Kasha Katuwe National Monument: The end result of  volcanic processes that occurred from six to seven million ago during violent eruptions and pyroclastic flows originating in the Jemez volcanic field. The forces of wind and water acting over the millennia have created a geologic wonderland of canyons, cliffs, and hoodoos topped with precariously perched boulders. This spectacular landscape has been the setting for several movie and television specials over the years and was even depicted as an alien world in a television series. We will hike along the base of towering cliffs studded with hoodoos of every imaginable size until we reach a dry streambed. We will follow the streambed up through a narrow slot canyon and around to the sloping side of the mesa. Climbing back in the opposite direction we are rewarded with views of the canyon below, the Jemez, Sangre de Christo, and Sandia mountains, as well as the Rio Grande valley and Cochiti Lake, reaching the summit of our hike on the cliff tops overlooking our starting point. We will return via the same route but note that everything along the entire trail looks amazingly different when traveling in the reverse direction.

Ojito Wilderness: Ancient ruins, petroglyph panels, petrified wood, and dinosaur fossils hide among the Ponderosa pines, arroyos, and hoodoos of this rugged region. In fact this is where the largest dinosaur fossil known (Seismosaurus) was discovered. Although paleontological and cultural artifacts are common here you make take them away in photographs only. Removal of these objects is forbidden in BLM Wilderness Study Areas.

The Turquoise Trail: We will begin the day traveling the scenic highway that runs from the east side of Sandia towards Santa Fe, passing through the towns of Tijeras, Cedar Crest, Golden, Madrid, and Cerillos. Madrid will be one of our primary focus points. Once a coal mining boom town and then an abandoned ghost town, it began to be resettled in the 1970's by eccentric artist types (or hippies, if you prefer). Today it is a fascinating cornucopia of eclectic culture. Artists workshops and studios mingle amidst ramshackle buildings and abandoned mining equipment. Tour an old mine shaft, meet other artists, have lunch, and wander freely throughout this photogenic gem of a town. After regrouping our next stop will be Cerillos. Nestled in the hills that were mined by the natives for thousands of years for turquoise, this town still has a rugged old-west ambience that has made it the setting for several movies. After spending some time in the town proper, we will take a short easy hike up into the hills following the ruts of the original stagecoach road that connected Albuquerque to Santa Fe over a century ago. The hills are alive with wildlife and filled with the remnants of mine shafts. (Now sealed for safety reasons) At one point during the silver and mineral boom there were over 4,000 working claims in these hills. A spring that was the source of water for the town's smelter still bubbles forth from a hillside containing minerals that dye the algae in the stream a vivid neon orange.