Notices and Highlights
Everyone
– We love our mountains!
– Stormy week ahead
– Bernalillo County seeking volunteers for Tijeras Canyon Restoration Project
– Sandia Ranger District completes Tablazon prescribed fire
– Adopt-a-highway project completed on October 22
– Ken Born named acting District Ranger
– Forest Service and FOSM trail construction crew finish Ellis Trail reroutes
– Forest Service announces closure for thinning work at the Cedro 4 project area
Members
– Time to report October hours
– Paint crew leader needed
– Welcome our new members
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Supporting Sandia Ranger District Since 1997
Volunteer Opportunities
Awards and Recognition
History, Strategic Plan, and Board of Directors
We Love Our Mountains*
Whether you are a hiker, mountain biker, cross-country skier, trail runner, or you just enjoy being in the Sandias, you know that our mountains are one of nature’s special gifts.
Have you ever wondered what you could do to help protect our mountains? Do you want to learn more about the animals and plants you find there? Do you like to meet people who share your concern for the Sandia and Manzanita Mountains?
Welcome! Please explore our website to learn more about the goals and many activities of the Friends of the Sandia Mountains (FOSM). We likely have volunteer opportunities that match your interests and abilities.
*Technically, it’s Sandia Mountain (singular), but we often use the plural to recognize the existence of northern and southern peaks.
New to Albuquerque or just new to the Sandias? Explore the many recreational opportunities our mountains offer. Please carefully read the Safety section.
Please check out our La Luz Trail webpage if you are planning to hike this iconic but too often dangerous trail.
An easy way to get involved is to join Cibola Trail Rangers, an email group consisting of hikers, bikers, XC skiers, horsemen, etc., who frequent the trails in the Sandia Ranger District and are interested in exchanging information on trail conditions on both an immediate and continuing basis. The group includes FOSM members trained to correct reported problems.
Please report corrective actions as well as problems so the FOSM trail maintenance crew doesn’t hike to fix a problem that no longer exists.
Take the Tram to the Top⏤an Unforgettable Experience!
Sandia Peak Tramway makes the top of the mountain easily accessible and one-way hikes of La Luz Trail possible, but be sure to check their website before starting your journey.
Weather and Road Conditions
Three Significant Winter-Like Storms in 10 Days!
November 5, 2024 – Update from Kerry Jones:
Storm #2 is shaping up to bring around a FOOT plus of “snowfall” to many areas of the East Mountains beginning early Wednesday and lasting through Friday PM.
How much of the forecast snowfall will melt tomorrow? What will be the greatest “snow depth” during the nearly 3-day event? Those are hard questions to answer, but regardless there is high confidence in a major snow event, and travel will become difficult (if not impossible) at times.
History is a good place to start. I’ve only been keeping track of weather at our current location since 2012. The last time we had around a foot of snowfall from a single storm event this early in the season was October 26-28, 2020. During that event, our total liquid was 1.22″ and snowfall was 11.5 inches. That is very close to a 10:1 snow-to-liquid ratio, which is just shy of the average at 11:1.
A couple of differences from yesterday’s event…. (1) cold, low-level east to west or upslope wind developing will essentially feed periods of moderate to heavy snow for 36-48 hours. Upslope winds boost overall lift that is critical for heavy snow on the east side of the Sandias. (2) Snow-to-liquid ratios (SLR) will be more than 2X higher than they were yesterday and probably close to the 11:1 average.
As of this writing, models are generally showing widespread liquid equivalent totals between 1″ and 1.50″ with locally higher amounts. That would translate to 9-10 inches of snowfall on the low end and 16-18 inches on the high end. Again, history tells us that some of this snowfall will melt, settle, and compact. Let’s say a reasonable max snowfall depth range between 9″ and 15″ with local amounts up to 18″ and closer to 24″ near the Crest!
