force in Socorro is organizing monthly cleanups along a string of parks that were built in the Socorro bosque in the 1990s, starting with Confluence. A few of us arrived early, and also worked on the adjoining trail. The day is pleasant, cold, with little wind.
Here Rob takes away a critter, deceased.
Luke and Rob replant a Carsonite trail sign.
The mistletoe is pretty thick in the nearby cottonwoods.
More trash pickup, and the first trail project of 2023 is done.
By the way, the bosque trail here is part of the Socorro Resupply Alternate of the Grand Enchantment Trail, and will be part of the Rio Grande Trail if that route overcomes many obstacles to completion.
NMVFO‘s last project of the year was at Embudito Trail #192, which starts in Albuquerque Open Space, and soon enters the Sandia Mountain Wilderness in the Cibola National Forest. 16 volunteers lopped and sawed– not the standard 6-foot USFS width, but a narrower corridor suited to a high desert environment. This is a highly popular trail, and we encountered many hikers and doggies during the day.
We paused for lunch on a rock overlook. We were treated to views of Albuquerque all day, and the low roar of traffic rose up the 1.8 mile span of our work.
As we got higher, a light dusting of snow remained in shaded areas.
Thanks to all volunteers for a good year of trail projects.