Ascent of South Sandia Peak on 2020-08-30| Others in Party: | Christina Anthony
Rayleigh Anthony
| | Date: | Sunday, August 30, 2020 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Car | | Peak: | South Sandia Peak | | Location: | USA-New Mexico | | Elevation: | 9782 ft / 2981 m |
Ascent Trip ReportGot up early this Sunday and drove ~15 minutes from my house to the Three Gun Springs Trailhead (#192). We had hiked once here before, on the Hawk Watch trail shortly after moving back to New Mexico, so the drive to the trailhead seemed familiar. Parking is available for maybe 10 vehicles.
We headed up on the trail, which starts climbing at a moderate rate right out of the gate. At ~0.5 miles, cross into the Sandia Mountains Wilderness and Hawk Watch Trail immediately splits off to the right.
We kept heading north on Three Gun Springs. At about 1.5 miles, the trail starts a steeper switchback section to get out of the broad canyon. At 2.5 miles the summit of the canyon is reached at the junction with the Edmbudo trail. The next 1.5 miles have little elevation gain as the trail contours the mountains and heads north. Shortly before the 4 mile mark, the Three Gun Springs Trails ends and we headed east on the Embudito trail. This trail gains elevation steeply for a half mile mile, before contouring the Sandias to the South. The trail is more narrow in this section and there are some minor steps / class 2- moves. Finally, the crest is gained and the trail switches back to the north to gain the limestone summit of South Sandia Peak. The final 30 ft or is solidly class 2.
Nice views of Albuquerque, the East Mountains, and Sandia Crest (including the thumb from the summit). I took the trail heading east for a bit to look for a higher spot of limestone, but couldn't find anything. It was pretty windy, so we headed down a mile before having lunch at a rock outcrop overlooking Albuquerque. Continued down the way we came.
We saw maybe 20 other hikers today, which was more than I had expected. I suppose we are close to Albuquerque. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 4252 ft / 1295 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 4252 ft / 1295 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 11.4 mi / 18.3 km | | Grade/Class: | Class 2- | | Quality: | 4 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail | | Gear Used: | Animal/Pet | | Weather: | Pleasant, Windy, Partly Cloudy | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 3852 ft / 1174 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 3452 ft / 1052 m; Extra: 400 ft / 121m | | Loss on way in: | 400 ft / 121 m | | Distance: | 5.7 mi / 9.2 km | | Route: | Three Gun Springs/Embudito Trail | | Start Trailhead: | Three Gun Springs 6330 ft / 1929 m | | Time: | 2 Hours 59 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 3852 ft / 1174 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 3452 ft / 1052 m; Extra: 400 ft / 121m | | Gain on way out: | 400 ft / 121 m | | Distance: | 5.7 mi / 9.2 km | | Route: | Three Gun Springs/Emundido Trail | | End Trailhead: | Three Gun Springs 6330 ft / 1929 m | | Time: | 2 Hours 49 Minutes |
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