Previously, I mentioned 4-8″ as an early guess but we’ll see that amount before sundown Thursday. We are now likely going to double that total during this event and might be our biggest early season event since at least 2012. We’ll see.
November 3, 2024 – From our favorite weatherman, FOSM member Kerry Jones:
Spied our first snowflakes of the season in our neighborhood this morning with reports of an inch or two of fresh snow near the Crest. A lot more wet, cold and snowy weather to come. The East Mountains below 7,500 feet will be impacted by accumulating snow for the first time this season later tonight into Monday morning; however, two additional storm systems that are modeled to follow later this week and early next week are the ones that really have my attention. Thursday-Friday (Thursday night, especially), and early next week could really deliver for us.
Much uncertainty is a given in the world of weather models beyond 4-5 days, but the pattern is going to be dynamic and very changeable as it undergoes a large-scale correction following the unusually warm/dry start to fall several weeks ago. During the next 7-10 days several key models are advertising widespread 2-3 inches of precipitation (rain and melted snow) in the East Mountains. That would be over 2X what is considered normal for the month of November.
Storm #1: Tonight-Monday (4th). The center of the upper level low was gathering strength over northern AZ this afternoon. It’s a cold one, but not extreme. This storm will track across south-central NM on Monday, which is a little farther south than personally desired and we’ll be lacking east to west winds at the surface for heavy snow. But plenty cold enough for slushy snow accumulation in the EM– dusting up to 3 or 4″ mainly on vegetation below 7,000 feet with higher amounts above. The Crest should do quite well and roads could be tricky in some areas for the Monday morning commute!
Storm #2: Thursday (7th)-Friday (8th). Latest models show this system dropping into eastern AZ during the day Thursday before lifting east-northeast across central NM Thursday night-Friday morning. This will be a colder storm system and the potential for 6″+ snowfalls is greater at lower elevations. Of course, the track and timing of the upper level low will make or break the snow forecast. But, anyone with travel plans Thursday afternoon/night into early Friday should keep a close watch on the forecasts next few days. Right now, the trend is 4-8″ for much of the EM with some upside.
Storm #3: Monday night (11th)-Wednesday (13th). This one could be a real doozy but there is a lot of model uncertainty! I always consider this type of storm in a series as the Caboose. Too early to speculate but if a couple of key models verify, it’ll be a winter wonderland.
Charts below are the NWS Blend of Models and they do not account for melting/settling/compaction of snow!
Time to Report Volunteer Hours for October 2024
November 3, 2024 – From FOSM president Mike Madden:
All FOSM Volunteers:
We are starting a new Forest Service fiscal year, FY2025. Expect a monthly call for
hours going forward. This is a call for your individual volunteer hours for the time
period September 16 thru October 31, 2024.
*The weekly crew leaders (Bob, Sam, Laura) have already provided their crew’s
hours by individual into our FY2025 FOSM hours tracker, so if you signed an
attendance sheet, your hours are already covered.
*Basically, report any and all individual time spent in a FOSM activity which pertains to
the District.
The attachment provides some guidelines not meant to be a comprehensive list. (FS
clarifications from FY2024 are noted in red.)
Bernalillo County Seeking Volunteers for Tijeras Canyon Restoration Project
November 1, 2024
Hello Everyone,
Following is the schedule for final two Tijeras Creek Remediation Project Volunteer Workdays in 2024:
(A.) The Date and time of the next TCRP Volunteer Workday: Saturday, November 9th from 10:00am – about 1:00pm.
(B.) Final Scheduled TCRP Workday and Continuing Education event in 2024 to mark in your calendar: Saturday, November 16th. This subsequent event will also be from 10:00am – about 1:00pm. About the last hour of this November 16th event will be allocated to a site related hands-on continuing education activity led by Jim Brooks. Jim promises to share with participants some of his vast knowledge as it relates to developing a new path that contemplates a symbiotic relationship with green infrastructure. If you want to better understand what this means, I hope you will join us on the 16th and be part of the discussion.
