Tar Heel Travelers
May 27, 2014 | Fencing
Ezra Baeli-Wang, a rising sophomore on the men's fencing team, checked in from a trip to New Mexico
Hey Tar Heels, greetings from New Mexico!
I've spent the first two weeks of my summer break in the Southwest, hiking in Ghost Ranch, in Abiquiu, and in the Sandia Mountains. I've been able to spend a lot of time with my mother enjoying the outdoors, and was fortunate enough to have my girlfriend, Michelle, fly down to visit for my final few days here.
The first hike my mother and I embarked on was a moderate six-mile hike across the eastern ridge of the Sandia Mountains, at an elevation of about 6,500 ft. The eastern portion of the Sandia Mountains are very un-New-Mexican in terms of their terrain. For a state so heavily associated with barren deserts and cacti, the eastern portion of the Sandias is surprising lush, and full of vegetation. I was reminded of the Sourland Mountains in my hometown of Hillsborough, N.J. The trail was earthy and well-shaded by trees on all sides for the duration of the hike, but eventually opened up to a breathtaking view of an enormous pine forest that spanned the length of the mountain's sloping face all the way to its base, where the city of Albuquerque rushed up to meet it. The houses were nothing more than little specks against the brown of the earth, very similar to the view one has from a plane.
My favorite hike, however, was the Chimney Rock trail, which I walked with Michelle in Ghost Ranch. The Chimney Rock hike is far more quintessentially New Mexican in terms of its landscape. The trail is entirely exposed to the sound with virtually no shelter from the unforgiving desert heat. The vegetation is sparse, and the path is surrounded by dry shrubbery, cacti, dead trees, and the occasional desert flower. The land itself is almost 200 million years old, and provides the awe-inspiring scenery on this hike. The redrock cliffs and layers of multi-colored sedimentary rock that form the foothills and mesas of the landscape to a backdrop of Cerro Pedernal, a narrow mesa that is popular with rockclimbers and was painted many times by Georgia O'Keeffe, provide the awe-inspiring scenery on this hike. The final destination itself, the cliff that brings you just up to an almost 10,000-foot-drop that spans the distance between the edge and Chimney Rock, is indescribably beautiful and affords a luxurious 360-degree panoramic view of Ghost Ranch and surrounding Abiquiu. The hike is a steep and rocky four miles that feels much longer in brutal heat, but is well worth the walk.
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