SANDIA PEAK TRAMWAY

On our last evening in Albuquerque we took the tramway to the summit of Sandia Peak, east of the city.  There is a restaurant at the base of the tramway, Sandiago's, where we had an early dinner before boarding the tram for the summit, at an elevation of some 10,400 feet.  The ride up (as well as the ride back) takes 15 minutes and covers an elevation change of 3,800 feet over a distance of 2.7 miles.  It is the longest tramway in the United States.

Here, first, is a photo of one of the tram cars, which can hold up to 50 passengers.

The terrain is more rugged than I had thought.

I liked the following shot that I took at the summit.  I think it was the alignment of the three peaks at varying distances that appealed to me.

I also liked the following shot that featured the trees on the ridges being lit by the evening sun while the remainder of the mountainside was largely in shadow.

In the following shot I worked hard to capture the sun hitting the tram cables just before we began our descent.

We had hoped to stay at the summit until sunset, but it is about 20 degrees cooler at the top than down in the city and significantly windier, so we began our descent a little before sunset.  But I did catch this shot once we got down to the base of the mountain.

John