(C.) General TCRP Workday Information: Prior to participating in any event we will all be required to execute and deliver the current Bernalillo County TCRP Volunteer Liability and Waiver/Waiver, Release and Hold Harmless Agreement, a copy of which is attached for your reference.
If you attend an event, please remember your water, gloves, mask (if you so desire), sunscreen, bug spray, tools and closed toe shoes. It would also be helpful if you would print the Bernalillo County Volunteer Liability Waiver Agreement, bring it with you signed and dated the date of the event and deliver it to me at the start of the event. For those of you who may forget your signed form, I will have some of the forms available to be executed and delivered to me before the workday begins.
The TCRP site is located in Tijeras adjacent to the A. Montoya School Complex and there is a small parking area on the west end of the site.
I currently expect the November 16th event will be the final 2024 TCRP volunteer workday. I personally want to thank everyone who has contributed to TCRP in 2024 or before. Your time, effort and support has been instrumental in turning TCRP into the special place it has become. I hope to see you at the site on November 9th and 16th.
Rick H.
Sandia Ranger District Completes Tablazon Prescribed Fire
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – November 1, 2024—Today, weather conditions remained favorable to successfully complete ignitions on the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands (NF & NG) Tablazon prescribed fire (Rx) on the Sandia Ranger District. Crews continued with ground ignitions to blackline fuels along control lines and burning of interior pockets of 107 acres on units 4 & 5. With yesterday and today’s operations, fire managers completed the 189 acres of prescribed fire operations on the Tablazon Project area.
With ignitions complete on the Tablazon prescribed fire project, fire crews will transition to a patrol and monitor plan until the fire is called out.
ALBUQUERQUE, NM —October 22, 2024—Pending favorable conditions, fire managers on the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands (NF & NGs) may implement the previously announced Tablazon prescribed fire (RX) on the Sandia Ranger District as early as Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
Fire crews plan to burn approximately 207 acres, split into several different units in the Tablazon Canyon area, in the Manzanita Mountains. Tablazon is located south of HWY 333, south of Lower Pine trailhead and east of FSRD 462. Map attached. Visitors may be impacted by the Cedro, Bear Scat, Lower Pine, Tablazon and Coyote trails system. Smoke may be visible in the surrounding areas of Tijeras, Edgewood, Moriarty and Albuquerque.
Volunteers Accomplish Adopt-a-highway Project
October 15, 2024 – Steve Roholt writes:
Today, 14 FOSM volunteers participated in our semiannual trash pickup. This was a volunteer project for the NM Department of Transportation. Two main tasks were taken on.
- First, our required trash pickup. This was completed today.
- Second, brushing along both highway shoulders. The amount of brushing was impressive. The northern and southern 0.2 miles were completed today. The middle 0.6 mile was partially completed. We will have another project in the spring. The long-term goal is to provide sustainable visibility and prevent brush from encroaching on the highway right of way.
Volunteers were Tim Kirkpatrick, Sam Beard, Sim Cook, Dan Benton, Don Carnicom, Mike Madden, Cliff Giles, Rav Nicholson, Karen Greif, Anne Hickman, Jamey Browning, Pauline Ho, Rick Buss, and Steve Roholt. The weather was ideal.
Special thanks to founding FOSM members Don Carnicom and Sam Beard for helping out.
October 22, 2024 – Mike Madden writes:
Today 6 FOSM volunteers continued brushing where we left off a week ago, on our semi-annual Crest Road Adopt-A-Highway clean-up. Yesterday Sam Beard had prepared 6 small chainsaws at the Guard Station for today’s task of finishing the remaining quarter mile of densely overgrown brush along the guardrail between milepost 4 and 5. Sam Beard, Don Carnicom, Cliff Giles, Tim Kirkpatrick, Jamey Browning, and Mike Madden met at our AAH pullout at 10am. I estimated it would take two hours, finishing by noon. 4 certified sawyers handled pole saw & chainsaws, since the trees were up to 5″ in diameter! Our goal was to clear about 6 feet beyond the guardrail. Don used a brush cutter. Cliff used loppers. We finished the job at 11:55am, 5 minutes early! A beautiful day on the mountain… sunny, warm, no wind. Check-out our mile 4-5 handiwork the next time you’re heading up there.
