Finally, the time has come for me to set out on my fourth of five ten-milers as I make my way toward completing the requirements for the Boy Scouts merit badge for hiking. For anyone who's catching this blog for the first time, I'm not a Boy Scout now, though I once was. I'm doing this as a sort of mid-life project. I've gotten a second lease on life, having lost more than 150 pounds in the past few years, and I'm celebrating by getting out there and living like I've never lived before!
So that brings me to where I am now. I'm sitting in the Starbucks in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque on the eve before my first attempt at making it from the Sandia Foothills up to the Crest Trail. Tomorrow morning, sometime around 8:30 I'm thinking, I'll head to the trail head at the end of Montgomery Boulevard off of Glenwood Hills Drive.
The trail I'm looking for is Embudito. This trail goes up through a canyon from the desert area below through a lush pine forest. It's about 5.25 miles from the trail head to the peak, and I'll take the same trail back down, which means I'll be hiking a total of 10.5 miles round trip.
The trail up is relentless from what I've read in all of the trail guides. It may take about five hours to make it to the top and then about two or three to make it back down, so I'm packing plenty of trail rations and extra water - about three liters in all.
At the four mile point, Oso Pass, I may decide to turn back if there's still snow and ice at the top. But I'm hoping I'll be able to make it the entire way so I can check this fourth hike off my list and plan for my final ten miler. Then I'll be able to start seriously thinking about my 20 mile capstone hike. What an accomplishment that will be!
I wish I had someone to hike with tomorrow, but I've asked around and no one seems to be up for such an intense excursion. I'll be careful, though, and I'll tell my aunt where I'm heading and make plans to check in with her when I'm back down the mountain. If she doesn't hear from me by 5 p.m. she'll know I'm in trouble and be able to contact the necessary folks to come looking for me.
Yikes, that makes me nervous just mentioning that part. But it's part of being prepared, so there you have it. I'm taking extra socks, some warm clothing to account for climate changes as I make it up the more than 3,000 foot elevation change from the foothills to the crest. (Double yikes!)
POSTSCRIPT - See what happened on this hike in my next blog post. Spoiler alert: I was turned back by ice halfway up the mountain!
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