I took a ton of pictures on my recent trip to New Mexico, and spent some time last night and today starting to go through them.
On our first full day there, Cardgrrl and I went to Sandia Peak. Apparently you can get there via automobile, but for heaven's sake, that's not what you should do. Take the tram. It's claimed to be the world's longest, and I have no reason to dispute that: 2.7 miles, rising more than 5000 feet to a final height of 10,378 feet. It takes you through and over gorgeous foothills and valleys. Most people seem to go up there for skiing, but we were just sightseeing--and it has plenty of beautiful views to be enjoyed. The fact sheet says that 11,000 square miles of terrain are visible from the top, and that seems about right. After coming back down to the tram station at the base, we wandered around the park area for a while, finding interesting things to photograph. I admit that I was nearly as captivated by the enormous--and, to me, quite beautiful--mechanics of the tram as by the vistas.
The photo album is here. If I had higher standards and/or more time and patience, I would sift through them and show you only the best 10% or so, instead of boring you with shot after shot of mountains and snow. But if I had to choose my favorite images from this batch, I'd pick these. (I'm trying image embedding from Picasa for the first time here. Click for full-size version.)
But for my money, the loveliest images I managed to make (leaving aside those of Cardgrrl, which aren't included here) are these two:
More on the trip to come over the next few days.
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4 comments:
Lovely photos. Is this still your cellphone? Looks good.
Y'all want to see the FotoGrump making one of his favorite images?
Here ya go.
No. Last summer I bought a Nikon Coolpix S630, and have been quite pleased with it.
Having spent many years from childhood to early adulthood in Albuquerque I was compelled to look at your entire Sandia album.
I have been to Sandia Peak so many many times in my life and remember the awe of riding the tram each and every time I did it.
I do miss that place so much some days. This flat midwest just doesn't have the appeal of those gigantic mountains looking down on you every day. And the sunshine. I miss the sunshine the most.
One note about embedding picasa photos. Be sure to use the drop down to get larger photos. Your blog could easily handle the 400 size. You can also remove the album link if you are so inclined. If you are using Blogger to publish your posts, you can just copy and paste the html code directly into your compose screen. I would recommend trying Scribefire - it is a Firefox addon that is very nice for blogging.
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