Forest Service and FOSM Trail Construction Crew Finish Ellis Trail Reroutes
“In my opinion, Ellis has gone from a trail to avoid, to a trail to enjoy.”
…Bob Lowder, October 7, 2024
October 15, 2024 – Canyon Young writes: Another big thanks to everyone involved in what became one of the most major trail projects on the Sandia Ranger District this year.
As many of you are likely aware, the Ellis Trail historically followed an old road bed in the clearcut for what was originally going to become a spur road going north off the Crest Hwy decades ago. And thus, the trail had a lot of unnecessary, unsustainable, and rather unpleasant ups and downs.
Several years ago, Kerry Wood and the SRD Trails Crew, in conjunction with NM Volunteers for the Outdoors (and possibly FOSM, I don’t recall), completed a handful of reroutes that successfully bypassed some of these unnecessary steep sections. I and my old crew were a part of the construction of this first phase, back when I was the seasonal trails crew lead. However, I distinctly recall while hiking back and forth between the trailhead and those initial reroutes and realizing that more would likely be more necessary at some point in the future.
Fast forward to this year, I found “Ellis reroutes” on the Cibola National Forest’s Recreation Program of Work, and found out that the entire trail had a 30-meter archaeological clearance corridor as cleared through the 2018 Sandia Hazard Tree NEPA Project. With this knowledge, combined with knowing that other priority trails projects would be in limbo while awaiting approval from other resource areas, I saw a prime opportunity to keep my crew’s and FOSM’s Thursday trail construction crew’s momentum uninterrupted, all the while accomplishing meaningful work and continuing to whittle down Cibola Recreation’s currently-gigantic POW.
It can be difficult in many scenarios to successfully design sustainable, quality reroutes with the standard 30-m corridor that we as USFS trails staff often have to deal with, given the steepness of our local mountain terrain combined with sustainable trail design parameters. However, I knew that in this case, with the sections I would want to bypass and how Ellis was laid out, I essentially had a blank slate to get the entire remainder of Ellis where I wanted it, so long as I put in some careful effort with my design and flagging. Two of the nine total reroutes did have to dip a bit outside the 30-meter corridor in order to make sense and be sustainable; however, Sandia’s archaeology staff was able to quickly and painlessly write an addendum for these since there were no known cultural resources in the area.
In addition to my ever-present objective for all SRD trails of making the entire length of Ellis more sustainable for our mountain ecosystem and more enjoyable for all trail users, the big-picture outcome I had with this project was to make Ellis more mountain bike-able, and thereby aid in better dispersing mountain bike traffic around the district as a whole. By replacing the old, steep, eroded sections with quality reroutes that ride well both ways, this effort will combine with the reroutes done on 10K North over the past several years to create a quality loop opportunity on an area of the district that was largely avoided by many cyclists in the past. And, this will hopefully result in a bit less hiker/mountain bike conflict on Challenge and other nearby. Even if as little as 5% of the bike traffic on the district is diluted through this effort, that’s a victory in the grand scheme of building SRD’s trail system into a network that can handle the ABQ area’s ever-increasing, multi-use recreational demand with minimized future management input from both the USFS and volunteer groups.
Again, thank you to everyone involved for being a part of this major project, and thereby part of SRD’s big-picture mission!
