Saturday, April 13 was cool, with intermittent sunshine and cloudy w/ rain in the forecast. Group of 6, Carol & Bob Diggelman, leaders, Tom Dorr, Cheri Plavnick, Kathleen Rhoad and Bob Haladay were interested to learn from leader Bob that Golden is Albuquerque’s first Open Space, formerly 1,200 acre parcel of BLM land in Sandoval County, acquired in 1964 under the federal Recreation and Public Purposes Act, which required that it be developed for recreational purposes.
From route 14 about 1/2 mile north of the road to the Crest, we turned left on La Madera Road, curving and twisting for almost 8 miles until we crossed a cattle guard and proceeded on a dirt road for 2 miles to the Golden Open Space parking lot.
The trail runs south up a gently sloping plain through junipers, wildflowers scattered here and there arriving at an overlook in 0.6 miles on the cusp of Arroyo Seco. Kathleen walked to this point and then departed to protect her sprained left knee.
Bob Diggelman reported that the rain held off but there were cloudy periods with a threat of rain with some sunny periods. Hike took a little over 4 hours with frequent stops and lunch. Group was back in the parking lot before 2:30.
There are splendid views of the San Pedro Mountains (8 miles east-southeast), the Ortiz Mountains (10 miles northeast & directly north of the San Pedro Mts) and the south end of the Sangre de Cristo range (35 miles northeast) plus the eastern slope of the Sandias the ski run.
Several photos are of the Ortiz Mts. Several are of the east slope of the Sandias and one is of the ski run.
Kathleen Rhoad
Photos by Kathleen and Carol & Bob Diggelman
