Sandia Cave Trail

There is a very cool trail in the Sandia Mountains, off a very rough dirt road that actually crosses over the mountains into the town of Placitas, just north of Albuquerque.  We walked the trail to check out the cave – altho we’ve lived here over 5 years, we had never visited the cave.  It was a very nice walk in the autumn woods….. 

 

Altho the trees had passed their prime in terms of color, there was still some green left in some leaves, mixed in among the leaves that had already lost their color.  I love the contrast between the fairly vivid green and the tired brown in the leaves.  Let’s not forget the touches of yellow, too!

 

As we approached the main cave, we came across this other cave.  I found it amazing that the ancient people who used to live in the caves had to make this climb each time they returned home from hunting for food or from searching for water.

 

And, here’s the entrance to the Sandia Man Cave.  Yes, that’s what it’s called, and since this cave had evidence that it was inhabited back to prehistoric times, I do believe this may have been the very first “man cave”!  Unfortunately, you can see the graffiti left by some young folks – definitely not prehistoric.

 

Using a flashlight, we could walk in only a few yards.  Here’s Jeff looking over a wall that was put up.  It was possible to climb over the wall and continue for a little bit.  It’s possible to go into it about 100 yards.  However, it gets smaller and smaller the farther in you go.  The cave actually continues beyond the 100 yards, but not so a human can fit.  It’s unknown exactly how far into the mountain the cave goes.

 

Here’s Jeff coming down the spiral staircase we had to climb to get into the cave – we’re definitely not as tough as our prehistoric ancestors!

 

Walking back along the trail, I noticed this forest wall.  I liked the texture contrast between the rocks, leaves and tree bark.

 

Isn’t this a lovely autumn portrait of the leaves along the trail?  I love the green, gold and brown, and the texture of the branches and also the veins of the leaves.

 

This carpet of leaves wasn’t deep enough to jump into, but it sure did remind me of the piles of leaves that kids used to jump into before they were set on fire.  Ahhh…that was a smell of autumn that I loved – even if it wasn’t good for the environment…..

 

And, we ended our walk with this image of some golden leaves still hanging on! 

Enjoy!