October 4, 2024 – Thursday crew leader Laura Leon provided this exciting report:
We did it! Ellis reroutes are finished! Twelve weeks of working on Ellis has been a treat. We’ve watched as the flowers bloomed, then the grasses and now, with the weather cooling, the aspens blazing. The most amazing crew ever gave it their all on Thursday and the 10 volunteers and the 3 SRD crew (Dorothy, Zay and Chris) pushed through a long day and a long hike out with tools. The last 2 reroutes, #8 and #9 were finished and the obliteration completed. We even managed a cranky hiker who “just doesn’t understand” why we were out there messing with the trail. Thanks to everyone who has participated over the last 12 weeks- you helped make this job a success!
Laura’s 12 reports summarizing the project can be found here. In them you’ll find not only details about the project but also some wonderful photographs of Sandia wildlife.
Ken Born Named Acting District Ranger
October 10, 2024 – Ken Born, Acting Sandia District Ranger, sent the following message to Julie Padilla and FOSM members: Thanks so much for the “virtual” introduction, Julie.
I’ve heard so many great things about the Friends of the Sandia Mountains and look forward to working with you all. We are extremely grateful for your support of the Sandia Ranger District and this mountain range, which is a treasure to so many in our community and beyond.
October 9, 2024 – Julie Padilla, Sandia Ranger District Recreation Staff Officer, sent the following message to FOSM members: Hello Friends of Sandia, please see below and join us in welcoming new Acting District Ranger Ken Born!
October 4, 2024 – Heidi McRoberts, Cibola National Forest Supervisor, issued the following statement:
Please join me in welcoming Ken Born as our new acting Sandia District Ranger. Ken will begin his detail on Monday, October 6.
The following is a bit of background on Ken.
Ken kicked off his federal career in 1996 as GS-1 STEP student, serving as a fisheries biologist aide with the US Army of Corps of Engineers. After spending a decade working as a land use planner in various capacities with Monterey County, CA; the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission on Long Island, NY; and Multnomah County, OR – he made the jump to federal service permanently in 2010. Ken went to the Regional Office in 2018 from the Coronado National Forest, where he served as a District Ranger. Prior to that, he was on the Tonto National Forest, where he was the Forest Planner. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in environmental planning from Northern Arizona University, and a Master of Arts degree in public policy from Stony Brook University. Born and raised in Tucson, AZ, Ken lives in Albuquerque with his wife, two daughters, dog, and cat – and feels extremely lucky for the opportunity to continue to live and work in the Southwest.
We are very excited to have Ken join our team and look forward to working with him.
Forest Service Announces Area Closure for Thinning Work at the Cedro 4 Project Area – North of Forest Road 462
Albuquerque, NM, September 27, 2024 – The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands (NF&NGs) has issued an area closure order (Order 03-03-05-24-13) for the Cedro 4 Project Area north of Forest Road 462 on the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola NF&NGs, described below and shown on the attached map.
This Order shall be in effect from October 7, 2024, at 0600 through May 3, 2025 at 0600, unless rescinded.
The purpose of this Order is for the protection of public health and safety during mechanized thinning work in the Cedro 4 project area north of Forest Road 462 as shown on attached map.
Volunteer Opportunity – Paint Crew Leader
Thanks, Anne Hickman for your years of faithful service as leader of the paint crew. Anne has stepped down due to other commitments. Please use the form on the referenced pages if you would be interested in assuming this leadership position.
Welcome, New FOSM Members!
Shalen Holt – October 17, 2024
Karen Thorn – October 15, 2024
Glen Clement – October 15, 2024
Peter Rhyins – October 4, 2024
Scott Christenson – September 3, 2024
Janet Simon and Mark Weber – September 2, 2024
Eric Messerschmidt – August 16, 2024
Chuck Logan – August 12, 2024
Courtney and Svetlana Conte – August 12, 2024
Tom Spross – July 20, 2024
James Epps* – July 18, 2024
Lisa Blackford – July 14, 2024
Jeff and Jan Kokos – June 4, 2024
Neil Alessio – May 30, 2024
Tim Kirkpatrick – May 7, 2024
*Life sponsor